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Thermopsis for dry cough.
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025
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ARI, flu, viral tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia - all these are diseases united by a common, most unpleasant symptom, which we call a cough. And although the cough itself does not harm health, being a natural physiological reaction of the body to irritation of the bronchial mucosa, the symptom can be so exhausting that a person no longer has the strength to fight the disease. Unproductive cough at the beginning of the disease is considered especially painful. There is no point in suppressing it with codeine drugs, because this will cause stagnation in the bronchi and will contribute to the reproduction of pathogens. Cough can only be relieved with the help of drugs that help liquefy and remove phlegm from the bronchi. There are many such drugs in pharmacies, but the most trusted are time-tested remedies, such as Thermopsis for cough, which many know as "Cough Tablets". But what is the effectiveness of Thermopsis drugs related to and where did the tablets get such a strange name?
Useful acquaintance
In the Soviet Union, we did not have such a choice of drugs as we do now, and the question of which cough pills are better was not acute. But even in those distant times, people somehow fought coughs, because flu, bronchitis, and many other diseases have been known to people for decades. The easiest and cheapest way to get rid of the obsessive symptom was with the help of "Cough Pills", but few people paid attention to the composition of this budget drug and knew that the grayish round tablets were actually a purely natural drug.
The main active ingredient of "Cough Tablets" is a plant called Thermopsis lanceolata. It should be said that in our area this plant with a sharp unattractive smell is not to be found. Thermopsis prefers to settle in the eastern and western regions of Siberia, the southwestern regions of the Urals - areas that are not distinguished by a pleasant warm climate. Yakutia, Mongolia, and Tibet are also attractive to it.
The plant belongs to the legume family and is valued for its rich composition of biologically active substances that have a healing effect on coughs, atonic constipation, headaches, and internal parasites. For medical purposes, only the above-ground part of thermopsis is used, which is collected before the fruits appear. The fruits of the plant are considered poisonous, and the grass itself becomes unsuitable for use as a medicinal raw material during the fruiting period.
The herb of Thermopsis lanceolata contains six alkaloids, which provide the plant with effectiveness in the above-mentioned problems. As for the treatment of respiratory diseases with Thermopsis, accompanied by a cough, the alkaloid thermopsin comes to the fore here, which has an irritating effect on the bronchial mucosa, stimulating the bronchial glands to produce more mucus. It is due to this that the amount of sputum increases and the viscosity decreases, facilitating its removal.
And that's not all. Thermopsin, together with other alkaloids (cytisine, methylcytisine, pahcarpine, anagyrine, terpopsidine) enhances respiratory functions, makes the bronchi contract more actively, as if pushing mucus out. Thus, the cough becomes productive, and expectoration is less painful.
The action of thermopsis is supplemented by saponins, resins, tannins and essential oils contained in the grass. Thermopsis is also valued for its high content of ascorbic acid.
Indications Thermopsis for coughs
The tablet forms are used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract, if one of the symptoms of the disease is a dry or unproductive wet cough, i.e. in all cases of difficult expectoration. If there is no cough or sputum is discharged in sufficient quantities without the use of additional measures, there is no need to take the medicine.
Bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia are pathologies in which cough is almost the main symptom. At the same time, problems with the removal of phlegm from the bronchi are present in most cases. And this is exactly the field of activity for thermopsis tablets with soda.
In large doses it can be used in cases of poisoning, which will help to induce vomiting, which helps to cleanse the stomach. But here too you should not overdo it, even despite the fact that the product is generally safe and in addition to the plant base and soda contains only talc and potato starch, which allow the composition to be given the form of a tablet.
Thermopsis-based preparations in tablets
We have already mentioned that on the shelves of modern pharmacies you can find not only the familiar “Cough Tablets” or Thermopsis with soda, where the expectorant plant is one of the two main active ingredients, but also tablets with the names “Thermopsol” or “Antitusin”, which are complete analogues of the “Soviet” drug, produced by different companies.
Since we are talking about complete analogues with the same active substances: Thermopsis lanceolata and soda (aka sodium bicarbonate), there is no point in describing each of the drugs separately, especially since they do not differ in contraindications or dosage regimen. It is important to understand that in this case we are not talking about just Thermopsis grass, but about multicomponent drugs that can be combined under the figurative name "Thermpsis cough tablets with soda".
