Does anyone else have to check cough and cold medicines for certain ingredients ?

[SammieSparkles]

As I'm sat here with a very sore throat and cold and thinking I really might need to take some lemsips ect it reminded me that on my last cold I felt lousy every time I used vitamins and some cold sachets. At the time I had no idea that Echinacea is best avoided by Lupus patients and I had been having a fair amount thinking it was helping my immune not making it worse. Are there any other ingredients you find trigger your lupus off at all in cold medicines ?

[Twdibwd Volunteer]

The thing about my Lupus ( see how possessive I am?) is that I don't know if something is going to set me off. I have found out that anything with Brufen in it is a no no, certain food colourings produce lovely swellings on my face and being a fan of wholemeal bread have found that I now bloat when I eat it. Lemsips? Do they contain aspirin or paracetemol? Aspirin makes me wheeze ( never used to) so sore throats, coughs etc get treated with hot water,real lemon juice and Manuka Honey, oh and Fisherman's Friends! Vicks rubs bring me out in a fiery rash (again, never used to). Oh and I can eat bean sprouts now and then without negative results. So really it's not a Lupus flare-up trigger as such but rather a negative auto-immune response. It all adds to the spice of life.

[SammieSparkles Volunteer]

Ahh Twdibwd I truly know where your coming from huni. It's so weird how one minute everything is fine and next your body decides actually no I'm not liking that at all now. I can't use Aspirin or Ibuprofen because of my blood thinning tablets so it limits my choices straight away. I usually opt for the paracetamol based things or like what I have in my hand right now .. Whiskey, honey, and hot water ;). I've recently discovered that I can't have much green tea or cranberry juice as that affects me and also my blood levels. You get used to it though don't you x

[Hidden]

Yes, I always check to make sure there's no echinacea in the cough medicine as it's a common ingredient. As it boost the immune system that's the last thing we need!! :o)

[Twdibwd Volunteer]

I LIKE your remedy, SammieSparkle, substitute Brandy for the Whisky and count me in! Juniper is supposed to be a good natural anti-inflammatory so that puts Gin and Tonic (with quinine of course) on the list of can haves as well.

[Franziska in reply to Twdibwd]

I KNEW it!!! Gin and Tonics ARE good for me Yeah!

[SammieSparkles Volunteer]

Haha Angie I have to agree its definitely not what we need to have an even more active immune system.

Twdibwd your remedy sounds pretty darn good also ... Perhaps we should have both to see which one works the best ?

[Twdibwd Volunteer]

You're on! I'll do the G & T.

[Ruthwenthome]

Ahhh this all makes a bit more sense now. In spring of this year, I spent two weeks having berocca in fruit juice every morning (cos loads of my friends swear by it).....had to stop as I felt rotten and also like I was going a little bit crazy. Anyone else tried and failed with berocca?

[Hidden]

I haven't heard of Berocca causing problems - is there any echinacea or anything weird in it?