OTC cold meds are nearly useless and can be harmful. Same old ingredients with a new advertising twist every few years.
@https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cold-drugs-dont-work/
@ech they are all decades old pre FDA meds that were never required to show effectiveness. Mostly useless with lots of side effects. I am an old ER doc and lifelong skeptic. I avoid them all myself.
@ech phenylephrine is subject to to diversion for illicit drug manufacturing. And extra bad for side effects. I am a paradoxical responder, makes me really sleepy.
@rdaily I'm a fan of chicken soup. (Has to be high quality; add mushrooms, garlic, greens…) Drinking liquids. Green tea. Copious amounts of sleep.
Occasionally I'll address some symptoms, in a limited way. For example, as I come off the cold maybe a few days of Flonase to fight post nasal drip that wants to give me pneumonia or something.
@rdaily phenylephrine in particular, not all cold meds. #NotAllColdMeds