# Best OTC drug for chronic bronchitis? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145 "2008-08-24T23:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/1 "2008-08-24T23:17:05Z")
Every single time I get a cold or flu, it turns into an extended attack of bronchitis. I’ve had a prescription for Serevent, but as I’m uninsured I can’t afford an office visit to get another. What’s the best Over The Counter treatment for this? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/2 "2008-08-25T02:26:13Z")
You probably arn’t going to get an answer to this, so in the mean time…If you are looking around on the internet, the search term you might want to try is “Viral Induced Asthma.” That’s what I have, so I do know what you are going though. The only thing I’ve found to help when I don’t have an inhaler on me is sticking my head in the freezer. The cold air feels good in my lungs. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/3 "2008-08-25T06:47:29Z")
Really? There aren’t any OTC inhalers that might offer some relief? ---
**Author:** ![LunaticFringette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@LunaticFringette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunaticFringette)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/4 "2008-08-25T12:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] Every single time I get a cold or flu, it turns into an extended attack of bronchitis. I’ve had a prescription for Serevent, but as I’m uninsured I can’t afford an office visit to get another. What’s the best Over The Counter treatment for this? [/QUOTE] Call your pharmacy for a refill. They will usually call your health care provider if your script has expired or has no refills indicated, and your HCP _may_ renew the script without an office visit. If not, self-diagnosis and self-medication based on internet advice from lay persons is extremely dangerous territory. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/5 "2008-08-25T14:27:37Z")
[QUOTE=LunaticFringette] Call your pharmacy for a refill. They will usually call your health care provider if your script has expired or has no refills indicated, and your HCP _may_ renew the script without an office visit. If not, self-diagnosis and self-medication based on internet advice from lay persons is extremely dangerous territory. [/QUOTE] Seconded - I have had asthma for many years, and if I ask the pharmacy to call my doctor’s office to have him authorize a refill on an expired albuterol inhaler prescription, normally he doesn’t require an office visit. (Of course, that’s because it’s a known and well-understood issue of many years’ standing, I’ve had the same doctor for a long time, and I normally end up seeing him at least once or twice a year for something or another anyway, so it’s not like I go ages without any monitoring whatsoever.) ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/6 "2008-08-26T03:38:33Z")
I’m not a doctor, but I usually just take mucinex whenever I get a cold to make coughing easier and keep my lungs clear. It used to be prescription but you can get it OTC now. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-otc-drug-for-chronic-bronchitis/461145/7 "2008-08-26T06:08:09Z")
[QUOTE=Stringer] I’m not a doctor, but I usually just take mucinex whenever I get a cold to make coughing easier and keep my lungs clear. It used to be prescription but you can get it OTC now. [/QUOTE] Thank you, I’ll try Musinex. I don’t have asthma, I don’t smoke, I’m not around smokers and a doctor’s visit will cost me several hundred dollars out of pocket, and I’ll be paying the full retail price for any prescription. Such is life among the uninsured in the US.