Dammit, I usually used the Zicam gel when I would start getting colds in the winter because it worked. I hate the taste of the mouth spray, so what alternatives do I have now?

Dard narbit, and that stuff actually works pretty good.

One of the best reasons not to be an early adopter of these new remedies...

Hmm... that might actually be a good thing in my house...

I totally use these products and like them. Ugh!

Soon, no one will be able to smell what The Rock is cooking! Oh noes!

Damn - I just spent days swabbing the inside of my nose due to a nasty cold. This stuff actually works pretty well. I'm sad about this. :(

@theblackdog: Neti pot. Walgreens sells one for about $15 with a bunch of pre-mixed packets of buffered salt.

My 87 year old mother has been using this stuff EVERYDAY for over 2 years. She said she hasn't had a cold ever since. I just called her to tell her what they are saying. She said she is having my brother drive her to all the stores she can get to before its taken off the shelves. Think mom may have an addiction problem??? But hey, she's 87 and can still smell. More power to her.

@The Cheat: I have the squeeze bottle version, which did help with a sinus infection this weekend. However I may try out the neti pot instead.

I have used the stuff on occassion, but generally find the sensation of having gel in my nose unpleasant. One time I made the mistake of inhaling it up into my sinus cavity. You know that feeling of getting water up your nose when swimming? Well it felt like that for about eight hours. Never made that mistake again. I tried the oral version as well, pretty much ruins the flavor of everything for days.

@pecan 3.14159265: lol, that me me crack up.

I have a good Idea stop using all over the counter medicine..

Any nasal product containing zinc can cause anosmia. This has been known for several years. I always caution the use of these products.

Is it me or does 130 reports not seem like very many?

@Skankingmike:
So that you can go to the ER for every little ache and pain, only to get the RX version of an OTC med prescribed anyway? (think Motrin 800) That's a GREAT idea. A better idea would be to stop the use of things that aren't directly regulated by the FDA, such as herbal remedies. Many everyday OTC drugs have been around for a LONG time and have very well documented effect/side effect profiles.

I'm not a doctor, nor am I a representative of Zicam, but I will bet you $5 that each one of these 130 cases happened when the person did not follow the directions properly. The nasal gel instructions tell you to inject it at the base of your nostril and blow your nose to remove the residue after a certain period of time and warn you from inhaling the product into your nasal cavity.

Is it a good thing to have something like this on the market that can cause permanent damage when it's misused, even so slightly? Probably not. But come on!

Sadly, the stuff DOES work. And sadly, it does cause anosmia in some people. It must be a genetic thing where some people are susceptible to it and some are not. Smoking seems to have similar properties where some people are prone to cancer while others smoke 3 packs a day for 50 years and be just fine.

@KLETCO: How many aren't reporting it though?

I read about this 4 or 5 years ago after using it once and experiencing substantial pain. I immediately flushed it out, and googled it. Even 5 years ago there were MANY MANY reports online of severe nasal pain and perminant loss of smell. I even read a report that the person who invented zicam experienced severe nasal pain when using it. Fortunately I didn't suffer from any loss of smell, but I have been telling all of my friends not to use it since. Glad to see the FDA finally figured out how to hack the googe.

@temporaryerror:

Though his grammar is suspect and patronization annoying, I agree with him.

My wife is baffled on why I don't take anything when I am feeling ill.

But I am sure the reason why I don't get sick often, and when I do it's for a shorter period than everyone I know is because I have not confused my immune system over the years by taking unnecessary medications. If I have a cold, I listen to my body and rest. It knows what it's doing.

Now I don't shun antibiotics for infections, but I do worry about their overuse.

Yep... I love the swabs to. Work like a charm. And they are easy to pack. I always use them before and after air travel.

@Murph1908: Spoken like a man who doesn't get menstrual cramps. :)

@DrPharmacist:

As a Pharmacist, I've been warning people for years about this. Most of the time they don't listen and buy it anyways

@KLETCO:

Think about the benefit/risk for a second. Benefit: possibly prevent a cold or shorten it by a day(the data supporting this are flakey at best) Risk: Never smell again, evar!. I'll risk the cold

Saline flush of the nasal cavity will cure all! Give it a try. See the wiki on it here... [en.wikipedia.org]

Or just go buy a Neti pot kit at your pharmacy.

