Tylenol Cold

Tylenol Cold is a brand medicine containing acetaminophene. It is manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare and it is available in a lot of countries. Acetaminophen has pain-alleviating and fever-reducing effects. It inhibits an enzyme called cyclooxygenase that turns arachidonic acid into prostaglandins. Several products are included in the Tylenol Cold series. There are slight variations in the names from country to country.

• Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Severe (325 mg acetaminophen, 10 mg dextromethorphan HBr, 200 mg guaifenesin, 5 mg phenylephrine HCl in a tablespoon). Available as a liquid.
• Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe(325 mg acetaminophen, 10 mg dextromethorphan HBr, 200 mg guaifenesin, 5 mg phenylephrine HCl in a tablespoon). Available as a liquid and caplets.
• Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Daytime (325 mg acetaminophen, 10 mg dextromethorphan HBr, 5 mg phenylephrine HCl). Available as liquid, gelcaps and caplets.
• Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime (325 mg acetaminophen, 2 mg chlorpheniramine maleate, 10 mg dextromethorphan HBr, 5 mg phenylephrine HCl). Available as rapid release gels and a liquid.
• Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Day/Night Pack - available as rapid release gels.
• Tylenol Cold and Cough Daytime (500 mg acetaminophen, 15 mg dextromethorphan HBr in a tablespoon)
• Tylenol Cold and Cough Nighttime  (500 mg acetaminophen, 15 mg dextromethorphan HBr, 6.25 mg doxylamine succinate).
• Tylenol Cold Sore Throat Liquid (500 mg acetaminophen)
• Tylenol Cold Head Congestion Severe – it has the same ingredients as Tylenol Cold and Flu Severe and is available as caplets.
• Tylenol Cold Head Congestion Day/Night Pack – the same as Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Day/Night Pack.

Most of the products have some additional active ingredients in order to ensure relief from all the symptoms of a cold. Dextromethorphan HBr is a cough suppressant. Guaifenesin is an expectorant, phenylephrine HCl relieves the nasal congestion while chlorpheniramine and doxylamine are antihistamines that work towards alleviating the symptoms of rhinitis.

Precautions

• Do not take any of these products if you are allergic to their ingredients.
• You should not take these products with other medicines containing acetaminophen (it is called paracetamol in some countries). Avoid drinking alcohol. Tylenol should not be used by people suffering from liver or kidney disease or any other serious medical conditions. If you are taking blood thinners, such as Warfarin, you should consult your doctor before using Tylenol.
• Additional precautions apply to the products containing added active ingredients. You should not use them in case you are suffering from high blood pressure, heart or thyroid disease, diabetes, enlarged prostate, difficult urinating or cough that is producing a lot of mucus. If you have been taking MAO inhibitors in the previous two weeks, you should not use these products.
• If you have glaucoma, do not use the products that contain antihistamines. You should not combine these products with sedatives and you should be very careful when driving motor vehicles or operating machinery.
• If the cold symptoms persist for more than 7 days or the fever lasts for more than 3 days, seek a doctor’s advice.