One morning you wake up feeling really yucky. Your body hurts and just really ache from your head to your toes and everywhere in between. Your first thought, oh no! I can’t be getting sick!
But during the course of the next several hours after having that thought you find that it was really a wasted thought, because you are feeling worse by the minute. Your throat hurts, feels all dry and scratchy and you just know it has to be as red as the fire from a volcano. The lymph nodes in your neck are all swollen and you feel like everyone can see them a mile a way. The coughing starts and will not stop! Your head starts to hurt and you just know that any moment it is going to explode and your brain will be all over the bed for all to see. Your sinuses are starting to drain in the back of your throat and you know this is bad because your stomach is starting to pitch the stuff back up. And the sneezing, let’s don’t forget about that. Your nose has become red through out the day because of all the nose blowing and the use of those Kleenexes and you have decided that a resume to Santa is the best way to go. You can replace the reindeer and let your nose shine so bright!
So what are you going to do now? You decide that a trip to the local store may not be a bad idea after all and you drag yourself through your clothes and head for the door putting on your shoes on the way out. You stop! You think, just a little nap, maybe I will feel better, and you don’t really feel like going out after all. You decide that you can call your spouse and perhaps him or her can bring you something home! But that is hours away still, and the aches and pains are getting worse by the minute. So you go to the store to get some relief.
After parking your car you feel all those around you gawking at you. You just know that red nose is shinning brightly and they to are thinking you should apply to help out Santa. You don’t care. Your mission is to get some relief. No matter the price or the embarrassment. Your life is in your hands. You see the door of the store just inches away, and out of nowhere comes the rudest person you have encountered in a while. They stop you and have the absolute nerve to say to you “Hey buddy, you don’t look so well!” You just stare at them and really want to say, “You think buddy?” But instead you refrain from being rude back and just say to them “Your right I don’t feel well at all and I am going to get something to take right now!” And this rude person holds the door open for you and your mission begins again.
You locate the medicine aisle and you head that way. When you get there you just stop and look in wonder for you didn’t realize there were so many to choose from. It’s an absolute nightmare! What to do? What to choose? How to choose? Oh Lord someone help me!
You pick up one and read it then another. Do you get drowsy or non-drowsy. Do you get a multi-cold or not. Do you just want to die right there where you are at because your head is now hurting worse because you have to think and thinking is not good in your condition. You look so exhausted when the store clerk comes to help you out. And then he/she smiles at you and says “Can I help you with something?” And all is right in the world again. “Yes you sure can.” You reply. “I have this cold you see and I don’t really know what to get.” You tell this person your symptoms and you wonder if they really understand. They explain to you the different brands and that if you are tight for money the store brands work just as well. “It’s a personal choice you know, ” says the clerk. You nod in response.
It is explained to you that different medications work for different symptoms. You then are told that you can get capsules, caplets, or liquid. That the capsules and caplets come coated or non-coated and the difference; tasting the pill going down or not. NOT tasting is the way you really want to go. You have to consider, the stomach. Do you need something for it as well? You realize that this clerk has helped you all they can. And you want to spend some time alone now looking over the different kinds of medicine. You feel you have now degraded yourself enough to handle this task alone.
You pull one box and read the front of the box, looking for all your symptoms. You turn the box over and read the directions and the instructions. You look for warnings of any kind, because you figure if they have them printed they must be important. And you realize that you need to make sure there are no ingredients that you may be allergic to.
You are starting to sweat and you feel yourself getting weak. You take a deep breath and calm down. You once again look at the packages in your hand. Your symptoms are all listed on the front of the packages. Some relief feels you, pride even, you are getting closer to feeling better. You can do this! You know you can! Now that you have narrowed your search down you notice that they come in daytime formula or nighttime formula. You instantly make the decision to buy both kinds this way the brain will not hurt much more from excess thinking. And less pain you figure the better.
Now you just have to decide which one. Name brand? Or store brand? That is the true question at this point. You buy both, thinking if one doesn’t work maybe the other one will. You just want to get home and get to bed. Taking your selections to the check out praying all the way that the lines will not be long, because you just want out of there and in your own bed. You rush in excitement because your deed is almost done only to get to the check out to find a line. And a long one! You hesitate for just a moment looking for a shorter line and realize that just to the right of you a new clerk is opening up and off you go in that direction. You make it! And the first one to boot! Now you are feeling better already. You pay, you leave, you go home, you change back into your PJ’s and you take your medicine, knowing that the choice was right for you. Soon going off into a world all your own, in hopes to feel better soon!
Call your doctor and talk with them if you are in doubt. They will know what to suggest based on your history with them. (This advice is good for all types of medications not just cold or sinus ones.) If you don’t need something for sore throat then don’t get it, or if you don’t need something for cough then don’t get that one either. If you can’t take off of work then always get the non-drowsy medicines. And if your condition persist for more that a week to 10 days then you should go see your doctor, you may have something more serious and an over the counter medicine will not work.
Remember there are all sorts of remedies available over the counter and you should be serious in making a decision in which medication to purchase. You should certainly consult with your doctor if you are pregnant or on any medications such as heart or blood pressure. Some ingredient may cause serious side effects or death, so be sure! And as always keep medications out of reach of small children. If the packaging is broken don’t buy it. Give it to a clerk. And take all medications as prescribed by your doctor. If he/she tells you the entire bottle, then take the entire bottle.
I hope that this will help you in some type of way. It is serious decision so take it that way.
God Bless!