Over-the-counter nasal decongestant

Everything I've bought here based on pharmacists' recommendation has sucked. I'm looking for more suggestions.

Why do you need it? Allergies? Cold? Cocaine?

What about those simple Vicks up your nose things? Minty and nice. Failing that, what about Airwaves chewing gum, that always clears my nose!

@DrivinWest
Nothing beats Sudafed (or its generic equivalent)! I've never heard of something like it here, but maybe you could ask at the pharmacy if you go in with the chemical name. The Germans probably won't like it because it effects your whole body since it is a tablet and they really like using localized medications like nasal sprays. And since Sudafed does raise some people's blood pressures, they would probably not make it over the counter.
I think your best bet is to buy it in the U.S., have someone buy it for you or have your relatives mail it to you. Or if you are really desperate, then I could give you some of mine if you come by the Americans in Munich meeting tomorrow night...
Melissa

4/5 drops of olbas oil in a dish of steaming hot water and a towel over your head to keep the steam in... followed by a couple of airwaves... works for me most of the time...

someone told me recently of some natural oil that actaully reduces/stops the amount of mucus you produce, which also sounds interesting, anybody know anything about that?

Sudafed doesn't really exist here in Germany to the best of my knowledge.

In the USA, the generic name is Pseudoephedrine. The medical composition of it is DL-Norephedrine hydrochloride (DL-Norephedrine HCl).

I have only found one medicine here with it: Wick DayMed (Vicks Daymed in the states). It has a combination of the DL-Norephedrine HCl, Paracetamol (Tylenol) and something to stop coughing. If Sudafed is the only thing that will work for you, this is the closest thing to extra-strength Sudafed I could find.

It does work very well though.

Try a nice spicy curry. Always works for me...

Wicks is very effective. So effective that that cannibal bloke's victim took it to numb the pain of being eaten. So read the dosage carefully and do not operate machinery (including knives near appendages).
Katrina

Yep. No sudafed or nasal sprays around that I've seen. I get mine from the US. Wicks is the only thing that comes close. Better hurry though, the pharmacies close soon.

Another trick it to use salt water. Just get some warm tap water, add salt, lie down. Then put your finger in the water and hold your finger over your nose and let the drops go in. I would call it the Redneck's Saline solution but a true redneck would just pop open a beer instead.

My sister sent me a double pack of Advil cold and sinus, which is miracle medicine as far as I'm concerned. She's coming out in a couple months, so I can have her bring more. So if you're really nice, I might be willing to share what I've got...

@profundo

And the lazy solution is to just buy some Saline nasal spray at Walmart.

Sudafed highly recommended...if you can find it (beg, borrow or steal!!) DayMed is okay if you have aches, pains, fever etc. as well...but for good ol' drainage...Sudafed. I have been sick for the past week and wouldn't have got through without it.

They have it in the UK because I was able to get some there...but I always get people from Canada to bring over the 12-hour slow release one. It rocks

Allergies are the culprit. Thanks all for the suggestions, though I'm going to need something that works all day and fits in my pocket so curry and the like aren't going to work - they aren't that bad, but I do get a nasty nasal congestion as a result.

I ask as everything that has been recommended to me by people in the know (read: Pharmacists) has been serious crap. I don't know if it is absurdly watered down what, but the stuff fails to work for more than 1-2 hours, if at all. I recently ran out of my favorite stuff (Tylenol Allergy/Cold, Alka-Seltzer Allergy, Benadryl) which are actually effective for 12-16 hours and have been looking for a replacement.

OK, rant:

In the US, Canada, and France you can get some seriously good stuff over the counter (US being the most conservative). Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like I can't even get Advil (Ibuprofen) over the counter here? No Aleve (Naproxen Sodium)? C'mon!

And what is with the prices? 20 tablets of Asprin (about 40 years behind the curve) for 12 Euros? That's highway robbery. Bayer pretty much pioneered Aspirin and is a German company, yet what I pay here for 20 will buy me 300 Bayer Aspirin in the US? That's just silly.

really u can't get aleve over the coutner? hm i thought i saw some at the pharmacy.. maybe it was just a sign or sufmin i dunno. but maybe u should try a nasendusche heh... its this thing and it shoots water up one nostril and it comes out the other.. i have had to do it for the past 2 weeks cuz i have sinus probs and the dr. said i hafta do it for atleast 3 weeks. .. it seems to work tho. it feels a bit weird but whatever.

