Ever had the cough that just never ends. It starts kicking in everyday around 8p.m and wakes you up 5x a night eventually ruining your mood, taking away vital hours of sleep, and keeping the rest of the house awake. Well if your one of those people I know exactly how you feel, and after reading a few blogs I came across an interesting article that brought upon a theory that I have always held true. That cough medicines DO NOT HELP. They bring a small period of relaxation similar to what a Halls cough drop may do, and in that time period the throat can relax from the constant irritation making it less susceptible to more coughing. Coughs are a viral infection and cure when they complete their cycle, similar to a cold, and most people including myself decide to take Buckley’s guaranteed cough medicine on the last day of the cycle and VOILA cough is gone,the credit goes to the cough medicine, and more users rush to get it. Cough medicine can at times be looked to as a placebo for many individuals.  Studies show that a sugar coated pill has the same long-term effect on a cough that a actual medicine would. Even in my two years of not taking cough medicines the cycles of my coughs remain the same and they still last as long as they did when I did take medicines. Also overtime my coughs have reduced, now I doubt this is because I have quit taking the medicines but hey if not taking them cures it then I’ll go for it. Now with all this said I’m not trying to say lets all quit on medicines, because there are still those nights when I take a teaspoon of nyquil to relieve the irritation in my throat and, of course, to get a good night’s sleep, however, I do believe that most individuals depend to heavily on medicines. A small cough hits them and they rush to their medicine cabinet.

The full article on this issue can be found here.