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List of medications for alcoholism and hangovers

The people considered alcoholism a sort of Vice, and people suffering from alcohol addiction – lost weaklings with low moral character, on which the time is spend sorry. Therefore, when a family problem arises, there is also an explanation ("he has a very strong bloodline"), and then the decision ("throw it before he ruined your life"). Of course, are dedicated and committed spouses who stand by and try to snatch his mate from the clutches of the green dragon, but most of them are directly or implicitly blames the alcoholic that he is.

Meanwhile, alcoholism is the same disease as sciatica or diabetes. To it is predisposition, it is the mechanism of occurrence and development stages, periods of exacerbation and remission. And, like any disease, alcoholism is possible, and most importantly – need to be treated. But in order to begin treatment, first, you need to acknowledge the problem, and secondly, to develop her the right attitude. Drunken parties after work every weekend is not normal, the inability to celebrate a significant event without a bottle – it's sad, but a joke about someone who has fought and lost in a state of intoxication – it's not funny.

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Why is there a dependence?

Almost all who are willing to admit to alcoholism disease, immediately hasten to add to this definition the word "hereditary". Therefore, in patients there are some physiological characteristics they share with their descendants. How else to explain the fact that some people constantly drink, but not become dependent, and others after a few years of regular libations completely lose their human form?

Physiological feature really is, but it is not a decisive factor in the development of alcohol dependence. This feature only affects the speed at which a person gets used to alcohol.

The liver produces two enzymes, which directly influence predisposition to alcoholism:

  • Alcohol dehydrogenase – triggers a chemical reaction in which ethyl alcohol is decomposed into water and acetaldehyde - a toxic substance that causes hangover symptoms. The more a person of this enzyme, the faster he sobers up. But the more and more he drinks, the less alcohol dehydrogenase produced by the liver;
  • Acetyldigitoxin – saves the organism from poisoning by acetaldehyde, turning it into harmless acetic acid. The more a person of this enzyme, the more alcohol he is able to eat without painful consequences morning. But, as in the previous case, regular abuse of alcohol leads to decreased production of the valuable enzyme.

To blame genes?

Conclusion: if a person has the liver from nature does not cope with the work and provides the body with enzymes in the right amount, he will almost certainly become an alcoholic. But this is not so, and the best proof of the fallacy of the genetic theory of alcoholism has served the international statistics.

The representatives of the Mongoloid race produced negligible amount of alcoholic ferments, so they after a few glasses of spirits blush and start to feel good. In other words, with such a body any pleasure from drinking not get it, that's why Asians very rarely buy alcohol dependence.

But the indigenous peoples of South America – the Indians – the nature of the fast metabolism, the liver synthesizes a very large number of both alcoholic ferments, therefore, unable to really get drunk, they sober without a hangover. That's why the descendants of the Mayans and the Aztecs are rarely sick with alcoholism – they just reach the "high"from which other Nations become dependent.

Other Indians, North American, and also indigenous peoples of the far North, on the contrary is traditionally considered the most drinking. In some American reservations and in remote villages of the Republic of Komi do something terrible – people don't dry for months, and all the polls.

Surprisingly, the enzymes do not have this trouble exactly nothing! Representatives of African, North American and Northern European (Slavic) peoples of alcoholic production of enzymes in the liver from nature is average. The cause of global drinking the Cherokee Indians and the inhabitants of the remotest villages of the far North – the isolation and social disadvantage. People have no prospects in life, and circle only onean example of the behavior – drunkenness.

Come to the main point: the Russians have, as you already know, there are no genetic reasons for drinking there. Blame"folk tradition". You need to consider that with age any person's liver begins to work worse and needed enzymes getting smaller. Therefore, the average Russian alcoholic – a Mature man, a product of his environment and a slave to his habits.

Male and female

Ethyl alcohol in the liver takes fatty acids to the reaction product which is the ethyl ether is a volatile substance that causes the feeling of lightness and euphoria. In medicine, ethyl ether used as a means for immersion of the patient into a state of anesthesia. But where are the female alcoholism, often called "incurable"?

