Aminophylline
Aminophylline is a bronchodilator (airway-opening) medicine used to treat acute flare-ups of asthma and other chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 9 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Aminophylline: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Aminophylline — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Aminophylline Injection is given intravenously to help manage acute respiratory crises. Here is what it is approved for:
- Aminophylline Injection is indicated for acute exacerbations of asthma — used as an add-on to inhaled beta-2 agonist bronchodilators and systemic corticosteroids
- Aminophylline Injection treats acute worsening of reversible airflow obstruction associated with emphysema
- Aminophylline Injection treats acute flare-ups of chronic bronchitis
⚙️How it works▾
Aminophylline works by releasing theophylline in the body, which acts on the airways in two key ways. First, it relaxes the smooth muscle wrapped around the airways (bronchodilation), which widens them so air passes through more easily. Second, it dampens the airways' overreaction to irritants and triggers. Theophylline also strengthens the diaphragm — the main breathing muscle — helping it contract more forcefully. Blood levels must stay within a specific range: high enough to open airways but not so high that harmful effects kick in.
💊How it's taken▾
Aminophylline Injection is given only by IV in a healthcare setting — never self-administered. Treatment typically starts with a loading dose to quickly reach an effective blood level, then shifts to a continuous infusion to maintain it. Because the right dose varies dramatically between patients based on age, weight, other illnesses, and other medications, blood theophylline levels are checked frequently throughout treatment — sometimes as often as every few hours when first starting. Your care team will adjust the rate based on those levels. Do not adjust anything yourself.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
Side effects are generally milder when theophylline blood levels stay in the recommended range, but become more frequent and severe as levels rise. Common side effects include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Fast heartbeat (tachycardia)
- Low blood pressure (hypotension)
- Restlessness or irritability
- Trouble sleeping
- Tremor (shakiness)
At high theophylline levels, serious reactions — including seizures, life-threatening heart arrhythmias, and death — can occur. Tell your care team immediately if you feel your heart racing, feel confused, or experience severe nausea or vomiting.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Narrow safety margin: The gap between a helpful and a toxic theophylline level is small. Levels must be monitored closely, especially in acutely ill patients.
- Seizures: High theophylline levels can trigger seizures that are difficult to stop and can cause permanent brain injury or death if not treated rapidly.
- Heart arrhythmias: Toxic levels can cause dangerous, potentially fatal abnormal heart rhythms.
- Certain conditions increase risk: Active peptic ulcer disease, seizure disorders, and certain heart arrhythmias all require extra caution.
- Slower clearance raises risk: Liver disease, heart failure, cor pulmonale, fever, hypothyroidism, and reduced kidney function in infants all slow the body's ability to clear theophylline — increasing the chance of toxicity at standard doses.
- Age matters: Adults over 60 and newborns (including premature infants) are at significantly higher risk for serious toxicity.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Theophylline interacts with a wide range of drugs and some dietary factors. These interactions can raise theophylline to toxic levels or drop it below the effective range:
- Cimetidine (acid-reducer) — slows theophylline clearance, raising blood levels
- Erythromycin (antibiotic) — reduces theophylline clearance, raising blood levels
- Rifampin (antibiotic) — speeds up theophylline clearance, potentially making it less effective
- Stopping an interacting drug mid-treatment — can cause dangerous swings in theophylline levels in either direction
- High-carbohydrate, low-protein diet — slows clearance, prolongs theophylline's stay in the body
- Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet or daily charcoal-broiled beef — speeds clearance, potentially reducing effectiveness
- Many other drugs can interact — always give your full medication list to your care team
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Do not use Aminophylline if you have had an allergic reaction to theophylline or ethylenediamine (a component of the product)
- Tell your doctor if you have a seizure disorder — theophylline can make seizures harder to treat
- Tell your doctor if you have a peptic ulcer — theophylline can worsen it
- Tell your doctor if you have heart arrhythmias — theophylline can aggravate certain types
- Tell your doctor about liver disease, heart failure, cor pulmonale, or thyroid problems — these reduce theophylline clearance and increase the risk of toxicity
- Older adults (over 60) are at the greatest risk for serious toxicity and need closer monitoring
- Newborns and premature infants clear theophylline very slowly and require especially careful dosing
- Theophylline crosses the placenta and passes into breast milk — discuss the risks and benefits with your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding
🚑If you take too much▾
Too much theophylline — whether from too high a dose or from a drug interaction that slows clearance — can be life-threatening. Signs of serious overdose include seizures, dangerous heart arrhythmias, and loss of consciousness; at very high blood levels, these can lead to death. If overdose is suspected, the infusion is stopped immediately, poison control is contacted, and supportive care is started right away — including seizure management, heart monitoring, and repeated blood-level checks until levels are clearly falling.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Theophylline relaxes the smooth muscle around the airways, widening them to reduce airflow resistance — this is called bronchodilation. It also blunts the airways' response to triggers that cause tightening and inflammation. Additionally, theophylline increases the strength of diaphragm muscle contractions, supporting more effective breathing. The beneficial effects on airflow occur within a specific blood concentration range; above that range, side effects become more frequent and severe.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Once given by IV, theophylline distributes throughout body water but not into fat — so doses are calculated on ideal body weight. About 40% binds to plasma proteins; the rest is the active, unbound drug. The liver metabolizes roughly 90% of the dose (in adults and children over one year), mainly through the CYP1A2 enzyme pathway. How quickly the body clears theophylline varies dramatically between patients and is heavily influenced by age, other illnesses (especially liver disease and heart failure), diet, and interacting drugs — which is why blood level monitoring is essential throughout treatment.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F). PROTECT FROM LIGHT. Store in carton until time of use.
