They Call Me The Hacker! Theraflu thin strips
Written: Nov 16 '04 (Updated Nov 17 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Eliminates cough for hours
Cons: Hard to open little packets. Grrrr
The Bottom Line: While irritated with the hard to open packets, this is an excellent product for relieving coughs. It won an award for one of the best products of 2004
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| Suzer's Full Review: Theraflu Thin Strips Long Acting Cough Cherry Flav... |
Have you ever had the flu/cold, and while your fever and major symptoms dissipated, your cough just kept going and going and going, like the energy bunny. . .? Well, that is where I am. Three weeks after being sick, I still have a dry cough. Actually, management came over to me and gently asked if I had considered going to the pharmacy, and purchasing something over-the-counter. I was already sucking on cough drops, and had taken some over-the-counter meds, but obviously it wasn't enough. I must have been irritating everyone, though she made it sound like it was out of a deep concern for my well-being. So I took a break, and went over to a pharmacy adjacent to the hospital where I work. I was excited to see the new Theraflu thin strips in cherry flavor. Placing a couple of skinny strips on my tongue, and just having them dissolve, sounded easy. I paid too much for them however, at just under $8.00.
Purpose:
This product is purported to alleviate cough caused by a cold/bronchial irritation. It will not put you to sleep. They promise that it will calm your cough for up to 8 hours. Of course the operative words are "up to" 8 hours.
Manufacturer's directions:
Can be used by anyone 12 years or over. Place 2 strips on your tongue every 6-8 hours. It will quickly dissolve. Don't take more than 8 strips in a day (24 hours). Children under 12 years of age: ask a doctor.
Packaging and cost:
You will receive 12 little thin packets per package. I paid just under $8.00 at a pharmacy near my work. You can purchase them at half the price online. Most likely regular brick and mortar drugstores will charge less than I paid, but more than online stores.
Their warnings in part-read the remainder when you purchase:
Do not use if you are currently taking a MAOI prescription (drugs for depression, psychiatric, or emotional conditions, or Parkinson's disease), or for 2 weeks after stopping the MAOI drug. Check with your doctor first if you are pregnant, have a systemic illness, etc.:
Active Ingredients:
Per Strip: Dextromethorphan 11 mg (Equivalent to 15 mg Dextromethorphan HBr) Alcohol less than 5%
Inactive Ingredients:
Acetone; Alcohol; Dibasic Sodium Phosphate; Divinylbenzene Methacrylic Acid Copolymer; FD&C Red 40; Flavors; Hydroxypropyl Cellulose; Hypromellose; Maltodextrin; Microcrystalline Cellulose; Polyethylene Glycol; Pregelatinized Starch; Propylene Glycol; Purified Water; Sorbitol; Sucralose; Titanium Dioxide
My experience:
I always take the directions with a grain of salt. Their instructions for opening the thin little packets are a tad too simplistic, and take someone much more coordinated than moi. You are supposed to open 2 packets and place on your tongue. Okay, but these packets are just about impossible to open. They instruct you to simply tear on the dotted area, and open the packets. You are then told to simply take out the thin strip. Great, but the dotted thingies are difficult to see (well, yes I have over 40 eyes, but they are difficult to see regardless). I have not been able to open one of these strips without extreme difficulty. I immediately search for a pair of scissors. I then chop off the end of the little packet, and take out one strip. As they direct you to take two strips, and apply to your tongiepoo, you then need to go through the same process with a second packet. Now why wouldn't they put two in each packet, and make it easy for a reasonable person to open? This is one of my pet peeves with over-the-counter meds. I asked someone else in my office to open a packet. I wanted to know if it was just me, but she got quickly disgusted and handed it back to me. Now, on to the good news. Once I go through the hassle of getting out the strips from the two separate packets with my scissors, whip out the strips, and apply to my tongue, they do effectively eliminate my cough, so I am silent for several hours. Well, okay, so I talk a lot, but I am not coughing ad nauseumly. The cherry taste is nice, a little stronger than I expected, but not unpleasant at all, and they dissolve immediately upon landing on your tongue. This product also won an award for being one of the best new products for the year 2004, so that says a lot. I happily recommend this product for adults who are not precluded in the warnings, and who will not be adversely affected by the 5% alcohol content, and for children over 12. I am giving it 4 1/2 stars! But I sure wish they would make the packaging easier to open!
Thanks for reading!
Suzi
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Suzer
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Member: Suzi
Location: Southern Calif.
Reviews written: 588
Trusted by: 845 members
About Me:
Compromise-Art of slicing the cake so each person thinks they have the biggest piece.
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