How will the complex drug work? Well, we have already had the pleasure of getting acquainted with the pharmacodynamics of Thermopsis and have a clear idea of how it alleviates a painful dry and difficult wet cough. But as for soda and its contribution to the action of the drug, we can stop here a little. Soda is known to many for its softening properties, it is not for nothing that it is pleasant to use it as a raw material for inhalations for colds and bronchitis. But it is also a strong irritant, which, getting into the bronchi, stimulates the production of bronchial secretions. The secretion of the bronchial glands mixes with the inflammatory semi-viscous exudate and makes it more liquid, which facilitates the removal of mucus from the bronchi.
The combined action of soda and thermopsis provides the tablets with a noticeable expectorant effect, enhancing its mucolytic effect.
Release form
What other Thermopsis cough tablets can be found on sale today? A combination drug with the straightforward name "Cough tablets with Thermopsis + licorice extract", which contains extracts of Thermopsis herb and licorice root, soda and additional components. This drug with enhanced expectorant action also belongs to the category of budget products.
Thermopsis tablets with soda and licorice are prescribed to patients over 12 years old. A single dose is 1 tablet. Adults should take the medicine 3 to 4 times a day, while teenagers need to take it twice a day. Treatment usually takes 3-5 days. If necessary, the therapy with the drug can be repeated after 2 weeks.
The above tablets are not prescribed to children under 12 years of age, women during pregnancy and lactation, as well as patients with hypersensitivity to the components of the drug.
There is also a tablet form of release, such as "Dry Thermopsis Extract". The tablets are a mixture of milk sugar and herb extract. The tablets are easily dissolved in water, they can also be crushed into powder. Before oral administration, the powder is dissolved in cool boiled water in an amount of 20-50 ml.
The drug is intended for the treatment of patients over 6 years of age. Adults should take 1-2 tablets (0.05-0.1 g of powder) 2 or 3 times a day. Children under 12 years of age are given ½ a tablet (0.025 g of powder) with the same frequency of administration. Treatment continues for 3 to 5 days.
Of course, the most popular among doctors and patients are tablets with thermopsis, but this does not mean that they are the only form of release of drugs with this medicinal plant as an active substance. Having examined the contents of the pharmacy shelves, you can also find thermopsis herb in the form of powder for the preparation of medicinal infusion, "Cough mixture" and syrup "Thermopsis with licorice".
"Thermopsis lanceolata grass" is a preparation in powder form. An infusion is prepared from it, which can be used to treat children starting from the age of two. To prepare the infusion, the required amount of the preparation is poured into a glass (0.2 l) of warm water, stirred and kept in a water bath for a quarter of an hour with the lid closed. The strained cooled infusion can be stored in the cold for no more than 3 days.
The amount of powder needed to prepare the medicine depends on the patient's age. For children under 6 years old, only 0.2 g of the herb is taken per glass of water, for older patients - 0.6 g.
Infusion for children (0.2 g of herb) can be given to children with the permission of a pediatrician, starting not from 2 years, but from 5 months. Babies under one year old are given the infusion 2 or 3 times a day, 1 teaspoon, for children 1-6 years old the frequency of administration will be 3-4 times a day, and a single dose is 2 teaspoons.
Infusion for adults (0.6 g of herb) is intended for treating patients starting from 6 years of age. Children under 12 years of age are given 1 teaspoon of medicine, the adult dose is 1 tablespoon. The frequency of administration in both cases is 3 or 4 times a day.
The course of treatment for children and adults should be at least 3 days, but it is not recommended to take the infusion for more than 5 days.
"Dry cough mixture for adults" with thermopsis is a preparation that is produced in the form of a powder, packaged in single-use sachets of 1.7 g. In addition to thermopsis extract, it contains licorice root extract, soda, sugar and other components, due to which it has an anti-inflammatory and expectorant effect, while reducing the number and intensity of coughing attacks.
According to the instructions, the drug should be used to treat patients over 12 years old, but in reality doctors can prescribe it from the age of 6. The drug is taken by dissolving the contents of the package in 1 tbsp. cool boiled water.
Children under 12 years of age can be given ½ a sachet of powder per dose. The adult single dose is 1 sachet. In both cases, it is recommended to take the medicine 3 or 4 times a day.
There is no need to worry about overdosing on the drug, as it can only occur if the patient takes more than 14 sachets of powder at one time, which is very unlikely.
