Huanglian Qingwan is a common cooling and detoxifying medicine at home and a traditional Chinese medicine formula, mainly used for symptoms such as sore throat, gingival swelling, oral ulcers, and red and swollen eyes. Recent studies have found that long-term use of Huanglian Qingwan has harmful side effects on the central nervous system, digestive system, urinary and reproductive system, blood, respiration, and skin.

The key toxic substance in Huanglian Qingwan is realgar, and the content is quite large. Its main component is arsenic trisulfide, also known as the poison. Arsenic not only has harmful effects on the liver, kidney function, blood system, central nervous system, and urinary system, but also continues to affect proteins and cause allergic diseases. Common allergic symptoms include skin papular soft spots and itching, and severe cases may appear desquamative dermatitis and anaphylactic shock. The central nervous system side effects of Huanglian Qingwan commonly include drowsiness, confusion, convulsions of the limbs, and silent and taciturn behavior; gastrointestinal reactions are mainly manifested as discomfort and pain in the upper abdomen, as well as nausea, vomiting, and hematochezia; urinary and reproductive system reactions may include lower back pain, frequent urination, urgency, incontinence, and exudative cystitis and hematuria. Respiratory reactions can mainly manifest as bronchial asthma-like reactions, with symptoms such as cough, palpitations, chest tightness, cyanosis of the lips, difficulty breathing, and inability to lie flat.

What are the side effects of Huanglian Qingwan?

In addition to the above diseases, Huanglian Qingwan will also cause some dependence, the clinical symptoms of which are severe withdrawal symptoms after discontinuation of the drug, exacerbation of sore throat and pain, herpes around the mouth and nose, general discomfort, restlessness, insomnia, decreased appetite, constipation, and rapid relief of the aforementioned symptoms after taking the medicine again.

What are the side effects of Huanglian Qingwan?

It is not difficult to see that we should remain vigilant about the traditional Chinese medicine formulas that we feel are safe in daily life. In addition, the side effects caused by Huanglian Qingwan are various, and the physical condition of the patient and the way of taking the medicine are also very important factors. For taking medicine, it is still necessary to strictly follow the doctor’s instructions, and some drugs with strong antibacterial effects but fewer toxic and side effects can be selected for these significant infectious inflammations.