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Prescription cough medicine is used to make sizzrup, a drink kids and young adults were using to get high. I don't think it's as popular nowadays, but that could be because of the awareness of potential abuse. So yes, if you brush aside the less addictive alternatives offered by a doctor and specifically ask for codeine-based cough syrup, you may be raising a red flag, though you didn't intend to do so.
The little gold pills are probably what they call "pearls." I had never heard of them, but my college-age kids said this is what they give now on college campuses. They were told by their doctors that they do not work in some people, no one knows why, but they work beautifully in others.
My son had a bout of bronchitis over Christmas and he was prescribed an inhaler, pearls, and a z-pak (antibiotic).
I believe with all my heart that a patient should be treated as an individual. Not based on what the latest epidemic is.
So by denying a sick person medicine, we are catering to the lowest common denominator. So "other" people have a drug problem. Let's deny you the sick person medication. Makes no sense!
Now, if you want to not give out opiate meds at the free clinic, that's fine by me. But I'm paying good money each money for insurance I don't use. Look at my chart doc. How many times do I ever have you fill a prescription for me? That's right. Never.
I feel like right now if I go seeking another doctor, I'll look like a drug addict. And that is BS. Complete BS that I have to worry that I'll look like a drug addict because I want medication that I know works. I could tell this guy had in his head that these pills were what was best for me and he didn't care what I thought. My primary care doctor was booked so I'd never seen this doctor. But I'd only ever seen my primary care doctor 3 times anyway. So it's not like we're buds or anything.
I will dig my heels in and say I just don't buy that doctors are worried that a few days of cough meds are going to get people hooked. How can you abuse a few tablespoons of cough syrup? I think they have their new pills dujour that they are pushing and in the next few years it will be something else. Whoever makes these "perles" is sending some docs on golf vacations or something. All of a sudden we all need the Perles? Please.
I told my husband the only easy medication there is to get from a doctor are the ones you see commercials for! They never forget to ask me at the doctor if I feel depressed. I always tell them no. Let's not even get into how many adults and kids are hooked on anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, ritalin and sh*t like that. They'll likely be on that medication for the rest of their lives. Ugh the more I think about it, the madder I get.
So no more prescription cough medicine or is it just my doctor?
It's your doctor. I had a persistent dry cough for two months last summer and in addition to an inhaler and the perles, I was constantly receiving prescriptions for Hycodan, which contains hydrocodone. (Hydrocodone is stronger than codeine.)
Now some doctors won't even prescribe a simple cough syrup because it contains codeine? What's next, ban anesthesia because one high profile person liked to use it recreationally? Maybe govt will be happier when people use heroin to stop their coughs like they did 100+ years ago. Except today you'd have to get it from the streets, not from the doctor. Codeine was developed as an alternative to all that heroin use so in 2018 where does that leave the patient who genuinely needs relief from a debilitating cough?
And now that a person's medical records are online can't a doctor see exactly what a person has been prescribed and when? What was the point of the changeover if it's not going to be used to help the doctor make a reasonable decision?
But mostly what I'd like to know about this is why it is that when a small group of people has a problem, everyone is treated as if they have that problem. This policy has been around for a while but I never thought I'd see it in medicine to this extent and this quickly. Somehow things have gotten way off track.
I don’t use cough syrup & excepting one temporary situation, I do not give it to my kids. But it doesn’t have anything to do with narcotics:
I don’t want to suppress something that the body needs to do to get better. I know, it’s miserable to be up all night hacking up a lung but I’d rather that than pneumonia. Especially right now with the flu related pneumonia & sepsis.
My kids would tell you that I have lectured them if I hear them trying to hold back ... “Do it again! This time with a BIG breath!” I do not want that warm, wet gunk breeding bacteria so please; cough & spit.
Additionally, opiates cause respiratory depression. It slows the rate & your breathing becomes shallow. Oxygen levels can drop just from taking an opiate; add lungs filling with fluid & you could be asking for trouble.
My one exception to this is in the case where you are recovering from an upper respiratory infection (sinus & throat) & the coughing comes from that aggravating tickle in your throat. It usually occurs if your throat was raw & blistered & it’s similar to a scrape that forms a scab & gets itchy.
As long as the lungs are clear, in that case only; do I allow a little syrup at night for the sake of getting some sleep.
I believe with all my heart that a patient should be treated as an individual. Not based on what the latest epidemic is.
