How Many Cough Drops are Too Many? – An overdose of cough drops results in a negative impact on your body.
Cough drops, sometimes known as throat lozenges, control the reflex that causes cough and aid in soothing your throat. But here, the question is, how many cough drops are considered as too much?
Menthol poisoning
Menthol is the most used compound in the cough syrups. The organic compound comprises eucalyptus, peppermint, and additional mint oils.
Menthol soothes your throat and helps cool your airway passages. It may be paired with benzocaine, which is a local anesthetic. Whereas other cough drops, brands use pectin and coat it with honey to relax the throat.
Overdosing with cough drops containing menthol is challenging. Ingesting pure menthol leads to menthol poisoning in most of the people. Over-the-counter cough drops don’t contain pure menthol. The menthol is usually diluted.
A regular cough drop syrup has 5 to 10 mg of menthol. There’s no approved standard for a menthol overdose, but studies suggest anywhere between 50 mg/ and 1,000 mg/kg could be a reason for lethal overdose.
This offered range is based on the weight of the man or woman, so the quantity of menthol it takes to lead to an overdose in one person is different from what it would take in some other. For instance, if an individual weighed one hundred seventy-five pounds (seventy-nine. 5 kg), everywhere from three 975mg to 79,500mg could cause a menthol overdose. It might suggest consuming 397 to 7,950 drops comprising 10 mg of menthol each.
How many cough drops are too many?
There’s no standard limit to how many cough drops can be consumed. This is mainly because of the amount of active ingredient variation among brands.
If you’re concerned about overdosing, follow the dosage on the label or avoid menthol lozenges altogether.
It would be best to always inform your doctor about your medications and health condition before consuming new medicines or cough drops.
What are the harmful effects of consuming too much of cough drops?
Over-dose of cough drops may result in stomach upset or indigestion. Below are some of the harmful effects.
- Abdomen pain
- Sickness
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Heartburn
- Bloating
Symptoms of a medical emergency
Following are the symptoms of a medical emergency
- Rapid, shallow breathing
- Rapid heart rate
- Heart palpitations
- Severe diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Blood in your urine
- Seizures or convulsions
- Dizziness
- Hallucinations
- Unconsciousness
- Coma
How to treat a cough drop over-dose?
If you or someone else has over-dosed cough drops or any other medication, firstly, call 911 local emergency services, or else you can also call the national toll-free Poison Help Line (1-800-222-1222). Once you reach the hospital or clinic, your healthcare professional will examine your vital signs, such as pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rate.
The person may receive the following treatment depending upon their symptoms and what medicine they overdosed.
- Ventilator (breathing support)
- The substance in the digestive tract is absorbed by activated charcoal.
- Intravenous (IV) fluids
- Laxatives
- Drugs to induce vomiting
- Medicines that oppose the effects
- To Provide gastric lavage treatment. In this treatment, a tube is inserted through the person’s stomach, emptied through a tube inserted through their mouth, and into their stomach.
How to prevent a cough drop overdose?
- It is better to follow the instructions to consume these drops, and you should not exceed the recommended dose, as an overdose may result in severe health issues.
- Talk to your doctor about the best cough drops, and look for those drops that don’t contain menthol.
- One more alternative to soothe the throat is Gargling with salt water.
- Please keep the cough drops out of the reach of children as they may consume them, considering them as candy; these cough drops may be a choking hazard to young children.
- If you consume cough drops to cure a sore throat or cough, and there is no improvement, or if the situation worsens within seven days, you should consult your doctor.
- Remember that you can call the Poison Help Line even if you have questions about poison prevention. It doesn’t have to be an emergency.