You can get Alleve over the counter, but it costs €7.50 for 20 pills. Anyone want some Generic extra-strength Tylenol? My mom brought me a bottle of 1000 (!!!), and I don't think I'll ever use them all (I've only taken one in the last 7 months that I've had them). I'd be happy to share. BTW DrivinWest, my offer still stands for the Advil Cold and Sinus. It's great stuff. Personally I think it's better than Sudafed.

Try: Livocab-Kombi 10ml Nasal Suspension Spray

Ideal for nasal allergies ... Haaaaaaaacheuuu!!! Sniffle, sniffle!

Acupunture works wonders also, PM me if you want a recommendation.

Or ... if you're planning a trip to Italy anytime soon, you can stock-up on over-the-counter allergy medicine ... North American strength!!!

Ok

The best thing I have found is along the lines of profundo's suggestion.

Make up some warm salty water (baby warm - not hot!!!), cup some into your hand and inhale into your nostril. Hold it in for 30 secs or so then let it out. Do this a couple of times in each nostril, 2 or 3 times a day. After 2 or 3 days you should feel better.

A doctor originally put me onto this one, although apparently it is an old yoga trick.

I also have a homeopathic allergy thingy called Luffa complex. Has worked very well for me in the past. You cna borrow it for a few days if you want to try it !! (come one DW wheres your sense of curiosity ???)

If you're interested in the homeopathic salt-water thing ... something a little more convienent (and pocket friendly):

Eurho's "Meer Wasser Nasen Spray"

Actually - depending on how your past has been due to taking drugs really depends on what works - if you have a life filled with Antibiotics!! well nothing will work or have little or no affect. In saying that you can buy this liquid from the apoteke. its specially for blocked sinuses etc etc - put it in a hot bath and then - lay in it - it doesnt look potent but when you get out you feel like a million dollars on hash!!! Its krauter bad dingsbum or other- explain it to the apoteke and they will know what your on about - it comes in a sphere shaped thick glass container and costs about 7 bucks!!! it basicallysweats all the guk out of your body...very natural!!! however i do warn all of you - Its got to be a hot bath VERY HOT and when you get out its recommended that you lie down for halfanhour or so... it even says on the packaging

This ingformation is proudly brought to you by rob the bath KING (or queen) of bath gels and wot nots...

wasmy birthdaylast week and i got my veryfirst rubber duckie

yeah, dw ... robbie is right ... there is a high correlation btwn. allergies and toxic levels in the body (esp. years of using antibiotics).

a liver cleanse would help (to relieve some of the seasonal symptoms).

pm me if you want an easy cleanse ...

willy

My allergy cocktail that seems to be working right now:

Lorano (a long-acting anti-histamine) - take it once in the morning and once 12 hours later.
If you have a flare up, Livocab nasal spray (topical antihistamine) and if your eyes feel like sandpaper, Livocab eyedrops.

It's the only way I have been able to survive the season so far...

> I think your best bet is to buy it in the U.S., have someone buy it for you
> or have your relatives mail it to you.

That's illegal and can get them in deep legal doodoo. In case you haven't realized the FDA and DEA are working hard to outlaw pseudoephedrine just like they outlawed ephedrine some time ago (which, BTW, is still available without prescription over here). In several states you already need to show your DL to buy pseudoephedrine containing meds, and getting caught with more than two or three packs can cause you a LOT of trouble.

> Sudafed doesn't really exist here in Germany to the best of my knowledge.

Of course it does. Germany is the biggest producer of pseudoephedrine on this planet. Most of the pseudoephedrine in the US is actually imported from Germany.

> In the USA, the generic name is Pseudoephedrine. The medical composition
> of it is DL-Norephedrine hydrochloride (DL-Norephedrine HCl).

Wrong. DL-Norephedrine is something else, and Pseudoephedrine sold for human consumption isn't racemic.

> Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like I can't even get Advil (Ibuprofen) over
> the counter here?

Yes you are wrong. Ibuprofen is OTC.

> And what is with the prices? 20 tablets of Asprin (about 40 years behind the curve)
> for 12 Euros? That's highway robbery. Bayer pretty much pioneered Aspirin and is
> a German company, yet what I pay here for 20 will buy me 300 Bayer Aspirin in
> the US? That's just silly.

Why is that silly? It's called capitalism. If you want a cheaper Aspirin substitute then you should simply try to ask for it. Every pharmacy stocks several cheap acetylsalicylic acid generics which cost only a fraction of the original Bayer Aspirin.

