Don't be too reeled in by the commercials
Written: Jul 27 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: did what it claimed it could do, to the letter
Cons: did not work as well when I was older; silly commercials
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| lernerj's Full Review: Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir |
I used Dimetapp fairly regularly as a child, in the latter years of elementary school, for a seasonal allergy cough. I also used it a few times later in life, choosing the cough syrup again rather than the gel-tabs (shown on Epinions as the "adult" Dimetapp) because I had pill-swallowing issues--don't ask. :)
The medicine worked fairly well for me as a kid. It wasn't spectacular--it basically just lived up to its promises. It was the sort of medicine that says it will last for 4 hours, and around about 3 hours and 45 minutes after I took it, I started to think it was about time for another dose. But as I said, it did its job. Because we tried other cough syrups that didn't even do that much, Dimetapp was what we generally stuck with. (I would add though that when my cough was particularly bothersome we switched to another brand, Delsym, which despite the fact that the syrup is gross--it has pulp in it like orange juice!--worked wonders at the time. There's no category for this yet, though, so I though I'd mention it here.)
The syrup is also good for kids because of its grape flavor, which is less medicinal-tasting than most cough syrups of the red/cherry variety. But don't be swayed too much by those Dimetapp commercials where the mother chases the kid around the house to take the medicine, and then the kid ends up loving the delicious flavor. It's still medicine, folks, not candy. But it's true that it tastes better than most.
However, as I noted above, I also tried the syrup a few times later in life when I had a cough, and it really did not work well for me. It had almost no effect on the cough. (Note: this is not because it is children's medicine; even though Epinions lists this as children's because it is a syrup, it is adult strength and lists adult dosages.) This may be a matter of different cough sources: my childhood coughs were from a seasonal allergy to pine trees, and the adult coughs I tried Dimetapp (and Delsym, actually) on were more from a virus (though I had no other symptoms). Perhaps Dimetapp is more effective for particular sorts of coughs. I would most recommend trying it for allergic coughs since that is where it worked best for me.
In general I'd recommend trying it out; it's not as well known as many of the other cough syrups but it has generally served me well, at least as a kid, so I'd recommend giving it a shot. Just don't expect your child to be smiling ear-to-ear!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lernerj
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Member: Jennifer
Location: Vienna, VA
Reviews written: 141
Trusted by: 99 members
About Me:
Sociology professor, reality-tv watcher, and kitty lover
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