Patient/caregiver was educated on how to take Guaifenesin as follows:
- Take the medication dose at the same time, every day, for the duration prescribed, to avoid forgetting the intake of medication.
- Maintain strict compliance with intake of the medication as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication.
- Do not change the dose on this medication without consulting your doctor.
- Drink plenty of water while taking Guaifenesin, as it can help loosen the thick secretions in the airways, thus promoting to cough them up.
- Guaifenesin could be taken with or without food. If intake of Guaifenesin on empty stomach causes nausea and vomiting, taking the medication with some food or snack can help avoid these unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms.
- Take the regular Guaifenesin tablet as a whole. If you encounter difficulty swallowing the whole regular tablet, you may cut the pill and swallow it in pieces with a glass of water. You may also crush the pill and sprinkle the powder on a spoonful of soft jelly or applesauce and swallow the jelly or sauce along with the medication.
- If you are prescribed Guaifenesin extended-release capsule, swallow the capsule as a whole and do not open or cut the capsule. Opening or cutting the extended-release capsule can result in rapid absorption of the drug into the blood stream, thus resulting in toxicity and compromised therapeutic effects.
- Guaifenesin could also be prescribed as a combination of immediate and extended release bi-layered tablet, with the outer layer being immediate release and the inner layer is released over a span of 12 hours. Swallow this tablet as a whole and do not cut or crush this tablet. Cutting or crushing this tablet can damage the extended-release layer and result in rapid absorption of the drug into the blood stream, thus resulting in toxicity and compromised therapeutic benefits.
- Guaifenesin could also be prescribed as orally dissolving granules, which must not be swallowed whole or chewed upon. Have the Guaifenesin granules on your tongue and allow these granules to dissolve in your mouth, before completing the swallow of the dissolved granules using some water.
- When taking Guaifenesin as an oral syrup/suspension, use a measuring spoon/cup to measure the correct dose being taken, in order to avoid risk for over/under dosing.
- Guaifenesin can be taken alone or in preparations combined with other cough medications and antihistamines. Check with your physician or other health care personnel regarding your safety with taking all the various medications mixed with Guaifenesin, to avoid any risk of overdose with Guaifenesin.
- Your physician could change the dose of Guaifenesin, based on the response you show. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
- Notify your doctor of any unresolved chest congestion, increasing shortness of breath, any evolving signs and symptoms of chest infection, such as, fever, sore throat, chest pain, worsening SOB, or any continuing unpleasant side-effects of Guaifenesin, so that, your dosage on Guaifenesin could be revised.
- If you miss a dose, try taking it at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the dose scheduled. Do not take an extra dose to try making up for the missed dose, to avoid risk of overdose. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.