The sudafed substitutes are available over the counter, without prescription. There are several brands but I only remember a few of their names right now...
As usual you can pay out of your ass for Bayer brand "Aspirin Complex" which is pseudoephedrine and acetylsalicylic acid, some other shit which contains pseudoephedrine and antihistamines (forgot their names) against your allergies and finally there is Rhinopront.

It is called price fixing and it is the antithesis of capitalism (in which the market defines the price).

If you are willing to buy a generic headache pill rather than Aspirin, you'll find it's much cheaper.

And yeah, it might be illegal to send meds, but my mom does it all the time. She has a scale at home and knows the prices for packages of certain weights, so if she finds she still has about 50 grams free before the next price step in a package being sent to me, she'll toss in a few foil-wrapped allergy pills. Hardly big-time smuggling.

yomama, perhaps you don't intend it that way or perhaps you do, but your post sounds awfully condescending. If you can remember the names, as you say, of a few sudafed replacements here in Germany, then why don't you share them. That was, after all, what the OP was looking for.

Yomama mentions something there which I wanted to mention too.
Asprin is a brand name in Germany (owned by Bayer). If you want asprin (small "a") ask for A.S.S. (stop laughing at the back).The same is with ibruprofen, you should ask for the generic brand as a branded article is almost always offered initially ( Ratiopharm are pretty cheap though and they have a good search option here.).
Focus offers an online price check for non-prescription medicines.
There appears to be some confusion about the term "OTC". In Germany all medicines can still only be sold in a pharmacy, unlike for example in the UK where non-prescription items are split into "P" (pharmacy only) and general sale (medicines and medical materials which can be sold outside or inside of a pharmacy). In the UK, the general sale of certain medications are limited by number (you can't buy large packets of painkillers and a store should refuse by law to sell large multiples of smaller packets). This isn't the case everywhere though.
Katrina
PS [img]http://www.gefion.de/produktbilder/2152257.jpg[/img] this stuff has pseudoephidrine in it.

> yomama, perhaps you don't intend it that way or perhaps you do, but your post
> sounds awfully condescending.

Sorry for posting some facts that you (for whatever reason) didn't like?!?

> If you can remember the names, as you say, of a few sudafed replacements
> here in Germany, then why don't you share them.

That's what I did! Maybe you should reread my post:

Aspirin Complex
Rhinopront
And Reactine, which is one of the brand names I couldn't remember until Katrina posted the picture. Your friendly neighborhood pharm assistant will gladly look them up for you in her computer if you ask them to do so.

> It is called price fixing and it is the antithesis of capitalism (in which the
> market defines the price).

Nobody holds a gun to your head and forces you to buy overpriced Bayer brand Aspirin. As Katrina said, Aspirin is a legally protected trade mark. If you ask the pharmacist for Aspirin (with a capital A) then they will sell you exactly what you asked for. If you want something which has the same ingredients but costs only a fraction of the price then they will sell that to you too. You just need to ask for it. The choice of how much you want to spend for exactly the same stuff is yours. They won't offer you something else if you specifically asked for Aspirin. WHy should they when they have reason to assume you already know exactly what you want?
Do you expect Munich BMW dealerships to offer you a red VW vanagon when you approach them and specifically ask them for a green Z3?

I made the mistake of asking for aspirin, thinking it was a generic term, so they showed me only the overpriced Bayer aspirin. When I reacted with surprise at the high price, all she offered to show me was a smaller package of Bayer. So, I said no thanks and left. If she knew I was price-sensitive, why didn't she then offer the generic as a lower-priced alternative? This is a generic complaint of mine about salespeople who expect you to know exactly what you want when you may not know. After all, they're supposed to know the products they're selling better than me.


Actually, I think it's more like going to a used car dealer (that sells all kinds of cars, not just BMWs) and saying I want an "auto" and I don't know exactly what model or color I want.

if you ask for a specific product they will give you that, but if you go in, saying you need something like Aspirin or Parecetemol you will get that. I went in on the weekend for something for my nose- I knew what I wanted, but I told my syptoms and she picked out something else for me. Its was cheaper too! Let them advise you. That's what they are paid for.

Wick Sinex seems OK. I used to like the little ones with a kinda propeller inside, so you could suck in as much as you wanted - do they have that here? (lipstick sized tube).