📄 Written from Aminophylline’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Aminophylline
22 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Aminophylline in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 3
- Moderate · 9
- Minor · 10
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
Nutrient depletion considerations
Aminophylline has been associated with lower levels of 1 nutrient in the clinical literature. This does not mean a deficiency will occur — it means these may be worth discussing with your pharmacist or healthcare provider, especially with long-term use.
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — not medical advice. Do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Aminophylline — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
Why am I getting aminophylline through an IV instead of just using my inhaler? ▾
Why do the nurses keep checking my blood levels while I'm on this medication? ▾
What side effects should I watch out for and tell the nurse about right away? ▾
I take other medications at home — does that matter? ▾
I'm pregnant — is it safe for me to have this? ▾
Are older adults at extra risk from this medicine? ▾
Is Aminophylline available over the counter? ▾
When was Aminophylline first available? ▾
Who makes Aminophylline? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Aminophylline’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Aminophylline comes
Aminophylline is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- Aminophylline Injection is used intravenously to treat acute worsening of asthma symptoms and reversible airflow obstruction
- Aminophylline Injection is used alongside inhaled beta-2 agonists and corticosteroids — not alone
- Aminophylline Injection is used for acute exacerbations of emphysema and chronic bronchitis
- Aminophylline Injection is given only by a healthcare professional through an IV line in a clinical setting
- Aminophylline Injection dosing begins with a loading dose when rapid effect is needed, followed by a continuous infusion — both adjusted to each patient
- Aminophylline Injection requires regular blood level monitoring to keep theophylline in the safe therapeutic range
- Aminophylline Injection dose must be based on ideal body weight for obese patients, as theophylline distributes poorly into body fat
📊 Aminophylline across the U.S. market
How Aminophylline appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (5) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Aminophylline is used
A general measure of how commonly Aminophylline is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Aminophylline is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Aminophylline prescribed? Of the 1,597 medications we measure, Aminophylline ranks #945 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 41% of them.
Utilization by Aminophylline product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
10 ML aminophylline 25 MG/ML Injection Most dispensed
Summed across the 1 of 7 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1724668
20 ML aminophylline 25 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 8 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1724666
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Aminophylline, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 2 of 15 listed Aminophylline NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Aminophylline products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Aminophylline — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | General Injectables & Vaccines, Inc | ANDA | Find on DailyMed ↗ |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | General Injectables & Vaccines, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | Henry Schein, Inc. × 6 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 4 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | Hospira, Inc. × 6 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC × 4 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 25 mg/mL | Intravenous | ProPharma Distribution | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 g/g | — | Qingdao Biopeptek Co., Ltd. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Qingdao Qinzeyuan Biotechnology Co., Ltd | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical Company Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Siegfried PharmaChemikalien Minden GmbH × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
Showing 28 of 28 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 28 Aminophylline NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Aminophylline — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Aminophylline in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Aminophylline went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 689 6 dose forms · 7 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Delayed Release Oral Tablet RxCUI 378388No current FDA listing -
Dose form (SCDF) Extended Release Oral Tablet RxCUI 378373No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 350 MGRxCUI 245318 -
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1724665In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 10 ML aminophylline 25 MG/MLRxCUI 172466820 ML aminophylline 25 MG/MLRxCUI 1724666 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Solution RxCUI 378316No current FDA listing -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 378154No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 100 MGRxCUI 313794200 MGRxCUI 308119 -
Dose form (SCDF) Rectal Suppository RxCUI 378166No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 250 MGRxCUI 197354500 MGRxCUI 308121
Look up RxCUI 689 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Aminophylline is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Aminophylline belongs to the Xanthines class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 9 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
For canonical ingredient pages, bounded product-attributed indication and administration excerpts may be added to the AI evidence, and the generator is instructed to preserve available product, brand, route, and form qualifiers instead of treating one label as universal. Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.