Don't take cold medicine randomly during flu season! Doctors: These medicines cannot be taken with cold medicine!

Recently, information released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that my country may face the risk of interaction or co-epidemic of multiple respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza this winter and next spring.

I believe that many people have experienced influenza, and the systemic symptoms are more prominent, including high fever, general fatigue, poor spirits, muscle aches, etc., and there are also some upper respiratory tract manifestations, such as sore throat, nasal congestion, etc. Therefore, some people choose to buy and take cold medicine, antipyretic medicine, cough medicine, etc.

But remember: these common medicines must also be taken scientifically, taking them randomly is very dangerous!

Taking cold medicine randomly is really dangerous!

01 Taking cold medicine indiscriminately can lead to liver failure and shock

According to Guangzhou Daily in 2019, Mr. Lin (pseudonym), 54, from Dongguan, Guangdong, took cefaclor, levofloxacin, oseltamivir, bromhexine, dextromethorphan, and ibuprofen at the same time because of a cold that had not healed for a long time. Unexpectedly, he began to feel difficulty breathing 20 minutes later, and his skin had multiple rashes and itching, and his face was swollen. He was rushed to the hospital. The doctor who received him judged that the patient had severe anaphylactic shock, was in critical condition, and was in danger of life at any time. He recovered after rescue.

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02 Taking cold medicine can cause liver and kidney damage

According to Metropolis Express in 2022, a 56-year-old female patient in Ningbo, Zhejiang, took cold medicine for 5 days because of a cold, which caused liver and kidney damage. When she arrived at the hospital, she had multiple organ failure, manifested as hepatic coma, shock, coagulation dysfunction, oliguria, etc., and recovered after more than two months of rescue.

Zhao Qingwei, director of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, reminds that no matter what, you should not panic and take medicines indiscriminately. Adding, overdosing, or mixing medicines may cause greater harm.

Cold medicine should not be taken with these medicines

Bao Xiulan, chief physician of pediatrics at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, reminds that cold medicine should not be taken with these medicines, as it can cause irreversible liver damage in severe cases.

01 Cold medicine + acetaminophen ❌

90% of the commonly used compound cold medicines contain the ingredient "paracetamol", such as acetaminophen granules, acetaminophen granules, acetaminophen syrup, acetaminophen suspension for children, and day and night Baifuning and Baijiahei cold tablets for adults.

If you take acetaminophen for fever while taking the above-mentioned compound cold medicine containing "acetaminophen", the overlapping doses can easily lead to an acetaminophen overdose. If the dose of acetaminophen exceeds 4000 mg/day, it may cause fatal acute liver damage.

And in most cases, the damage caused by acetaminophen overdose is irreversible. That is to say, after the damage occurs, it cannot be healed through subsequent treatment. Once the damage occurs, it will last a lifetime.

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02 Cold medicine + ibuprofen ❌

Although this situation does not seem to cause an acetaminophen overdose, it is equivalent to taking two fever-reducing drugs, ibuprofen and acetaminophen, at the same time.

Especially for children, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that taking the two together increases the possibility of inaccurate dosing, and it is not recommended to take them at the same time when a child has a fever.

03 Cold medicine + cold medicine ❌

I have a cold that has not healed. Will increasing the dosage of medicine or taking two medicines together make it heal faster? No, it may be fatal!

Most combination cold medicines have similar ingredients and fall into the following categories:

Antipyretic analgesics: For fever, the most common ones are acetaminophen and ibuprofen, and less common ones are aspirin, phenacetin, and aminopyrine;

Drugs to relieve nasal congestion: mainly pseudoephedrine, a nasal mucosal vasoconstrictor that constricts nasal blood vessels and reduces nasal discharge;

Antitussive cough medicine: Mostly dextromethorphan, a centrally acting cough suppressant;

Antihistamines: Eliminate or alleviate symptoms of sneezing and runny nose. Commonly used ones include chlorpheniramine maleate, loratadine, diphenhydramine, and cetirizine.

In other words, different compound cold medicines mostly contain one or more of the above ingredients. If you take two or three cold medicines at the same time, it will cause overlapping and excessive drug ingredients, increasing damage to liver and kidney function.

04 Cold medicine + antibiotics ❌

When you go to the drugstore to buy cold medicine, do you often hear the clerk recommend, "Take it with an anti-inflammatory drug" or "It will be more effective when taken with an antibacterial drug"? If this happens, you must refuse directly.

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Because most cases of common colds and flu are caused by viruses, while antibiotics target bacterial infections. Only when a cold is combined with a bacterial infection will antibiotics be useful.

As for whether there is a bacterial infection, the doctor needs to make a comprehensive judgment based on the corresponding test results. Before it is confirmed that it is a bacterial infection, you cannot take antibiotics privately. Not only will it not relieve the cold, but it will also produce drug resistance and even cause adverse reactions.

Doctor Bao Xiulan said that if it is a common cold, it will generally get better in about a week. You can take medicine, but for common colds, you should only use the right medicine for the symptoms, and you cannot mix different medicines. If the cold symptoms do not get better after taking the medicine for more than a week, you should go to the hospital for treatment.

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