Hi,
I'm home getting some sleep but not enough.

What cold medicines are ok to take?
I have a runny nose mostly. I seem to remember that we cannot take any of the cold stuff.

M.

There are Many,many pollen spores in the air right now. My seasonal problems started about a half a week ago. It feels like a cold,but it's my allergys.

Maybe it's allergies that you are experiencing. BF

Mari, your drugist can tell you what to take sometimes better than a doctor. I hope you feel better soon. I should have know it was a full moon this past weekend the way my next door neighbor went off on everyone including me.

Barbara

Mari,

just a note. beware of paradoxical reactions notably with antihistamines - i have a problem specifically with Benadryl (diphenhydramine) which may also be found in certain cold concoctions. it used to be in that ... "no more coughy sneezy runny bla bla bla ..... so you can sleep" medicine and boy i took it and it made me crazy. sleep???? who could sleep????? i mean like major psychomotor agitation. runnin around, head in a jumble. it seems to do me worse in higher (50mg) dose which often knocks ppl out. just 25mg is a bit like russian roulette - i might grog out or perk up.

pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) is an activating medication - a decongestant. it is often found in combination cold medicines. that is something you could be sensitive to. the issues with pseudoephedrine are more related to those with heart condition as it can cause tachycardia. i personally do not have any problem with it. and i can take Actifed for instance (might be called Actifed D there) which has triprolidine + pseudoephedrine in it. that's antihistamine + decongestant respectively. the other stuff they put in other blends are cough stuff (either expectorants or suppressants) and pain killers. i have always preferred to buy my drugs "a la carte" so i could take ONLY what i deemed necessary.

if you try something, the best thing is to use the drug for the first few times when you do not have to be somewhere, or be asleep or alert... so whatever happens you can then gauge. also, you can take a halfdose the first time. if you tolerate that, try the proper dose. however do not split any extended release tablets..

maybe you are feeling better by now. i hope so.

oh. one thing that has helped me in the past - but it is best taken early on... now is a bit late, is Echinacea, an immune system stimulant. but at this point you would have to do the acute treatment (usually multiple times instead of 2ce a day). However, echinacea - of any type - can interact with medications by significant hepatic enzymes induction.

As such, the herb can cause excessive elimination of our meds depending on the extent to which the involved enzymes coincide with those affected by Echinacea. A pharmacist, and if not, an Herbalist, should be able to help with that. I do not know how verapamil is metabolized and i am not sure what else you take. also must go to bed. been up late rummaging as it happens on my own...

because right now i am fighting allergies and possible infection. FWIW, i am taking Echinacea - as a preventive - but probably not beyond a week because i also take valproate (heavily metabolized by glucuronidation). At that point i will break for a couple of weeks and/or have a blood draw with full liver panel for safety. ideally would be to have 2 draws, one before and one after the treatment, so i know for next time but.... sigh, no doctor will prescribe 2 draws 1 week apart. Would be nice to get my free valproate levels too, pre-, post-, heck, just ANY, ... but it isn't fashionable i guess. nope. noooo med level testing.

and after all that, maybe you are feeling much better by now... hey that would be nice.

~ waves ~ hoping you feel better soon!

BrokenFriend

i heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaar ya about them pollens. drive me nuts. soon as one batch is done there's another of another kind gittin in the eyes and the ears and the nose and the throat and... oooh. argghh! you have my sympathy. and empathy. you sound really sensitive to many allergens as well. that's rough.

~ waves ~ hoping you feel better soon too.

roflmao!

Waves Yep. My throat feels irritated,and my nose is running at times. It's always May when it is the worse. Right now is the time when those trees,and mixed grasses in my state are blooming,which I'm allergic too. Sneeze

Mari I bet you are feeling the affects of the pollens also. You will feel better soon. It's been raining around here alot too. That's when the molds are in the air. They get me too. Rain,or shine in May#%&#%. Oh well!!!!!! BF

Dear Waves,
I hope that the Echinacea works for you.
And thanks for describing how it can interfere with meds.

Last Wed the mdoc I saw said I had a virus.
It was an intense stomach bug with fever and sore throat that settled down after 1/2 day to low level crumminess. I stayed home and did my version of "rest" as instructed.

Then, whatever I had morphed into a runny nose and some occassional sneezing or coughing. (And yeah, I'm aware that this could be more than one virus. . . )
I've only been into work for a few hours each for two days since I saw the mdoc.

Today / Wednyesday I will have to go in a few hours again, but I will mostly be working by myself.
Thursday could be a very long day and I am responsible for running a meeting -- don't want to be all nose drippy.

The last time I tried some of these OTC things, the Benedryl didn't work. I got agitated. And the last time I took a cold medicine I nearly fell asleep in the car. Yeah, we have "day-time" cold medicine but I can't make sense of the chemicals -- so thanks for the explanation.

I rarely get these virus things -- otherwise I would have done more experimenting with the OTC stuff and I would remember what worked for me.

On Sunday, my acupuncturist told me over the phone (this seems to be her protocol for her patients right now) to take a probiotic (prevention I guess) and as much vit C (up to 3 grams) as my body could tolerate. I haven't done the vit C as instructed. I get overwhelmed easily keeping track of taking this and taking that and then trying to remember to do it multiple times a day.

I have a bottle of Vit C that has pills in 250 mgs that is ok on the stomach so some nights I remember to take one pill after the night meds (never before the meds -- that might confuse me into thinking I had already taken the meds.).


I think saw on the Internet earlier today that drinking fluids helps to loosen congestion in the chest -- so I drank a lot more today than I normally would.

M.

Dear Barbara,
My pharmacy is kind of hit or miss.
Sometimes in the past, I have I gotten disappointed when I had a question. Other times, the pharmacist has been wonderful.
Maybe I would do better with a phone call then going in person -- then I would not take it as personally if I get a bs answer.


Dear Friend,
The allergies can be difficult to deal with.
From what I hear, all you can do is stay inside and wait for the "season" to pass. I hope that you start feeling better.

Waves,
I hope you get over whatever you might have and start feeling better.

M.

Mari

Hope you start to get better soon.

Donna