Winter is just about here, and so is cold and flu season. And there's a warning from doctors and pharmacists about the use and misuse of cold medications.
Cold and flu remedies of all kinds are available over the counter, but CJAD 800's medical expert Dr. Mitch Shulman says no one should ever overestimate what they can do.
"Most people can treat a cold on their own, they do not need to see a doctor," Dr. Mitch says. "Low-grade fever, aches and pains, sniffles, coughs, sore throat — it'll last five to seven days, whether you treat it or not."
That doesn't mean cold medications are useless — they treat the symptoms to make you more comfortable, and some work better than others. However, you're still dealing with a virus, and there's still no reliable cure for it.
And while you may be tempted to sometimes use several medications at once, or in larger doses than recommended, you may be putting yourself at risk of exacerbating conditions such as liver or heart disease, and high blood pressure.
"For example, many over-the-counter medications that deal with cold symptoms contain acetominophen," If you take too much aceptominophen...then you can actually hurt your liver very significantly."
Decongestant medications, he says, can be tied to adrenaline, which raises blood pressure, squeezes your blood vessels, and can make your heart work overtime.
"For most of us, that's not going to be a problem," Dr. Mitch says, "but if you have underlying heart problems, that may push your heart over the edge and trigger a heart attack."
Meanwhile, if you're giving cold meds to your kids, you especially have to be careful about giving them the proper dosage, and keep in mind — giving kids cough medications aren't a good idea because, Dr. Mitch says, they tend not to be effective, and there can still be unpleasant side effects.
He says if you aren't sure about medications, check with a reputable web site (WebMD, or the McGill or Harvard medical school sites) — or better yet, have a sit-down with your pharmacist.