Faced with painful periods, the first solution offered to young women in pharmacies has often been a box of Spasfon. Available without a prescription, this drug has relieved the pain of more than one. And yet, this Thursday, August 28, the term “Spasfon” topped trends on Twitter, but not for the right reasons. The cause ? Many women have agreed that this medicine would be useless. One user even denounced the “placebo” effect of the treatment. But what is it really?
I see the #spasfon in TT it makes me happy to tell myself that I’m not crazy to repeat that it has always been useless
— A_ll_ex (@A_ll_e_xx) July 28, 2022
Officially, the Spasfon is not intended to treat painful menstruation, but is an antispasmodic drug. According to the Vidal, he “fights abnormal and painful contractions of the intestine, bile ducts, urinary tract and uterus“. Thus, it can be ingested in case of gallstonesof renal colic or of painful periods. But for the latter, the effectiveness of Spasfon is considered low.
An “additional treatment”
In 2008, the High Authority of Health (HAS) showed some efficacy of the drug after three days of treatment in reducing pelvic pain, nevertheless”no recommendation recommends the use of antispasmodics during pelvic pain regardless of its etiology (dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, IUD placement, etc.)“. The report considers the Spasfon as a “adjunctive treatment” and further recommends the use of ibuprofen for example.
Asked by 20 minutesthe director of the National Order of Pharmacists, Bruno Maleine, indicated that over the counter in pharmacies, very few alternatives to Spasfon were available and that the latter remains effective “to respond to a request at time T in order to try to relieve the patient”. In 2017, a survey of 60 million consumers had shown that among 61 self-service drugs in pharmacies, Spasfon was one of about twenty products whose effectiveness was judged “weak or unproven, but having few or rare adverse effects”.
Not possible to qualify the Spasfon as a placebo
The director of the National Order of Pharmacists nevertheless wishes to restore the status of Spasfon and assures that despite the fact that it is an antispasmodic, it is completely possible to use it for all gynecological problems, “even for contractions in pregnant women”.
And he totally refutes the “placebo” effect denounced by some women on Twitter. “We cannot qualify it as such since it is an antispasmodic which acts on the muscles”he assures, while explaining that it is the role of the pharmacist to enlighten women on the existence of medical care more suited to painful periods, such as hormone treatment or the progestogen pill.
“It is also possible to use steroidal anti-inflammatories, for example ibuprofen. But you still have to be careful, with all the precautions for use that it may have”ends Bruno Maleine.
Source :
- Women’s health: against menstrual pain, Spasfon is not a placebo, it’s an alternative, 20 minutesJuly 30, 2022
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