What Med Can I Take For A Head Cold?

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JJR1956

JJR1956

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Hi All!

I'm new here and wondered if you can help me. I have a really nasty head cold. I remember my Nero telling me to watch out about taking cold meds. Can I take one of the many types of Sudafed's out there? I don't have a fever and mucus is clear. So I'm not gonna drag my butt to the doctor.

I found this forum by a Google search. I bet I can get the best answers from people that know.

I have Seizure Disorder from a car accident, but it's been under control for the past 15 years with Phenobarbital.

Thank You,
Joey
 
Hi, Joey;
I would suggest asking your pharmacist. They are the experts when it comes to knowing about medications and their potential interactions. No one here is a medical expert qualified to say what medications you can safely take.
I have been advised to not take any cold medications by both neurologist and pharmacist due to various reasons. Non-medicine treatments that can be helpful are steaming your head over a kettle by holding a towel over your head and steam (just be careful not to burn yourself) and those devices that spray saline solution into your nose and sinus can also help relieve stuffiness. Follow the instructions on the box it comes in. Good luck and feel better soon!
 
Hi Joey,

You can probably take Tylonol or anything that doesn't contain ANTIHISTAMINE (sp) .

Randy
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I did call the pharmacist and she said I could take Sudafed PE, but I skipped it. I don't want to take any chances. It said on the box it can cause seizures in some people. I don't know why she'd tell me to take that. I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I hardly ever get sick, so I'm not used to feeling like this. I also called my Nero, but he won't get back to me within 3 business days. Darn doctors man! I need to know NOW, not 3 days from now.

Anyway, thanks again. I'll just deal with being clogged up. As long as I don't have a fever I'm cool with everything.

Joey
 
I drink "Gypsy Cold Care" by "Traditional Medicinals", it's very mild and good with honey. I also gargle with salt water, and even just snort salt water up my nose. (It's not at all bad. Fresh water burns more.) You can also eat something very spicy.
 
Thanks Matthew. I never heard of "Gypsy Cold Care".

Tonight I wish I had some of that. Dam stuffed nasal! I can only breath through my mouth. Last night I woke up in the middle of a dream....I dreamt I couldn't breath. So then I woke up, and I couldn't breath through my nose. I was up all dam night. Looks like I'm in for another stuffy night. Oh well.....
 
Hi Nakamova,

I couldn't take it anymore, so I bought (Rite Aid Brand) Phenylephrine HCI 10mg/ 1 every 4 hours. I only took one and I'm speeding my butt off! I don't think I'm gonna take anymore.
Here's my problem...my wife has MS and she's in pretty bad shape. When I'm out of commission, everything comes to a halt. This worries me as we get older. I'm in pretty good shape. I do a lot of mountain climbing and eat right and all that stuff, so I'm hardly ever sick. But I'm REALLY sick this time! I wrote to my Nero, (on-line site). I asked him what I can take. This is what he wrote back:

Good morning, Joseph

Per Dr XXXXX:"

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, sudafed is considered safe in patients with a seizure disorder, however, seizures have been occasionally reported.

The bottom line is that over the counter medications for runny nose and congestion are considered low risk, but are not completely risk free."

Thank you for using myDH

Irina XXXXX, LPN for Dr XXXXX

So what the hell does that mean?! Spin the wheel and hope you don't have a seizure? :ponder:

I'm gonna have to suck it up and be strong I guess. Days aren't too bad....it's the night when I really feel totally sick and down for the count. As long as I don't have a fever, I'll have to do the best I can.
 
To me that gamble is not worth it. Cold "medicines" don't really cure anything anyway. They just postpose the symptoms for a little while.

IMO, for those of us with E the Rx that your grandma would give you is the best bet. Chicken soup, herbal tea and rest.
 
AlohaBird said:
To me that gamble is not worth it. Cold "medicines" don't really cure anything anyway. They just postpose the symptoms for a little while.
Click to expand...

I hear ya A-Bird, but ya know what my problem is....I have a very sick wife. If I'm down, everything stops. I do the food shopping, take her to doctor appointments, along with mine, (a lot of them for the wife), I do the laundry, most of the household chores, etc. She has MS, HepC, and major chronic pain. She's 68 years old....8 years older then me. She'll be starting that new HepC cure on the 18th of this month. So I need to take care of her when she's on it. So I really need to be on top of my game here. I did take another one of those cold pills and feel a lot better. But I'm speeding my butt off! I did take a Xanax, so it's not too bad. I have to stay in control for my wife's sake. I just have to! I get no help from our kids. My daughter lives pretty close to us, but her and her husband couldn't give a squat to be honest with ya. My son lives in Florida, and him and his wife are totally in there own world. I'm very surprised in my two kids. I defiantly didn't bring them up this way.

So that's the story here. I hope everyone understands my problem and why I'm asking about something so simple like a head cold. But on the other hand, I have to watch I don't have a seizure with all this anxiety. Thank God I have some Xanax for these crazy times.
 
I understand that your responsibilities as a caregiver are uppermost in your mind and you can't just tell the world to "press pause" for a week while you lie on the couch and drink chicken soup. I was the sole caregiver for my father in his last years including diabetes and dementia. Believe me I get it that this is not easy.

My objection to OTC cold meds is both that they don't really do much good and that there are potential interactions with our neurological condition and meds.

In terms of flat out effectiveness I will put a pot of my lemongrass/ginger/turmeric tea up against any OTC cold med any day. Better relief and no drug interactions.

I hope you feel better soon. It sounds like your wife got one of the last good men around. Lucky lady. :)
 
I hate to complain...but I'm still freakin' sick! It's a week now. I haven't been sick for this long in years. I miss the outdoors. I am taking that Phenylephrine HCI 10mg I bought from Rite Aid, but not every 4 hours. It's just too speedy, and I don't want to keep taking Xanax to slow down that feeling.

Just venting..........:dontknow:
 
It's starting to sound like that old song, "Go Ask Alice". "One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small and the ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all......."

That's a strain on the old bod, one pill speeding you up and the other bringing you down. Be careful.

I hope you feel better soon.
 
Yeah...I know. I'm only taking the cold med in the morning, and at night. (Instead of every 4 hours) The Xanax I only took yesterday because I drank coffee. No more coffee. Tomorrow I'm defiantly going out for a short hike. I think the forest air will do me good. You must have some nice hiking in Hawaii. Some day I need to see your part of the country.
 
My aunt who was a doctor used to say: "I can give you medication that will make your cold go away in 14 days, or you can take nothing and your cold will go away in two weeks."

So I never take cold meds. If cold symptoms are making it hard to sleep, I take SuperSnooze. Along with chicken soup, that's the only "medicating" that I do.
 
Hi Nakamova,

I took the Phenylephrine HCI 10mg at night so I wasn't clogged up and I could sleep. I'm still sick, but I really don't need any meds for it anymore. I'm just dealing with it. I've been through worse.

Thanks for your answer! :)
 
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