There’s just something about New Jersey in the winter, as it comes with annoying sniffles and coughs. When you catch a cold, you will definitely find yourself searching the pharmacy aisles for some form of relief.
With so many options available, this endeavor can leave you more confused than when you started. For this reason, you need to be properly informed about what works best. With the right information, you will be able to get the ideal medication for your symptoms. This article explains over-the-counter medications that will work best for you this winter in New Jersey.
Combining Medication with Your Symptoms
The key to taking the right product is to relieve symptoms that bother you the most. If you take a multi-symptom product to relieve one symptom, you could be overdosing. Below is an explanation of how you can manage different kinds of cold symptoms.
We Carry Over-The-Counter Cold Medicine in NJ
Decongestants: Sinus Pressure & Stuffy Nose
If you can’t breathe, you are certainly congested. What you need is an active ingredient in the form of a nasal decongestant like pseudoephedrine. It eases your symptoms by making the swollen blood vessels in your nose smaller. Pseudoephedrine is very effective as a decongestant, but due to regulations, you will find it on the behind-the-pharmacy-counter shelf. You can only find phenylephrine over the counter.
Antihistamines: For Sneezing and a Runny Nose
A congested nose and sneezing are your body’s overreaction to the virus. Antihistamines will quiet this down. Old-style antihistamines like diphenhydramine found in Benadryl or chlorpheniramine will do the trick but will leave you very dizzy. Due to this, they are wonderful for sleeping so they are best administered at night. For daytime relief without drowsiness, non-sedating forms like loratadine (Claritin) or cetirizine (Zyrtec) do the job as well.
Suppressants vs. Expectorants: For Coughs
Not all coughs are created equal. A dry, hacking cough is a serious cough without mucus and may require a cough suppressant. The most commonly used is dextromethorphan (DM). It acts on the cough center in your brain to suppress the cough reflex. If your cough is “productive,” you don’t want to suppress it at all. You want to thin out the mucus so you can cough it up. For this, you need an expectorant like guaifenesin. It thins out the mucus so that you can easily cough it out of your lungs.
Pain Relievers: For Aches, Pains, and Fever
When you are in pain and experiencing a fever, nothing else justifies your attention other than recovering. Amongst the over-the-counter drugs commonly used for such conditions are Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen. When Acetaminophen is added to Tylenol, it performs wonderfully to burn out fever and pain. Though it is stomach-friendly, never be an over consumer because taking more than the maximum daily dosage will affect your liver.
Ibuprofen and Naproxen can relieve body pain, reduce fever, and sore throat because they anesthetize inflammation. However, they can cause some stomach upsets as one of their side effects. Reading the “Active Ingredients” label is always a good idea to prevent double-dosing since Acetaminophen and NSAIDs are most likely well hidden in multi-symptom flu medicines.
The Legacy Pharmacy Approach: More Than Medication
Although all these are general relief medicines, we acknowledge that the ultimate solution has to be personally tailored to fit your requirements. What suits your neighbor may not be meant for you, especially if you have a different condition such as blood pressure, or you are already on medication.
That is where we can assist, for we are your in-store pharmacist. You can ask us questions face-to-face when you visit Legacy Pharmacy. Our staff can go over the choices with you and recommend a medication that will do precisely what you need it to. We can even recommend whether one component would be more convenient for you than a package price.
Winter comes with tons of stubborn colds. Most of these seem to linger just when you need your energy the most. The good news is that there are amazing remedies to consider. OTC cold medicine can help you face the season with confidence.
For the best possible results, you need to get your medication from a reputable provider. At Legacy Pharmacy, we help you make informed choices that will help keep you and your family safe. We provide expert guidance and a trusted selection of effective treatments. Through this, you can rest assured that you are getting the relief you need without any guesswork. This winter, consider making us your partner in health.
