Mio asked
My granddaughter is taking an ivy leaf cough medicine and was just prescribed amoxicillin for a sinus infection. Are there any interactions here? Thank you!
Answer
There are no known interactions between ivy leaf cough syrup and amoxicillin. However, there have been no studies evaluating potential interactions. There is always a chance that there may be some sort of unknown interaction, but based on the data available, it appears unlikely.
One large study that was published in Phytomedicine evaluated ivy leaf for bronchitis and noted that it was generally well tolerated and there were no known drug interactions. However, the study did note the following:
"In those patients who got concomitant medication as well, it could be shown that the additional application of antibiotics had no benefit respective to efficacy but did increase the relative risk for the occurrence of side effects by 26%."
The side effects noted with ivy leaf were mostly gastrointestinal (e.g. nausea, diarrhea) in nature and classified as minor.
How Does Ivy Work For Cough?
Ivy leaf is thought to have expectorant-like actions, and can help to thin and loosen mucus. In addition, evidence suggests ivy leaf extract may improve lung function. It's medicinally active constituents are thought to include:
- Hederasaponin-C
- Alpha-hederin
- Hederacoside C
- Hederagenin
Ivy cough syrups appear to be modestly effective for symptoms of cough and do not have any documented drug interactions.
