NyQuil

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NyQuil LiquiCaps
NyQuil LiquiCaps

NyQuil, produced by the Vicks company, is the brand name of a family of cold medicine designed to help relieve many symptoms of the common cold. Because all of the medications within the NyQuil imprint contain sedating antihistamines and/or hypnotics, they are typically taken at night, just before bedtime. Its daytime counterpart is DayQuil, which does not contain sedating antihistamines and is not intended to induce drowsiness.

NyQuil comes in both liquid form and packaged in capsules (LiquiCaps). The liquid form was introduced in the fall of 1968 (with numerous magazine ads and television commercials), while the capsules were introduced in the late 1980s.

Contents

[edit] Products

[edit] NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief

NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief is available in both syrup and LiquiCap form. It previously contained pseudoephedrine, a decongestant below.

The liquid version of NyQuil Cold/Flu Multi-symptom Relief has the following active ingredients (15mL is one tablespoon, which is half the recommended adult dose):

The pill (Liquicap) version has less Acetaminophen per dose. The following is the active ingredients for one pill, which is half the recommended adult dose:

[edit] NyQuil D

NyQuil D is available in syrup form only. It contains pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, and is available behind the pharmacy counter.

NyQuil D has the following active ingredients (15mL is one tablespoon, which is half the recommended adult dose):

[edit] NyQuil Cough

Nyquil Cough's active ingredients are:

NyQuil Cough is available in syrup form only to help prevent abuse of both the hypnotic (from Doxylamine succinate) and dissociative (from Dextromethorphan) features of the syrup.

[edit] NyQuil Sinus

Nyquil Sinus' active ingredients are:

Nyquil Sinus is available as LiquiCaps only.

[edit] Reformulation

Previously, NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief and NyQuil Sinus contained pseudoephedrine (30 mg/15mL), another nasal decongestant that also formed the active ingredient in Sudafed. Following the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act in 2006, all pseudoephedrine-containing medications must be kept behind a pharmacy counter and all purchases must be logged.

Vicks chose to keep its products more easily accessible by reformulating NyQuil Sinus, replacing pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine. Many people were outraged by this change and chose to boycott the product, because some experts believe that phenylephrine is no more effective than a placebo. Due to the protest, however, Vicks chose to revert to the original formula. [1] Production difficulties related to the reformulation caused occasional supply shortages in some parts of the U.S. in 2006.[citation needed]

For those who want to have the same active ingredients as the older version of NyQuil Cold/Flu, they can take NyQuil D. In 2007, Vicks launched NyQuil D Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief, which contains the same active ingredients as NyQuil, plus pseudoephedrine (PSE). It is available without a prescription and is sold behind the pharmacy counter

[edit] NyQuil Children's

Children's NyQuil is artificially flavored for easier consumption by children and without alcohol
Children's NyQuil is artificially flavored for easier consumption by children and without alcohol

NyQuil Children's active ingredients are:

NyQuil Children's is unique among the NyQuil line in that it contains no alcohol. It is available in the syrup form only.

[edit] Warnings

NyQuil should not be taken with medications that contain other antihistamines or cough suppressants. People who have other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, asthma, chronic cough, excess mucus production, enlarged prostate, high blood pressure, or women who are nursing or pregnant, or may become pregnant. Some should consult a physician or pharmacist to ensure that NyQuil will not interact negatively with their disease states. Additionally, concurrent use of NyQuil with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or other drugs containing acetaminophen is contraindicated. Another concern with Nyquil of any formulation is that it contains acetaminophen (also known as Tylenol). It is essential to avoid excessive amounts of acetaminophen as this may cause damage to the liver. This risk is additive when separate co-ingestion of acetaminophen is used. The normal maximum for acetaminophen per day is 65 mg/kg/24hrs or 4g/day, whichever is less. Certain patients such as those on medications processed by the liver or diseases of the liver (eg Hepatitis A,B,C) should consult their physician.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ UF press release on the Hendles letter

[edit] External links