The fact is, that women have on average a higher percentage of adipose tissue in the body and in the liver. In addition, they have less body water than men, and a totally different hormonal balance. The result is women get drunk faster, suffer from this condition more fun, and stay in it longer than men.

It is considered that women drink too much faster and more difficult to treat because of weak mind, - they say that they have no willpower. This view is mistaken. To the formation of dependence (and anyone – even alcohol, at least games) are inclined all the people with reactive type of psyche, regardless of gender.

Reactive people tend to forgive myself for failure, feeling sorry for myself in any situation to justify themselves. First he says: "I didn't do lessons because there was no light,"and then:"I drink because my dad is an alcoholic."

The opposite type of personality – proactive – able to admit they were wrong, to perceive criticism, and most importantly - change for the better, to seek solutions, to improve. The truth is that all men are reactive in nature in varying degrees, and proactive not born, but becomes it.

From a physiological predisposition, we decided: the peculiarities of the functioning of the liver does not make a person an alcoholic, but only accelerate addictive with regular abuse of alcohol. And what about the psychological predisposition? Whether to believe in the fact that a dangerous temperament is inherited? And what about the numerous examples of children of alcoholics raised in a different environment and have achieved success in life?

Modern psychologists believe that personality is formed primarily by environment, rather than genetic baggage. And she also saved the environment – a sincere belief in the person and in time a helping hand is able to pull of the abyss, even someone who has long fell.


Three steps inabyss

Alcohol, like any chronic disease, there are stages of development, - here they are:

  • I stage – the person begins to feel pleasure from alcohol intoxication. Ethyl alcohol serves him and a quick source of energy, and remedy complex. After a few glasses of alcohol inhibited the activity of the cerebral cortex and the subcortical layers aktiviziruyutsya Vice versa. As a result the person begins to feel relaxed, sociable, fun and sexually attractive. But then the excitement gives way to drowsiness and sadness, and to get rid of this and regain a feeling of euphoria, the person drinking again. Overdose causes alcohol poisoning and a severe hangover, but the more and longer one drinks, the weaker the reaction of rejection. By the end of the first stage of psychological dependence on alcohol is already fully formed;
  • Stage II – psychological dependence is added to physiological. Waking up in the morning, the alcoholic feels "at ease": headache, shaking hands, throughout the body weakness, the mood is ugly and do not want to do. This condition is akin to drug withdrawal, and to freshen up, a person is forced to adopt a new dose of "drugs". Once alcohol enters the bloodstream, there comes instant relief, aktiviziruyutsya brain is apathy, mood. But several hours later, the alcoholic again slipping into a state of withdrawal. By the end of the second stage of the disease is formed a vicious circle of multi-day binges, from which the patient sees less and less;
  • Stage III – the final addiction to alcohol, and completely disappears the reaction of protest on the part of the body. Even a tiny amount of ethanol rapidly causes intoxication, which quickly passes and is replaced by thirst without the hangover. Regular alcohol abuse destroys the body instead of the digestive system is rotting, the liver and kidneys can not cope with the removal of harmful substances, brain cells rapidly die. The alcoholic is in the third stage constantly had diarrhea most of the day, he sleeps, there are memory lapses. Without treatment, alcoholism leads to the development of liver cirrhosis, stomach ulcers, gastritis, pancreatitis, cardiac andrenal failure, oncological diseases and severe mental disorders – delirium tremens (delirium tremens), epilepsy, schizophrenia.


Drugs for the treatment of alcoholism

To treat alcoholism should be a qualified specialist – a psychiatrist. A separate appointment and medication from alcoholism never ends with success, and, no matter how good and effective is the medicine. Treatment of alcohol dependence and physiological withdrawal symptoms are completely different things. To eliminate the effects without eliminating the cause is meaningless, that's why the road to recovery begins not with pills, and with psychological support.

However, there are medications that help to overcome the physiological dependence on alcohol, and coupled with psychotherapy to accelerate the return of the alcoholic to a normal life. But to appoint such drugs should the doctor emphasize it again.


