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rampo · Joined: 17 Oct 2006 Posts: 97

Where can I find cold medicine that really works here in Osaka? Not just those crap C lozenges and candy syrups! I've got a bad cold from standing in the rain to ogle some naked men in Okayama this weekend. I don't have a Costco membership.

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Contac works very well... It's the original stuff that they USED to sell in N. America before those bogus incidents when some people dropped dead after taking it and they (incorrectly) determined that the active ingredient could cause a heart attack. (That has long since been rescinded but I don't think they ever went back to selling the original formula back home)...

Make sure it's the one with the happy little Contac character on the package -- the capsule filled with hundreds of multi-colored, tiny little balls. Take one (MAX 2) every 12 hours. That'll get you right.

And if you have a cough, buy "Anton" brand pills (red and white box, with a picture of yellow pills on it). Take 3, 3 times a day.

If you have a sore throat, you're screwed in my books 'cause I haven't found anything that's REMOTELY effective... I've even been to the doctor and ended up with crap that doesn't work.

Most big (major) drugstores sell these things but you may have to visit a couple to find them -- ironically enough.

Hope that helps.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Try gargling warm salt-water in the morning if you have a sore throat.
For cold symptoms, I like the J-medicament. Comes in little packets of powder that you just dump on your tongue with no water, at least I do. Tastes awful, but that means it works!
Good luck. Hope you feel better soon.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

I'm assuming you're living long-term in Japan, and have a national health-insurance card...? If so, just hop down to the nearest doctor's office. A check-up, his/her prescription, and the pharmacist/druggist's filling of the prescription should cost you less than $2,500 combined total, and less than an hour of your time.

This will also allow you to distinguish between might-be-a-cold and might-be-influenza, bacterial versus viral, etc.

When seeing the doc, be sure to list all your symptoms, as the cure is often geared very specifically to the symptoms you're displaying. Here's a helpful list:

fever: Netze
cough: seki
feel like throwing up: haki-sou
Loss of appetite: anmari tabetakunai
phlegm: tan
nose: hana
throat: nodo
Lungs: hai
Sinus: same as English

-----
Like America, you'll find that Japanese pharmacies are filled with prescription meds that're powerful and WORK, but also are awash in over-the-counter stuff that's stupidly expensive and either weak or entirely ineffective. I, for example, wasted 800 yen on a single small bottle of over-the-counter cold medicine (junk) before wising up & getting some prescription stuff.

That having been said, let me contradict myself just a tiny bit. A friend abotu 5 years ago asked me to pick up some over-the-counter cold medicine called "braun" or "brown" that's only available in Japan, not in the US. He swore that the stuff was good.

I'd still strongly recommend the doctor/prescription route, though.

rampo · Joined: 17 Oct 2006 Posts: 97

Thanks for all your help, everyone. I don't have insurance but was able to find something effective.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Also, some of my home remedies:
1. Make up a soup with boullion, onions and garlic. Loads of onions and garlic, always does the trick.
2. Before bed a cup of piping hot tea with lemon and honey and a big shot of booze in there. You should be able to sweat it out and feel much better after a good night's sleep.
If that doesn't work, put the lime in the coconut and eat it all up!
Get well soon Rampo,
s

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

パブロン(Pabron or pablon)S. Works for me plus it's got codeine in it.

Neongene · Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 51

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

bornslippy1981 · Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 271

I never drank Orange Juice until I got to Japan. The first time I got sick was in Dec 05, about 8 months after I arrived. It was probably from students with the flu coming to Nova and coughing all over me. "You're gaijin, you won't get sick," must've been their thoughts.

I started drinking 1L/day of orange juice, and would get better within a few days.

Now that I work with kids full-time, I got sick a lot in the fall. But, I keep up with my orange juice, and haven't been sick in 2 months (touch wood).

Anyway, hope you're feeling better.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Halls cough drops work for me for sore throats. I second using the contacts as well. Hope you feel much better, my Japanese cedar allergy is already kicking in, so I wish it was only a cold.

bornslippy1981 · Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 271

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Dry as a bone. But thanks for thinking of me, Slippy!

No wonder I liked that PABRON so much. Never knew it had codeine in it.
Duh.

Enjoy,
s

bornslippy1981 · Joined: 02 Aug 2004 Posts: 271

No worries Mr. Sweetpea.

I'm out of here in 8 weeks. Racquetball (if you can find the place and they have racquets I can borrow)?

Enjoy,

B