Treatment of cough with phlegm

Treatment of cough with phlegm or, as it is called, productive cough is carried out not just with pills or cough medicine, but with the help of mucolytic drugs that dilute sputum and mucocinetic (expectorating) agents that contribute to its excretion.

To treat coughing with sputum is contraindicated with drugs that depress cough reflex (anticancer drugs based on codeine, glaucin, butramate or prenoxdiazine): they are used only if the cough is dry.

Treatment for cough with difficult sputum

The main pharmacological drugs that provide effective treatment for cough with hard-to-recover sputum, as well as the treatment of a strong spit with sputum of any nature as an active substance, must have acetylcysteine, carbocysteine, bromhexine or ambroxol. Briefly about each of these substances.

So, acetylcysteine - the sodium salt of N-acetyl-L-cysteine - makes the bronchial mucous secret less viscous, blocking the polymerization of mucins, but increases its number by stimulating cells that produce mucus. In this case, the biotransformation of acetylcysteine leads to the formation of an active metabolite, the sulfate amino acid cysteine, which is a potent antioxidant. And thanks to this, this drug exhibits certain anti-inflammatory properties.

Preparations of Acetylcysteine - ACTS, Acestin, Acetal, Fluimutsil, Mukobene, etc. - Adults and adolescents are recommended to take 0.2 g twice a day (ACTS in the form of effervescent tablets - 1-2 tablets), children 6-14 years - for 0.1 g. It is contraindicated to use these drugs for peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, with coughing up blood, bronchial asthma without viscous sputum, increased blood pressure and problems with the adrenal glands.

Carbocysteine, which belongs to the secretolitics and stimulators of muscle tissue contraction of the respiratory system, is part of the preparations of Bronkatar, Bronhokod, Mukosol, Mukodin, Mukopron and others. All dosage forms of this group not only liquefy the sputum well but also normalize the damaged mucocutaneous airways . But with inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, kidney and bladder, as well as during pregnancy, these medicines are contraindicated.

In case of respiratory diseases, symptomatic treatment of cough with abundant sputum can also be carried out with drugs that contain benzylamines, such as bromhexine (Bromhexine, Bronchosan, Bisolvon, Lizomucin, Mugocil, etc.) or ambroxol (Bronchoprint, Brontex, Lazolvan, Ambrobene, Flavamed and other). From the point of view of pharmacodynamics, indications and contraindications, side effects and other characteristics, there is practically no difference between them, since bromhexine is a synthetic derivative of the alkaloid leaves of the Asian plant, Adhatoda vasica, vasicin, and ambroxol is the pharmacologically active product of bromhexine metabolism.

On dilution of thick hard-to-detachable sputum they act as Acetylcysteine, and facilitating sputum evacuation occurs due to stimulation of ciliary epithelial activity of the respiratory tract. The therapeutic effect of these mucolytic agents is not felt immediately, but after a few days.

Bromhexine in tablets of 0.0016 g is taken by adults and children over 14 years, one tablet three times a day, children of 6-14 years should take one tablet 0.008 g (or half the adult dose). Among the most frequent side effects of these medications are skin rashes, headache and dizziness, runny nose, mucous membranes, nausea, intestinal disorders, abdominal pain, dysuria, chills, increased PQ interval, lowering of blood pressure, dyspnea.

And the contra-indications of Bromgexin and Ambroxol include the stomach and duodenal ulcer and the first three months of pregnancy. Although the instructions of some trade names of preparations with these active ingredients state that studies on animals have not revealed their teratogenic effects. However, considering that Bromhexin has an effect similar to the hormone oxytocin, it is strictly forbidden to apply it during pregnancy (especially because the alkaloid is known as the ability to stimulate myometrium contractions).

Successfully cope with the treatment of productive cough Mukaltin tablets (they have an extract of the root of the althaea) - on a tablet 3-4 times a day; tablets for resorption Pectussin (with eucalyptus oil); syrup Bronchicum (it contains thyme, primrose and honey) - for adults, 1 teaspoonful every 5-6 times a day (adults) and a half dose to children (three times a day).

