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The Dutch take this to the extreme, where the actually effective anti-cough medication dextromethorphan is completely unavailable, but complete bullshit herbal
by orangepurple 3y ago
The Dutch take this to the extreme, where the actually effective anti-cough medication dextromethorphan is completely unavailable, but complete bullshit herbal mixes which claim to help are a dime a dozen on every store shelf. I can't even imagine the amount of needless suffering people with chronic cough go through in the Netherlands.
- rscho 3y agoThe effectiveness of dextrometorphan is... underwhelming in most people. But you are correct that no effective cough suppressant is available OTC in Europe.
- wrs 3y agoDextromethorphan is one of the other “scientifically proven ineffective” OTC products mentioned by the authors. Once when I had a quite severe cough I did some (highly motivated) research and my conclusion was that there is no such thing as an effective cough suppressant. At least, none that isn’t also a consciousness suppressant.
- pitaj 3y agoAs a consciousness suppressant I wonder if DXM is safer than diphenhydramine. When I'm sick, being able to essentially sedate myself is honestly pretty valuable.
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoDXM is crappy as a consciousness suppressant. At low doses it doesn't do much. At higher doses it's likely to do the opposite: make you dissociate and hallucinate. It doesn't help you sleep.
- rscho 3y agoLow dose codeine is notoriously efficient.
- lazide 3y agoHigh dose codeine too. Permanently cures coughing!
- dreamcompiler 3y agoIndeed. Codeine was even available over the counter in the US until the mid 1960s. But of course it was also addictive, so now it's prescription-only.
- orangepurple 3y agoFunnily enough I found codeine is available OTC in the Netherlands.
- wrs 3y agoCodeine is what I ended up using in that one (thank goodness) case. It does work to suppress coughs, as well as other functions, like breathing! Watch the dosage.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- iopq 3y agoI bought some Chinese medicine in China for the reason that pseudoephedrine is not available and it was actually too effective, dried my nose up so much I kept having nosebleeds. But of course, I prefer the actual effect of pseudoephedrine that doesn't have this side effect.
- jnwatson 3y agoI have yet to figure out how Europeans treat minor ailments. Those green-crossed "pharmacies" (only open weekdays during business hours) have 4 or 5 OTC drugs and the rest of the store is just pseudoscience.
- Broken_Hippo 3y agoMost of the time: You rest. Most folks have sick days that they can use to stay home and recover. If you need more than a couple of days, go to the doctor. And honestly, that takes care of a large portion of the medication. I bought it in the US to have the ability to survive a workday: IF I'm staying home and resting and sleeping, I tend to need less of the stuff for a minor ailment. They do sell a few things in the pharmacies here (Norway) that help, mostly with pain and to do things like dry your nose (nose spray, not as many pills) and loosen up phlem. You can get allergy medicine. And so on. And honestly, I worked at a pharmacy for 8 or 10 years in the US and there is only a handful of drugs OTC there, too - but there are more brands and more products that have multiple drugs in the same dose. The drugs just differ at times. US stores sell the pseudoscience as well (It angers me, but it isn't just one place doing it, which is the point). Many of the pharmacies here are open longer than business hours, but it also doesn't always matter. The doctor offices tend to close at 3pm, before the pharmacies. If you are expected to stay home from work, you can get to the pharmacy.
- sznio 3y agoParacetamol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Xylometazoline and sleep. Or go to a doctor and get told to get the same stuff, with some prescription-only cough syrup. The rest of the pharmacy is for old people looking for miracle cures to being old.