But contraindications to the use of the mixture should still be taken into account. The drug of this form is not prescribed to patients with hypersensitivity to its components, during pregnancy and lactation, fructose intolerance and various disorders of glucose metabolism. Taking the drug is also undesirable in the acute stage of inflammatory kidney diseases (pyelonephritis and glomerulonephritis).
Side effects of the powder and mixture are reduced to allergic reactions in case of hypersensitivity to the components and the result of irritating effects on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract in the form of nausea, vomiting and stool disorders.
The dry mixture can be stored at room temperature for one and a half years. But the finished medicine will have to be placed in a dark, cool place (ideally in the refrigerator) and used within 2 days.
Cough syrup "Thermopsis with licorice" (may be produced under the name "Amtersol") is a form of the drug intended to combat the painful symptom in patients over 3 years old. In the treatment of cough, many doctors prefer syrups, which are effective and have a more pleasant taste than tablets and mixtures. However, for some reason, Thermopsis syrup has not gained much popularity in this regard, perhaps due to the lack of widespread advertising, as in the case of other drugs.
Pharmacodynamics. The pronounced expectorant effect of the syrup is due not only to the plant components included in its composition (and this is a thick extract of licorice roots and a liquid extract of the herb Thermopsis lanceolata), but also to such components as potassium bromide (helps to reduce the excitability of the central nervous system, which gives some antitussive effect) and ammonium chloride (an expectorant). The syrup also contains a preservative (sodium bromide), sugar and alcohol (about 10%).
The syrup has a faint aroma and a rather pleasant taste. It is recommended to take it after meals three times a day in dosages depending on the patient's age. Thus, children under 6 years old should be given ½ teaspoon per dose, children under 12 years old can be offered 1 teaspoon. Teenagers take 1 dessert spoon at a time, and adult patients - 1 tablespoon.
Usually, treatment with Thermopsis preparations is carried out for no more than 5 days, but the course of treatment with syrup is designed for a longer period - 1.5-2 weeks. In this case, if necessary, the doctor can prescribe another therapeutic course.
As for contraindications to the use of Thermopsis syrup, it is not prescribed in case of hypersensitivity to at least one of the components of the drug, in case of exacerbation of ulcerative diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, in case of glucose metabolism disorders, in case of lung pathologies with the possibility of hemoptysis.
The syrup contains alcohol, so it may be dangerous for epileptics, patients with severe liver pathologies and organic diseases of the brain, people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. It is also undesirable for people who suffer from alcoholism or have undergone treatment for it.
Patients with diabetes and people on a low-carbohydrate diet should be careful when taking the syrup. This form of the drug is also not recommended for those whose activities are associated with danger and require high concentration.
Among the side effects of the drug in syrup form, only possible allergic reactions are noted.
You can store the syrup in its original packaging at a temperature of no more than 25 degrees for 2 years.
As we can see, based on the long-known herb Thermopsis lanceolata, many effective cough medicines have now been created, which can be selected in accordance with the taste preferences and age of the patient. And this is without taking into account multi-component collections, where the herb with a pronounced expectorant effect acts as one of the active ingredients, ensuring a quick recovery from an illness accompanied by a difficult cough.
Pharmacodynamics
The pharmacodynamics of thermopsis-based drugs (and there are currently several varieties) is based on the expectorant effect of thermopsin. But treatment with these effective natural medicines with a minimum of side effects should be carried out with a certain degree of caution. The ability of thermopsis to stimulate contractile movements of the smooth muscles of the bronchi in case of overdose can do a disservice by causing a gag reflex. Although in case of poisoning, thermopsis, used for coughs, will help to induce vomiting more effectively than any other emetic.
Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetics tells us how the active substance of tablets and other forms of preparations with Thermopsis after oral administration (from the throat and esophagus) can get to the site of localization of inflammation, i.e. to the bronchi. Alkaloids, saponins and other useful substances contained in the herb will have to go a long round trip: from the esophagus to the stomach, from the stomach to the intestines, where they are absorbed into the blood and already through the blood vessels get into the bronchi to make them work more actively, removing unnecessary mucus, bacteria, viruses.
Dosing and administration
As for tablets with thermopsis and soda, doctors recommend taking them three times a day. A single dose for adult patients is 1 tablet. For teenagers aged 12-18, the doctor, depending on the severity of the condition and the characteristics of the child's body, can prescribe ½ or 1 tablet per dose. For children aged 6-12, pediatricians prescribe tablets with caution, limiting the dose to ½ a tablet.