Pills that cause aversion to alcohol

This group of drugs include substances that inhibit the synthesis of the enzyme acetyldigitoxin and thereby not giving the body rid itself of acetaldehyde, the toxic decay product of ethanol. If the regular adoption of such substance or "sewing" it into the skin of the person would take alcohol, he will feel the symptoms of severe alcohol poisoning (nausea, weakness, headache, sweating, tremor, fear of death), not even being able to get drunk.

Disulfiram

  • Trade names: Tetlong-250, Esperal, Teturam, Lievin, Abstinent, Antabus, Anticol, Carotenal, Anteater, Noksel, Anetan, Radomer, Espinal, Contraot, Aversan, Stoptail, Refusal, Alkoholen, Distil, Aksoran, Alcoholin.

  • Price range: 70-900 rubles, depending on the shape, packaging and dosage.

  • Pharmacological action and application: inhibits the synthesis of acetaldehydes and causes the clinical picture of acute alcohol poisoning. Rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and excreted by the kidneys. The dosage of disulfiram is selected individually after a thorough examination by a psychiatrist. The drug needs to accumulate in the patient's body gradually, so its either take every day, boosting the dosage, or sewn into the shoulder or buttocks.

  • Contraindications: age over 60 years, peptic ulcer disease, reduced blood clotting, mental disorders, hypertension of 2-3 degrees, heart, kidney and liver failure, atherosclerosis, hyperthyroidism, tuberculosis, diabetes, bronchial asthma, neuritis of the auditory nerve and glaucoma.

  • Side effects: metallic taste in mouth, jaundice, polyneuritis, seizures, hypotension, syncope, vasospasm, seizures, respiratory arrest, myocardial infarction.

  • Special instructions: the drug should not be taken in combination with anticoagulants and aspirin. The use of alcohol in a dosage of more than 100 ml is dangerous for life.

Laminar

  • Trade names: MCPFE

  • Price range: 1300-1500 rubles

  • Pharmacological action and application: the MCPFE operates in the same way as disulfiram. Sold in packs containing 4 vials with drops. Assigned by 12-25 drops morning and evening. In every drop of the preparation contains about 3 mg of caminada.

  • Contraindications: pulmonary, renal, hepatic and cardiac failure; pregnancy and breast-feeding.

  • Side effects: while the alcohol in the body is not supplied, side effects rarely disturb the patient (drowsiness, weakness, moderate leukocytosis), but in case of failure there is a strong nausea, vomiting, decreased blood pressure, increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, double vision, convulsions, fainting and collapse.

Pills that reduce the craving for alcohol

Drugs in this group operate more smoothly, are produced from vegetable raw materials and are homeopathic drugs, so their effectiveness is highly variable, and is determined individually during the treatment.

Proproten 100

This is a homeopathic sublingual tablets to dissolve or drops of a composition which contains human antibodies to moskomarhitectura squirrel.

  • Price range: 100-300 rubles

  • Pharmacological action and application: Proproten 100 improves overall health of the patient alcoholism, inhibits the effect of withdrawal in the absence of alcohol andeases the severity of hangover. In the first 2 hours after waking up take 1 tablet every 30 minutes, and then all day one pill every hour. For preventing binge Proproten take 100 three times a day for 3-4 days after receipt of alcohol in the body. In the preventive purposes the preparation appoint 1-2 tablets every morning and evening for 3-6 months. Proproten take 100 drops in the same way, the dosage is 10 drops at a time, one hour before meals or 2 hours after.

  • Contraindications: pregnancy and breast-feeding.

  • Side effects: rarely – blurred vision and local allergic reactions.


Pills to relieve hangover symptoms

Drugs withdrawal symptoms do not cure alcoholism, but only help to cope with poor health after abundant libations: to relieve a headache and nausea, to remove hand tremors and heart palpitations. Usually they contain acids that are corrosive to the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, so these tablets should not be taken often. Of course, it is better to quit drinking.

