Introduction
If you do have problems with your gastrointestinal tract, it seems that the most effective treatment is domperidone but it may be that you know very little about this drug medication. Well, now that you know the treatment the next thing is to know as much as you can about domperidone especially about how it works so that you can become more confident about using the medication. Read on to gain more facts about it.
Stimulates movement in the gastrointestinal tract
Domperidone is a member of a group of drug medications known as dopamine antagonists.
Its main use is that of treating the slow movement of substances in the gastrointestinal tract that’s mainly caused by the presence of diabetes and gastritis or an inflammation of the lining of the stomach.
The healing powers of domperidone
Patients who are treated for gastrointestinal tract disorders are simultaneously relieved from symptoms of nausea and vomiting, bloating and a feeling of always being full.
Domperidone may also be used as a treatment for preventing stomach nausea and vomiting that usually result from people being treated with medications which are used to treat Parkinson’s disease.
The healing action of domperidone drug medication helps the stomach to quickly discharge its content and so prevent the onset of nausea and vomiting.
Domperidone may be presented under many brand names and also in several different forms but it’s also the case that a particular brand name may not be available in all the forms that you may have heard or even approved for all of the conditions discussed in this article.
The good news is that the drug medication is available and it has been proven to do the healing work it’s supposed to do.
Consulting your doctor is vital
It’s quite likely that your doctor may recommend that you use domperidone for other conditions instead of those listed in drug articles you’ve read elsewhere.
If that’s the case you need to eradicate any doubts you may have about the medication by discussing it with your doctor.
If you are not sure exactly why you are taking the medication, talk to your doctor about it so you can become familiar with the medication.
In any case it wouldn’t be wise to discontinue taking the medication without first consulting your doctor about your intention for doing so.
It’s also not advisable to give the treatment to someone else even if they have the same symptoms that you have.
The reason is that it may prove harmful to them if their own doctor didn’t prepare the prescription. That being the case they should obtain their prescription from their own doctor.
What form does the domperidone tablet have?
In addition to wanting to know how the medication works, it’s also useful to know in what form the drug medication assumes.
The form of the medication is a biconvex, white in color and film-coated tablet with a logo that depicts a
“P” over a “10” display on only one side of the tablet.
The logo signifies that the tablet contains 10mg of domperidone.
Not displayed are the non-medicinal ingredients such as lactose and cornstarch, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone, magnesium stearate, sodium docusate 85%-sodium benzoate 15% and others.
How to use domperidone tablets
Knowing how a medication works and how it’s used are what the user must know before the medication is actually ingested.
It would be good to know that domperidone is available as a 10mg tablet which is taken 15 to 30 minutes before sitting down to have a meal.
Dose
The maximum dose for one day has been set at 30mg per day which effectively means that users are expected to take 3 tablets every day which also represents the shortest possible time of treatment.
The actual potency of the medication on the patient once it’s taken depends on various factors such as body weight, medical condition of the patient and the influence of other medications.
Prescription
It should be noted that if your doctor prescribes a dose that’s different from what is described in this article, you shouldn’t alter the way you are taking the medication before you talk to your doctor who will issue instructions for you to follow.
Once you are given a prescription, you should strictly adhere to it but of course unforeseen things can happen
How to deal with missing doses
You may miss a dose in which case you should take the missed dose immediately when you remember it and then continue with your existing schedule.
If you also notice that your missed dose is to expire very soon, skip it and wait for your next dose, take it and then resume your normal schedule.
You may not double your dose in the hope of “catching up” on the dose you missed and whenever you are uncertain about this, consult with your doctor or pharmacist for advice.
Storing and disposing domperidone
For getting the best effective results from this drug medication, you should store domperidone in a place where light and moisture are absent and should not be within the reach of children.
When you want to dispose of any form of medication including drug medication such as domperidone, avoid throwing them into wastewater receptacles such as the sink, into the toilet or the garbage bin.
The best thing to do would be to ask your pharmacist to advise you on how to dispose of unneeded or expired medications.
Domperidone doesn’t work for everyone
While domperidone may be effective in challenging the malfunction in your gastrointestinal tract and can alleviate feelings of nausea and vomiting, not everyone can take it if they are:
- experiencing blocked stomach or intestines
- suffering from prolactinoma which is a tumor of the pituitary gland of the brain
- taking medications that result in QT prolongation
- prone to bleeding from intestinal or stomach bleeding
- suffering from moderate to severe liver impairment.
- personally allergic to domperidone or any of its ingredients
- using other medications that have similar family roots as ketoconazole, erythromycin, ritonavir or nefazodone
- experiencing QT prolongation (a kind of irregular heartbeat)
- suffering from cardiac disease such as heart failure
- experiencing anomalies of potassium, magnesium or calcium levels in the blood
Bottom Line
Knowing exactly how a drug medication such as domperidone actually works, is perhaps the best possible insurance there is against medical mishaps and is the best way for using the medication correctly, safely and effectively. In this article we’ve had a serious look at how domperidone works and have successfully responded to the question: How does domperidone work? in answering this question, we’ve provided information that will enable you to also know how the drug works.