Thursday 15 March 2007

Sick and Sleepless in Sydney

It's not even a weekend, and yet I'm awake at 4:28am. My slumber was rudely interrupted by a blocked nose and a raspy throat. No, this is not an advertisement for some new cold and flu product. If it was, I'd demand that I get well instantly, as all advertisements for cold and flu products would have me believe. In the past 2 days, I've been reliant on - almost to the point of being addicted to - pseudoephedrine + sedating antihistamines just to try to get over the cold. I've grown so attached to them that I now know how long it takes for my nose to magically unblock itself after taking a tablet (approximately 30 minutes - oh yes I count those measly minutes). I also know how long it takes before the effect wears off (approximately 4 hours), and my nose reduces itself to the congestion almost worthy of all the major roads in KL city centre. Or Paramatta Road during peak (after all, I am in Sydney).
I've taken two tablets of SUDAFED nighttime relief, each tablet containing 500mg paracetamol, 30mg pseudoephedrine HCl and 1.25mg triprolidine HCl, at about 4:15am. I'm still waiting for some sort of sign. Until the congestion clears, I miserably type away on the laptop keyboard, watching the fighting fish dance about in their small space of water (I wonder if fish get a cold, but I suppose it's ridiculous to think that they'd get drenched in an autumn rain when they live in water regardless of the seasonal variation in rainfall).
I have a sneaky feeling that I've been conned by the makers of SUDAFED. Oh how I wished that I've taken an ACTIFED. Oh wait. Both are made by the same company. Then how is it so, that I feel that I get faster relief from taking one tablet of ACTIFED (containing 60mg pseudoephedrine HCl and 2.5 triprolidine HCl) than I would taking 2 tablets of SUDAFED nighttime relief??? The logic eludes me. As does sleep for this morning I fear. Perhaps I would be more empathic the next time a customer comes around to the dispensary asking for one brand of cold and flu product over the other, even after I've told him/her that both products contain exactly the same active ingredients. The customer's reasoning? "Oh, brand XXX seems to do the trick for me. Brand YYY doesn't work, and I've tried both before, thank you very much. So I'd like to stick with brand XXX."
I should have just stuck with ACTIFED.
Disclaimer: The above posting is not intended for advertising purposes of any product by any company.

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