Treatment of cough with purulent sputum

Treatment of cough with purulent sputum, in addition to the above mucolytic drugs, for symptomatic therapy, must necessarily include cough treatment with sputum antibiotics. To this end, doctors recommend patients such antibacterial drugs as Ampicillin, Augmentin, Azithromycin, Rovamycin, Levofloxacin, etc. They are the ones that provide relief from the pathogens that infect the respiratory tract.

Treatment of a cough with green sputum, the secretion of which is characteristic of acute bronchitis, bronchitis, pneumonia or bronchopneumonia, bronchiectasis, purulent inflammation of the pleura or maxillary cavities is in many cases carried out with antibiotics of a wide spectrum of action by Augmentin (other trade names - Amoxicillin, Flemoxin) or Levofloxacin (Tavanik, Flexin, etc.). A five- or seven-day course of Augmentin is prescribed for adults and children over 10 years - 0.5 g (three times a day, after meals); children from 5 to 10 years take 0.25 g, and 2-5 years - for 0.125 g three times a day. A Levofloxacin can be used only after 18 years: 0.25-0.5 g (before meals) twice a day.

Assigning antibacterial cough treatment with yellow sputum, for example, with pneumonia, Ampicillin (Ampexin, Riomycin, Cimexillin, etc.) is often recommended. Adults should take it 500 mg 4 times a day, and for children, doctors calculate the daily dose, based on the proportion - 100 mg per kilogram of body weight; the received quantity of a preparation should be divided into 6 receptions in day.

It should be borne in mind the following: if you are assigned Acetylcysteine (or another drug on its basis) for better sputum coughing and at the same time antibiotics with ampicillin, then their reception should be divided by time at least 2-2.5 hours, because these drugs reduce the therapeutic effect of each other.

Treatment of an allergic cough with phlegm

In most cases, coughing with allergies is dry, but the course of the disease can be accompanied by the attachment of infectious factors with mucosal edema, and then the mucus, usually free of impurities, clears throat.

In accordance with medical recommendations, symptomatic treatment of an allergic cough with phlegm is carried out with the help of the same drugs for the dilution of sputum and its expectoration, as with an inflammatory cough. And in etiologic therapy, antihistamines should be used, for example, Claritin (Loratadin, Lotharen, Clallergin, etc.) or Fenistil. So, Claritin in tablets is prescribed one tablet 0,001 g once a day, in the form of syrup - on a dessert spoon once a day.

With diagnosed chronic bronchitis of an allergic nature, the inhalation method of administration of such drugs is the most appropriate: Atrovent - 3-4 inhalations during the day; Ventolin - 2.5-5 mg per inhalation, four inhalations per day (the drug can cause headache and heart rhythm disturbances); Pulmicort - 1-2 mg per day.

And it is also very important to breathe properly with an allergic cough: after another attack of cough, you need to hold your breath for five seconds (so that there is no spasm of the bronchi), but to inhale the air slowly.

Treatment of a smoker's cough with sputum

Smoking people often cough, especially in the morning, and this should make one seriously think about the really imminent threat of the development of so-called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Therefore, the cough of a smoker with sputum should be treated with the first symptoms: first cough in the morning is dry, then the cough begins to begin to coagulate the mucous semitransparent sputum, which soon acquires a gray or greenish tinge. Then shortness of breath is coughing, attacks of severe coughing during an intense inhalation of air or with a sharp change in the position of the body.

What do doctors recommend in such cases? First, quit smoking. A better release of the respiratory tract from sputum will not only help the already mentioned mucolytics, but also the famous drops of the Danish king - the chest elixir with licorice root extract (25-30 drops three times a day, if there are no problems with the liver), and Pectosol with root extract elecampane (20-30 drops three times a day, in the absence of gastric diseases).

The broths of such medicinal plants, indispensable for wet coughing, like the mother-and-stepmother, plantain, oregano, thyme, and black elder flowers are good. It is necessary during the day to drink a glass of herbal decoction (or infusion) - after a few sips, after eating. For broth, boil one tablespoon of dry raw material for 200-250 ml of water for five minutes, for infusion - pour the same amount of steep boiling water, but in both cases, you need to close the dishes tightly and insist for at least an hour.

In addition, regardless of the cause of this symptom, cough treatment with sputum can be alleviated and accelerated by doing wet-steam inhalations with ordinary table salt or baking soda.