II. Indications
- Excessive Gas (Eructation, Flatulence, Bloating)
-
Infantile Colic (off-label)
- Not recommended (no benefit over Placebo)
III. Dose
- Adult (and age >=12 years): 40-125 mg orally after meals and at bedtime as needed (max 500 mg/day)
- Child (age 2 to 12 years): 40 mg orally four times daily as needed (max 480 mg/day)
- Infant (age <2 years): 20 mg orally four times daily as needed (max 240 mg/day)
IV. Mechanism
- Silicone-based drug used for Flatulence and bloating
- Acts as a local gastrointestinal surfactant
- Reduces gastrointestinal gas bubble surface tension
- Allows gas bubbles to coalesce together and to be expelled from the Gastrointestinal Tract via Flatulence or Eructation
- Simethicone does NOT modify gastrointestinal gas production
- Does not reduce gas production due to food intolerance (e.g. Lactose Intolerance, FODMAP) or medications
V. Pharmacokinetics
- Not absorbed
- Excreted in the stool
VI. Efficacy
-
Infantile Colic
- Several controlled Clinical Trials have been performed
- No evidence that Simethicone is better than Placebo in Infantile Colic
- Lucassen (1998) BMJ 316(7144):1563-9 [PubMed]
VII. Safety
- Pregnancy Category C (but not absorbed)
- Unknown safety in Lactation (but not absorbed)
VIII. Resources
- Simethicone chewable tablet (DailyMed)
IX. References
- Hamilton (2020) Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia
- Ingold (2023) Simethicone, StatPearls, Treasure Island, Florida
Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)
Related Studies
simethicone (on 12/21/2022 at Medicaid.Gov Survey of pharmacy drug pricing) | ||
SIMETHICONE 125 MG TAB CHEW | Generic OTC | $0.10 each |
SIMETHICONE 180 MG SOFTGEL | Generic OTC | $0.06 each |
SIMETHICONE 80 MG TAB CHEW | Generic OTC | $0.03 each |
Ontology: Simethicone (C0037138)
Definition (MSH) | A poly(dimethylsiloxane) which is a polymer of 200-350 units of dimethylsiloxane, along with added silica gel. It is used as an antiflatulent, surfactant, and ointment base. |
Definition (NCI) | A mixture of polydimethylsiloxanes with antifoaming and anti-bloating effects. Simethicone reduces the surface tension of gas bubbles causing them to coalesce into larger bubbles that can be passed more easily by belching or flatulence. |
Concepts | Pharmacologic Substance (T121) , Biomedical or Dental Material (T122) , Organic Chemical (T109) |
MSH | D012841 |
SnomedCT | 387442005, 77898008 |
LNC | LP171639-0 |
English | Simeticone, Simethicone, simethicone (medication), Simethicone [Chemical/Ingredient], dimethicone activated, activated dimethicone, simethicone, Activated dimethicone, Activated methylpolysiloxane, Simethicone (product), Simethicone (substance), SIMETHICONE |
Swedish | Simetikon |
Czech | simethikon |
Finnish | Simetikoni |
Russian | SIMETIKON, DIMETIKON, ДИМЕТИКОН, СИМЕТИКОН |
Japanese | シメチコン |
Spanish | dimeticona, dimeticona activada, metilpolisiloxano activado, simeticona (producto), simeticona (sustancia), simeticona, Simeticona |
Polish | Simeticon, Simetykon |
Norwegian | Simetikon |
French | Siméticone |
German | Simethicon |
Italian | Simeticone |
Portuguese | Simeticone |
Ontology: Mylicon (C0721886)
Concepts | Pharmacologic Substance (T121) , Organic Chemical (T109) |
English | Mylicon, mylicon |
Ontology: Phazyme (C0722576)
Concepts | Pharmacologic Substance (T121) , Organic Chemical (T109) |
English | Phazyme, phazyme |