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Where you can learn about one of the most popular and safest over-the-counter drugs in the world and how it can help you

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What is Guaifenesin?

Guaifenesin is an FDA approved over-the-counter expectorant, usually taken orally (by mouth) to assist the bringing up (“expectoration”) of phlegm. Especially effective to help clear excess mucus and phlegm from the airways in acute respiratory tract infections. It also helps to make coughing easier and more productive.

Guaifenesin also has many off-label uses which include; treatment of fertility, fibromyalgia, chest congestion, excess saliva, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic bronchitis, and many more.

Synonyms: Glycerol Guaiacolate, guaiphenesin, or Guaiacol glyceryl ether.

Similar medicines derived from the guaiac tree were in use as a generic remedy by Native Americans when explorers reached North America in the 1500s, but guaifenesin was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an OTC drug until 1952.

Guaifenesin is sold as tablets, caplets, capsules, and syrups under several brand names including, Ethex 208, Humibid, Mucinex, and Robitussin. It is also included in many other over-the-counter cough and cold remedy combinations (usually in conjunction with dextromethorphan and/or pseudoephedrine and/or acetaminophen)..

Why Guai-Aid® Guaifenesin

Ultra Pure OTC GUEIFENESIN Products Since 1996

Contains only U.S. Pharmacy grade guaifenesin as the active ingredient.
Effectively helps clear excessive mucus from sinus and bronchial pathways
Works quickly to help make coughs more productive
Developed by Pharmacists to work better
Available in easy-to-swallow 300, 400 & 600mg caplets & capsules
Sugar-free, dye-free, and free of botanical extracts (salicylates)

Effect and mechanism of action

Treatment of coughing

A Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of over the counter medicines for acute cough in children and adults found no evidence for the effectiveness of any examined drug other than guaifenesin; evidence for guaifenesin was ambiguous.[2] Guaifenesin is sometimes combined with dextromethorphan, an antitussive. In normal use this combination is believed[who?] to produce fewer, but more productive coughs.

Treatment of ashtma

Guaifenesin is effective in the treatment of the thickened bronchial mucosa characteristic of asthma.[citation needed] It works by drawing water into the bronchi. The water both thins mucus and lubricates the airway, facilitating the removal of mucus by coughing.

Treatment of gout

Guaifenesin is a uricosuric, increasing excretion of uric acid from the blood serum into the urine.[3] This fact was discovered by chance, during a survey of hypouricemia in hospital inpatients.[4] Compared to other uricosuric drugs used to treat gout, guaifenesin is relatively mild.[citation needed]

Treatment of fibromyalgia

Because of its uricosuric effect, guaifenesin was chosen in the 1990s for the experimental guaifenesin protocol – a treatment for fibromyalgia. Proponents[who?] of the guaifenesin protocol believe that it treats fibromyalgia by removing excess phosphate from the body.