[MusicLover82]

Does anyone else have a strange reaction to taking DayQuil? I took it yesterday, and was fine at first, no mania or hypo, but later in the evening, after it wore off, I had a depressive/obsessive episode. I was worrying about my appearance and my weight to the extent that I was driving my husband nuts.

Anyone else have a bad experience with DayQuil (or any other decongestant)?

Not for years. Years ago, they put pseudophedrine in it. Back then it worked beautifully and I'll admit it gave me a high. Then they took that out of it and put something in it that is much less effective for me, but it is OK to sell off the general shelves. Ditto for Tylenol Sinus. This new junk doesn't even touch my sinus issues and actually makes me feel worse half of the time. Coricidine makes me feel downright sick.

I'm not entirely sure why, but my old pharmacist said that I shouldn't even take the cold/allergy pills on the general shelves. She said the only thing I should use are the nasal spray, but again, they do nothing or even make me feel worse.

You can still get pseudophedrine, but in the US (at least in my state) you have to ask for it at the pharmacy counter and present your driver's license. They track how much you buy. Perhaps you know that people used to buy large quantities of pseudophedrine to make crystal methamphetamine, a dangerous and addictive drug. They can't make that from the current DayQuil you buy off the general shelves.

My psychiatrist forbids me from taking pseudophedrine. I cannot buy it at pharmacies where the pharmacists know me. I used to get it elsewhere when I really suffered from my sinusitis. It really helped better than prescription stuff from my Ears Nose and Throat doctor (a nasal spray, of course) the. Also, there was a period when I was abusing it because of excess sedation. I confessed that to my psychiatrist. That was when he really got angry at me.

Mania was significant in my past course of bipolar disorder. It took me a while to get used to the idea of seeking stability. Later in my course, depression finally started to dominate. That's a dangerous time when many with bipolar like mine start seeking out highs.

[*Laurie*]

I used to take DayQuil or NyQuil if I need them and they worked fine, no problems. In the past 6 years when I've taken them I experience severe anxiety. So I avoid them, and all the OTC meds like them if at all possible.

I've suspected that those meds interact with psych meds - but perhaps Birdie has hit on the real reason...that the ingredients have been altered.

I, too, wonder if the ingredients in that stuff have been altered. I never used to be allergic to it, but now I'm severely allergic to it. I can't breathe whenever I take it. And the breathing thing has happened twice now, so it wasn't a coincidence.

But yeah, can't comment on the mental effects since I'm allergic. Just thought I'd mention the ingredients thing.

Some OTC meds use lactose as a filler because lactose is as cheap as you can get these days... but of course some people are lactose intolerant. Still, drug companies don't care what they put in their meds as long as they can maximize their profits. So they probably know about ALL the side effects, but they don't care because they know people will take their drugs anyways, and they certainly aren't going to advertise these things unless legally required to.

I found this online article that addresses this issue:

https://www.verywellmind.com/cold-me...ication-380344

Hello Vicks Vapo rub.

[Zigy]

Even people who don't take any other medicines have reaction to DayQuil.