Consider also that all the drugs in this group consist of simple, cheap ingredients like baking soda, aspirin, citric and other acids, – and are sold for big money. The usual glass of mineral water with slice of lemon and aspirin affect you the same way.

Alka-Seltzer

  • Analogues: Zoreks-Morning

  • Price range: 190-250 rubles

  • Pharmacological action and application: these drugs consist of aspirin, relieves headache, as well as sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, which eliminate nausea. Sold in the form of effervescent tablets. In the morning, before meals, drink a glass of water with one or two dissolved tablets, and the day you can drink no more than nine tablets with interval between meals at least four hours.

  • Contraindications: gastric ulcer, bronchial asthma, hemorrhagic diathesis, acute renal and liver failure, gout, pregnancy and lactation.

  • Side effects: difficulty breathing, skin rashes, tinnitus, angioedema, heartburn, nausea, epigastric pain.

Alka-Prim

  • Counterparts: Alko-Nar, Alko-buffer Alko-stop, Alcohol-detox.

  • Price range: 70-200 rubles.

  • Pharmacological action and application: the composition of these drugs differ from the previous one, except that instead of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate in them added glycine, which not only prevents nausea but also calms the nervous system and to relieve headaches used the same aspirin. The procedure of admission and the maximum dosage is the same. If the drug is taken not from a hangover, but just for head or dental pain, then you need to consider that it is impossible to drink more than one week in a row.

  • Contraindications: same as that of Alka-Seltzer.

  • Side effects: heartburn, nausea, allergic urticaria, bleeding, and abdominal pain, disturbances stool and appetite.

Metadoxil

  • Price range: 800-1000 rubles

  • Pharmacological action and application: the preparation contains a complex of B vitamins to speed up the process of oxidation of acetaldehyde and my periodic sharpening to neutralize its destructive action on the liver and body in General. Prescribed for chronic alcoholism and liver failure (1 tablet twice daily for 1-3 months) and acute withdrawal syndrome. But to make a strong hangover medicine is not enough, usually the patient is placed under IV metadoxile for 2-3 hours.

  • Contraindications: Parkinson's disease, individual intolerance, pregnancy, lactation.

  • Side effects: respiratory failure (very rare in asthmatics), local allergic reactions.

Limontar

  • Price range: 80-100 rubles

  • Pharmacological action and application: the product is composed of citric and succinic acids, which accelerate the oxidation of toxic acetaldehyde to acetic acid. In addition, limontar relieves nausea, improves metabolism and facilitates cell respiration. It is taken for the prevention of intoxication, withdrawal hangover symptoms, eliminate the phenomenon of fetal hypoxia in miscarriage, as well as the "test meal" during the examination of the stomach.

  • One tablet of limontar is dissolved in a glass of weak soda solution or water just before drinking alcohol to prevent hangovers. If the intoxication or the hangover has already arrived, take one capsule every two to three hours, and in the case of binge continue treatment up to tenconsecutive days, and better in combination with other drugs as limontar has expressed no therapeutic action on binge alcoholics.
  • Contraindications: glaucoma, stomach ulcer, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, late gestosis, individual intolerance.

  • Side effects: jumps in blood pressure, a short pain in the stomach.

Zoreks

  • Price range: 180-600 rubles, depending on the dosage and packaging.
  • Pharmacological action and application: the drug unitiol contains, calcium Pantothenate and dimercaprol sodium. These substances bind the acetaldehyde and remove it with urine, thereby playing the role of a liver enzyme acetyldigitoxin that in the patient with alcoholism are sorely lacking. Zoreks can be used as a detox agent not only with a hangover but also in poisoning with heavy metals. The standard dosage is one capsule above, twice a day. When drinking and chronic alcoholism treatment can be last for up to ten consecutive days.

  • Contraindications: acute renal failure, pregnancy, lactation.

  • Side effects: local allergic reactions; very rarely in overdoses nausea, palpitations, dizziness and pallor.


