Shop now, not sick

Pack a cold and flu kit before the season hits. When you are stuffed up and aching at 11pm, everything you need is already in the cupboard.

“to make recovery faster and easier”

Write down urgent care

Find an urgent care that takes your insurance and note the address, phone and hours on a card or in your phone. Sick you will not want to research anything.

The 48-hour flu window

Go within 48 hours of fever, body aches and dry cough and you can ask for Tamiflu or generic oseltamivir. Roughly $20 to $60 out of pocket, and it cuts one to two days off.

Ask at the counter

Shelf decongestants use phenylephrine, which tests no better than placebo. The ones that work sit behind the pharmacy counter with pseudoephedrine, like Sudafed or a store dupe.

“They contain pseudoephedrine, which is effective.”

Skip combo formulas

Every doctor interviewed prefers single-ingredient meds. You take only what you actually need, which is gentler on your body and gets you better faster.

Plain acetaminophen

Tylenol or the generic handles fever, headache, sore throat and body aches. Do not stack it on a multi-symptom formula that already contains it, because too much is hard on the liver.

Guaifenesin and saline

A store-brand guaifenesin, the generic Mucinex, loosens the gunk you are coughing up. Saline spray keeps nasal passages moist with no medication, so use it as often as you like.

Three days of Afrin, max

Oxymetazoline sprays like Afrin clear extreme stuffiness fast. Stop at three days straight, or the rebound effect makes your congestion worse than where you started.

Drops and soft tissues

Menthol or pectin drops coat the throat and boost saliva. Cepacol adds numbing benzocaine. Aloe tissues beat lotion ones for a raw, over-blown nose.

“They're best for reducing irritation”

Broth, tea, electrolytes

Chicken soup really is anti-inflammatory and may shorten a cold by a day or two, so keep instant bone broth packets. Echinacea tea and electrolyte mixes cover hydration.