The NyQuil Fraud

For much of my life, I have suffered from a re-occurring debilitating illness. It knocks me out, cripples my productivity, removes enjoyment from life, and reduces me to a shell of my normal self.

My wife calls it a man cold.

It’s true, Sidney will tell you I become a little dramatic when the common cold afflicts me. However, I maintain that the colds that enter my body are a little more “uncommon” than the typical junk most people deal with. My colds are a little more savage in nature—my eyes water up without notice, my voice takes a hike, I lose all sense of taste, and my poor nose closes up like a Chic-Fil-A on Sunday.

Oh well, I probably shouldn’t waste space by attempting to convince you that my colds are worse than your husband’s. Because aside from my subjective belief that my symptoms are perhaps harsher than those of everyone else, the other reason that made me think my colds packed more of a punch is now debunked.

For years and years, I turned to NyQuil and its generic equivalents to provide some relief when my colds became especially nasty. And despite my positive attitude, hope, and attention to dosage detail, there was always one consistent result when I took these medications: Absolutely NOTHING.

Besides knock me out if I ever took the night time version, NyQuil never did a thing for me. Glad that it is now being held accountable.

If only I had a dime for each time I complained to Sid that these cold medicines did ZILCH to improve my condition I would be a rich man. Despite my anger that these over-the-counter options failed to even make a single iota of improvement in my symptoms, I would still turn to them every now and then. These are the industry standards, I thought, perhaps this time they will make a difference.

They never did.

In the past few years, I had come resigned to the fact that when I get a cold, the only effective/worthwhile medicine (at least in my case) was just time. My best option was to just take it on the chin and hope I felt better in a week. Oral cold medicine simply did not work for me.

Last week, I received some vindication along with the reality that I wasn’t the only one immune to oral cold medicines. The Food and Drug Administration has proposed completely ceasing the sale of medicines like NyQuil, Benadryl, Sudafed PE and others. Why? Because the active ingredient in these substances, oral phenylephrine, simply doesn’t work. The FDA is accepting the years and years of research from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy that says NyQuil can’t stop a cold any better than placebo pills can.

That is a big deal. For as long as I have been alive, NyQuil was the industry standard for combating a stuffy nose. Even though it never worked for me, I thought I was an anomaly. Not so. People have been shooting this stuff back for decades thinking it would help them. Anyone else mad?

Some pharmacies aren’t even waiting for the FDA’s proposal process to play out, they are simply yanking the products off their shelves right now. Good for them! For those who are still supplying it, the clock is ticking. Within six months, he FDA is expected to declare that oral phenylephrine is a fraud and demand that it be removed from all shelves in the country.

Although I have already moved on from giving chances to NyQuil, I am pleased that others won’t have to experiment with it. Get it off the shelves and let’s stop lying to people. Don’t Blink.

The Drugless Methods I Use to Fight the Cold/Flu

I like to say cold viruses hit me really hard but let’s face it, I am sure everyone else experiences the same discomfort and misery that I do. Coming down with a sickness is no fun at all. It can ruin moods, cut productivity, infect others, and make life not as enjoyable. Unfortunately most of us get sick a couple times a year and we just have to deal with it. Everyone seems to cope with their ailments differently, both medication wise and psyche wise.

I used to be the type of person who let my nasty sickness overcome me so much that I wanted to punch my computer screen as hard as I could. Despite taking a drug plan that would eventually get me better I scorned the time it took to bring me tangible results and I became negative. Exactly a year ago at this time I realized drugs alone wouldn’t lead me to a speedy recovery. It became known to me that I could suffer a one week cold sentence and hate life the whole time or I could do my best to enjoy life as much as possible despite my discomforts. I started to buy into the latter option.

Bottom line, drugs can only cure you over time. They lessen symptoms to make you feel a little more comfortable until the sickness has ran its course. It is not enough. In order to truly battle the crud without totally losing out on a week of life you have to take non-medical measures as well. I have a short list of three drugless measures I take to combat cold and flu season to make sure I don’t let the sickness get the absolute best of me. Tonight I would like to share these remedies with you.

1. Positivity: When I mentioned the transformation I went through a year ago with my changed outlook on feeling crummy I really focused on staying positive. In fact, I even wrote a whole blog post devoted to this crucial step of defeating the cold and flu. As I have said numerous times in Don’t Blink, it is all about perspective. At the time a cold can feel like the worst thing ever. But we have to remind ourselves that we aren’t battling cancer, we aren’t on death row, and we aren’t burning at a stake. We have a common virus that will clear up very soon. Life is good.

Besides actually taking solace in having a minor ailment compared to a major ailment I also just think positive in general. I think about things such as fun events coming up, the countdown to summer, the upcoming weekend, and the people I like. As the nose gets stuffier and my eyes get redder I try to visualize these thoughts harder and harder.

2. Stay Busy: If you keep yourself totally busy and immersed on work and projects you can lessen your symptoms to a degree. Lots of people will say that when you are sick it is harder to focus and keep on task. Well yes, that is true, but most of the people who say this will then throw their hands up in the air and say getting anything done is a lost cause…major cop out. If you do put in the energy and discipline into getting as much done as possible you can curb your ailments. At work I try to get even more done than on healthy days and at home I continue to write blog posts and do other self-improvement activities. When I am concentrated on something other than my nagging cold I feel much better.

3. Working Out: Some people tell me I am crazy for this one but I swear by it. Even when I am sick as a dog I still work out. Why? Because when I do I experience the most relief I get all day. For whatever reason when I am at the gym while I am sick the strength of my symptoms dramatically decrease. My head clears for that hour and I am able to engage in a good exercise session. Again, like above, I think it is more of an excuse to say that you shouldn’t work out while you are sick just so you don’t have to work out. If more people actually gave their bodies a good sweat when they aren’t feeling too hot they would experience some nice relief.

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So in addition to my DayQuil and NyQuil I am also keeping positive, staying busy, and working out. Before I know it I hope to be back to 100% and talking in a voice that doesn’t sound like death. The common cold is not something I am going to let hijack a week of my life. Don’t Blink.