OTC Med Guide

You know that overwhelming isle in the pharmacy with a million different brightly colored boxes and brands that we tend to get so intimidated by….. are all essentially the SAME ingredients just marketed a different way, with different flavorings or sweeteners. 

Here is my general guide to choosing over the counter (OTC) medications from the store:

• BUY GENERIC. Almost all brands are created equal. So I almost always recommend generics and choose those for myself and my family. 
• READ THE LABEL. The better guide and or secret to OTCs is to simply look at the ingredients included and decide if that is going to work for your patient’s symptoms. Everybody has their go tos. 
•  “Nighttime” or “PM” means 1st generation antihistamine present
• “Daytime” or “non drowsy” medications means there is not an antihistamine present
• “Severe”  or “Maximum” or “DM” usually means dextromethorphan is present
  
• pseudoephrine containing meds are only available behind counter (you have to ask for it) whereas anything with “PE” is phenylephrine
• Mucinex has 4 formulations
  Regular = guaif  (so its just a regular expectorant) meaning thin watery mucous
  D = adds Pseudoephedrine (meaning it’ll really dry you up)
  DM = adds Dextromephorthan
  • Fast max = adds DM, pheyleph & tylenol 
• Nyquil & Dayquil, in nyquil there is an antihistamine, in dayquil they used instead phenylephrine, remember that basically placebo decongestant?  If you get Dayquil severe they add guaifenesin so it has both decongestant AND expectorant.  And Nyquil severe adds phenylephrine. So my recommendation, Nyquil severe is a waste of money. And Dayquil is the exact same thing as Mucinex “fast max”.