It would seem that everyone from childhood knows what Aspirin is, why this universal medicine helps and how to take it. But it turns out that the scope of this medication is much wider, and the list of side effects is much more impressive than most people know.
Material Content:
The composition of the drug
Aspirin is available in the form of white tablets of a standard round shape, packaged in packages with a dosage of 500 mg. From can be ordinary or effervescent (the latter must be dissolved in ½ cup of water before use).
Acetylsalicylic acid, which makes up the bulk of each tablet, is the main active ingredient. However, besides her, there are also auxiliary components, such as corn starch and MCC.
What helps acetylsalicylic acid
Aspirin refers to NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). He is able to bring down the general temperature of the body, suppress pain, while not being a narcotic substance. In addition, it prevents the formation of platelets, "thinning" the blood.
For many years, Aspirin has been used to:
- bring down the heat characteristic of colds;
- relieve an attack of not too severe pain of various origins (headache, toothache, muscle pain, malaise during menstruation, etc.);
- help the body cope with the load after the first massage;
- prevent fever;
- reduce blood density and, accordingly, prevent blood clots in the vessels;
- as well as the prevention of myocardial infarction.
Instructions for use and dosage for children and adults
Acetylsalicylic acid is quite dangerous for the stomach, since it irritates the mucous membrane. So you can drink these tablets only after a meal or while eating, drinking 150-200 ml of water. If this is an effervescent tablet, then you need to wait until complete dissolution. And the usual is better to bite into smaller pieces to speed up dissolution and minimize the negative effect on the digestive tract.
Aspirin should not be given to children under the age of 15 years. The active substance of the drug, acting on the fragile body of the child, can cause degeneration of liver cells and brain damage.
But if you still need to use Aspirin, then crumbs at the age of 2-3 years are given no more than 1/5 tablets per day (i.e. 100 mg). For babies from 4 to 6 years, the daily dose can be doubled, and from 7 to 9 years, up to 300 mg per day is allowed. In this case, the child should be under constant medical supervision.
For adult patients and adolescents over 15 years of age, a single dose of Aspirin is 1-2 tablets. During the day you can drink only 6 tablets. It is important to maintain an interval between doses of at least 4 hours.
If you have a cold, but there is no opportunity to see a doctor on the same day, you can take Aspirin to lower the temperature for 3 days, no more. If after this there is no improvement, you still need to see a doctor to prescribe another drug. This is necessary in order not to start the inflammatory process and avoid complications.
In addition, remember that you can take any antipyretic or lower the body temperature in any other way only when it rises above 38.5 ° C.
If you use Aspirin as an analgesic, then taking it without a doctor’s prescription is allowed for a maximum of 5-7 days. Then, if the pain has not subsided, contact the clinic to prescribe another, more effective drug.
Often, after the first massage, the temperature rises, and the treatment procedure has to be suspended for several days. This is how the body reacts to an unexpected load. Experienced experts advise you to drink 250 mg of Aspirin after a session (once, a long course is not needed). A small dose causes a phenomenon in which a small amount of fluid is released in the cells of muscle tissue, resulting in relaxation.
After that, overnight, the muscles in the body as a whole return to normal, and no increase in temperature occurs. So, you can not interrupt the massage.
As an anti-aggregation agent, that is, a substance that prevents the formation of blood clots, acetylsalicylic acid tablets are taken daily 1 time per day, at night. The dosage of Aspirin in this case is 1-2 tablets. This procedure is recommended to all people after reaching the age of 40.
During pregnancy and lactation
The birth of a new life is the most crucial period in a woman’s life, and any medication should be taken only for medical reasons.
Acetylsalicylic acid easily crosses the placenta and can cause negative changes in the developing fetus. Therefore, drinking Aspirin in the first 3 months of pregnancy and starting a week before childbirth is contraindicated.
From 4 to 6 months it is allowed to take it, but with great care and under control. Since Aspirin freely penetrates into milk, its intake during breastfeeding is unacceptable. If the state of health still requires the use of this particular drug, then you can’t feed the newborn with breast milk.
Drug interaction
With the simultaneous administration of various drugs, it must be borne in mind that acetylsalicylic acid affects some other drugs, enhancing their effect.
These include:
- narcotic painkillers;
- heparin and other rheumatism drugs;
- internal medicines that lower blood glucose;
- sulfonamides;
- Co-trimoxazole;
- platelet inhibitory drugs;
- Triiodothyronine.