It is not advisable to chew the tablets, as this only increases the negative impact on the stomach. They are swallowed whole (or in half) and washed down with plenty of warm water, which additionally helps to liquefy the phlegm in the bronchi.
The duration of treatment with the drug, regardless of age, can be from 3 to 7 days. But doctors themselves do not recommend taking the drug for more than a week.
Thermopsis is considered a poisonous plant, so it should be given to children for coughs with special care. In many ways, this fact explains the ban on the use of tablets for the treatment of children under 12 years of age, plus there is a lack of information on the safety of drugs in childhood (there were no clinical trials). But this ban only exists on paper with instructions printed on it. Doctors, bypassing the instructions, successfully treat children with Thermopsis tablets for coughs, starting from 6 years old, or even earlier. No negative consequences have been recorded to date.
Use Thermopsis for coughs during pregnancy
As for the use of Thermopsis cough preparations during pregnancy, expectant mothers should be careful if they dream of giving birth to a full-term child. The fact is that one of the Thermopsis alkaloids (namely pachycarpine), like thermopsin, is capable of causing contraction of smooth muscles, but its effect extends not only to the bronchi, but also to the uterus. During pregnancy, increased tone and contractions of the uterus carry the risk of miscarriage (in the early stages) and premature birth (in the last trimester).
Doctors do not recommend preparations containing thermopsis alkaloids to pregnant women. They can be taken only as a last resort (but it is better to find a safer herbal preparation), in a limited dosage prescribed by the attending physician taking into account the woman's condition, and not earlier than the third trimester of pregnancy.
Contraindications
Before taking any medicine, you should first familiarize yourself with such an important point, which allows you to restore the health of one organ without damaging others. After all, even the natural composition of tablets with thermopsis is not evidence of its absolute safety. Both thermopsis extract and soda have an irritating effect not only on the bronchi, but also on the mucous membrane of the stomach and the initial sections of the intestine, which is unsafe for ulcerative lesions of the gastrointestinal tract during an exacerbation.
Like other medications, doctors do not recommend using the described tablets in case of hypersensitivity to any of the components of the drug, so as not to provoke severe allergic and anaphylactic reactions. Activation of the bronchi to remove sputum is dangerous in pathologies that are accompanied by hemoptysis. Caution should be exercised by patients with acute forms of inflammatory kidney diseases (pyelonephritis and glomerulonephritis), because this organ is mainly responsible for removing the components of the drug from the body.
Side effects Thermopsis for coughs
Regardless of the form of release, preparations with Thermopsis can primarily cause negative reactions from the gastrointestinal tract. These can be nausea, pain in the epigastrium, vomiting (especially when the dose is exceeded), caused by the irritating effect of the plant's alkaloids on the receptors of the mucous membrane of the stomach and esophagus.
In people with certain immune system conditions, the plant can cause allergic reactions of varying severity, including anaphylactic shock and angioedema of the throat.
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Interactions with other drugs
Thermopsis for cough is used not to stop coughing fits, but to stimulate them and facilitate the removal of phlegm from the bronchi. Their effect is the opposite of the effects of antitussives. If you use an expectorant and drugs with a depressant effect on the cough center (for example, codeine-based drugs) in parallel, the result can be quite sad. Thermopsis for dry cough will stimulate the production of mucus, there will be a lot of phlegm, and the desire to cough it up will disappear. This will lead to congestion in the bronchi, which will only worsen the inflammation.
It makes sense to take antitussive drugs at the end of the illness, when the unproductive cough acts as a residual phenomenon and is no longer associated with the infectious and inflammatory process.
Since all Thermopsis preparations are intended for oral administration, i.e. pass through the gastrointestinal tract, their absorption may be negatively affected by taking preparations that protect the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines from irritation and have an enveloping effect. We are talking about antacids, enterosorbents, preparations that reduce stomach acidity. Such medications should be taken 1.5-2 hours before treatment with Thermopsis preparations or the same amount of time after taking an expectorant.
Reviews of Thermopsis preparations
Having appeared several decades ago, "Cough Tablets", the main active ingredient of which is Thermopsis lanceolata, have not lost their relevance to this day. And it is not at all about the low price of this and other forms of release of drugs with the above-mentioned medicinal herb. After all, if tablets, mixtures and syrups of Thermopsis did not have the declared effect, they would simply stop being bought, despite the cost. Health is more important.
