sinesalvatorem:

What type of drugs? Where can I get them? Will they cost more than $25? I’ve never bought flu medication back home. We use ~traditional herbs~ and suffering it out, because that’s the cheapest thing for it.

(will use chemical names because over-the-counter medicine brand names are ever-changing, often overly broad, and generally confusing)

(I spent long enough composing this that I’ve quite possibly been ninja’d, but hopefully this helps anyway.)

Relevant contents of my family’s basic medicine stock, available at any ordinary pharmacy (Pharmasave, Shoppers Drug Mart, stuff like that, also most grocery stores):

Pseudoephedrine: de-clogs stuffy noses. I don’t think it does anything for runny noses, or at least it didn’t seem to during my recent cold. While not particularly psychoactive itself (apparently it can be a stimulant, but not at the doses you’d be taking), is an ingredient in making meth, so you will likely be required to show ID and be forbidden from buying quantities that look suspiciously industrial. IME, wears off after 3 – 4 hours, but can only be taken every 6 (although you’re officially allowed to take another dose after only 4 as long as you don’t do it too often; see box for details). Plan your off times accordingly.

(Phenylephrine: …actually, let me just quote Wikipedia here. “Phenylephrine is marketed as an alternative for the decongestant pseudoephedrine, though clinical studies show phenylephrine to be no more effective than placebo.“ You might be tempted by it because it’s less restricted than pseudoephedrine, but don’t bother. If you have trouble obtaining pseudoephedrine, just go without.)

Dextromethorphan: reduces cough frequency, though not always to nothing. Taken twice a day, and also cannot be relied upon to actually last the whole time.

Guaifenesin: if you are having the kind of cough where you can feel there’s phlegm clogging your lungs but the cough’s not clearing it out, turns your coughing into the kind of cough that does clear it out. Kind of gross while the “productive” cough is going on, but you can breathe better afterward.

Dimenhydrinate: anti-nauseant, in case you need that sort of thing at the moment. Is also a sedative, so don’t take it if you want to be awake. Has a similar name to anti-allergy (and also sedative) diphenhydramine because it’s a similar chemical: you might be able to use them interchangeably in a pinch, but probably better to keep separate stocks of them if possible. Definitely don’t take them both at once, though. (Mind you, it’s general good policy to never take any sedative with another sedative, or any stimulant (including pseudoephedrine) with another stimulant.)

(With flus you probably don’t need an anti-diarrheal, but for future reference that’s loperamide. Half a pill renders you unable to poop for 24 – 36 hours. I recommend against taking a whole pill.)

The four main OTC pain relievers are ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen, and naproxen. I generally use ibuprofen, but I’m not sure the difference is that important if you don’t have any medical issues forbidding one or another. (Oh, although, ibuprofen is nearly tasteless, so if you have trouble swallowing the pill, you can just chew it and it won’t be horrible.)

I don’t normally bother with topical anesthetic for sore throats (you open your mouth, aim the spray bottle at the back of your throat and press the button) because I find the feeling of numbness it replaces the pain with to be just as bad, but Mom uses phenol spray.

Note: all of these are sold in quantities too big for one cold suffered by one person. Rather than buying your own supply and having it expire before you can use it all, you may want to consider buying partial containers off of classmates. Possibly. Don’t blame me if something goes wrong with this plan.

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