When you have a cough and you can’t get rid of it, the choices at the pharmacy might seem overwhelming. Some meds are only available with a prescription; others are over-the-counter (OTC) and some are sold behind-the-counter. Making sense of it all can be daunting.
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Cough Suppressants vs Expectorants
One of the most confusing things about cough medicines is understanding the difference betweencough suppressantsandexpectorants.
These medications aren’t always effective and they can cause side effects and adverse reactions.
The FDA strongly advises against giving cough suppressants to kids under 2 years old and encourages drug manufacturers to voluntarily advise consumers not to give suppressants to kids under 4 years old.
Coughingis a complicated response to various factors, such as irritants, inflammation, mucus production, and food or fluid in the airways. Cough suppressants and expectorants are symptomatic treatments, but they don’t treat the cause of a cough. It may be a good idea to check with your healthcare provider to see if they recommend them.
Antihistamines and Allergic Cough
Often, allergic reactions will involve sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and acough. Antihistamines aren’t technically considered cough medicines, but if your cough is part of an allergic reaction, your doctor may recommend a non-drowsyantihistamine, such as Claritin (loratadine).
A note of caution about antihistamines: Some of them can cause drowsiness.
Sometimes this side effect may be beneficial if the cough is preventing you from sleeping, but the drowsiness can interfere with daytime activities (like driving and paying attention to your daily tasks). And for some people, antihistamine-induced drowsiness can be persistent even after a good night’s sleep.
Ask your pharmacist to clarify the side effects and get an idea of how the medication affects you for a few days before you attempt to drive.
How to Treat a Cough From an Infection
Generally, a cough that’s related to a mildupper respiratory infectionwill resolve when the infection is treated or your body recovers from the infection. Sometimes your healthcare provider may recommend symptomatic treatment for your infection-induced cough, especially if the cough is severe or if the coughlingers after the infection has resolved.
Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics. Viral infections don’t get any better with antibiotics, and many common cold viruses do not respond to antiviral medications. For that reason, healthcare providers don’t give antiviral medications for common colds. Your practitioner may prescribe an antiviral medication for the flu if you come in early enough and test positive for influenza.
Combination Drugs
Many cough medicines contain more than oneactive ingredient. For example, they can have a combination of an antihistamine, a decongestant, or a cough suppressant.
And most flu and cold medications treat several symptoms. If they list coughing as one of the symptoms they treat, they may have one or more types of cough medication in addition to the other active ingredients that treat the other symptoms.
It’s important to be careful when using combination medicines.For example, taking one medicine for cold symptoms and another to treat cough could lead to an accidental overdose of cough medicine.
Don’t take extra cough medicine if you’re taking a medication that covers multiple problems, such as sniffling, sneezing, coughing, etc., or you risk an overdose and increased side effects.
Home Remedies
There are lots of home remedies for cough, and it is a good idea to incorporate simple at-home self-care when you have a cough.
Examples include:
While home remedies can be helpful, it is important to talk to a healthcare provider about your cough. The cause and type of cough you are having are important for directing the treatment. Adry cough, wet cough, allergic cough, infectious cough, and more may be managed differently.
Always call 911 or go to the emergency department if you’re feelingshort of breath, regardless of the cause.
Over-the-Counter Cough Medicines: A Complete Guide
3 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bolser DC.Cough suppressant and pharmacologic protussive therapy: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.Chest. 2006;129(1 Suppl):238S–249S. doi:10.1378/chest.129.1_suppl.238SWolf MS, King J, Jacobson K, et al.Risk of unintentional overdose with non-prescription acetaminophen products.J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(12):1587–1593. doi:10.1007/s11606-012-2096-3Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, Meremikwu MM.Honey for acute cough in children.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4(4):CD007094. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007094.pub5
3 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bolser DC.Cough suppressant and pharmacologic protussive therapy: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.Chest. 2006;129(1 Suppl):238S–249S. doi:10.1378/chest.129.1_suppl.238SWolf MS, King J, Jacobson K, et al.Risk of unintentional overdose with non-prescription acetaminophen products.J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(12):1587–1593. doi:10.1007/s11606-012-2096-3Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, Meremikwu MM.Honey for acute cough in children.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4(4):CD007094. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007094.pub5
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Bolser DC.Cough suppressant and pharmacologic protussive therapy: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.Chest. 2006;129(1 Suppl):238S–249S. doi:10.1378/chest.129.1_suppl.238SWolf MS, King J, Jacobson K, et al.Risk of unintentional overdose with non-prescription acetaminophen products.J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(12):1587–1593. doi:10.1007/s11606-012-2096-3Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, Meremikwu MM.Honey for acute cough in children.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4(4):CD007094. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007094.pub5
Bolser DC.Cough suppressant and pharmacologic protussive therapy: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.Chest. 2006;129(1 Suppl):238S–249S. doi:10.1378/chest.129.1_suppl.238S
Wolf MS, King J, Jacobson K, et al.Risk of unintentional overdose with non-prescription acetaminophen products.J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27(12):1587–1593. doi:10.1007/s11606-012-2096-3
Oduwole O, Udoh EE, Oyo-Ita A, Meremikwu MM.Honey for acute cough in children.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;4(4):CD007094. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007094.pub5
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