question about musinex

[Cricket]

I was reading some old posts about colds and what to do to seek relief, and noticed a few people said you should not take musinex dm and I was wondering why?

thanks

[Sjenny]

Mucinex DM contains an antihistamine that will dry out your mouth and nose.  Mucinex by itself, is a great help.

Sue

[irish]

The DM means dextromethorphan and it is used to suppress coughs. We don't want to suppress our cough because it puts us at higher risk for pneumonia---the stuff settles in our lungs and gets infected.

The plain musinex is to thin the secretions making it harder to hack up or blow out. Sometimes when people are totally frustrated with their headache, congestion etc. people will break down and take something like an antihistamine just to give themselves a break from the misery. The antihistamines will dry you up some, but sometimes you just need a rest. I have usually gone with the generic sudafed at Walmart, etc. It is under 2 bucks. Need to read the labels on these drugs as they often are the same product as sudafed and cost 10-12 $. Don't forget the use of the cool humidifier cause that really gives relief. Irish