After reading reviews of the drugs in various forms of release, you can see that the vast majority of adult patients and parents of children who had to be treated with syrup, infusion or tablets are more than happy with such an effective and inexpensive medicine, because the treatment of cough in many cases did not last more than 5 days. How important this is will be understood by those who have already had to deal with bronchitis or tracheitis, when the cough torments both day and night, and phlegm is removed with great difficulty and pain in the throat.
As for side effects, they are almost never mentioned, which means that they occur extremely rarely. This fact can be considered another advantage of medications with thermopsis.
It is clear that words of gratitude to the manufacturers of such effective drugs are not enough. As with other drugs, there are also negative reviews about products with Thermopsis. About 5-8% of people write that the prescribed drug did not help them. But given the low percentage of negative reviews, we can rather talk about the individual characteristics of the body of such patients, which turned out to be insensitive to the action of Thermopsis. This is not an indicator of the ineffectiveness of the drug. A certain percentage of failures in treatment with specific drugs always exists, but the smaller it is (and in this case, this percentage is low), the more effective the drug is considered.
And one more thing that is not always taken into account by those who write negative reviews. Thermopsis preparations are classified as expectorants, even if their mechanism of action includes some antitussive effect. Some patients, exhausted by cough, believe that taking special antitussive drugs will not harm or affect the effect of expectorants, but will simply reduce the intensity of the cough.
In practice, it turns out that antitussives actually reduce the activity of expectorants. Moreover, the increase in secretion of the bronchial glands, stimulated by Thermopsis-based products, with the suppression of the cough reflex will lead to blockage of the bronchi with mucus and a decrease in the lumen through which air enters the lungs. Hence such reviews that Thermopsis only aggravated the disease, the cough became less, but breathing is now more difficult.
Once again, we remind you that cough suppressants and expectorants are drugs with opposite effects and there is no point in using them together. And the purpose of such drugs is completely different.
Analogues of drugs with thermopsis
Thermopsis lanceolata is a herb that is most often used for coughs. All of the above forms of preparations with Thermopsis have a pronounced expectorant effect, which turns out to be quite safe, given the herbal composition of the medicines.
What can be offered for cough instead of Thermopsis? Among synthetic drugs, drugs based on ambroxol (tablets "Ambroxol hydrochloride", tablets, syrups and solutions "Flavamed", "Ambrobene", " Lazolvan ", etc.) and "Bromhexine" come to the fore. They are distinguished by high efficiency and speed of action, but like all chemical drugs they can have a negative effect on the body.
Since the pharmaceutical industry has recently been increasingly inclined towards natural remedies, having appreciated the properties of many medicinal herbs and plants, you can find safer drugs on the shelves of pharmacies to combat dry and difficult wet coughs. Such drugs are based on medicinal herbs, which simultaneously thin the phlegm and help it move quickly through the bronchi to the exit.
Among the tablet forms, the following can be considered as a substitute for Thermopsis: Mucaltin tablets (a preparation based on marshmallow root), Bronchipret (primrose + thyme ) and Pectusin (menthol + eucalyptus), Suprema-Lor lozenges, Bronchicum pastilles, and Prospan tablets (soshes).
For dry and difficult wet coughs, you can also resort to the help of Dr. Theiss drops, herbal cough syrups "Pertussin", "Althea Syrup", "Althea", "Plantain Syrup", "Licorice Extract", "Prospan", "Eukabal", " Gedelix ", "Gerbion", "Bronchicum" and others.
Almost all of these drugs are suitable for treating adults and children (age should be specified in the instructions) and have good reviews. But not all drugs have the same low price as Thermopsis drugs.
The choice of cough medicines in pharmacies today is large enough to choose a medicine to suit your taste and budget. Thermopsis for cough is one of the options for effective inexpensive treatment, available to almost everyone. Therefore, it makes sense to start with it. Perhaps in the future you will not have to spend money on expensive expectorants. Defeating the enemy (cough) with minimal losses (expenses) is a double victory.
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Attention!
To simplify the perception of information, this instruction for use of the drug "Thermopsis for dry cough." translated and presented in a special form on the basis of the official instructions for medical use of the drug. Before use read the annotation that came directly to medicines.
Description provided for informational purposes and is not a guide to self-healing. The need for this drug, the purpose of the treatment regimen, methods and dose of the drug is determined solely by the attending physician. Self-medication is dangerous for your health.