to want to write a very stiff letter to all those manufacturers of so called "cough mixture"?

[SpikeandDru]

..because I have not yet found one which actually works! Honestly - DS sounds just as bad 30 minutes after having the stuff as he did before - and it can only be given 4 hourly. Honestly - how on earth did these medicationsw ever make it past the preliminary trials? It doesn't bloody work. None of them do - why do I bother wasting my money on this crap? He's still coughing now.

Added to which - DH is away till Christmas Eve - I have a ton and a half of stuff to do tomorrow and I just KNOW DS will inevitably be too sick to go to school so nothing will get done. And - whatever fecking bug he has is just bound to head my way.

I have never ever bought cough medicine for that exact reason... really annoys me that they sell this stuff when it is well known there is no cure for the cold... I think they get round it by saying it "alleviates Symptoms" - well not in my house!!
you are better off with hot drinks and calpol -- same effect..

Have you done the vix on the feet jobby?

Can you raise his bed?

Have you got a humidifier or can you borrow one?

Hate to say it but there's no point in cough medicine. My doctor told me that they don't work and are a waste of money. A tickly cough is mucus running down the back of your throat when you have a cold, so wouldn't stop that. A guess maybe the chesty cough ones help but TBH if the doctor says the chest is fine apart from the cough i doubt it. If it's a more serious cough the doctor would prescribe something.

The doctor advised me that the best thing is to leave a window slightly open when you sleep to get some fresch air. Since I started doing this and no medicine for dd her coughs seem to go quicker. I used to think that leaving a window open would be the worst thing to do. I assume lots of fresh air during the day would help too

Hope ds goes to school and alows you to get on. Not long now and they'll be no school >>

fresh not fresch

fingers type quicker than my brain can spell

Cough mixtures don't work and are a waste of money. Stick to hot drinks calpol and inhalation.
I find a bowl of hot water with vicks or karvol in the bedroom are good too.
Actually vicks is a wonder - I swear by it

cough medicines are of little help

Oh yes it's vicks - I thought vix looked weird.

how old is he?...as if over age 1..give him honey as thats brilliant on my dd

we usually have cough mixture with a little hot water in. seems to sooth for longer but never 4 hours worth, we have window open too as it helps dd asthma too.

They are a useless waste of money, with no benefit other than sometimes a "placebo" effect. Pharmaceuticals make them to make money.

Don't bother with a letter, just don't spend the money in the first place!

(says she with three or four bottles in the bathroom cupboard, and no they have never helped...)

The only thing that works for me is Pholcodeine Linctus, it coats the throat, tastes nice and does help with tickly coughs.

Otherwise, lemsip and honey.

Things that have all worked to varying degrees:
Buy a good manuka honey and give your child a teaspoon. Tell them to let it slide down their throat slowly (rinse the teeth with water after.)
A warm (not milky) drink.
Keep the bedroom air warm. Cold winter air with window open will always make a cough worse. Turn your child onto their side if they are coughing in their sleep, this sometimes helps. My mum always put us onto higher pillows too, that can help. Tixylix for a tickly cough has appeared to help sometimes.

Don't know if you can still get it, but my Dad used to give me something called (I think) Gee's linctus. It wasn't a branded thing - as a trainee pharmacist apparently he used to make the stuff in the dispensary at the chemist. It had a morphine derivative of some sort in it that (so he said) that surpressed the bit of the nervous system that makes you cough (or something technical along those lines). He used to just give it at bed time so I got some sleep. And it worked. Really, honestly, stopped me from coughing. But you're right, none of the others do.

Bear in mind that some cough mixtures are actually intended to make you cough more! They contain expectorants that increase mucus production in order to help clear congestion, but in so doing can often increase the amount of coughing!

Cough suppressants can sometimes work, but they're only suitable for dry coughs. It's unwise to try to supress a chesty cough - as the cough itself is nature's way of clearing congestion from the lungs and it's best left alone to do its job.

my mum never gave us cough medicine on the basis it 'cant and doesnt work'

but dammit, its soothing. whats wrong with a little soothing when youre feeling shite?

I like meltus for when I have a chesty cough because I never have an efficient-enough natural cough to shift the gunk. Have to have two cups by the bed, though, one full of water and one to spit into, which isn't very nice at all.

I feel a bit sick now.

What 80s mum said - a suppressant for a dry tickly cough (often called "irritating" but they don't specify who to ) can help someone get to sleep when otherwise they'd be lying there coughing (and irritating) for hours.

spoonful of butter with sugar on -suckoff slowly (ooh er). V old fashioned but really helps the tickle.
We also use a cough mixture from the health food shop. Can't remember what it's called but has a bee on it or in the title (got royal jelly/ honey in it ). REALLY strong flavour but seems quite effective.

onw thing that does work is pulmo bailey. it is the most rank smelling thing ever, but it surpresses the cough (though don't think that's too good for you).

not sure if you can use it for children.

I have a bee in my bonnet about coughs and colds. Cough sweets used to prolong my coughs and the reason is because I reckon bacteria in my throat like sugar to feed on and peace and quiet and warmth to multiply in.

I deny them the environment they love.....

by stopping eating sugary stuff
by eating normal food often so that any bacteria go down to be killed in stomach acid
by drinking water/milk/orange juice
by not drinking coffee or tea
and the killer is to nibble apple day and night , my bugs hate it and stop bothering me with tickles in the night.

I used to get terrible coughs for over a week and now I don't, but feel very smug.

I said I felt strrongly about this!!

Apple is an interesting one!

I've also had success with manuka honey. I always have it in the house. As well as for colds i've also used it to heal a slightly septic toewhen my son's ingrowing toenail had got a little infected. Under supervision from a podiatrist I covered the site in honey and dressed it. After two days the pus had gone. The stronger the honey the betterit comes in different 'strengths'.

They sometimes use it for MRSA as well.