Your Christmas medicine cabinet
Q Along with the turkey and sprouts, are there any medical products that you recommend I should stock up on this Christmas?
A It can be easy to forget that Covid-19 is not the only illness in town. Do make sure you order your repeat prescriptions in plenty of time. While many pharmacies are open over the holidays, it’s worth stocking up on medication for common festive complaints; you can get all these from a chemist. In my medicine cabinet I have:
Paracetamol tablets (and liquid at 120mg and 250mg/5ml doses, to suit all ages).
Ibuprofen tablets for pain, including headaches, and ibuprofen or diclofenac gel/cream for muscle and joint pains. Previous concerns about the safety of ibuprofen in treating Covid-19 symptoms have been found to be groundless.
Cough medicine – although a teaspoon of honey (for children aged one and over) also soothes tickly coughs.
Heartburn and indigestion remedies – antacids help short term, but proton pump inhibitor tablets from your pharmacist last longer.
Cystitis relief sachets, which reduce the acidity of
It’s worth stocking up on medication for festive complaints
urine and relieve symptoms short term. Unscented emollient cream, as central heating and washing-up can dry skin out, leading to itching.
Laxatives for those who didn’t eat their veg – I keep a mild stimulant laxative (bisacodyl), which works in 6-12 hours, and fybogel (fibre in drink form), for longer-term relief.
Mild steroid cream for more inflamed dry areas of eczema or dermatitis.
A thermometer is always useful, but especially this year, with fever one of the key features of Covid-19.