Of course, keeping your fluids up and drinking warm drinks like honey and lemon can help to soothe your throat, but there’s nothing quite like a lozenge to help to alleviate your painful symptoms and to make your sore throat feel a little better. The most common medication in a cough drop is menthol. This is an organic compound made from peppermint, eucalyptus, and other mint oils. CALPOL ® Infant Original Suspension, CALPOL ® Infant Suspension Sachets, CALPOL ® Sugar Free Infant Suspension, CALPOL ® Sugar Free Infant Suspension Sachets and CALPOL ® Infant Sugar Free Colour Free 120mg/5ml Oral Suspension contain paracetamol, can be used in infants from 2 months old (weighing over 4kg and not premature). For pain and fever. CALPOL ® SIXPLUS™ Suspension, CALPOL ® SIXPLUS™ Sugar Free Suspension and CALPOL ® SIXPLUS™ Fastmelts contain paracetamol,can be used in children from 6 years old. For pain and fever. CALPROFEN ® Ibuprofen Suspension contains ibuprofen, can be used in infants from 3 months old (weighing over 5Kg). For pain and fever. CALCOUGH ® Infant Syrup contains glycerol, can be used in infants from 3 months old. For dry cough. CALCOUGH ® Children's Syrup, can be used in children over one year old. For cough.CALGEL ® Teething Gel contains an anaesthetic and antiseptic, can be used in infants from 5 months. For short- term use of no more than 7 days, where non-medicinal methods have not provided relief. Always read the label. Keep in mind that you can call the Poison Help Line even if you just have questions about poison prevention. It doesn’t have to be an emergency.

But it would take rapid ingestion, which would likely first cause other health risks, such as choking and nausea. Keep in mind that cough drops also contain a fair amount of sugar. Eating an excessive amount of cough drops on a regular basis may also lead to weight gain over time. Spechler SJ. Barrett esophagus and risk of esophageal cancer: a clinical review. JAMA. 2013;310(6):627. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.226450 The safety of menthol cough drops during pregnancy isn’t known. You should talk with a healthcare professional before taking menthol cough drops while you’re pregnant. Sugar-related symptoms

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Sugar-free varieties of cough drops are available, but eating too many of them can have a laxative effect. This is especially true for cough drops that contain a sugar substitute known as sorbitol. If you’re worried about overdosing, look for cough drops that don’t contain menthol. Talk with a pharmacist or healthcare professional about what cough drops are best for you. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA requests removal of all ranitidine products (Zantac) from the market. Dry and scratchy throat – this might be difficult to identify if your youngster can’t talk, but if they put off eating or drinking it may be because they’re uncomfortable swallowing

To put it in perspective, a typical cough drop contains between 5 and 10 mg of menthol. There’s no accepted standard for a menthol overdose, but research suggests anywhere between 50 mg/kg and 1,000 mg/kg could cause a lethal overdose. This suggested range is based on the weight of the individual, so the amount of menthol it takes to cause an overdose in one person is different from what it would take in another. For example, if an individual weighed 175 pounds (79.5 kg), anywhere from 3,975mg to 79,500mg could cause a menthol overdose. This would mean ingesting 397 to 7,950 drops containing 10 mg of menthol each. If you’re worried about overdosing, follow the dosage on the label or avoid menthol lozenges completely. Temperature – if they have a fever and display other symptoms of a sore throat, it could be a sign of a throat infection Medicated lozenges or antiseptic spray as recommended by your pharmacist to assist with sore throat relief

People with diabetes should use extra caution when eating cough drops, as they can cause your blood sugar to rise. Chen J, Brady P. Gastroesophageal reflux disease: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Gastroenterology Nursing. 2019;42(1):20-28. doi:10.1097/SGA.0000000000000359 There has been one report of an 86-year-old man who experienced serious symptoms after eating two entire bags of menthol cough drops every day for 20 years. He experienced:

Commisso A, Lim F. Lifestyle modifications in adults and older adults with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease(Gerd). Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. 2019;42(1):64-74. doi:10.1097/CNQ.0000000000000239 While it’s possible to develop negative symptoms from consuming too many cough drops, you aren’t likely to ingest enough to cause any serious harm. Still, you should always read the label and try not to exceed the recommended dose. If you manage to eat a very large amount of cough drops, you might experience the following symptoms:

If you’re taking cough drops for a sore throat or cough and your symptoms don’t improve within 7 days or get worse, see a healthcare professional.