Rating of the best drugs for asthenia for 2022

Asthenia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is one of the pathologies that emerged only in the 20th century. It gained its distribution due to the special difficulties of living in large metropolitan areas, the general deterioration of the environmental situation, which together exerts incredible psychological and emotional pressure on the nervous system of a modern person.

Diagnosis of asthenia

Today, this disease, as an independent one, is not recognized by all doctors in the world, but in the Russian Federation there is an international classification of diseases ICD-10, where this disease has the number R53. The paradox is that this syndrome is more likely to occur in a relatively young and energetic population, whose activities are more focused on future work prospects. There is also an assumption about the viral origin of the disease, because antibodies to the Epstein-Barr virus are often found in the blood of patients (there is no complete evidence yet). However, the presence of a latent virus suggests an early depletion of the body due to the impact on it of increased physical / emotional stress. Chronic depression can be called another frequent companion of the disease in question - it is found in more than half of the patients. However, depression can be masked, be somatic, showing only clear signs of severe general fatigue. Some scientists suggest that asthenia is nothing more than a variation of ordinary depression. However, chronic fatigue syndrome is successfully treated not only with antidepressants, but also with special anti-inflammatory drugs, and this already indicates a more complex etiology (origin) of the disease, and it clearly includes both a mental and a viral component.

Symptoms - major and minor criteria

Due to the non-specificity of the type of disease under consideration, with little clarity of its pathogenesis, diagnosis today relies only on clinical criteria.To establish the fact of the disease, it is necessary to certify the totality of a set of clinical criteria, which are divided into mandatory and private.

Mandatory (major) criteria include:

• A permanently present feeling of fatigue, coupled with a general decrease in the rate of working capacity (in percentage terms, by more than 50%) for more than six months, in persons considered healthy according to the main indicators;
• The absence of obvious diseases of a different type and other causes that can cause constant fatigue.

Private (small) criteria include several potential relationships:

• Signs of an infectious process in the chronicle (“borderline” temperature (from +37 to +38 degrees Celsius), lasting for a long period, enlarged lymph nodes, joint / muscle pain, constantly sore throat);
• The presence of problems of a mental and psychological nature (weakening of memory, depression, disturbance of sleep processes);
• Dysfunction of the endocrine-vegetative system (abrupt change in body weight, worsening of the gastrointestinal tract, loss of appetite, inconsistent heart rhythm, problems with urination);
• The manifestation of previously uncharacteristic allergic reactions, hypersensitivity to drugs, complete rejection of ethyl alcohol in all manifestations.

An asthenic diagnosis is considered confirmed when the patient has both types of mandatory criteria, and at least 4 out of 8 are observed for 6 months. Usually, this is expressed in:

• Persistently sore throat;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• muscle pain;
• Chronic lack of sleep;
• General malaise after physical exertion;
• confusion of thought;
• Pain in the chest;
• Permanent anxiety.

CFS risk groups among the population and causes of asthenic syndrome

People from the following groups are most susceptible to the disease under consideration:

• Emergency liquidators (from firefighters to rescuers);
• Residents of regions with poor ecology;
• Patients who have undergone major surgery (relevant for cancer patients);
• Patients with acute chronic ailments (including their latent course);
• People with a high work load (mainly mental);
• People with high emotional and mental stress, without the presence of appropriate physical relaxation.

The most common causes of asthenia are:

• Negative living conditions in terms of the environmental environment;
• Constant effects on the body of various factors that weaken the neuropsychic and immunological protection of the body (surgeries, frequent use of anesthesia, radiation and chemotherapy, exposure to electromagnetic fields from electronics, etc.);
• Being in frequent and prolonged stressful circumstances;
• Lack of physical activity;
• Depressed mental state.

All of the above reasons, as a rule, are accompanied by an increase in bad habits in patients, which only aggravate the overall picture:

1. Alcoholism (domestic, "evening", "weekend" drunkenness in an effort to relieve stress);
2. Smoking intensity (as an attempt to stabilize daytime performance).

