Can Mucinex Be Taken For Cold?

Posted on Thu, 8 Oct 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 8 Oct 2015 Answered on

Wed, 28 Oct 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : My 89 year old mother has late stage Alzheimer's disease and now has a cold with congestion.
She is currently taking these meds:
Namenda 10mg x 2 daily
Escitalopram 10mg 1 x daily
Alprazolam .25 mg 1x daily
Trazodone 12.5 mg 1 x daily

Can I give her Mucinex for her cold?
thanks

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (36 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
if only contains guaifenesin then this is fine

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

There are a number of different types of mucinex with slight variation between ingredients ( eg mucinex d,mucinex allergy, mucinex dm, mucinex fast XXXXXXX cold and sinus, mucinex fast XXXXXXX dm etc)

Most contain guaifenesin alone or with another product.

Checking guaifenesin against the medications mentioned there is no interaction with these agents and the guiafenesin. This means she can use if only have guaifenesin

If you are using a type of mucinex that contains pseuoephedrine ( a decongestant ) then this can interact with trazodone with a potentially serious interaction.

If the mucinex has in other ingredients, feel free to write the type and ingredients so that they can also be checked

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar