Cold Symptoms? What Works?

If you read the recent post about oral phenylephrine, then you know how the advisers at the FDA found that it plain doesn’t do anything to relieve cold symptoms. What should you take? Again, the Wall Street Journal dove into this with some helpful advice. A quick summary:

-Congestion- Try pseudoephedrine
-Decongestant spray- Try: 1-nasal phenylephrine, although it provides only short-acting relief and can cause rebound stuffiness, 2-oxymetazoline (Afrin); this can also lead to rebound congestion. 3-nasal steroids, such as Nasonex or Flonase.
-Antihistamines- Zyrtec, Claritin, and Allegra provide 24-hour relief, but are not as fast-acting and only work to block histamine, which is the problem in allergy sufferers.

Also recommended are Neti Pots. The article details how to use these safely and effectively, as well as what is safe to try in children. Read more here:

Some Cold Medicines Don’t Work. Here’s What Doctors Recommend Instead. – WSJ