{"id":174,"date":"2019-10-17T21:52:09","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T21:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/chapter\/4-8-alpha-1-agonists\/"},"modified":"2021-12-07T11:10:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T11:10:39","slug":"4-8-alpha-1-agonists","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/chapter\/4-8-alpha-1-agonists\/","title":{"raw":"4.8 Alpha-1 Agonists","rendered":"4.8 Alpha-1 Agonists"},"content":{"raw":"Pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine are Alpha-1 agonists.\n\nMechanism of Action:<\/strong> Alpha-1 agonists stimulate alpha receptors in the respiratory tract, causing constriction of blood vessels and shrinkage of swollen nasal mucous membranes, thus increasing airway patency and reducing nasal congestion.\n\nIndication:<\/strong> These drugs are commonly used for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory infections.\n\nNursing Considerations:<\/strong> Pseudoephedrine has had recent limitations placed on its use because it is a common ingredient in the illicit manufacturing of the drug methamphetamine. Pharmacies now require individuals to provide identification to purchase pseudoephedrine and must track the number of purchases. As a result, most over-the-counter decongestants now contain phenylephrine. Both should be used cautiously in patients with glaucoma, hypertension, or an enlarged prostate gland and are contraindicated in patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), an older class of medication used to treat depression. Monitor for elevated blood pressure, urinary retention, nervousness, or difficulty sleeping. Do not administer within 2 hours of bedtime.\n\nPatient Teaching & Education:\u00a0 <\/strong>Patients should be instructed to take medication as prescribed and be careful not to double doses.\u00a0 If they experience nervousness, breathing difficulties, or heart rate changes, they should notify their healthcare provider.[footnote]uCentral from Unbound Medicine. https:\/\/www.unboundmedicine.com\/ucentral<\/a>[\/footnote]\n\nNow let's take a closer look at the medication grid on phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine in Table 4.8.[footnote]This work is a derivative of Daily Med<\/a> by U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a> in the public domain<\/a>.[\/footnote]<\/sup>\n\nTable 4.8 Phenylephrine and Pseudoephedrine Medication Grid\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Class\/Subclass<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Prototype\/Generic<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Administration Considerations<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Therapeutic Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Side\/Adverse Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Alpha-1 agonist<\/th>\nphenylephrine<\/strong><\/a>\n\npseudoephedrine<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\nContraindicated with MAOIs\n\nUse cautiously in patients with glaucoma, hypertension, or enlarged prostate\n\nDo not administer within 2 hours of bedtime<\/td>\nDecreased swelling of mucous membranes and decreased secretions<\/td>\nIncreased blood pressure\n\nUrinary retention\n\nNervousness\n\nDifficulty sleeping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n ","rendered":"

Pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine are Alpha-1 agonists.<\/p>\n

Mechanism of Action:<\/strong> Alpha-1 agonists stimulate alpha receptors in the respiratory tract, causing constriction of blood vessels and shrinkage of swollen nasal mucous membranes, thus increasing airway patency and reducing nasal congestion.<\/p>\n

Indication:<\/strong> These drugs are commonly used for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory infections.<\/p>\n

Nursing Considerations:<\/strong> Pseudoephedrine has had recent limitations placed on its use because it is a common ingredient in the illicit manufacturing of the drug methamphetamine. Pharmacies now require individuals to provide identification to purchase pseudoephedrine and must track the number of purchases. As a result, most over-the-counter decongestants now contain phenylephrine. Both should be used cautiously in patients with glaucoma, hypertension, or an enlarged prostate gland and are contraindicated in patients taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), an older class of medication used to treat depression. Monitor for elevated blood pressure, urinary retention, nervousness, or difficulty sleeping. Do not administer within 2 hours of bedtime.<\/p>\n

Patient Teaching & Education:\u00a0 <\/strong>Patients should be instructed to take medication as prescribed and be careful not to double doses.\u00a0 If they experience nervousness, breathing difficulties, or heart rate changes, they should notify their healthcare provider.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Now let’s take a closer look at the medication grid on phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine in Table 4.8.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Table 4.8 Phenylephrine and Pseudoephedrine Medication Grid<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Class\/Subclass<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Prototype\/Generic<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Administration Considerations<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Therapeutic Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n
\n
Side\/Adverse Effects<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Alpha-1 agonist<\/th>\nphenylephrine<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

pseudoephedrine<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n

Contraindicated with MAOIs<\/p>\n

Use cautiously in patients with glaucoma, hypertension, or enlarged prostate<\/p>\n

Do not administer within 2 hours of bedtime<\/td>\n

Decreased swelling of mucous membranes and decreased secretions<\/td>\nIncreased blood pressure<\/p>\n

Urinary retention<\/p>\n

Nervousness<\/p>\n

Difficulty sleeping<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

  1. uCentral from Unbound Medicine. https:\/\/www.unboundmedicine.com\/ucentral<\/a> ↵<\/a><\/li>
  2. This work is a derivative of Daily Med<\/a> by U.S. National Library of Medicine<\/a> in the public domain<\/a>. ↵<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":"cc-by"},"chapter-type":[49],"contributor":[],"license":[53],"class_list":["post-174","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless","license-cc-by"],"part":149,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/174\/revisions\/175"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/149"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/174\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.publishdot.com\/nursingpharmacology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}