In all the years I’ve used cough syrup it never worked…whats up with that…also does vicks vapo-rub work either…I need the straight dope on this folks…thanks 
From personal experience, No cough syrup does not work, never has for me and I doubt if it ever will. Yes vicks works, always has for me and I assume it always will. Some have told me that they are basically the same thing, and if one works they both should, but I find this to be innacurate. Any doctors out there with an opinion to share?
Are you taking cough syrup to keep you from coughing? If so, unless you get one with codein in it, you’re going to keep coughing.
However, if you buy an expectorant (usually the cheapest of all cough syrups), your cough will become (as doctors say) “more productive”, meaning that you’ll be spraying stuff all over your neighbors.
This process helps get all that crap out of your lungs and shortens the length of your cough.
You might want to be a little more specific. Different cough syrups are targetted at different cough problems. Do you want to stop coughing? Use a cough suppressant. Do you want more “productive” coughing? Use an expectorant. Etc. That’s why there are Robitussin-D, Robitussin-M, Robitussin-DM, etc.
When I use cough syrup I’m usually trying to keep from coughing (so I can sleep, appear in public, etc.) For daytime I use Hold cough lozenges. They contain dextromethorphan (sp?) which works pretty well for me. At night I usually use Nyquil. Its active ingredient (for cough suppression) is alcohol, which also works pretty well for me.
he sleeps on that pile/of newspapers/in the corner/and when he
takes off his/shoes you cannot/smell his breath
“king nicky”, archyology
Don Marquis
So why do they put both a cough supressant and an expectorant in one bottle? (Vicks 44E and Robitussin DM have both.) I’d think the net effect would be zero.
And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cough syrup that was solely an expectorant.
Robitussin (not Robitussin DM, PE, CE, etc) contains only Guaifenesin, an expectorant that makes mucous less thick (basically by watering it down). Guaifenesin can also be used by women to assist getting pregnant. No word about what happens when you mix milk with your cough syrup.
Other ingredients typically in cough syrup are dextromethorphan (a non-prescription cough supressant), pseudoephedrine (a decongenstant), and various anti-allergy agents.
For those coughs caused by nasal congestion and post-nasal drip (“snot running down your throat” for the non-medical types), the idea is that drying out the sinuses with decongestants and antihistamines will help stop the cough.
This sig not Y2K compliant. Happy 1900.
What they said (codeine will definitely quiet your cough – knocks me right out, love the stuff).
But Vicks Vapo-Rub – that stuff deserves its own thread. Hubby and I rub it on each other’s chests when we have bad colds. So there ya go!
According to an article in the Seattle Times, people are also using Vicks for toenail fungus. Must be the camphor. They say it works, but I doubt that they’ll change their marketing focus.
My grandma used to eat the stuff when she had a sore throat.
I distinctly recall Consumers Report a couple years ago stating that the best selling child’s cough syrup was utterly useless. Can’t recall the name, but it was the most popular and heavilly advertised.