A Cough Medicine That Tastes Good And Works! By Sparkle333 on Sep 01, 2008 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

Whenever I get a cold, or a seasonal allergy attack, I also get a horrible cough. And the kind of cough I get, at night, is unbelievable. I have literally coughed for over 6 hours, in some cases. It makes my ribs, chest, stomach, throat, and head hurt. When I don't get any sleep, I'm exhausted the next day, and my symptoms just get worse.

Every time I've taken codeine, I always get what I describe as "axe-murder" dreams--lots of gore and unpleasant scenes. I just can't tolerate it, so unfortunately, that doesn't leave me with many choices.

Recently, when I got a cold, I desperately scoured the shelves at Walmart, in the cough and cold section, looking for something, anything, to control my cough, so that I could get some much needed sleep. I had been using Robitussin DM for years, with sporadic results, depending on how severe my cough was. I noticed a bright orange box, with a cough medicine called Delsym. Reading the ingredients, I noticed that it had more dextromethorphan than Robitussin DM. It was a 12-hour cough suppressant, with a time-released formula, that needed to be taken only twice a day for effectiveness. This meant that I wouldn't have to get out of bed at night, to take more cough medicine.

So I tried it, and I was very pleased. It even has a pleasant taste-an orange citrus flavor. It doesn't have that awful, strong medicine taste, that most cough medicines have. I slept well that night, and I couldn't believe it.

It doesn't contain other drug combinations, like so many over-the-counter cold and cough medications. Its one active ingredient, dextromethorphan, suppresses the brains "cough center."

Delsym is great for the whole family, ages 2 and up, and it does come in a children's version. It is advertised to relieve coughs due to the common cold, as well as from inhaled irritants. I have found it to be just as effective against allergy derived coughs, as coughs caused by colds. I think that Delsym will be my only non-prescription cough medicine from now on!