Sodium thiosulfate: not only an antidote

This drug is injected into the patient's body intravenously. First of all, sodium thiosulfate is a cyanide antagonist. That is, when cyanide poisoning with the help of this medicine, you can save a person. According to the classification, this substance is intended for immediate assistance. In practice, there are still some indications for its use, read more in this article.

As is known, with chemotherapy of cancer, the patient has to deal with a large amount of toxic substance, which is usually very poorly tolerated by the majority. And sodium thiosulfate can reduce the side effects of one of the substances in this class - cisplatin. It is clear that in this case, no one applies this medicine without doctor's recommendations.

As for many other medicines, for thiosulfate, the rule is fair: it can only be used if there is more benefit than possible harm. What does the doctor take into account when prescribing "Sodium thiosulfate"? Instructions for use recommend the following factors.

• Allergic reactions: even if you have ever had an allergy to citrus, you still need to tell the doctor about it. And even more so, if you remember an allergy to medicines. Of course, the doctor will decide;
• Young age: although no experimental data have been obtained about the effect on children, doctors try not to prescribe sodium thiosulfate to children. Although, of course, if you need to save from poisoning, all means are good. Including this;
• Elderly age: there is no experimental data, but it is assumed that there is not much difference in the side effect between young and elderly patients. Therefore, most often the age does not become the reason for refusing the prescription of this medication;
• Pregnancy. Experiments on animals demonstrated harmful effects in all trimesters of pregnancy, so there were no experiments in humans. So, women in this situation, sodium thiosulfate, as a rule, is not prescribed;
• Breastfeeding: the drug is used for lactating mothers only when absolutely necessary;
• Admission of other drugs: decision for a doctor;
• Interaction with alcohol and tobacco. You can not smoke tobacco and drink alcohol during the application of thiosulphate;
• Some diseases. The drug is used with caution in hypertension, liver and kidney disease, edema of the lower limbs, heart disease.

Along with the beneficial effects of unfavorable and sodium thiosulfate. Side effects (often associated with exceeding the dose):

• Anxious excitement (it comes to the fact that a person can not remain in peace)
• Blurring of contours of objects (vision changes a person)
• Hallucinations (a person sees, hears or feels illusory objects and actions)
• Changes in the psyche (sometimes reminiscent of psychosis, since temporarily there is no contact with reality)
• Nausea, vomiting
• Joint pain
• Tinnitus.

It must be said that sodium thiosulfate is present not only as a medicine, it is found in household chemicals and cosmetics. However, to be afraid of using it is not worth it, because it does not enter the blood, so you can not fall into paranoia.

One more action of this drug was recently discovered. Sodium thiosulfate is now being used to treat patients whose vessels are calcified. In this case, normal calcium metabolism does not deteriorate, which makes it possible to widely use the drug in question. The only problem is the nausea and vomiting that appear in most patients. But in this case, such a side effect can be neglected.

Sodium thiosulfate can be prescribed only by a doctor. Therefore, in this article we do not indicate the dose and frequency of use. This information is sufficient for patients, but for doctors there are more detailed reference books.