In the presence of Aspirin, the toxicity of methotrexate is enhanced, and the concentration in the blood of substances such as digoxin, lithium and barbiturates is increased.
In the process of interaction with acetylsalicylic acid, the effectiveness of the action is significantly reduced:
- benzobromarone;
- diuretic agents, for example, Furosemide, Spironolactone;
- Sulfinpyrazone and the like;
- as well as funds designed to lower the pressure.
Other substances also affect the effectiveness of Aspirin. So, drugs in which aluminum or magnesium hydroxide is present slows down its absorption.
Alcohol compatibility
In the presence of alcohol in the body, the dangerous effects of acetylsalicylic acid on the stomach and intestines increase. In severe cases, even bleeding and ulceration are possible. So in the treatment of diseases with indications for the use of Aspirin, all alcohol-containing drinks and medicines (for example, Corvalol and other sedative tinctures) should be excluded.
Contraindications, side effects and overdose
Not all people can drink Aspirin. There are diseases the presence of which prohibits the use of this drug.
These conditions include:
- negative reaction of the body to any component of the drug or to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- pregnancy (especially the first trimester and the last 7 days before childbirth);
- the entire period of breastfeeding;
- age up to 15 years;
- hemorrhagic diathesis;
- problems in the liver or kidneys;
- hemophilia or thrombocytopenia;
- bleeding of any form;
- exacerbation of peptic ulcer in any department of the gastrointestinal tract;
- and Aspirin should not be drunk with Methotrexate if the weekly dose of this medication is 15 mg or more.
Aspirin is allowed for use under the special supervision of a doctor in the following conditions:
- parallel treatment with several agents that reduce blood coagulation;
- tendency to gout;
- transferred ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
- frequent gastrointestinal bleeding;
- gastritis, accompanied by mucosal damage;
- low platelet count in the blood;
- lack of vitamin K;
- anemia
- hypertension
- as well as with violations of the heart.
Even with careful following the instructions for use, Aspirin may be accompanied by unpleasant manifestations of a different nature.
Among them:
- abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting;
- the appearance of ulcers on the walls of the gastrointestinal tract;
- decrease in platelet count (this can be seen by slow blood coagulation);
- hemorrhagic rash;
- bronchospasm and, as a result, shortness of breath;
- the formation of kidney stones;
- the appearance of black stool, indicating an open intestinal bleeding;
- very rarely, but possible disruption of the organs responsible for ridding the body of toxins - the kidneys and liver.
If you exceed the recommended dose during Aspirin treatment, other unpleasant consequences are possible:
- nausea and vomiting;
- hearing loss or noise in the head;
- state of disorientation, instability of consciousness;
- dizziness;
- headache.
These symptoms appear with an overdose of moderate or minor severity and will quickly stop as soon as you lower the dose. But more severe cases are possible when fever begins, respiratory failure, a sharp decrease in the amount of glucose in the blood and shock occur. In extreme cases, a coma is possible. This already indicates an overdose in a severe form.Only an immediate ambulance call can help here. If possible, give the victim 20 tablets of activated charcoal before the doctors arrive.
Analogs of tablets
The widespread use of Aspirin has led pharmaceutical companies to start producing a large number of drugs in which acetylsalicylic acid combines in various combinations with other substances. Thus, many analogues of Aspirin with other names appeared.
In our country, in pharmacies you can find about 200 different substitutes for this drug. Some of them, containing only acetylsalicylic acid, inhibit the formation of platelets.
These include drugs such as:
- Sanovask;
- Aspecard
- Cardi ASK;
- Thrombotic ACC;
- ASK-Cardio and others
For those who have too many platelets in their blood, and who need a stronger suppression of their formation, drugs that additionally include clopidogrel are suitable.
This group includes:
- Clopigrant A;
- Clopidogrel Plus;
- Plagril A, etc.
The addition of magnesium to acetylsalicylic acid allows better protection of the gastric mucosa.
This medication category includes:
- ThromboMag;
- Phasostable;
- Trombital Forte;
- Cardio Magnil.
In addition, there is a fairly wide list of painkillers, which include caffeine and paracetamol in various doses.
Among them:
- Excedrine;
- Coficil Plus;
- the well-known Citramon and its analogue, Citramon P, often used for migraines;
- Citramon Extra Cap;
- Migrenol Extra and others
This list of Aspirin analogues is far from complete. In pharmacies, other drugs made based on acetylsalicylic acid may also be found.