So, by using Zicam to relieve cold symptoms your are literally cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I just bought my first Zicam nasal gel last weekend...and it causes me to sneeze eight times in a row. I don't even double sneeze.

I wonder if CVS will let me return this...

I liked zicam too. Back to 6 shots of whiskey and 2 tablets of airborne.

@theblackdog: Daily vitamin C could help. 500mg twice a day.

@theblackdog: How about you just let your body do its job

@theblackdog:
Zinc is the main feature of Zicam, and you can get zinc lozenges that don't taste too bad. I think they help.

@npage148: if you lose your sense of smell the sense of taste goes with it.

@GWN: I, too, am a fan of nasal irrigation.

I always use this stuff when I get a cold. I love it! It's the only thing that makes a difference. Now, since people can't follow directions (Do Not Sniff Up Gel!!!) I have to suffer... Great...

If it wasn't linked so closely with the sense of taste, then I wouldn't mind losing my sense of smell. Especially when I go to a comic book convention.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):

Or migraines, for that matter. I don't begrudge sufferers of either their pain relief.

@GreatWhiteNorth: I wouldn't say it cures all, but it definitely helps with my mild allergies and helped me get over a cold faster.

@theblackdog: Yep, use the lozenges. They don't work as quickly but they still work well.

Switch to the melts and there will be relief and smelling capacity. Plus CVS has their own (cheaper) brand of the melts. Win Win!

Did no-one else notice the fact that Zicam is marketed as a homeopathic remedy? It's right there on the box. Wikipedia link for those unfamiliar with homeopathy: [en.wikipedia.org] . That alone is enough to make me wary of the product.

@theblackdog: Owning both, I have to say that they are equally good, though the neti-pot doesn't have as great performance if you are very congested.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): While putting myself through school, I worked at a hospital in clerical staff. Ratio of women to men is like 50 to 1.

Anyway, one night I had a particularly nasty headache and the hours for people to buy OTC medications were over, and the official hospital policy was not to comp any during other hours (since, if you have a problem, ER is right over there). I begged a few coworkers for some kind of painkiller and I did get one. I got two pills that I was told contained what I needed. Being more kid and less apple, I trusted her completely and took them.

Turns out it was Midol. They never let it go that I took PMS medication.

Compared to the alternate outcome in a parallel universe where I took the pills and they all took turns robbing me of my man juice, I think I was gypped.

@npage148: I think that is the case with a lot of my recommendations. They bring a product up and ask what I think of it. I tell them to use something else and show it to them and they still buy the original product...

OK. Although I don't see how these products can help, because they are quack homeopathy, where the "active ingredient" Zincum Glucnicum, has been effectively reduced to below trace element status by repeated dilution, I also don't see how these products can harm you, for the same reason. And yes, I know that the theory of homeopathy is that the dilution is what makes them effective, because the water somehow memorizes whatever is dissolved in it, and the less of the substance is in the cure, the more effective it is, literally hundreds of actual scientific studies have proved that there is no way for the water to do this. Perhaps the carrier gel is to blame, and not the non-existent "active ingredient". Flame away, quacks.

Sorry, I misspelled the Zincum Gluconicum. I stand corrected.

@theblackdog: as others have mentioned, a sinus rinse bottle is the way to go. i prefer it over a neti-pot because you can control the pressure of the water going in and you don't have to place your head at a weird angle. neil med makes a version, as do a few other brands. you can get these bottles at cvs. youtube has videos of people actually using sinus rinses...not the most pleasant thing to watch, but you'll see how effective it can be and what it's all about.

@swearint: Yeah, I didn't like the feeling of the gel at all. And then the 2nd time I felt a cold coming, I felt gross sticking that thing up nose again.

I never did use that stuff. I did it the old-fashioned way: sweated it out, drank a lot of liquids, and alternately exercised and rested, all to wait out the flushing of the virus from the system.