To expect cough medicine to do what it says on the bottle and actually provide some relief?

[the3ofus]

I have been hacking away with a cough for the past three days. This morning, in desperation, I took some cough medicine which promised to "relieve symptons". I did not expect a magical, instant cure but had hoped my one hour commute to work on the train would be tolerable. Instead I spent it coughing away miserably into my hanky, trying not to notice that everyone sitting near me was slowly shrinking away from me... (and I don't blame them!). I am sat her coughing away- the cough medicine has had NO effect.

How do these medicines get licensed when they DO NOT work? I remember buying some medicine for dd when she was little and suffered from coughs and they didn't work on her either...

I would say that the OP has the same virus I have had - the coughing so hard your eyes are watering etc, very phlegmy

As I posted the other day my doctor told me all cough medicine is useless. If it is a dry tickly cough then he advises Piriton (allergy relief) which stops the tickle-cough response like magic.

Of course be careful with this. You need to check it wil not interact with other medicine you are taking. It also makes you drowsy so do not drive or use machinery.

I told my mother who has now told all her old friends. I use it and especially at night and also on my children (use with care and only use the recommended dose) and it works wonders.

Of course a chest infection with flegm and mucous is a different kind of cough and needs a doctors advice as thee may be a serious infection.

i agree with monkeygi any brand
honey, lemon and glycerine ! i,ve had 5 kids and never used anything else to be honest
the named brand don,t work

myfunnyname- no I definitely don't have asthma, the cough is the last lingering sympton of the awful common cold. It certainly wasn't a conscious choice for me to cough my way through a meeting just now- I would have done anything not to have sat there hacking away, but my body had other ideas... My stomach muscles are so sore from tensing when I cough and my throat is red raw. If anything, the cough seems to be getting worse. I blame the cough medicine which I'm dumping in the bin as soon as I get home.

wasn't there an advertising slogan 'nothing works faster than @@@$%'. It's probably true, NOTHING will work faster than @@@£$%.

Just 'cos it doesn't work doesn't mean it can't be sold. for example take some alternative therapies, no evidence to suggest they work but people still sell them and buy them. Although if they are claiming something that isn't true...

And I agree, most cough mixtures don't work. except perhaps pholcodeine.

i find pholcodeine syrup useful but you have to take it every 4 hours for it to register. the other thing i do is to always have water in the car in case one of us has a coughing fit, that helps.

I have the kind of coughs where if i try to suppress it, i end up throwing up. Did it once on a field trip to a museum at school, and had the spend the rest of the trip in the lobby .

Its such a horrible cough that i often end up retching.

I have never found a cough medicine that works and just cough my way through till its over with.

You do have to be a little careful with cough supressants. As has already been said a cough is part of the body's immune system to prevent more serious infections. When it does get more serious it may be a sign of a something more serious.

I am a firm believer in letting a cough run it's course.