What are the side effects of taking licorice tablets?

Licorice tablets are very common in our daily life. I believe everyone should be familiar with this. The color of licorice tablets is mostly dark brown or dark brown. They are extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine licorice. Although the efficacy and function of licorice tablets are very high, they also have certain side effects. So, what are the side effects of licorice tablets?

Although licorice tablets can be used for heart qi deficiency, palpitations, pulse knot, as well as spleen and stomach qi deficiency, fatigue, etc., they also have the effects of resolving phlegm and relieving cough, clearing away heat and removing fire, but if taken improperly, they will also cause some side effects.

Side effects of licorice tablets

1. Addiction

Because licorice tablets contain opium ingredients, if you take licorice tablets for a long time and in large quantities, you are very likely to become addicted. For example, some people will yawn, cry, and have a runny nose after taking licorice tablets for a period of time, and the whole person will become very irritable as soon as they stop taking the medicine. This is caused by addiction to licorice tablets. It usually takes two or three weeks of stopping the medicine to slowly recover. Therefore, although licorice tablets are an OTC drug, you should not blindly use them for a long time and in large quantities.

2. Causes Gastric Ulcers

Because licorice tablets contain some hormone-like ingredients, these medicinal ingredients will cause a certain irritation to the stomach. Over time, they may cause gastric ulcers, stomach diseases and other symptoms. Therefore, when taking licorice tablets to relieve cough and phlegm, it is best to take them after meals to reduce the irritation of the medicinal ingredients to the gastrointestinal tract.

3. Reaction to poisoning

Because children's internal organs are not fully developed and their liver's detoxification function is not very good, if they take too much licorice tablets, they are likely to be poisoned. If the condition is serious, it will cause multiple organ failure in the body and even cause death. Therefore, children must follow the doctor's advice when taking licorice tablets, and parents should not blindly let their children take this kind of medicine.

4. Cause miscarriage and premature birth

Because there is a therapeutic ingredient in licorice tablets that is similar to estrogen, if pregnant women take such therapeutic drugs, they may experience miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy and premature birth in the late stages of pregnancy.

5. Increased blood pressure

After taking licorice tablets, it is easy to cause water and sodium to be retained in the human body, which often causes blood pressure to rise. Therefore, hypertensive patients are generally not recommended to take licorice tablets to relieve cough, phlegm and pain.

6. Increased blood sugar

Since taking this type of therapeutic drug will cause the body's blood sugar to rise, it is generally not recommended for diabetics to take this type of therapeutic drug.

Licorice tablets have high efficacy and effects, but they also have some taboos. Therefore, when taking licorice tablets, you must follow the doctor's advice and take them according to the dosage. Do not take medicine indiscriminately. You must choose appropriate treatment drugs according to your physical condition.