Painkillers and the common cold. Question re effectiveness.

[IndigoSpritz]

If you don't have any aches or pains as a result of having a cold, are drugs like ibuprofen, aspirin and paracetamol worth taking ? Or just ordinary decongestants or antihistamines ?

Caffeine doesn't affect my sleep, so taking lemsip is good comfort when I have cold. Kind of placebo effect too. And paracetamol do work, by preventing not getting temp too high up?

Ibuprofen is a surprisingly effective anti inflammatory drug so it does help with the blocked nose and sinus headaches and paracetamol will bring down a fever but personally I don't like to interfere with a high temperature unless I have to. It's serving a purpose.

And paracetamol do work, by preventing not getting temp too high up?

Except the purpose of a temp is to raise the body’s temperature to one where bacteria and viruses can’t reproduce, or can’t do so as quickly- they function best at a comfortable 37 deg.

Lower the temp, provide a better enviroment for bugs to reproduce. So you may feel better short term, but it will take longer for your immune system to clear the virus/bacteria.

I only ever take an antihistamine before bed if i feel really rough, decongestant and makes you drowsy so at least you have a better chance at decent sleep. Otherwise i leave my body to it.

I'm learning a lot tonight. It's really quite a blessing that the likes of ibuprofen and aspirin are so readily available and inexpensive, in the UK at least. Having said that, my GP from decades ago maintained that Disprin was the best aspirin. It's more expensive than a generic aspirin but, I agree, it works better (at least for me).

Maybe the Disprin/aspirin advice was because Disprin was soluble in water and therefore was absorbed more rapidly than generic aspirin tablets that took longer to dissolve in the stomach. So with Disprin you got a quicker effect, and they were less likely to cause gastritis (irritation of the lining of the stomach) which is a common side-effect of aspirin.

I've found phenylephrine doesn't work (apparently, there are no trials that have demonstrated its effectiveness over placebo) - but psuedo does.

If you can describe your symptoms to the pharmacist, they won't have any problem selling it to you (the key phrase I've found is 'it feels like I've been hit around the face with a baseball bat'). And it's a damn sight cheaper to take them + two paracetamol from a 29p pack with a cup of coffee than it is to buy a patented 3 in 1 remedy.

No need to buy expensive 3in1 - it is easily available cheaply in places like Home Bargain without the expensive brand name.

One local pharmacist wouldn't sell me pseudoephedrine because she wasn't convinced about my symptoms (I could see the bleeding tablets behind the counter which was doubly annoying) so I went to a rival pharmacist up the road who sold me them willingly, after one or two questions and no judgement. Sudafed, by the way. Pricey but effective.

reallyanotherone, I was expecting your responce actually. I was studying biology recently and learning how people become ill and about body responce, etc.
But my normal body temp is about 35.5, so if my temp is raised to 37*, does that favour the virus or bacteria? Genuine question.