Any good over the counter cold medicine?

tried a few brands from Asda, nothing seems to work.  Tried allergy pills too since I have hay fever and nothing seems to work for that.  Where are all the good drugs that are found in the US??

Where are all the good drugs that are found in the US??

It may be that some of those good drugs are here too - under different names.

Different active ingredients are better for different people. I'd suggest that the best thing would be to find out what the active ingredients are in the ones that have worked for you in the past and then ask the pharmacist at the chemist for something similar....

My issue in the US is that they've stopped using whatever it was in Sudafed Sinus because meth addicts used it in their labs. It's the only thing that used to really work for me there. Thankfully my allergies improved when I moved....

Day Nurse for all day without drowsiness in either liquid or capsules or Night Nurse for night in the same. Both are (for me anyway) exactly if not better than the Dayquil and Niquil stuff.

Also, Robitussin Chesty Cough and Congestion syrup. Even if you don't have a cough this stuff is the only thing that has ever cleared my congestion over here. I have tried literally everything on the market and only these things work. Everyone I've turned on to these meds agrees.

Hope you feel better

I must have tried every cold remedy we have over here, and I agree that Night / Day Nurse just scares off the germs!  Can't beat it.

Benolyn for a cough as well, and Vicks throat spray for a throat infection.

Vicky

Nurofen Cold and Flu is exactly the same as Advil Cold and Sinus - and it's the only thing I take when I get a cold. Nothing else works for me, and it's often the difference between feeling able to get up to go to work or stay at home feeling miserable.

You do need to get it from the pharmacist behind the counter - so make sure you go to a shop that has a pharmacist.

Beechams Cold & Flu powers or Tablets are good for fighting off temperatures and headaches etc....  Lemsip is good for sore throats and colds also.  Strepsils or Soothers (lozenges) are good for sore throats to.  If you have a cough..Cavonia kicks butt! or Meltus if you have a cattar cough.  Olbas oil for your pillows or hanky's to help you sleep better.  Superdrug do their own brand of vitamin c tablets that are cheap.  Kleenex tissues do a new tissue that has germ fighting ingredients in them and you can buy a Lavender or Eucalyptus bubble bath to relax you also.

As you can tell...I have had a nasty cold recently!

My issue in the US is that they've stopped using whatever it was in Sudafed Sinus because meth addicts used it in their labs. It's the only thing that used to really work for me there. Thankfully my allergies improved when I moved....

Same here. I actually have a very bad reaction to the new stuff they use. Luckily here (and where I was in the US) you can still get the pseudoephedrine if you ask the pharmacist.

Buttercup syrup came highly recommended, but I couldn't take the taste of it. (Too minty.)

my vote goes to Day Nurse and Night Nurse.  If you go to Boots they have the exact same stuff for a fraction of the cost under the Boots brand, just ask for it.

You mentioned allergies and we use Zertec which you can buy over the counter here but I believe you need a prescription for in the US.  Again Boots has their own brand, the active ingredient is certirizine hydrochloride.  This is what was recommended by a pharmacist friend in the US as being the best.

my vote goes to Day Nurse and Night Nurse.  If you go to Boots they have the exact same stuff for a fraction of the cost under the Boots brand, just ask for it.

You mentioned allergies and we use Zertec which you can buy over the counter here but I believe you need a prescription for in the US.  Again Boots has their own brand, the active ingredient is certirizine hydrochloride.  This is what was recommended by a pharmacist friend in the US as being the best.

Zyrtec/Zirtec is one brand that is the same in the US and UK as as far as I am aware is available off the shelf in both countries - same with Claritin/Clarityn. What confuses me is that here in the US, Zyrtec is advertised as working 2 hours faster than Clarityn but can cause drowsiness. However, having worked behind the counter for Boots for a number of years, I can tell you that both are sold as non-drowsy antihistamines (and contain exactly the same ingredients as in the US) and neither technically works 'faster' than the other, it's just that some people find one works better for them than the other. Personally, I have tried both, and to be honest, it didn't appear that either of them did much for me!

The main difference I have found is that US Benadryl is different from UK Benadryl. In the US, it contains diphenhydramine hydrochloride (also in Nytol and Nightnurse) and is drowsy, whereas in the UK, it contains acrivastine which is generally non-drowsy.

Being a severe hayfever sufferer for many years..and finding brand hayfever meds extremely expensive..1 a day stuff being £4 a pack...I found that Superdrug do their own hayfever brands that contain the same quantities of certirizine hydrochloride and were only about £1 a box...and I have to say..they are the best I have ever taken..and I have done the lot! even perscriptions from the doctor (telfast and zirtek) clarytin, benedryl etc...

Superdrug own all the way for me. 

thanks everyone.  seems i might have both a cold and hay fever in one..oh what fun.  I'll have to try a few of these just to see.

Same here. I actually have a very bad reaction to the new stuff they use. Luckily here (and where I was in the US) you can still get the pseudoephedrine if you ask the pharmacist.

Federal law effectively moved pseudoephedrine behind the counter (though no such formal designation exists in the US for that... indeed, CVS keeps it behind both the front-end and pharmacy counters... my employer, Rite Aid, keeps it only behind the pharmacy counter; I don't go to Walgreens enough to notice (though the degree to which their new prototype store is a clone of Customer World is almost staggering).  However, at least two states (Oregon, and I want to say Maine) outlawed pseudoephedrine entirely.