CFS clinic

Usually, the patient initially addresses the specialist with complaints of the occurrence of general pain in various parts of the body, among which headaches, difficulty in swallowing, general weakness and excessive fatigue are more often mentioned.When preparing an anamnesis, it is necessary to immediately find out from the applicant the question of sleep dysfunction, namely, does he have daytime sleepiness? Also, when talking with a doctor, psychological problems may be mentioned, such as “loss of interest in life”, “the presence of constant work stress” (which justifies the increased degree of recourse to bad habits), “the need for constant use of stimulants to eliminate a depressed state”. From this it is clear that the clinical picture when collecting an anamnesis should always be supplemented with a detailed clarification of the emotional and psychological status of the applicant, while paying special attention to his eating pattern (regular or spontaneous), the characteristics of employment and the degree of physical activity. Only after finding out the totality of all the above circumstances, it is allowed to exclude other pathologies, and make an asthenic diagnosis.

IMPORTANT! It is always worth remembering that the symptoms of CFS progress progressively and cannot be explained by other somatic painful manifestations.

There is also a situation when, in a clinical study, it is not possible to determine the characteristic objective changes in the body, with the exception of a change in the immune status (which is confirmed by laboratory studies). There will be no changes in blood or urine tests, the syndrome will not manifest itself in any way with an ultrasound examination, and the blood biochemistry will be within the normal range. Then, again, everything will depend on a well-collected anamnesis and a thorough analysis of all obligatory and indirect signs.If the applicant (together with the obvious signs) has memory and mental disorders, then this will already speak of advanced cases of asthenia.

General principles of treatment

Therapeutic measures

For the modern treatment of the disease in question, the following are usually used:

• Immunomodulators;
• antidepressants;
• sedatives;
• Anti-inflammatory drugs;
• Non-steroid drugs.

The general medical complex without fail includes the following activities:

• Setting a normal mode of work and rest, establishing the desired level of physical activity;
• Proper nutrition;
• Taking vitamins (B1, B6, B12 and C);
• Therapeutic exercise, massage and water procedures;
• Autogenic training (up to group psychotherapy);
• Taking immunocorrectors to achieve an adaptive effect;
• Taking daytime tranquilizers and nootropics.

If the patient's syndrome was detected at an early stage (i.e., within the first 12 months), then the prognosis for cure is usually favorable (which will take from a year to two). If CFS is diagnosed at a late stage and the patient has crossed the age bar of 40 years, then the chances of a complete recovery decrease proportionally.

Medical treatment

Usually, doctors try to use specialized immunomodulators (immunostimulants). These include several groups of drugs that differ in their pharmacokinetics (mechanism of action) and have a different chemical composition. They help to stimulate and normalize processes at the level of immunity and cellular structures of the body.In addition, in medical practice, drugs can be widely used that are aimed at increasing the body's resistance in terms of stimulating nonspecific areas of immunity. As a result, immunostimulants can be classified as follows:

• Derivatives of nucleic acids - sodium nucleinate;
• Aliphatic polyamines - azoxymer bromide;
• Interferonogens / interferons - interferon alpha and beta;
• Imidazoline derivatives - bendazole and levamisole;
• Thymus funds;
• Pyrimidine derivatives are pentoxyl or methyluracil.

These funds are used to increase the non-specific / specific resistance of the immune system to infections, they also accelerate the regeneration of the epidermis, promote the healing of poorly healing burns, wounds and ulcers (relevant for the consequences of radiation / cytostatic therapy for cancer patients), as well as they will be good for Hodgkin's disease and lymphocytic leukemia, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis.

