# Outdated medicines: anyone remember these? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831 "2011-05-31T08:39:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/1 "2011-05-31T08:39:17Z")
When my brother and sister and I were kids, our parents used over-the-counter medications on us, which have since disappeared. We apparently used codeine before it was restricted to prescrfption dispensation. We used asthmador (a brown powder, burned in a cardboard container in a room to open breathing passages in the throat and lungs), and Turpin Hydrate, as a cold medicine. Any of the Teeming Millions remember these or any other discontinued medicines? (Some people still use cod-liver oil–ugh!) ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/2 "2011-05-31T08:52:34Z")
sulfanilamide gentian violet Q: what’s milk of magnesia for? ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/3 "2011-05-31T09:00:27Z")
Mercurochrome, the orange stingy-stuff painted on scratches and cuts. There’s a column by Cecil about Mercurochrome [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2518/what-happened-to-mercurochrome). My mother-in-law still has an old bottle in her medicine cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/4 "2011-05-31T09:04:25Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > Q: what’s milk of magnesia for? In our family mom doled it out for indegestion, heartburn, or constipation. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/5 "2011-05-31T09:04:42Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > sulfanilamide > Q: what’s milk of magnesia for? It’s a [laxative](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_hydroxide). ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/6 "2011-05-31T13:21:21Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > Q: what’s milk of magnesia for? A: What ails ya. mmm ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/7 "2011-05-31T13:43:15Z")
The bigger question is how do you milk a magnesia? I see they still make **Boroleum** on Fishers Island, NY – part of my home town, but impossible to drive to without leaving the state and taking two ferries. I don’t know the economics, but all raw materials have to shipped in by ferry, and the final result has to be shipped out. Somehow they’ve been managing for over a century. There’s also **Save the Baby** , which has been supplanted by Vicks Vap-O-Rub. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/8 "2011-05-31T13:44:15Z")
[Fletcher’s Castoria.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%27s_Laxative) My grandmother was firm believer in dosing children with the stuff for any and all ailments. For the record, I don’t remember it tasting like root beer or being particularly gentle in its action. The linked page notes that the stuff isn’t easy to find any more. Good. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/9 "2011-05-31T17:39:15Z")
Then there’s Serutan. I think it’s a fiber additive. Me mum used to take it all the time. I tried it and it tasted like pelleted cardboard… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/10 "2011-05-31T17:49:08Z")
Turpin hydrate, is still available as a prescription. It was very popular in Viet Nam, or so I hear. Known a GI gin. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/11 "2011-05-31T18:36:38Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Then there’s Serutan. I think it’s a fiber additive. Me mum used to take it all the time. I tried it and it tasted like pelleted cardboard… 🙂 And, remember, Serutan spelled backward . . . . Carter’s Little Liver Pills had to drop the “Liver” years ago; they’re now Carter’s Pills – a laxative. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/12 "2011-05-31T18:42:39Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > sulfanilamide > gentian violet > Q: what’s milk of magnesia for? Milk of magnesia is an antacid as well as a laxative. It’s still sold, as far as I can tell, and I was able to find some the last time I bought some, which was a few years ago. I saw cod liver oil for sale at a CVS (big pharmacy chain) in Fairfax, Virginia recently. I always thought of it as a dietary supplement, not a drug. What is it used to treat? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/13 "2011-05-31T18:44:17Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > [Fletcher’s Castoria.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%27s_Laxative) My grandmother was firm believer in dosing children with the stuff for any and all ailments. For the record, I don’t remember it tasting like root beer or being particularly gentle in its action. The linked page notes that the stuff isn’t easy to find any more. Good. What she needs is a Balsam Specific. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/14 "2011-05-31T18:46:27Z")
[Ayds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds), an appetite-suppressant. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/15 "2011-05-31T19:30:47Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Then there’s Serutan. I think it’s a fiber additive. I thought Serutan was the Wizard of Isinglass. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/16 "2011-05-31T19:55:36Z")
Rauwolfia extract for both psychosis and hypertension! ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/17 "2011-05-31T20:16:17Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > [Ayds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayds), an appetite-suppressant. LOL…I still remember the commercials. “Why take diet pills when you can enjoy AYDS”…Classic. Here is a link to one… [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7935064058166993925#](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7935064058166993925#) ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/18 "2011-05-31T20:46:08Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Milk of magnesia is an antacid as well as a laxative. It’s still sold, as far as I can tell, and I was able to find some the last time I bought some, which was a few years ago. > > I saw cod liver oil for sale at a CVS (big pharmacy chain) in Fairfax, Virginia recently. I always thought of it as a dietary supplement, not a drug. What is it used to treat? It’s a dietary supplement for Vitamins A and D that was used before milk was routinely fortified with them, since lack of those vitamins can cause [Rickets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickets). ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/19 "2011-05-31T20:57:32Z")
Mercurochrome didn’t sting. Merthiolate did. Both were made with mercury compounds: merbromin and thimerosal, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831/20 "2011-05-31T21:28:16Z")
Gentian Violet is still around, although you have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter. It’s still used for thrush, although it’s not FDA-approved for it. Fletcher’s Laxative is around as well, or was when I worked retail pharmacy about a year ago. Mercurochrome has been reformulated to Mercuroclear. Old people don’t trust it. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-medicines-anyone-remember-these/583831.md?page=2)