Clonidine Patch For The Treatment Of High Blood Pressure
By Bryan Hill
Clonidine belongs to the class of centrally acting alpha-adrenergic agonist. It treats certain medical conditions including, high blood pressure, ADHD, panic/anxiety disorder, and some pain conditions. Clonidine is a prescription meadication that is available in various forms and each form is approved to be used for certain medical conditions. Clonidine patch is licensed for treating hypertension.
What is a clonidine patch?
Clonidine patches are transdermal system which provides continuous systemic delivery of the medication at a constant rate for a period of 7 days. It is a multi-layered film of 0.2 mm thickness and contains clonidine as its active ingredient.
Clonidine patches are designed to release the active ingredient for a period of 7 days at a constant rate. So, Clonidine skin patch is applied every seven days. After 7 days, the old one should be replaced by a new one, on the same time, same day every single week.
Medical uses of Clonidine patch:
Clonidine patches are approved by the FDA in the treatment of Hypertension. The use of clonidine transdermal patches for treating blood pressure is either done alone or in combination with other hypertensive drug.
Clonidine patch has off-label uses too. It has a great potential to treat opiate withdrawal symptoms, but the safety of Clonidine transdermal system is not yet studied.
Benefits of Clonidine patches: There are some benefits of using transdermal Clonidine patches compared to oral clonidine preparations. 1. Reduce drug cravings 2. It overcomes the problem of missed dose 3. It eliminates the disruption caused by oral administration, because Oral medication has to be taken several times a day. 4. Prevents withdrawal symptoms in the night, because some patients, who miss oral Clonidine preparation in the night, may experience opiate withdrawal symptoms in the night.
Applying the patch: When you will start using these patches, you should know that you will need to apply them every 7 days. It’s recommended that you will remove the old patch and then immediately apply the new one. Disposing of the old patch should be done by folding it in half and then put it someplace that’s out of reach of pets and children. If you don’t know how to apply the patch correctly, don’t worry, as in the following paragraphs you will learn how:
1. The patch should be applied on an area devoid of hair, like your chest, outer arm or upper arm and make sure the area is free of scars, irritation and it’s also dry and clean. It’s not recommended that you will shave the area before you will apply the patch and also don’t have a patch applied to the same area twice in a row. Be sure to check with your doctor for more information on this aspect.
2. In some cases the patch will being to separate from the skin and if this happens, apply the white patch cover over the patch to help it stay in place. Don’t worry, as this cover doesn’t contain any medication. In the case your patch significantly looses or comes off, be sure to apply a new one.
3. Lastly, even though you will wear the patch, you can still delve into your favorite activities, like showering, bathing and swimming.
Final thoughts: Clonidine patches are transdermal patches that deliver medications systemically at a constant rate for a period of 7 days. These patches should be replaced once in 7 days. Although it is approved by FDA for treating hypertension, its off-label use may include treating opiate withdrawal symptoms. Also, Clonidine patches offers more benefits compared to oral preparations.
Hypertension affected individuals, you can discover a summary of the points to make note of if you use a Clonidine patch at http://clonidinepatch.com/ now.