Benylin Children's Dry Coughs - 125ml
Benylin Children’s Dry Coughs provides effective relief from children’s dry, tickly coughs. It is sugar & colour free and blackcurrant flavour. Suitable for children aged 6 years and over.
How does Benylin Children's Dry Coughs work?
Benylin children's dry coughs solution contains the active ingredient pholcodine, which is a type of medicine called a cough suppressant. It is used to suppress a dry, tickly, unproductive cough.
Coughing is a reflex response to irritation of the airways. It is useful for clearing mucus, dust and other particles from the throat and lungs. It is important because it reduces the amount of mucus, dust and bacteria in the airways that would otherwise make breathing difficult. However, sometimes, coughing can become overstimulated even when there is no mucus to clear from the lungs or throat. In this situation coughing serves no purpose and can become painful and frustrating.
Pholcodine can be used to block the cough reflex in situations where the cough serves no purpose, ie when no plegm is being coughed up. It works by reducing the nerve signals sent from a part of the brain called the coughing centre to the muscles that produce coughing.
What is Benylin Children's Dry Coughs used for?
- Dry, tickly, unproductive cough in children over six years of age.
Warning!
- March 2009: Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for children have recently been under review in the UK. New advice is that several cough and cold medicines, including this one, are no longer recommended for children under six years of age. This is because there is no evidence that they work in this age group, and they can potentially cause side effects such as allergic reactions, effects on sleep or hallucinations. The packaging and leaflets for cough and cold medicines will be updated over the next year to reflect this information. When the newly labelled products become available they will only be sold from pharmacies, where advice on using the medicines safely can be given. Products with old labelling that give doses for children under six won't be immediately withdrawn from sale, because there are no immediate safety issues with them and they have been in wide use for decades. However, you should no longer give these medicines to children under six. The new recommendations are part of a long-term package of measures that are being phased in to improve the safe use of cough and cold medicines in children under 12 years of age. If you have just given this medicine to a child under six there is no need to worry, provided they were given the dose recommended on the bottle, but you shouldn't use this medicine for them in the future. Children aged 6 to 12 years can still be given this medicine, because the risk of side effects is reduced in older children as they weigh more, get fewer colds and can also tell you if the medicine is doing them any good. For more advice talk to your pharmacist.
- If your child has any of the following symptoms you should not give this medicine and consult your doctor so that the cough can be investigated further: coughing up phlegm that is green, rusty brown, yellow, blood-stained or foul smelling; shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing; chest pain; pain and swelling in the calf; sudden weight loss; recurrent night-time cough; or a long-term persistent cough.
- The recommended dose of this medicine varies depending on the age of your child. Carefully follow the dosage instructions provided with this medicine. Do not exceed the recommended dose. If your child's symptoms persist consult your doctor.
- Do not give your child other cough and cold medicines in combination with this one. Different products may contain the same active ingredient(s) and using more than one at the same time could lead to you exceeding the recommended dose for your child. For further advice talk to your pharmacist.
- On rare occasions this medicine may cause drowsiness. If your child is affected they should avoid performing potentially hazardous activities such as riding a bike or climbing trees. Alcohol should be avoided.
Use with caution in
Not to be used in
- Children under six years of age.
- Kidney failure.
- Liver failure.
- Condition called bronchiectasis, in which there is persistent widening of the airways as a result of lung disease, eg infection, inflammation, tumours or cystic fibrosis.
This medicine should not be used if your child is allergic to one or any of its ingredients. Please inform your doctor or pharmacist if your child has previously experienced such an allergy.
If you feel your child has experienced an allergic reaction, stop using this medicine and inform your doctor or pharmacist immediately.
Side effects
Medicines and their possible side effects can affect individual people in different ways. The following are some of the side effects that are known to be associated with this medicine. Just because a side effect is stated here does not mean that all people using this medicine will experience that or any side effect.
- Nausea.
- Drowsiness.
- Constipation.
The side effects listed above may not include all of the side effects reported by the medicine's manufacturer.
For more information about any other possible risks associated with this medicine, please read the information provided with the medicine or consult your doctor or pharmacist.
How can this medicine affect other medicines?
You should not give your child other cough and cold medicines in combination with this one. Different products may contain the same active ingredient(s) and using more than one at the same time could lead to you exceeding the recommended dose for your child. For further advice talk to your pharmacist.
If your child is already taking any other medicines, including herbal medicines and those bought without a prescription, you should check with your pharmacist before giving this medicine as well, to make sure that the combination is safe.
The manufacturer states that this medicine should not be used by people who are currently taking a monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressant, eg phenelzine, tranylcypromine or isocarboxazid, or who have taken one of these medicines in the last 14 days.
This medicine may on rare occasions cause drowsiness. If this occurs, it may theoretically be made worse if this medicine is taken in combination with any of the following, which can also cause drowsiness:
- alcohol
- benzodiazepines, eg temazepam, diazepam
- sedating antihistamines, eg chlorphenamine, diphenhydramine, promethazine, triprolidine (these are often found in other non-prescription cough and cold or hayfever remedies)
- sleeping tablets, eg zopiclone
- strong opioid painkillers, eg codeine, dihydrocodeine, morphine
- tricyclic antidepressants, eg amitriptyline.