Separately, it is worth mentioning tranquilizers (anxiolytics). They are psychotropic drugs that are designed to suppress / reduce feelings of fear, anxiety, excessive anxiety, while lowering the level of emotional stress. Their action is due to a decrease in the excitation of the subcortex of the brain, namely those areas that are responsible for the manifestation of emotional reactions. Also, anxiolytics inhibit the predominance of emotions over reactions and do not allow them to inhibit polysynaptic spinal reflexes. From this it is clear that this category of medicines copes well with the removal of mental stress, with the suppression of manifestations of fear, both in a healthy organism and in patients with pronounced neuroses and neurotic disorders.In addition, tranquilizers have muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant effects, while simultaneously increasing the desire for sleep. The effect of forcing sleep is undesirable for the treatment of asthenia, therefore, so-called “daytime” anxiolytics are used for it, in which the sedative / hypnotic effect is not observed or is very weakly expressed. It is worth noting that a group of these drugs should be used only under the full supervision of the attending physician and they are released exclusively by prescription.

If the treatment course involves taking benzodiazepines, then they are characterized by a gradual increase in dose - from weakly effective to the most effective, which will show the best therapeutic results. Exceptions in this case can only be acute conditions.

If the developed course determines a long period of taking drugs, then for CFS it is preferable to carry out the method of "intermittent therapy", which means a break in taking for several days, followed by the resumption of strictly individual doses. The end of the course should be carried out according to the method of gradually reducing the dosage in order to prevent the risk of a "withdrawal syndrome".

Rating of the best drugs for asthenia for 2022

Budget segment

3rd place: Picamilon

It has a tranquilizing, psychostimulating, antiplatelet and antioxidant effect. It improves the functional state of the brain due to the normalization of tissue metabolism and the effect on cerebral circulation (increases the volumetric and linear velocity of cerebral blood flow, reduces vascular resistance by inhibiting platelet aggregation, improves microcirculation).With a course intake, it increases physical and mental performance, reduces headaches, improves memory, normalizes sleep, helps to reduce or disappear feelings of anxiety, tension, fear, improves the condition of patients with motor and speech disorders, reduces the inhibitory effect of ethanol on the central nervous system. Improves blood circulation in the vessels of the retina and optic nerve. The recommended cost for retail chains is 110 rubles.

• Low price;
• Fast and complete absorption;
• Admission for alcoholism is allowed.

• Should not be taken in renal failure.

2nd place: "Mexidol"

The drug increases the body's resistance to the effects of various damaging factors (shock, hypoxia and ischemia, cerebral circulation disorders, intoxication with alcohol and antipsychotics (neuroleptics). It modulates the activity of membrane-bound enzymes, increases the content of dopamine in the brain. It has an anti-stress effect, manifests itself in the normalization of post-stress behavior , somatovegetative disorders, restoration of sleep-wake cycles, impaired learning and memory processes, reduction of dystrophic and morphological changes in various brain structures.The recommended retail price is 230 rubles.

• Stops asthenic conditions;
• Reduces fatigue;
• Profiles somatic diseases.

• The possibility of allergic reactions.

1st place: "Vinpotropil"

It improves the integrative activity of the brain, promotes the consolidation of memory, facilitates the learning process.Changes the rate of propagation of excitation in the brain, improves microcirculation without having a vasodilating effect, inhibits the aggregation of activated platelets. It has a protective effect in case of brain damage caused by hypoxia, intoxication, electric shock. The recommended cost for retail chains is 320 rubles.

• Successfully fights with asthenic syndrome;
• Compensates for chronic fatigue and post-traumatic genesis;
• Counteracts dizziness.

• Skin allergic reactions are possible.

Middle price segment

3rd place: Phezam

Combined drug with a pronounced antihypoxic, nootropic and vasodilating effect. The components mutually potentiate a decrease in the resistance of cerebral vessels and contribute to an increase in blood flow in them. Piracetam activates metabolic processes in the brain by enhancing energy and protein metabolism, accelerating the utilization of glucose by cells and increasing their resistance to hypoxia. It works against diseases of the central nervous system, accompanied by a decrease in intellectual-mnestic functions (impaired memory, attention, mood). Prevents psycho-organic syndrome with a predominance of signs of asthenia and adynamia, asthenic syndrome. It is intended for the prevention of migraine and kinetosis. The recommended cost for retail chains is 350 rubles.

• Combined remedy;
• Accessibility for children and adults;
• Relatively short course (3 months).

• Contraindicated in pregnant and lactating women.

