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Toffeemanstan t1_j2d5ck3 wrote

Reply to comment by spayder26 in ELI5. Why is honey and lemon a popular cure for cold like symptoms. What makes lemon more effective than say an orange or lime? by alexkid_in_realworld

Don't forget the morphine based cough medicines.

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MrBeverly t1_j2dor66 wrote

Vicks's DayQuil+ Tincture of Opium, Coca, and Cannabis: Makes walks to school uphill both ways in the driving snow all the more tolerable

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WiccedSwede t1_j2fctux wrote

I've got a cold for the first time in like 5 years and that sounds really enticing right now...

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StuperDan t1_j2drg6o wrote

You can still get some pretty hardcore cough syrup with a prescription from a doctor. A few years ago I was feeling ill in the morning on my way to work. I checked the medicine cabinet and found half a bottle of cough syrup that was prescribed to my wife some time ago. Thinking it was standard cough syrup I chugged some unmetered portion of it. I had to pull over the few minutes into my drive to work as it kicked in. I open the car door and puked all over the place. In the moment I thought it was just the illness. But when I got home and looked closer at the bottle it was heavily fortified with opiates. I don't remember exactly which one. Hydrocodone or codeine or something.

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TeamGrissini t1_j2dteco wrote

For some reason my mother used to have a large bottle of codeine as cough medicine at all times (in the 1990s), and I had it quite often. It's not great for chesty coughs, though, as it stops you from coughing the stuff up and out of your system.

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themagicmunchkin t1_j2f057g wrote

Most codeine cough medicines also have an expectorant in them as well so when you do cough it does help you get stuff out. None of the prescription cough medicines completely eliminate coughing so you'll still be able to clear mucus from your respiratory system.

I'm on one right now because I've got a pretty severe case of bronchitis, but I only ever take it at night time because even a little bit of codeine gets me hella high, and even then it only mildly reduces my cough.

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unhappymedium t1_j2emdz5 wrote

I have asthma and I've had to get it a few times during bad viruses and pneumonia where the cough wouldn't go away.

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Adventurous-Quote180 t1_j2dykwk wrote

> for some reason

I live europe, but i remember that this was covered in US sitcomes often, that parents give codein their kids to get them sleep

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Cleopatrashouseboy t1_j2eylfn wrote

Yeah I remember being around 11 and having the flu. My doctor prescribed pure codeine and my mum would give it every four hours. Needless to say I slept that whole week, lol.

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TeamGrissini t1_j2e16u9 wrote

I don't remember her doing that, but who knows! I do remember helping myself to it without any hint of a cough, though, as a teenager, which in hindsight was not the best situation.

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Adventurous-Quote180 t1_j2e3p2p wrote

Oh yeah thats a tipical sitcom situation too. Teens having their first big party or prom and drinking codein (bc they are too young to buy alcohol)

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Calamity-Gin t1_j2dyaq1 wrote

Opiates reduce the respiration reflex. For the doses found in cough syrup, it just means that it suppresses your coughing, but if you take too much of it, you will eventually stop breathing.

Due to the opioid abuse epidemic, doctors have pretty much stopped prescribing opioid-based cough suppressants unless the other stuff doesn't work. You'll get the other stuff that works up to a point but won't make you barf or get you high.

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TheShadyGuy t1_j2elsx3 wrote

> You'll get the other stuff that works up to a point but won't make you barf or get you high.

Not true, the cough syrup with dxm and acetaminophen will get you tripping balls and throwing up cherry flavored disgustingness. Spend the extra money and get the dxm only.

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SwansonHOPS t1_j2ehqw9 wrote

This is why when I drink 2 bottles of cough syrup, I prefer the DXM kind.

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emptybottleofdoom t1_j2eeei2 wrote

Oof, I wouldn't view dosing directions as a suggestion. There's some stuff that you really don't want more than a certain amount in a certain time. Acetaminophen comes to mind. It's not going to make you throw up, it will just damage your liver, I believe. I dunno, look this up on actual medical sites, not just random Reddit posts.

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curlyfat t1_j2ec9kn wrote

I did this once with some old prescription cough syrup for my daughter. It didn't contain any opiates, but whatever it was definitely had hallucinogenic effects at the dose I took. Everything looked animated, or like reality was CGI. Plus I felt like I couldn't remember how to talk. It was intense and not pleasant.

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various_beans t1_j2exz7l wrote

DXM. You were robotrippin'.

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Efficient-Type-2408 t1_j2f8161 wrote

Haven’t seen anyone mention robotrilling in a minute. Fucking weird ass trip to be sure. Lol

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curlyfat t1_j2fszws wrote

Could be. I may have experienced that before, but it felt different. TBF, I have no clue what dose I took this particular time, I just took a big swig/gulp.

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KiiZig t1_j2etkmw wrote

you nearly escaped the matrix /s

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Chickentrap t1_j2d6stk wrote

Ah the good old days of accidental infanticide through opium based medicines, makes you yearn for the simpler times.

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carlitospig t1_j2eas7d wrote

Now that I’ve never quite understood since it’s a breathing suppressant. If you have a productive cough don’t you want them to cough?

I’m clearly not a doctor. 😏

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C_Madison t1_j2emw5k wrote

I'm neither but what my doctor usually recommends is something which helps with coughing for the day and something to stop coughing for the night, since, well ... sleeping when you are coughing your lungs out sucks.

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RelativisticTowel t1_j2eyzv1 wrote

Had a bad enough cough to be prescribed it once. Answer is: if you can't get any sleep due to the cough, you'll soon be too weak to fight what's causing it (or even to cough properly). Had been sick for 2+ weeks when I got the prescription, iirc only took it 3 nights. Once it bought me the sleep I needed to get my immune shit back together, I was feeling better in a couple days.

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themagicmunchkin t1_j2f1pmp wrote

I'm currently on a codeine-based cough medicine and it has an expectorant in it to help bring up any mucus when you do cough because none of these medications completely eliminate it.

I personally only take it at night because I cannot function on codeine, but even then I still have a productive cough during the night.

These medications aren't (shouldn't be) prescribed to people with mild/moderate coughs. They're for people who can't sleep at night and can't get rest to fight off the infection (I was sleeping less than four hours when I saw my doc). They're for people who are coughing to the point of vomiting and injury (also me). So, generally people who are doing more harm to their bodies by coughing than they are by not coughing.

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carlitospig t1_j2f1uu3 wrote

Hope you feel better soon, thanks for the additional context.

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