What's the purpose of alcohol in cough syrup?

Question

I normally buy the alcohol-free kind, mainly because I don't like the taste of alcohol and I assume it would make the cough syrup taste even worse than it already dose. But is there any advantage to having it in there? I'm pretty sure it's not enough to produce any intoxicating effects, but presumably there's some reason they make a version that has alcohol in it.

Answer 1

Alcohol is most often used in drugs because it is an excellent solvent, in some ways better than water for keeping the other ingredients dissolved in the proper liquid form. Preparations made with alcohol will keep almost indefinitely while many made with water will not.

Answer 2

Cough Syrup With Alcohol

Answer 3

Cough Medicine With Alcohol

Answer 4

The purpose of alcohol in the cough syrup is to help you rest better and hopefully not cough all through the night. It contains very little alcohol, and for the taste, you don't taste the alcohol. But you could use an old fashioned remedy of a shot of whiskey followed by spoon of honey. I hope this helps. Janet

Answer 5

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RE:
What's the purpose of alcohol in cough syrup?
I normally buy the alcohol-free kind, mainly because I don't like the taste of alcohol and I assume it would make the cough syrup taste even worse than it already dose. But is there any advantage to having it in there? I'm pretty sure it's not enough to produce any intoxicating...

Answer 6

It is there to make the medicine, (the anti coughing medicine) dissolve in many cases it is not water soluable.

In addition, it is in there in very high volume in some night time cough medicines, perhaps for sleep. If you are not a drinker it can be intoxicating and if you are an alcoholic trying not to drink, you may want to abstain from the kinds with alcohol in them. If you need help 'sleeping' use something else. I rarely used thos 'nite time cold medicines and once I had a miserable, miserable cold and my medicine had just worn off on my way home from work. Unable to breathe I stopped at CVS & bought some NyQuil because I was going to go home, hit the sofa hard. Unable to breathe I opened the bottle in the car and drank about three quick drinks and went home and hit the sofa. Later I got up to go to the bathroom and I was literally bouncing off the walls as I was a little tipsy. Long story short, if you are trying to quit drinking, you may want to avoid the medicines with high alcohol content, regardless of whether some say it is medically acceptable. They can get you drunk, if you don't drink much anyway. .

Answer 7

Years ago all cough syrups had alcohol in them--and some had codeine. The ingredient's purpose was not to be intoxicating, but rather to boost the cough relieving and pain relieving qualities of the syrup.

Now, one can only get codeine cough syrup by prescription--as some people abused it. As for the syrups containing alcohol, it is not good for recovering alcoholics--just that tiny bit of alcohol can get them to start drinking again. So, in general, it's best to get cough syrups without either ingredient--unless deemed necessary by a doctor.

Answer 8

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Cough syrup contains codeine which is an opiate, not alcohol. Its purpose is medicinal, not recreational. Medicinal alcohol is different from fermented alcohol in beer, whisky etc. Remember that the Qur'an prohibits intoxicants, not alcohol. Most all scholars are in agreement that it is ok to use coedine and alcohol for medicinal purposes.

Answer 9

Alcohol is a good solvent. It is mostly excreted through bronchial mucosa. Thus thick mucus is thinned by alcohol in cough syrups. In other words alcohol is a good expectorant. Added to other expectorants there will be additive effect.

Answer 10

The main reason for having alcohol in cough syrup is to be a sedative,but it also kills the bacteria in your throat that is causing the cold.