A lot of people suffer from pain very often or even constantly. Many people take painkillers almost every day, but rarely does anyone choose them correctly for themselves.
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There are many types of pain for which it is not always convenient to go to the doctor. For example, moderate and occasional pain in muscles and joints, headaches, hangovers, regular pain during menstruation in women. But on the other hand, people get confused. They make the wrong choice by buying a medicine that is not at all ideal for them. Some chose it under the influence of advertising, others on the advice of friends. Many people have their own favorite drug, which has relieved them of pain more than once. And they generously recommend it to others. In this case, as a rule, very powerful analgesics are recommended - it’s like shooting sparrows from a cannon. Such excess medications, while relieving pain, also have a harmful effect; they have many more side effects.
Composition of Pentalgin
The main active “ingredients” of the drug Pentalgin are:
- paracetamol
- drotaverine hydrochloride
- caffeine
- naproxen
- pheniramine maleate
Auxiliary elements:
- microcrystalline cellulose
- potato starch
- lemon acid
- titanium dioxide
- and others.
Table: Instructions for assembling medicines
| Preparations from one “part” | Preparations from 2–3 “parts” | Preparations made from more than 3 “parts” | |
| Simple painkillers (ASA, paracetamol, metamizole, ibuprofen, naproxen) | Painkillers + caffeine | Painkillers + antispasmodic | Painkillers + antispasmodic + caffeine + antihistamine |
| Aspirin, upsarin, analgin, Panadol, efferalgan, nurofen | Citramon P, Gevadal, Panadol extra, Solpadein Fast, Citrapar, Benalgin, Acifein, Caffetin sk, etc. | Trigan-D, Unispaz N, Spazmalgon, etc. | Pentalgin, Spazmalgon Effect |
Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
The medicine has the following effects:
- antipyretic
- anti-inflammatory
- anesthetic
- pasmolytic
The substances included in the medication explain the therapeutic effect of Pentalgin.
Wikipedia states that paracetamol is an analgesic-antipyretic that can have analgesic and antipyretic effects. These effects are achieved thanks to the blockade of COX in the nervous system, affecting pain centers and thermoregulation.
Caffeine is a psychostimulant and helps dilate blood vessels in the muscles, kidneys and heart. Among other things, caffeine helps improve performance, reduce fatigue and tiredness, and provides a tonic effect.
The substance Naproxen provides the following actions:
- analgesic
- antipyretic
- anti-inflammatory
Pheniramine is a histamine H1 receptor blocker. Thanks to it, an antispasmodic and mild sedative effect occurs. The substance can improve the healing properties of paracetamol.
Drotaverine provides a myotropic antispasmodic effect.
Pharmaceutical constructor
How to cope with pain and not harm your health? Let's try to understand analgesics and bring all the many of these drugs into the system. It's not difficult at all. The abundance of these drugs appearing under different brand names is deceptive. Why?
Firstly, because they are all made according to the principle of a construction set, which has much fewer parts than your child’s Lego (see table). That is, there are few “parts”, but a lot of medicines are collected from them.
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Secondly, there are even fewer main “parts” that have an analgesic effect. These are acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), metamizole, paracetamol, ibuprofen and naproxen - only these 5 active substances can be found in over-the-counter tablets, capsules, suspensions and other forms of medications for oral administration. And one or two of these components are found in any over-the-counter analgesic. Based on these five “parts,” hundreds of analgesics are made, sold without a prescription under various brand names. For example, there are several dozen paracetamols alone, the most advertised being Panadol, Calpol, Efferalgan. Of the drugs with ASA - aspirin and upsarin, of the ibuprofens - Nurofen and Burana, the drugs of metamizole - this is the familiar analgin, of the drugs with naproxen - Nalgesin, Motrin, etc. But in general there are many such monopreparations containing only one of the five components more.
Important: drugs consisting of one “part” are safer than complex drugs: fewer “parts” mean fewer side effects. But their strength is usually enough to cope with ordinary pain.
When is Pentalgin prescribed?
Indications for use of Pentalgin:
- neuralgia
- pain during menstruation
- migraine
- toothache
- joint or muscle pain
- algomenorrhea
- cold, in the presence of elevated body temperature
- post-operative or post-traumatic pain
- pain due to spasm of smooth muscles, caused by renal colic, cholelithiasis, chronic cholecystitis.
Comparison of safety of Baralgin M and Pentalgin
The safety of a drug includes many factors.
At the same time, in Pentalgin it is higher than in Baralgin M. It is important where the drug is metabolized: medicinal substances are excreted from the body either unchanged or in the form of products of their biochemical transformations. Metabolism occurs spontaneously, but most often involves major organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, brain and others. When assessing the metabolism of Pentalgin, as well as Baralgin M, we look at which organ is the metabolizing organ and how critical the effect on it is.
The risk-benefit ratio is when the prescription of a drug is undesirable, but justified under certain conditions and circumstances, with the obligatory observance of caution in use. At the same time, Pentalgin has fewer risks when used than Baralgin M.
Also, when calculating safety, it is taken into account whether only allergic reactions occur or possible dysfunction of the main organs. In other matters, as well as the reversibility of the consequences of using Pentalgin and Baralgin M.
