Theo-dur and Death - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Death is reported as a side effect among people who take Theo-dur (theophylline), especially for people who are female, 60+ old, have been taking the drug for 2 - 5 years also take Prednisone, and have High blood pressure.

The study is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 4,432 people who have side effects when taking Theo-dur from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Theo-dur?

Theo-dur has active ingredients of theophylline. It is often used in asthma. eHealthMe is studying from 4,451 Theo-dur users. Check the latest studies of Theo-dur.

On Jul, 27, 2026

4,432 people reported to have side effects when taking Theo-dur.
Among them, 91 people (2.05%) died.

Among these 91 people:

How long have people been on Theo-dur when they died? *

What is the gender of people who died when taking Theo-dur? *

female: 56.47 %
male: 43.53 %

What is the age of people who died when taking Theo-dur? *

What are other drugs people take besides Theo-dur? *

What are other side effects people have before they died? *

Pneumonia: 16 people, 17.58%
Nausea (feeling of having an urge to vomit): 11 people, 12.09%
Nausea And Vomiting: 11 people, 12.09%
Stress And Anxiety: 11 people, 12.09%
Fatigue (feeling of tiredness): 11 people, 12.09%
Fever: 10 people, 10.99%
Atelectasis (partial or complete collapse of the lung): 8 people, 8.79%
Aseptic Necrosis (the death of bone tissue due to a lack of blood supply): 8 people, 8.79%
Constipation: 8 people, 8.79%
Pleural Effusion (water on the lungs): 8 people, 8.79%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

High Blood Pressure: 12 people, 13.19%
Insomnia (sleeplessness): 8 people, 8.79%
Constipation: 5 people, 5.49%
Bronchitis Chronic (inflammation of the mucous membrane in the bronchial tubes- chronic): 5 people, 5.49%
Type 2 Diabetes: 5 people, 5.49%
Diabetes: 5 people, 5.49%
Fever: 5 people, 5.49%
Pulmonary Hypertension (increase in blood pressure in the lung artery): 4 people, 4.40%
Gastritis (inflammation of stomach): 4 people, 4.40%
Deep Venous Thrombosis (blood clot in a major vein that usually develops in the legs and/or pelvis): 3 people, 3.30%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Theo-dur:

Theo-dur (4,451 reports)

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of theophylline:

Death and drugs with ingredients of theophylline (708 reports)

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Theo-dur:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Death:

Death (3,119 drugs)

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Death:

Death (3,686 conditions)

Related publications that referenced our studies

Korang-Yeboah M, Rahman Z, Shah D, Mohammad A, Wu S, Siddiqui A, Khan MA, "Impact of formulation and process variables on solid-state stability of theophylline in controlled release formulations", International journal of pharmaceutics, 2016 Feb .
Dhaval MK, "Impact of formulation and process variables on solid-state stability of theophylline in controlled release formulations", International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2016 Jan .
Korang-Yeboah M, Rahman Z, Shah D, Mohammad A, Wu S, Siddiqui A, Khan MA, "Impact of formulation and process variables on solid-state stability of theophylline in controlled release formulations", International journal of pharmaceutics, 2016 Feb .
Dhaval MK, "Impact of formulation and process variables on solid-state stability of theophylline in controlled release formulations", International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2016 Jan .

How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on theophylline (the active ingredients of Theo-dur) and Theo-dur (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.