I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas. As I am sure you are aware, besides gifts being exchanged multiple viruses “colds” have been exchanged as well. Symptoms have ranged from headache, muscle ache, sore throat, a cough that will not go away or just feeling bad and lethargic. The flu is out there but not as many cases as I would have expected. I have not seen any COVID for some time but that does not mean it will not pop up. As I described in a previous post. If you have symptoms, it is typically a virus 95% of the time. Antibiotics WILL NOT help this. There are exceptions to the rule so if you are severely ill, febrile, have altered mental status or just do not feel right please let us know but otherwise, I recommend you treat the symptoms.
I typically say start with Afrin nasal spray (Oxymetazoline), 2 sprays per nostril 3 times a day (the bottle will say twice a day) but 3 times a day for 3 days ONLY. If you continue past 3 days your body will become “addicted” to this medication and can make the situation worse. This is called rhinitis medicamentosa and you do not want to have this. I would recommend Advil Cold and Sinus (ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine). You want to get the pseudoephedrine that is behind the counter and I recommend the short acting version which is 30 mg tabs. I would start with 1 tab 3 times a day and try to make the last dose no later than 5:00 because it can affect your sleep. You can increase to 2 tabs three times a day if you feel the one tab is not helping. If you are a male, this can also affect your urinary flow so if you have prostate problems to begin with, I would avoid this medication. If you notice your flow is decreasing it is the medication and not anything else. These should also be taken for 3 days if you tolerate them. The pseudoephedrine can stimulate you and keep you up and that is why it is behind the counter because it is an active ingredient when it comes to making methamphetamines “crank or crystal meth”. The medication will also say if you have cardiovascular disease or hypertension please consult your doctor. Consider me consulted. Short-term usage should be fine its long-term usage that I would be concerned about if you had cardiovascular disease or hypertension. In addition you should be taking an antihistamine. I prefer Xyzal but Claritin, Allegra or Zyrtec can be used in its place. (All generics are fine to take in place of the name brand and they are a lot cheaper). I would recommend taking these twice a day for the first week then decrease to once a day afterwards. If despite all this, your symptoms worsen or do not improve after 7 days let us know because your viral infection may have progressed to a secondary bacterial infection. And that my friends, would be when you COULD benefit from an antibiotic. I hope this helps. Wash your hands regularly, stay home when you are sick, stay hydrated and well rested. Have a great day and a happy new year.
Doug
