Another Sign Of Economic Times

Have you had a cold lately?  Notice anything different about your cold remedies or needs during this time?

-Bottles have shrunk.  I remember being able to buy this HUGE bottle of Tussin....and now all I can find are the little ones.  Yeah, this is probably due to the meth problem also...

-Certain products no longer seem as effective.  Bring back my pseudoephedrine!  Yes, admittedly, it puts me to sleep, but it worked, damn it!  Let's see....36 tablets times twice a day....that should last me well past that 8 or 14 day break between having to buy another box....and yes, this also due to the meth problem...bite me.  I can't breathe.

-Puffs boxes have gotten smaller.  Okay; so now you can buy them in 3-packs.  But they only contain 125 tissues!  Remember the JUMBO pack?  That one could last at least a week, with my nasal issues....I bought 6 boxes on the 2nd, and had to buy another 3-pack over the weekend.  And yes, there are only two half-boxes of the original six; one in my bedroom and one in the daughter's room, so technically I've only gone through four boxes.

-Puffs Plus is lacking something....The last time I bought the lotion kind, I regretted it, because I used one to clean my glasses.  MISTAKE!  So I've not bought any, unless my nose was really, really sore.  Such was the case over the weekend:  I broke down and bought the Plus.  And thought, WTH?  Okay; it smells nice....and maybe it is a tiny bit softer....but there's no obvious LOTION on any of the tissues, the way there was several years back.

Seriously, the greatest thing I've got at the moment is a prescription of anti-cough meds, given to me by an ER doc last summer when I had bronchitis and couldn't wait two more days for my appointment; my head was going to explode from all the coughing and headaches.  I've held onto them and they kill the cough better than my inhaler and tussin combined:)

And to placate my hubby, who swears by Zicam, I pop one three times a day.  I haven't seen any change in the length of my cold, but it keeps him happy.  I'll stop taking it when my symptoms get better

So right now, we're paying more for smaller bottles of OTC meds, which may or may not be helping; have to buy more Puffs because my head won't stop producing excess moisture which makes breathing miserable (gives me a nice husky voice, but so far that's the ONLY benefit, lol!); and somewhere, I'm probably on a 'meth-watch' list, because I buy so much cold medicine and have an albuterol inhaler!

15 years ago last week, we went to meet my new BIL at the airport (remember when we could meet them at the gate?  Oh happy times....) and as the diaper bag was going through the X-Ray machine, the tech looked up at me.


"Do you have an inhaler?"


"Yes....why, does 'illegal substance' appear on your screen?" (I was joking)

"Actually, yes."


"You're kidding me!  It might be in there; sometimes that's where I keep it, so I've got it in an emergency."

Later, I related that to my sis and BIL, who nodded.


"The stuff in your inhaler is one thing used to make meth."

Who knew?

No meth-maker here; strictly for cold and asthma issues:)

Anything else you've noticed you're paying more for, but getting less of?