OTC

Since my husband kept me up until the wee hours of our third wedding anniversary, and not for reasons one might expect, I dedicate today's blog to him.  Last night while he was coughing his head off I began writing this very blog in my head since I was unable to sleep.  I've decided to rant a little about OTC medications.

We all know that the common cold is kryptonite for our big, strong men.  Couple that with all the TV time our big, strong men intake and they are pudding in the hands of the Nyquil/Dayquil media hype.  My husband is a firm believer that Nyquil and Dayquil are the end all of OTC meds.  Unfortunately I tend to disagree.  In my oh-so-scientific study of observation and consumption I've found that Nyquil is known to knock you out in 10 minutes flat, however wears off in about 2 hours (not the 4-6 they purport) and if anyone so much as brushes against you in that two hour time frame you react like a Vietnam War Veteran.  As for Dayquil, you'd be better off taking a spoonful of sugar with two advil than downing their two orange capsules.  Neither seem to touch the "I didn't wear a coat outside all weekend" cough (aka "A-Hole's Cough"), but don't tell my husband that.

The OTC medications that I have found to be the most helpful especially in the case of the aforementioned A-Hole's Cough have been Theraflu, Robitussin, and Delsym.  Theraflu and Robitussin have taken on the "pick your poison" mentality whereby they offer a myriad of symptom based solutions.  Delsym has always been successful as a last resort for those stubborn coughs that just won't go away.  Interestingly enough the husband was cough free (and sleeping) for four hours after drinking a Theraflu concoction yesterday, however after taking Nyquil neither of us got any sleep because he continued to cough his head off even though Nyquil supposedly has a "cough suppressant." 

So ladies, the moral of the story here is stock your house with OTC meds that work and don't allow your men to buy into the Nyquil/Dayquil media hype if you want to get some sleep.  You can thank me later.