Knocked out from cough med?

webblarsk · Jan 4, 2005

I think it all depends on the person and how they tolerate medicines. For me it does nothing, but I do know of people that is has the effect on.

manna, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2005

Even the supposed non-drowsy meds put me to sleep, so I guess its pretty relative :chuckle

z's playa · Jan 4, 2005

Cough medecine with hydrocodone? Heavy duty.

Morning-glory · Jan 4, 2005

I had bronchitis and the Dr gave me some hydrocodone elixir. I have taken Tyl#3's before, but the elixir knocked me out too. Made me nauseated at first, but I was too sleepy to care. I then took 1/2 a teaspoon and it did the trick without the nausea or heavy sedation, but it controlled the incessant cough.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jan 4, 2005

Tussionex is a very strong cough medicine and it has a couple things in that cause sleepiness. It not only has hydrocodone but it also has some kind of antihistamine. Also; it's designed to be a sustained release product; which I don't understand how it does it since it's liquid, but that's what I was instructed. So being sustained release it can knock you out for a while unless you are very resistant to hydrocodone AND antihistamines. I welcomed it when it was prescribed for me because I had bronchitis and hadn't slept more than 3-4 hours for the past 2 weeks, I found it to be very effective and I needed the sleep anyway.

EricTAMUCC-BSN, BSN, RN · Aug 31, 2005

JVanRN, What's the longest you ever slept without medication after getting off work? I've hit 20 straight

prmenrs, RN · Sep 1, 2005

I had a nursing instructor tell us in class that if Codeine wasn't a controlled substance, not to mention constipating, it would be the drug of choice for coughs!

I've had pneumonia a couple of times, and I've had to resort to Tylenol #3's just to able to get to sleep.

JVanRN · Sep 1, 2005

JVanRN, What's the longest you ever slept without medication after getting off work? I've hit 20 straight

About 16 hrs...usually after several sleep deprived days in a row.

BunnyBunnyBSNRN, ASN, BSN · Sep 1, 2005

I haven't taken this particular med, but any med that "may cause drowsiness" puts me out. My husband tells people that he won't allow me to take Benedryl (sp?) in the kitchen anymore becuase he got tired of carrying me up the stairs!

Critical Care-Bear · Sep 1, 2005

Tussionex is a brand of cough medicine manufactured by celltech and it is widely regarded as "the best" cough medicine. The active ingredients are Hydrocodone and Chlorpheniramine. Hydrocodon is an opioid agonist and is also known as vicodin, lortab, and lorcet. Taken alone, hydrocodone often makes people feel tired, groggy and out of it. Chlorpheniramine, also marketed as chlor-trimeton, is an antihistamine, specifically, a first generation H1 antagonist. Diphenhydramine also belongs to this class of drugs and has been used to sedate patients. That being said, sedation is the side effect with the highest incidence among this class of drugs. The chemical structure between diphenhydramine and chlorpheniramine is very similar but subtle differences exist. Diphenhydramine is classified as a ethanolamine whereas chlorpheniramine is an alkylamine. This is of importance because alkylamines are considered to be exceptionally potent H1 antagonists.

Also, liquids are absorbed into the blood thru the GI tract (and any mucous membrane for that matter) more readily than pills. For coughs, sore throats, and some stomach irritations, oral solutions are favored over pills, but keep in mind that any amount of drug present in an oral solution is going to be absorbed quicker and more complete than the same amount of drug in pill form.