Mucinex...never again

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I have a history of bad effects from medications but thought Id try one that I saw on TV for a cough that was tiring me out. This was after I tried other stuff that did not work. All over the counter.

Egads. I still have blurred vision. After taking the medications my vision went dull and I felt like passing out. Husband took me to ER. Blood pressure was up to 175 over something high and its usually low.

I had a bunch of tests. I still feel weird. And it didnt stop my cough!! And this was only a childs dose.

I dont usually take stuff but I was supposed to work tonight. Well, I cant. I am way tpo spaced put and still wobbly. Never again.

Anyone ever have this kind of reaction to something like this?
 

Billiesue

Member
SWOT- I don't do well with Mucinex. I am 46 and got a pacemaker last year for a congenital heart defect, but prior to I took Mucinex and I thought it caused my heart to beat more irregular. Hope you get to feeling better!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Hmmm...I'm sensitive to Mucinex. It sounds like you took the the Mucinex with the decongestant in it for colds. The regular Mucinex has nothing in it that would jack your blood pressure.

I can take the regular Mucinex, but not the stuff with the decongestant in it. It sends me through the roof. Nyquil makes me climb the walls (as does alcohol in any quantity, and even one drink will guarantee a sleepless night)

Actually, if you have a cold, a Sudafed, a Tylenol (generic), and a shot of whiskey work as well as anything out there. Even better, mix the shot of whiskey in with some tea, lemon, and honey, and it'll help with cough even more and soothe your throat. If you don't normally drink, go with half a shot, or a tablespoon. I keep a couple of airline bottles on hand for that. I love a fine single malt scotch, but can't afford my tastes in whiskey and it upsets my stomach, so only use the cheap stuff as medicine. Leave out the Sudafed unless you are terribly congested, or use a good nasal spray instead.
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
That sounds terrible.
Mucinex usually dries me out too much.

I just had a bad cold and got much better much quicker than usual. My doctor gave me a cough/congestion liquid called Bromfed and it was great. I also took three Oil of Oregano capsules per day.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Great. I'm glad the doctor's medication worked for you! I tried the oil of oregano, and while I can use oregano leaf in cooking, the oil of oregano capsules trashed my stomach. I'm glad you are feeling better. Continue to feel better.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Lol on GN suggestion.

Thank you! I will never take any over the counter medication again. But I wont drink whiskey either...lol. i dont drink and dont think I should start with whiskey.

Thanks to all. I have bought some safe spices like ginger and ground tumeric, some lemon, chopped onions, peppermint tea and Vicks vapo rub...all recommended for coughing.

Sudafed makes me crazy hyper!! I have a laundry list as long as a roll of toilet paper of drugs, prescription and over the counter, that give me very bad effects.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
If you can tolerate moderately hot pepper, a chicken broth made with 2-3 dried hot pepper pods (use red Thai peppers), as much grated fresh ginger as you can handle, and as much crushed fresh garlic as you can handle, (as much of each as you can force yourself to deal with) will often not only help a cold, but if taken at onset of symptoms, get rid of it completely.

The combination is a potent viricide, stimulates the immune system, is a decongestant, and works as an expectorant as well. My grandmother used to call it "Gesundessuppe" (Healthy Soup). My late husband called it Moldavian soup. (He was part Moldavian, now and on and off throughout history, part of Romania) Whatever it is, it works. It'll also make you sweat thoroughly enough that if you wrap up in a towel robe while drinking it, it will often break a fever. If you can handle solids, adding some shredded chicken and veggies, noodles, etc, is fine. If not, just drink the soup. As my grandmother would say, "Ai, that'll clear the sinuses out."
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Greek Lemon Soup
1/2 of my family came from this part of the country.
We were sure this soup shortened colds!

I'm a huge believer in Oil of Oregano, but some people can't stomach it. The bottle often says take it on an empty stomach but I take it with food.

Together with that RX cough syrup things moved unusually fast for me. If I had some of these soups too, I probably would of been cured the next day!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
SWOT, if you tone down the spices and add star anice, you have a good base for a lot of Asian soups. Add lemon grass, tofu and shrimp and you've got hot-sour soup for example. I like it even if I don't have a cold. I usually keep a few servings frozen. I like to heat them up, add a bit of shredded meat, some frozen veggies, and some rice noodles. Quick light meal.
Of course, I can't do the shrimp, due to allergies, and I can't digest soy (ethnic thing, many north and eastern euros can't), so I go with a bit of meat or some egg drop.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Greek Lemon Soup
1/2 of my family came from this part of the country.
We were sure this soup shortened colds!

I'm a huge believer in Oil of Oregano, but some people can't stomach it. The bottle often says take it on an empty stomach but I take it with food.

Together with that RX cough syrup things moved unusually fast for me. If I had some of these soups too, I probably would of been cured the next day!

I haven't had Avgolemono in many years. I was friends with a little Greek girl as a child and used to eat it at her house all the time. That and the very rich, eggy Easter cookies. They used to make a tea out of oregano for colds. It also upset my stomach. Like I said, I like oregano as an herb and it was a staple in my herb garden. I just can't stomach the concentrated version. Thyme, by the way, is also a potent antiseptic. The extract, called thymol, is the active ingredient in original Listerine. In fact, if you are familiar with original Listerine, and go too heavy with thyme in cooking, you will immediately taste the similarity. (and throw out the dish.) The thing to remember is that the flavors that give many herbs their good taste and medicinal properties are actually toxins produced by the plants to protect them from creepy-crawlies that want to eat them. In quantities used in cooking they are harmless, but in larger quantities they can be toxic to germs. Larger still and they can make us sick, too.
 

Lil

Well-Known Member
That's odd. I have very hard-to-control, blood pressure (I take 3 medications) and an arrhythmia. Mucinex is pretty much the ONLY thing I can take for a cold. Of course I take the type without decongestant, but I've never had any sort of reaction to it at all.

It doesn't even work very well.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I took the one with a decongestant.

Funny thing is. I saw the doctor that morning and my blood pressure was 100/70. Thats normal for me. And I saw the doctor because I thought the nonstop coughing would make it hard to work that night.

Post Mucinex it shot up to 175/99. I have NEVER had blood pressure like that. Extremely high for me is 145/90. It is rarely high. by the way, I couldnt go to work.

Poisen, I tell ya! When i came home I tossed it in the trash.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Well, you now know you can't handle phenylephrine HCL, which is the OTC decongestant used on cold and allergy remedies. The decongestant you have to get from the pharmacy counter is pseudephedrine. (That's the one you can make meth out of, though I have no idea how.) Oddly, I can handle the pseudoephedrine, but not the phenylephrine HCL as, like you, it jacks my BiPolar (BP), which, again like yours, is normally fairly low.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Me too!!

I will never take OTC cough medicine again. I felt so weird on that. My vision got all blurry too...I kept rubbing my eyes. The ER made me stay for blood work and an EKG...everything normal. I just wanted to go home. Was stuck there for about two hours.

They shouldnt be allowed to advertise medications on TV. I truly was thinking of the cute little cartoon mucous man when I bought the stuff...lol.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
About 6 years ago, I started having issues with my blood pressure creeping up. To this day I don't know why. My mother recommended I use Mucinex for colds. I tried it, and it worked OK. Then, after a couple of years, my blood pressure dropped back to my normal low-ish. I then became very sensitive to decongestants. Prior to that, I had developed a sensitivity to a lot of the medications used for bipolar, especially APs.
 
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