Felodip

Felodip is an antihypertensive drug.

[1], [2], [3]

Indications Felodipa

It is used to eliminate such diseases:

• angina pectoris;
• essential hypertension;
• spontaneous angina.

Release form

The drug is produced in tablets, 10 pieces inside a blister pack. The box contains 3 or 10 such packages.

Pharmacodynamics

By the principle of medicinal action it is a blocker of slow Ca channels. Its active ingredient is the dihydropyridine derivative. In addition to antihypertensive properties, the drug also has antianginal. Reduction of blood pressure values is due to a decrease in OPSS.

The severity of anti-ischemic effects depends on the size of the dosage. Felodipine has the ability to protect against the development of reperfusion complications, as well as to reduce the volume of the myocardium.

Concerning the conductive system, only a minimal effect is noted, the active element does not have a negative inotropic effect.

[4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10]

Pharmacokinetics

The active element is almost completely absorbed, getting inside the digestive tract. After the 1st hepatic passage, intensive metabolic processes are observed. With protein, the drug is synthesized by 99%.

The active ingredient is excreted with the mother's milk during lactation, and in addition it can pass through the BBB and the placenta. The known products of metabolism of drugs do not have medicinal activity.

About 0.5% of the drug is excreted unchanged, another 70% - in the form of products of disintegration through the kidneys, and the remainder - through the intestine. In the α-stage, the half-life is 4 hours, and for the β-stage, 24 hours.

It is noted that in elderly people and people with hepatic diseases, felodipine values inside the blood are much higher than those observed in a younger age group.

Continuous use of drugs does not cause cumulation of the active element. Exceptions are only patients with kidney failure in the chronic stage, who are noted to accumulate inactive metabolic products (in such cases, an individual dosage adjustment is necessary).

Dosing and administration

Take the drug is required in the morning - before breakfast or after it. Do not grind or chew the tablets.

Use of drugs to eliminate essential hypertension.

Antihypertensive treatment should begin with taking a minimum dose of 5 mg. If this dosage turned out to be ineffective, you should increase the dose to 10 mg. They take Felodip once a day.

If the patient suffers from hepatic pathologies, it is required to start therapy with a dose of 2.5 mg, while monitoring the parameters of the hepatic function.

Therapy with a stable form of angina pectoris.

Choose the size of the dosage you need individually, the initial dose per day is 5 mg. The maximum allowable daily dose is 20 mg.

If the patient takes with the drug ACE inhibitors, β-blockers or diuretics, dosage adjustment may be required to avoid a decrease in blood pressure.

If the patient has a disease affecting the work of the liver, the dosage is selected individually.

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Use Felodipa during pregnancy

The medicine can not be prescribed breastfeeding mothers and pregnant women.

Contraindications

The main contraindications:

• stenosis of the aortic aorta (the disease has a clinically significant severity);
• myocardial infarction (in acute stage, up to 1 month);
• Decompensated heart failure;
• marked decrease in blood pressure;
• an unstable form of angina pectoris;
• intolerance with regard to the elements of the drug;
• cardiogenic shock;
• children and adolescents under the age of 18 (since there is no information on the safety of the drug and the effectiveness of its use).

Caution is required when used in people with diseases in the kidney and liver region - take Felodip follows, controlling the biochemical values of the blood.

Side effects Felodipa

The use of the drug may provoke the development of such negative signs:

• rapid onset of fatigue;
• headaches, having a pronounced character (similar to migraine);
• redness of the skin on the face;
• faster heart rate;
• dizziness.

All the above symptoms disappear on their own after 2-3 weeks of therapy, and may appear again due to an increase in the dosage of the drug. In connection with the development of precapillary vasodilation, peripheral edemas may appear.

During periodontitis, there are edemas in the gum area, which have a weak degree of severity. If the hygiene of the mouth is carefully observed, then these manifestations quickly disappear.

Reception of the drug often causes and such side effects: photosensitivity, itching on the skin, urticaria and edema Quincke. In addition, also arthralgia with myalgia, peripheral puffiness, hyperplasia of gums and paresthesia, and in addition an increase in the values of AST and ALT.

[11], [12], [13]

Overdose

When poisoning there is a decrease in blood pressure and a pronounced form of bradycardia.

With the development of such symptoms as a first aid it is necessary to put the victim in a horizontal position and raise his legs. If bradycardia is noted, the patient is administered 0.5-1 mg of atropine intravenously.

To increase the plasma volume, the patient should be infused with a dextran or glucose solution or NaCl solution. If these procedures fail, then α-adrenostimulants are required.

Interactions with other drugs

Medications that increase the values of felodipine inside the blood and inhibit its metabolism: cimetidine with erythromycin, and in addition itraconazole with ketoconazole.

It was revealed that the combination with digoxin causes an increase in its indices, but these changes do not require correction of the sizes of the portions of Felodipa.

The level of the active element of drugs is reduced when combined with drugs such as carbamazepine with barbiturates and phenytoin with rifampicin.

Medications from the category of NSAIDs do not affect the degree of antihypertensive properties of the drug. High values of the synthesis of the active element with the plasma protein do not affect the synthesis of fractions of other drugs, including warfarin.

Antihypertensive effect is potentiated by combining the drug with tricyclics, diuretics, β-blockers and verapamil.

Grapefruit juice contains flavonoids in its composition, which can increase the bioavailability of felodipine, which is why it is strictly prohibited to drink this medicine with this juice.

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Storage conditions

Felodip is required to be kept in standard for medicinal products conditions. The temperature level is within 10-25 ° C.

Shelf life

Felodip is allowed to be used for 4 years after the release of the therapeutic agent.

Analogues

The analogues of the medicine are Plendil and Felodipine.

Reviews

Felodip is used infrequently when compared with other MKC blockers (such as nifedipine with amlodipine, as well as lercanidipine). This is mainly due to the too high cost of the drug.

People who used the medicine commented on it in a positive way, noting the good tolerability of drugs and high medicinal efficacy in the treatment of essential hypertension.

People with angina pectoris in their reviews suggest that with prolonged therapy there is a marked improvement in the condition, anginal pain sensations become rarer and less intense.