Contraindications for taking Pentalgin
The pharmaceutical product is not prescribed for:
- intolerance to its components
- internal bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract
- arterial hypertension
- under 18 years of age
- peptic ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract
- pathologies of the heart and blood vessels
- pregnancy, breastfeeding (if pain occurs, pregnant and nursing mothers should consult a doctor to receive safe treatment)
- liver and kidney failure (severe form)
- bronchial asthma
- hyperkalemia
- undergone coronary artery bypass surgery
Doctors prescribe medication with caution for:
- diabetes mellitus
- viral hepatitis
- elderly patient
- liver damage and ethanol
- cerebrovascular pathologies
- mild to moderate forms of liver or kidney failure
- epilepsy
The Fab Five?
Let's take a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses of each of these drugs. There will be no shortage of incriminating evidence against them - competition among painkiller manufacturers is very high and they are constantly at war with each other.
Acetylsalicylic acid. Helps with almost all pains, acting for 3-6 hours. One of the most popular medicines, used for more than 100 years, and one of the most reviled - it can cause gastritis, ulcers and even bleeding from the stomach. How should we feel about this? If you had such complications before, you should not take ASA. Occasional use is unlikely to be aggressive for the stomach. There is no need to take ASA on an empty stomach and do not exceed a single dose of 600–750 mg. ASA is contraindicated for children under 14 years of age: it is believed that it sometimes causes Reye's syndrome in children, a very rare but serious and dangerous disease.
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Ibuprofen. It is gentler on the stomach than ASA. The pain relief time is also slightly longer – 4–8 hours. But ASA is better for the heart; frequent use of ibuprofen by heart patients increased their risk of heart attacks and strokes by almost 2 times. Many of them take low doses of ASA for prevention, and ibuprofen blocked its effect. Therefore, it is better to take it by young people rather than older people.
Naproxen. It is similar to ASA and ibuprofen, and the side effects of these drugs are common. In terms of the degree of aggressiveness to the stomach, it occupies an intermediate position between these drugs. It relieves pain well and lasts longer, so you need to take it 2 times a day, maximum 3 times.
By the way: all these three drugs have a triple effect. They not only relieve pain, but also lower the temperature. In addition, they have an anti-inflammatory effect. Because of the latter effect, they are also used for rheumatic diseases, for which inflammation and pain in the joints are typical. The other two analgesics (metamizole, paracetamol) do not have this effect; they are used only for pain and to reduce high fever.
Metamizole (analgin). They scold the drug no less than ASA, claiming that it is banned almost everywhere due to the fact that it inhibits the formation of white blood cells (agranulocytosis). This is a very strong exaggeration: the drug fell victim to pharmaceutical wars in only a few countries, and it causes this complication in one case in a million. In addition, almost all painkillers and a bunch of other drugs are to blame for this.
Paracetamol. They always say about it that, unlike ASA and ibuprofen, it does not irritate the stomach. This is true, but it is difficult to find another medicine that would be so insidious towards the liver. There are cases when a therapeutic daily dose of paracetamol of 4 g turned out to be fatal for this organ. The drug is especially dangerous for those who already have a diseased liver or who drink moderately (the critical daily dose is 3 small glasses of vodka or 3 glasses of wine). In no case should you relieve a hangover with this medicine, trying to eliminate the headache, and in no case should you exceed the dose. It is better not to take more than 0.5 g at one time. And if paracetamol is taken with other medications, you must definitely check their composition. This substance is so often used in complex preparations that it is easy to overdose.
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Side effect
It is possible that therapy with Pentalgin will cause certain negative effects:
- allergy
- changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular, digestive, nervous, and genitourinary systems
The above effects manifest themselves as:
- arrhythmias
- increase in pressure
- irregular heartbeat
- anemia
- skin rash
- itching
- headache
- tremor
- angioedema
- constipation
- erosive and ulcerative gastrointestinal disorders
Comparison of side effects of Baralgin M and Pentalgin
Side effects or adverse events are any adverse medical event that occurs in a subject after administration of a drug.
Pentalgin has more adverse events than Baralgin M. This implies that the frequency of their occurrence is low with Pentalgin and low with Baralgin M. Frequency of manifestation is an indicator of how many cases of an undesirable effect from treatment are possible and registered. The undesirable effect on the body, the strength of influence and the toxic effect of drugs are different: how quickly the body recovers after taking it and whether it recovers at all. When using Pentalgin, the body’s ability to recover faster is higher than that of Baralgin M.
Overdose
Using large dosages leads to:
- confusion
- tachycardia
- epilepsy
- excitement
- excessive concern
- anorexia
- pale skin
- pain in the abdomen
More dangerous signs of overdose include:
- coma
- death
- pancreatitis
- arrhythmia
- encephalopathy
- liver failure
If there are symptoms of overdose, it is important to perform gastric lavage, take activated charcoal and carry out symptomatic treatment.
Comparison of addiction between Baralgin M and Pentalgin
Like safety, addiction also involves many factors that must be considered when evaluating a drug.
So, the totality of the values of such parameters as “syndrome o” in Baralgin M is quite similar to the similar values in Pentalgin. Withdrawal syndrome is a pathological condition that occurs after the cessation of intake of addictive or dependent substances into the body. And resistance is understood as initial immunity to a drug; in this it differs from addiction, when immunity to a drug develops over a certain period of time. The presence of resistance can only be stated if an attempt has been made to increase the dose of the drug to the maximum possible. At the same time, in Baralgin M the meaning of the “syndrome” is quite small, however, the same as in Pentalgin.