Tablets, neutralizes the effects of alcohol

This group includes substances that reduce the destructive influence of ethyl alcohol on the body and prevents the development of pathology of the internal organs on a background of regular abuse of alcohol. They do not cure alcoholism, but only prolong the time during which a person can resist the spirit and to avoid catastrophic health consequences.

B vitamins

These vitamins starts craving a little alcoholic, and the deficit, in turn, leads to the destruction of nerve fibers and brain cells, and feelings of numbness and begonia "chills" in the skin, and in the final stages of the disease to alcoholic delirium and hallucinations. Therefore, long-term drinker, it is vital to provide vitamins of group B. To do this, use thiamine in ampoules, preparations of neuromultivit (contains vitamins B1, B6 and B12) and LITHONIA (containing the lithium salt of nicotinic acid).

Crystalline solutions for infusion

With the help of dripthe introduction of glucose solution, gemodeza or can significantly accelerate the neutralization of acetaldehyde, activate blood circulation, to saturate the blood with oxygen and to remove headache with withdrawal syndrome. Therefore, the removal of heavy drinking is best done in a hospital where the patient can provide quick and competent assistance, and also to minimize the harm from large doses of alcohol.

Chelators

Drugs such as POLYSORB, RECLEN-RD (contains vitamins), Filtrum-STI, white charcoal help to cope with alcohol intoxication and excrete the toxic breakdown products of ethanol, so they benefit as in acute withdrawal syndrome, and preventive health.


Tablets for the treatment of alcoholic mental disorders

These drugs are taken only on prescription and, in the majority, are not released from pharmacies without a prescription:

  • Anticonvulsant – topiramate, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, valproic acid;
  • Hypnotics (barbiturates) phenobarbital, fenazepam;
  • Antipsychotics – phenothiazines (triftazin, promazin, thioproperazine, thioridazine, etaperazin, chloropromazine), butyrophenone (haloperidol, droperidol), xanthene (chlorprothixene, flupentixol, eulogistical), bicyclic and tricyclic benzamide (risperidone, clozapine, quetiapine, opensalon, diagrid, sulpiride, amisulpiride);
  • Antidepressants – novopassit, Afobazol;
  • Tranquilizers – diazepam, imovan, buspirone, midazolam, alprazolam, meprobamate, hydroxyzine, benactyzine;
  • Normotimiki – carbonate and lithium oxybutyrate.

Pills for treatment of alcoholism without the knowledge of the patient

When a sick person denies his dependency, or deliberately don't want to be treated for alcoholism, relatives or spouses often are solved on an extreme step – to deceive the alcoholic and to cure it by force, without consent. This idea even at first glance it seems doubtful, and, in practice, it almost always turns out to be a failure. While the man himself is not aware of their problem and do not want to solve it, no pills will not help, and, whether drinking alone or secretly slipped.

However, in desperate situations, relatives and spouses of alcoholics are still trying to use the following medications:

  • Blocker and Barrier – biologically active food Supplement containing a complex of B vitamins, micro and macroelements, as well as glycine.To support alcohol depleted the body they certainly can, but to cure addiction – can you believe this?;
  • The MCPFE drops – these drops we have already mentioned, they are secretly added to food and drink of the patient after the intake of alcohol he was not feeling well;
  • Disulfiram – like previous the drug described above, and has the same effect – it causes nausea, hand tremors, sweating and fear of death after the first drunk shot glasses of alcohol.

First, food poisoning patient with substances that inhibit the synthesis of hepatic enzyme responsible for the breakdown of acetaldehyde, can is banal not to calculate the dosage and cause severe poisoning, even death. And secondly, a drinker, not knowing that he slipped something may not associate their poor health with the adoption of alcohol. He will drink more. Or decide that the counterfeit vodka, and buy another. In this case, the result is certainly to be deplorable, regardless of the dosage.

Even if an alcoholic sees the relationship between drinking and poor health, and refuse alcohol, think about whether he will recover from addiction? Of course not, he'll just be angry and miserable, and, for a time, exactly to the moment until you cease to give him the medicine. Therefore, the treatment of alcoholism should be conscious and voluntary, only then have a chance of success.