Finnish equivlant to Dayquil / Nyquil?

[ilikepeanutbutter]

I'm stuffy and so congested I'm snoring like mad. :/ No fever but feel pretty blah. Anything like Dayquil here? I honestly haven ever bothered to look for flu stuff in Finland.

Thanks!

Kat

[tuttu]

what's the active ingredient?
wikipedia is really good for finding out about medicinal stuff.

[Upphew]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DayQuil = http://www.laakeinfo.fi/Medicine.aspx?m ... ARMA_RESIL + http://www.laakeinfo.fi/Medicine.aspx?m ... sehoito%29 + http://www.laakeinfo.fi/Medicine.aspx?m=25421 ?

[AldenG]

The big categories are:

Antihistamine to cut production of mucus. I don't know the common Finnish ones, but they are surely available over the counter.

Expectorant to thin the mucus that is produced. Mostly bromhexine in Finland but also guaifenesin (universal in the US).

Decongestant. Pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine. Sometimes not as necessary or useful as you might think. Sometimes counterproductive. Not only abusable and ingredients in methamphetamine production, but have also caused strokes in young and healthy people.

Cough suppressant: Mostly codeine in Finland, but also dextromethorphan aka DXM (introduced in the US to replace codeine around 1960)

Headache reducer, mostly paracetamol (EU name for acetaminophen) but ibuprofen also available.

Stimulant, generally caffeine or theophylline, to counteract the drowsiness induced by other ingredients and also reduce headache. Kind of worthless, better results measuring your own via coffee, cola, tea. What it does most in a cold medicine is reduce the amount of the cold medicine you can tolerate.

-------

Recipect is OTC in Finland and gets you codeine (cough suppressant) and guaifenesin (expectorant).

Bisolvon gets you bromhexine (expectorant).

A lot of people get a bit of a headache with cough suppressants, whether codeine or dextromethorphan, which is metabolically related. I use DXM if I really need to but not routinely. I often get a sensation like a tight sweatband around the forehead. Not a headache, necessarily, just a strange tightness.

The counter attendant will know what antihistamines are OTC, if you're still ambulatory. (We had a flu once at age 28 that weakened both of us too much to walk even to the pharmacy in the same block.) There are really big differences in the effects of different antihistamines: which parts of the body they affect most, side effects, person-to-person differences, etc. Just because one isn't helpful for you doesn't mean that none can be.

Paracetamol is what the EU calls acetaminophen, which doctors are finally beginning to steer people away from. It is by far the most common cause of non-alcoholic liver failure and only remains popular due to very aggressive marketing. Even so little as a double dose -- just accidentally taking it twice in one dosing period -- has put people in the hospital or worse. Overdose is reversible if small enough and recognized and treated soon enough, but I never mess with the stuff any more. For me ibuprofen just works better anyway. And it has a wide latitude of safety.

Pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine are decongestants. Also ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine. People's experience with all of these things vary. But I was quite surprised to realize that I had never actually needed these and that they cause wicked rebound congestion every few hours as each dose started to wear off. I wish I had realized 20 years sooner that they were being more of a hinder than a help when I had colds.

Nowadays what works like a charm for me is just antihistamine (chlorpheniramine, often a yellow pill, seems the most nasal-specific I've tried) together with expectorant (guaifenesin for me, but bromhexine is probably a good one, too). I really couldn't imagine better results. Conceptually it's a weird combination, a bit like gas and brakes at the same time, but it works magically well on me. The antihistamine dries up a lot of the snot and (to my surprise) the expectorant thins what remain so that it just isn't a problem. I always thought of expectorants as only chest medicines, but for me this simple, dirt-cheap combination works like a charm for sinuses as well. I sometimes get a bit of watery run from the nose when sleeping but never feel congested at all. However, if I use guaifenesin for about a week, I sometimes have a bit of mild bronchitis for a while afterwards, or at least a dry cough. When you thin the chest mucus for too long, it seems the windpipe and bronchia can temporarily lose some of their protection against irritation and infection. Mucus exists for a reason.

Everybody has lots of individual biological differences. We don't just look and sound different, our bodies also work differently (within limits). These lead to differences in which combinations of meds work best and what therapeutic and side effects people feel from them. I mention the details above so that if you recognize something, maybe you'll know what to attribute it to that you didn't before. Or maybe you'll get an idea and try something different that turns out to work best for you. Those multi-ingredient pills are like trying to hit the bullseye on a dartboard with a large beanbag. I learned what worked for me by trying single-ingredient pills in various recommended amounts. It kills me how many hours and days of misery I've wasted in this life from unquestioning use of one-size-fits-all name-brand cold pills. With patience I've learned to do so much better.

[RevealingtheTruth]

hot lemon, honey and sweat it out in sauna......yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....
rtt

[Upphew]

hot lemon, honey and sweat it out in sauna......yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....
rtt

Yah, we need gun laws like US of A! Over the counter shotgun cures blues. Weed helps too.

[ilikepeanutbutter]

Thanks everyone! Ended up at the doctor and got a prescription of Duact, now I'm less stuffy, whoo!

Kat

[RevealingtheTruth]

hot lemon, honey and sweat it out in sauna......yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....
rtt

Yah, we need gun laws like US of A! Over the counter shotgun cures blues. Weed helps too.

Nah... you just need to be able to buy simple medicine otc....(over the counter)

[tuttu]

yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....

thanks for sharing that with us, i bet many have been waiting for this revelation.
isn't it great how selfless us citizens go around the (online) world spreading the gospel of how great their country is.
i think i'll pack my bags tomorrow and move to the country where everything is bigger and better.
first thing i get there i'm gonna get myself a rifle, plus some proper, simple medication.
the EU is gay.

[Upphew]

hot lemon, honey and sweat it out in sauna......yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....
rtt

Yah, we need gun laws like US of A! Over the counter shotgun cures blues. Weed helps too.

Nah... you just need to be able to buy simple medicine otc....(over the counter)

I think that was the problem. We did get simple medicine over the counter in Finland. Like Heroin and amphetamine. Then some bright mind in predecessor of UN decided it was not ok that we used as much that stuff in a year as bigger nations used in 25.

[RevealingtheTruth]

yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....

thanks for sharing that with us, i bet many have been waiting for this revelation.
isn't it great how selfless us citizens go around the (online) world spreading the gospel of how great their country is.
i think i'll pack my bags tomorrow and move to the country where everything is bigger and better.
first thing i get there i'm gonna get myself a rifle, plus some proper, simple medication.
the EU is gay.

just because the country is bigger does not mean that it is better....however whether you are in a big country or small country or in any size country, one should be able to buy otc for the common flu...

[RevealingtheTruth]

yes it sucks you cannot get simple items over the counter like you did from wherever you lived, but you must understand finland is not as modern and does not offer the same items other countries would allow such as the United States.....

thanks for sharing that with us, i bet many have been waiting for this revelation.
isn't it great how selfless us citizens go around the (online) world spreading the gospel of how great their country is.
i think i'll pack my bags tomorrow and move to the country where everything is bigger and better.
first thing i get there i'm gonna get myself a rifle, plus some proper, simple medication.
the EU is gay.

just because the country is bigger does not mean that it is better....however whether you are in a big country or small country or in any size country, one should be able to buy otc meds for the common flu...