So by denying a sick person medicine, we are catering to the lowest common denominator. So "other" people have a drug problem. Let's deny you the sick person medication. Makes no sense!
Now, if you want to not give out opiate meds at the free clinic, that's fine by me. But I'm paying good money each money for insurance I don't use. Look at my chart doc. How many times do I ever have you fill a prescription for me? That's right. Never.
I feel like right now if I go seeking another doctor, I'll look like a drug addict. And that is BS. Complete BS that I have to worry that I'll look like a drug addict because I want medication that I know works. I could tell this guy had in his head that these pills were what was best for me and he didn't care what I thought. My primary care doctor was booked so I'd never seen this doctor. But I'd only ever seen my primary care doctor 3 times anyway. So it's not like we're buds or anything.
I will dig my heels in and say I just don't buy that doctors are worried that a few days of cough meds are going to get people hooked. How can you abuse a few tablespoons of cough syrup? I think they have their new pills dujour that they are pushing and in the next few years it will be something else. Whoever makes these "perles" is sending some docs on golf vacations or something. All of a sudden we all need the Perles? Please.
I told my husband the only easy medication there is to get from a doctor are the ones you see commercials for! They never forget to ask me at the doctor if I feel depressed. I always tell them no. Let's not even get into how many adults and kids are hooked on anti depressants, anti anxiety meds, ritalin and sh*t like that. They'll likely be on that medication for the rest of their lives. Ugh the more I think about it, the madder I get.
It is all conjecture that the doctor didn't give you a rx for cough syrup because of concerns about opioids/addiction. It's possible the doctor thought your symptoms did not require a cough syrup. You can certainly call him/her and ask for a prescription.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiaLia
Now some doctors won't even prescribe a simple cough syrup because it contains codeine? What's next, ban anesthesia because one high profile person liked to use it recreationally? Maybe govt will be happier when people use heroin to stop their coughs like they did 100+ years ago. Except today you'd have to get it from the streets, not from the doctor. Codeine was developed as an alternative to all that heroin use so in 2018 where does that leave the patient who genuinely needs relief from a debilitating cough?
And now that a person's medical records are online can't a doctor see exactly what a person has been prescribed and when? What was the point of the changeover if it's not going to be used to help the doctor make a reasonable decision?
But mostly what I'd like to know about this is why it is that when a small group of people has a problem, everyone is treated as if they have that problem. This policy has been around for a while but I never thought I'd see it in medicine to this extent and this quickly. Somehow things have gotten way off track.
To repeat, this is all conjecture at this point.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coschristi
I don’t use cough syrup & excepting one temporary situation, I do not give it to my kids. But it doesn’t have anything to do with narcotics:
I don’t want to suppress something that the body needs to do to get better. I know, it’s miserable to be up all night hacking up a lung but I’d rather that than pneumonia. Especially right now with the flu related pneumonia & sepsis.
My kids would tell you that I have lectured them if I hear them trying to hold back ... “Do it again! This time with a BIG breath!” I do not want that warm, wet gunk breeding bacteria so please; cough & spit.
Additionally, opiates cause respiratory depression. It slows the rate & your breathing becomes shallow. Oxygen levels can drop just from taking an opiate; add lungs filling with fluid & you could be asking for trouble.
My one exception to this is in the case where you are recovering from an upper respiratory infection (sinus & throat) & the coughing comes from that aggravating tickle in your throat. It usually occurs if your throat was raw & blistered & it’s similar to a scrape that forms a scab & gets itchy.
As long as the lungs are clear, in that case only; do I allow a little syrup at night for the sake of getting some sleep.
I think it's fine to suppress a cough at night so one can sleep. I agree about opioids suppressing respirations. I'm reluctant to suggest anything on CD, so I'll say someone who is being kept awake at night by a cough should call their doctor.
In dry climates such as Colorado's, coughs sometimes hang on for a long time, and then it's sometimes appropriate to suppress it during the day. Again, checking with the doctor is best.
I never found that cough syrup was helpful at all. Seemed completely ineffective.
NyQuil does help a little (or does it?) - but it's not considered cough syrup, or is it?
Some NyQuil helps one to sleep, but probably not the Daytime NyQuil (which is orange)
NyQuil has lots of ingredients including dextromethorphan. It has a sedative effect so you fall asleep faster, you are less bothered by other symptoms including your cough reflex.
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