Best OTC cold medicine?

[daylatedollarshort]

Olbas cough syrup. It was game changer for me during cold season. It has honey and some variety of herbs. I buy it either on Amazon or Whole Foods.

When someone in our house is sick we also usually get spicy carry out Chinese food, especially hot & sour or egg drop soup.

[Montecfo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman I always start with Mucinex D. Or, Dollar General's version of the same drug. It works wonders.

That's the ticket.

And if really stuffed up at night the generic Nyquil is great.

[Lakewood90712]

Apricot Brandi then Halls cough drops for the latter half

[EastWest Gal]

I'm a pediatrician and no longer recommend cold medications. I haven't taken anything in years for colds. The things that have always helped the most: soup or broth. Lots of water. Rest-as in sleep. Try to sleep as much as you can the first 1-2 days. I've literally been able to "nip a cold in the bud". This has worked for my family and adolescent patients as well. Properly prepared saline nasal washed works well .

Alcohol can make you worse.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/wh...es-colds-worse

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer +1. Plenty of chicken soup and fluids and stay in bed to let the immune system do it's thing. My belief is that if you take no medication, takes about a week. If you take medication, takes about seven days .

Ayeep! Great minds think alike.

[RAE]

As others have said, OTC cold supplements really don't work. In my experience, there are a few supplements that can work, but only if you take them at the very first sign of a cold coming on (for me, that is usually a very slight sore throat). Chris Masterjohn, phD biochemist, has some good suggestions on what you can take when you do feel those first signs:

http://chrismasterjohnphd.com/buyers...t-supplements/

[Mdlerth]

I'm not a doctor but I watch TV, and the best thing to do is prevent exposure to other people. Especially little kids. When my children were small, we got colds, flus, and streps all the time. Now they are grown, and DW and I catch a cold maybe once every three years.

Colds manifest themselves differently every time. To reduce discomfort from sore throat, my Rx is to take hot tea with a dollop of honey and a tsp of bourbon. Doesn't have to cure squat, since for me it's all about symptom suppression.

For aches, consider aspirin or ibuprofen. Acetaminophen is an analgesic, but not an anti-inflammatory, so I don't bother with it. Curiously, for fever-related muscle aches, I find exercise to be therapeutic. I hate doing it, but afterwards I ache less.

If I had access to a sauna or steam room, I would be in the heat early and often. I have not found clear consensus from the medical community regarding the effectiveness of these treatments, but my own experience indicates they do provide temporary relief from burning sinuses, coughing, watery eyes, etc.

By day two, your nose will be chapped and sore unless you use Puffs Plus Lotion (I think they are infused with aloe) facial tissues.

For coughing, I had a friend recommend castor oil. He said "You'll be afraid to cough." But I prefer dextromethorphan and keeping speech to a minimum.

And I echo what all the actual doctors on this thread say about staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep, and letting it run its course. A week from now and you'll feel better.

[pb4uski]

I usually just take store brand Nyquil cough syrup and Hall's sugar-free cough drops... and love chicken soup... we make "star soup"... pastina in chicken broth...yum!

Also, sometimes Vicks Vaporub on the feet (you can feel it in your throat... weird) or a dolop in steaming hot water and then breathe it in with a towel over my head and the bowl.

Mucinex does not work for me... causes me to get nosebleeds.

I wish they still sold terpin hydrate.... does anyone remember that?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socca I use a strategy I call 'artificial fever'. I soak in the bathtub in water as hot as I can stand for about 20-30 minutes.

Something similar here. I really love a sauna, and building one was my first project when we moved into our last three homes. It may be placebo effect, but "sweating it out" has always made me feel much better.

Beyond that, I've always felt that sleep is the best medicine.

[Dawg52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I buy the generic Claritin D at Costco, which contains pseudoephedrine and loratine, a decongestant and an antihistamine. The pseudoephedrine really dries up the sinuses, but for an old duffer like me, exacerbate prostate problems to the point where I can hardly pee.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 6miths And don't be taking pseudoepedrine if you're prone to irregular or fast heart beat. Anyway, read the product info and warnings.

I keep Claritin D on hand for those days I'm having a real bad day with my sinuses. But I agree, they will make the heart race and wire me up so to speak. A good old fashion benadryl dries me up too, but makes me sleepy. When you're sick, nothing wrong with a nap tho.

[mystang52]

All of the OTC cold medicines are some combination of something like 3 or maybe 4 ingredients - pseudoephedrine, Benadryl, or one or 2 others.
I have an underlying medical condition so try to nip colds in the bud. I take liquid Dayquil, and Nyquil for nighttime. I think NYquil is effective, if only because it helps me sleep! I suspect Dayquil is just a placebo for me.
BTW I am Jewish and and was raised on chicken soup. But now I prefer Chinese Hot and Sour soup!

[poorcarver]

I go to health club and sit in steam/sauna/hot tub as much as I can stand, with intervals of sitting in cooling off small pool that is part of the set up. For me the down side is that I flow mucus like a river, so frequent runs to men's locker area for vigorous nose blowing.

Somehow the heat seems to bake out the bad (artificial fever?). At any rate, I can get up in the morning, feel like crap, coughing like a banshee and after above I leave feeling pretty ok until the next day, rinse and repeat. I also make chicken stew and more or less live on that, ginger tea. Cask strength single malt works as well.