Cold and flu remedies
There is no medicine to help cure a cold or flu, explained Ms Ghelani. But remedies can help relieve the symptoms of a runny nose, high temperature and chesty cough.
‘Many of these are a combination of a painkiller and a decongestant, for example, Lemsip and Beechams both contain paracetamol and phenylephrine,’ she said.
Be careful and check the labels of cough or cold medicines. To avoid exceeding the maximum dose, you should not take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you’re already taking remedies that contain these ingredients.
You can always ask your pharmacist to recommend one that would be most suitable for you.
Ms Ghelan Steam recommends inhalation is one of the best ways to help relieve a blocked up nose. Keep a bottle of Olbas oil in the cabinet and add a few drops to a bowl of hot water and lean over it with a towel over your head. Breathing in the steam a few minutes will help clear the mucus from your nose.
Cough remedies
Most people with a cold or flu develop a cough. It can be dry and itchy, or chesty and phlegmy.
To be prepared, keep a bottle of cough syrup that is suitable for both.
Ms Ghelani recommends trying Unicough oral solution or Bronchostop cough syrup. Both of these are suitable for all types of coughs.
Diarrhoea remedies
Christmas is the most annoying time for tummy troubles. And when diarrhoea strikes, that’s not the ideal time to get to the chemist for a remedy.
Keep a packet of anti-diarrhoea capsules containing loperamide (sold under the brand name Imodium among others) in your medicine cabinet.
