How to Survive the Sick Season

By: Rhoda Fukushima
Posted In: News

ST. PAUL, Minn.- Recently, pharmacist John Hoeschen felt a cold coming on. He wasn’t surprised, since his four kids were feeling under the weather. He immediately started drinking extra fluids and taking echinacea.

Four days later, he was symptom-free: no coughing, no congestion. Hoeschen’s strategy to combat a cold is simple: Hit it hard, hit it early.

“It can take a normal, nasty cold down to minimal symptoms,” says Hoeschen, of St. Paul. “But by the time many people start thinking about a cold, they have a head full of snot.”

Cold and flu season will be here soon enough. And so will the season for over-the-counter (OTC) medications. But just because these medicines are available without a prescription doesn’t mean everyone should reach for them.

A cold virus replicates in the cells in your nose or throat, either destroying or damaging them. That’s why you get a sore throat.

“Most of the time, it’s going to run its course, and then people will be fine,” says Dr. Robert Stroebel, assistant professor of medicine at Mayo College of Medicine. “And they’ll save the co-pay visiting the doctor.”

Typically, symptoms last four to five days. OTC medicines essentially relieve symptoms; they don’t cure the cold. The most common OTC medications are decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants and expectorants.

“If you start taking something, you think it’s working, but it’s likely because your cold is getting better,” says Dr. Don Uden, professor of pharmaceutical care and health systems at the University of Minnesota and a former member of the FDA’s nonprescription drug advisory committee.

We asked medical professionals for their advice in using OTC medications. Here are their suggestions:
– Keep it simple. If you take several multisymptom products at once, you may be overdoing it, says Hoeschen, who owns St. Paul Corner Drug. “With viral colds, take fluids, decongestant, expectorant,” he says. “That’s about all you need.”
– Be careful if you’re taking medications for other conditions. For example, decongestants may increase blood pressure. “It’s always safest to check with your doctor if you have questions about it,” Stroebel says.
– Use as directed. This seems like a no-brainer, but some people continue to think more is better. But beware. For example, if you use topical decongestants for more than five days, they can irritate and damage cells and cause swelling and fluid in your nose, Uden says.
– Monitor your symptoms. Battling a virus can make you more susceptible to other infections. If you start running a fever of 101.5 to 102 degrees, have a bad sore throat and difficulty swallowing, call the doctor. People with diabetes or those on immune suppressants or chemotherapy are more susceptible to bacterial infections, Stroebel says.
– Avoid spreading germs in the first place. “I think a person’s best defense is good handwashing,” Stroebel says.
– Consider other promising products on the market, including zinc lozenges. “Zinc is pretty interesting,” Uden says. “There is some information that zinc might prevent the viruses from multiplying.”

Not everyone jumps on the OTC bandwagon. Uden, for one, advocates not using them. He points to the medical literature for colds and cough.

“There’s no data that antihistamine products are convincingly effective,” he says. “Colds are not histamine-based. Symptoms are due to the virus killing normal cells. (An antihistamine) is not going to deal with the virus, and it’s not effective for symptoms.”

So, what does Uden do when his throat starts to tickle?

He may use a decongestant nasal spray but only if he’s having trouble sleeping, and he uses it for no more than five days. Otherwise, he’s a big fan of lemon drops and gargling with tepid salt water.

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HARD FACTS
– In an average year, Americans suffer 1 billion colds.
– Students lose 22 million school days annually from colds.
– The flu causes 38 million missed school days and more than 20 million lost workdays each year.
– Nearly everyone will get at least one cold this winter.
– One in five people who travel will catch a cold within a week of flying.
– Adults average two to four colds a year; preschoolers get five to nine colds per year.

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c 2004, St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.).

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