2nd place: Trekrezan

The immunological effects of this drug help to increase endurance during physical and mental stress, reduce the effect of various toxins, increase the body's resistance to hypoxia, low and high temperatures and other adverse environmental factors. It is used during the period of high intellectual and heavy physical exertion, is used to increase the body's resistance to various stressful effects (hypoxia, overheating, hypothermia) and adverse environmental influences (a sharp change in climatic conditions, adaptation to atmospheric pressure drops). The recommended cost for retail chains is 500 rubles.

• Does not affect the management of the vehicle;
• Released without a prescription;
• Long shelf life.

• Contraindicated in children.

1st place: Grandaxin

A drug from benzodiazepine derivatives (an atypical benzodiazepine derivative) has an anxiolytic effect, practically not accompanied by a sedative, muscle relaxant, anticonvulsant effect. It is a psychovegetative regulator, eliminates various forms of autonomic disorders. It has a moderate stimulating activity. Due to the lack of a muscle relaxant effect, it can also be used in patients with myopathy and myasthenia gravis. Due to the atypical chemical structure, unlike classical benzodiazepine derivatives, "Grandaxin" in therapeutic doses practically does not cause the development of physical, mental dependence and withdrawal syndrome.It is used for neurosis and neurosis-like conditions (conditions accompanied by emotional stress, autonomic disorders, moderate anxiety, apathy, decreased activity, obsessive feelings), as well as to reduce reactive depression with moderate psychopathological symptoms. Great for overcoming mental adjustment disorder (post-traumatic stress disorder). The recommended price for retail chains is 840 rubles.

• Does not suppress the central nervous system;
• Does not reduce attention and concentration;
• An overdose is almost impossible.

• There may be a decrease in appetite.

Premium class

3rd place: "Stimol"

It is used in the symptomatic treatment of functional asthenia: asthenic syndrome, overwork, increased fatigue, during the recovery period after illness. Does not affect the central nervous system, does not cause addiction and sleep disturbance. It has an original composition: the components of the active substance of the drug are metabolites that are normally present in the body, which are necessary for a person to carry out energy metabolism reactions. Approved for use in children from 5 years and adults. The recommended cost for retail chains is 990 rubles.

• Possibility of admission to children from 5 years;
• Good value for money;
• The possibility of taking during pregnancy / lactation.

• It is used only as directed by a doctor.

2nd place: "Art Life Neurocomfort"

This herbal "antidepressant" is designed to reduce stress and psycho-emotional tension, normalizes the quality of sleep.The complex is a biologically active composition with L-theanine to support the nervous system during emotional overstrain. It has a mild relaxing effect, helps to cope with anxiety, which means strong nerves + restful sleep. It has a positive effect on the nervous system, reduces anxiety and anxiety. The recommended price for retail chains is 1310 rubles.

• The natural composition provides a mild relaxing effect;
• Suitable for complex application;
• Perfectly improves mood;
• Does not give side effects;
• It does not have a negative effect on the gastrointestinal tract, does not create an additional burden on the body.

• Is a dietary supplement.

1st place: "Astromil"

The drug is effective for stimulating brain activity, helps with drowsiness and overwork. Ideal for a person whose work requires increased responsibility and close communication with many people. It will help to avoid emotional burnout, fatigue, sleep problems and other symptoms of the "manager's syndrome". Also, the capsules have proven to be excellent in the treatment of psychosomatic diseases, such as pain in various parts of the body, allergies, frequent colds and the like. It has nootropic, antidepressant, anti-anxiety activity, and also stimulates immunity weakened by stress. The recommended cost for retail chains is 1510 rubles.

• An effective remedy that is not a dietary supplement;
• Short and effective course (1 month);
• Natural composition.

• Pretty high price.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be recalled that the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome is an extremely complex process, in which, in addition to drugs, an important role should be played by the correct daily routine, proper diet, reduction of prolonged static loads and constant exercise. At the same time, you should give up alcohol and tobacco, as well as reduce the time spent at the computer, game consoles and TV.