Every person almost every year faces a cold. Particularly often sick in the winter, children of preschool and school age. In order for the treatment to be truly effective, you must consult a doctor for an appointment. But in recent years, more and more patients complain that they are prescribed expensive drugs at a time when they can prescribe cheap cold medicines. From today's article you will learn exactly about such. Below you will find cheap analogues of expensive cold medicine. But this does not mean that now you can safely engage in self-medication. If something bothers you, then you need to seek help from doctors. Only then can you be sure of a safe treatment.
Antiviral drugs: the first of the prescribed
If a person is ill, then the infection is caused by a virus. This happens most often. Therefore, at the first symptoms of the disease, doctors prescribe antiviral agents. Such medicines as Arbidol, Amiksin, Tamiflu, Kagocel and others are widely popular and in great demand. But all of them are quite expensive (about 400-1000 rubles). Does it make sense to overpay or can you find cheap money?
For colds caused by a viral infection, Rimantadine can be used. A medication costs an average of 50 rubles. Moreover, its effectiveness is not lower than that of the above drugs. The drug "Rimantadine" acts exclusively on existing viruses. Therefore, for the purpose of prevention, it is not used. It is forbidden to use the medication for children under 7 years of age. You can replace antiviral drugs with inexpensive Cycloferon. Tablets of 10 pieces will cost you 150-200 rubles. This is not as cheap as for the Rimantadin, but not very expensive either. The medicine "Cycloferon" can be used in children from 4 years old. In addition, the drug has an immunomodulatory effect, it can be used for prophylactic purposes.
Drops and spray "Grippferon" are popular with doctors. This medication can be used in newborns and pregnant women, it is prescribed everywhere. There is a nasal medicine about 200 rubles. You can replace the drug with the usual "Interferon", keeping within just 100 rubles.
Cold preparations
Often with a cold, a person has a runny nose, accompanied by a stuffy nose. To eliminate this unpleasant symptom, doctors prescribe drugs such as Nazivin, Sanorin. Such drugs cost about 200 rubles. You can replace them with "Naftizin", "Galazolin", which will cost you no more than 50 rubles. You can use them no more than 3-5 days, like expensive analogues.
As an antiseptic, doctors can prescribe a Miramistin solution. You can buy it in a pharmacy for 200-350 rubles. An analogue of this medication will be Chlorhexidine, which costs no more than 50 rubles. An expensive nasal antiseptic based on silver ions is Sialor (250-300 rubles). Without any fear, it can be replaced with Protargol solution for 60-80 rubles.
Drops "Pinosol" (200 rubles), replace the drug "Pinovit" (100 rubles). These medicines are based on herbal extracts and oils. Their composition is absolutely identical, only the manufacturer is different.
Rinse your nose
For the treatment of viral and bacterial infections accompanied by rhinitis, saline solutions are often prescribed. These are Aquamaris, Aqualor, Humer, Dolphin and so on. They cost relatively expensive (about 100-300 rubles). Is it possible to choose cheap remedies instead (for a cold, accompanied by a runny nose)?
Replace these formulations with Rizosin. It costs about 80 rubles per bottle. If you want to save even more, then give preference to a solution of sodium chloride. Such a medicine will cost you 50 rubles for a large bottle of 200 milliliters. Note that the saline solution for washing the nose can even be prepared independently. In this case, it will be almost free. Add a spoonful of salt and soda to boiled water at room temperature, mix thoroughly and use it for health!
Cheap cold antibiotic
Sometimes it happens that a viral infection takes on a bacterial form. Often this is the result of improper treatment, reduced immunity, if a person suffers a cold on his legs. In such a situation, the use of bactericidal and bacteriostatic drugs is indicated. You should not choose a cheap antibiotic (for colds) yourself, since the preferred medication may simply be ineffective. Therefore, consult a doctor and discuss the matter with him. Please note which drugs can be replaced with inexpensive analogues:
- Sumamed (500 rubles) to Azitrus (50 rubles).
- Flemoxin (300 rubles) for Amoxicillin (40 rubles).
- Supraks (800 rubles) to Cefatoxim (50 rubles) and so on.
Cough medicine
With bronchitis and pneumonia, doctors always prescribe mucolytic or bronchodilator compounds. In pediatrics, tools such as Lazolvan and Ambrobene are often used. Drugs can be taken orally or inhaled. They cost about 250-300 rubles per bottle. The composition of the medicines contains the active substance Ambroxol. Based on the same component, the drug of the same name “Ambroxol” is produced with a cost of not more than 50 rubles.
What other cheap cold medicines are there for children? Mukaltin will also be an effective and inexpensive cough suppressant. These pills cost an average of 20 rubles per 10 pieces. At the same time, pills help no worse than syrups. You can give the drug to children. If desired, Mukaltin can be replaced with Altea syrup, which will cost you no more than 40 rubles.
Cheap preventive cold medicine
Often, people who are often sick are prescribed preventative medications. At the same time, it is quite difficult to choose a cheap tool. For colds and flu, doctors prescribe drugs such as Ergoferon and Anaferon. They cost an average of 300-400 rubles. The more expensive Isoprinosine (600 rubles) is used. Homeopathic formulations are prescribed, for example, Oscillococcinum (900 rubles). Highly popular are the medicines Bronhomunal and Immunal.
You can replace the described medicines with cheap cold remedies. For prevention, use Echinacea or Echinacea-P tablets. They are an absolute structural analogue of the drug "Immunal". Moreover, the price difference is almost 900 rubles. Echinacea-P costs 90 rubles for 100 tablets, and Immunal 200 rubles for 20 pills. If you were not able to purchase the described product, then you can safely buy echinacea tincture or dried briquettes for brewing tea. The effect will be identical.
Symptomatic treatment
Often, patients use colds such as Fervex, Teraflu, Coldrex in the form of powders. One serving of such medicines costs an average of 20-60 rubles. The composition contains antipyretic drugs and vitamin C. You can safely replace these magic bags with cheap medicines. The common “Paracetamol” will help you with colds. In most cases, it is he who is the component of expensive drugs. 10 tablets of an antipyretic will cost you about 8-12 rubles. You can also buy vitamin C at a pharmacy at a reasonable price (20 rubles per 100 dragees).
At a temperature, doctors also prescribe Nurofen. This medication is often used for young children. But adult patients take it at least. You can replace expensive tablets (200 rubles) with the inexpensive Ibuprofen, which costs an average of 50 rubles per 100 capsules.
Replace expensive with cheap: reviews
Is it really possible to find a good cheap cold medicine? Or is it better not to take risks and take expensive drugs that have already become familiar to everyone? What do doctors think about this?
Doctors say that some cheap drugs are sometimes better than expensive. Unfortunately, recently more and more often you can hear about counterfeiting drugs. At the same time, the choice of ill-wishers falls precisely on expensive drugs. After all, it’s more profitable to fake a medicine for 1000 rubles than one that costs 20 rubles. In this regard, recently, doctors are trying to prescribe inexpensive generics. But doctors are still collaborating with pharmacological firms to promote their drugs. Therefore, this issue remains controversial to this day.
Judging by consumer reviews, we can say that cheap cold medicine is no worse than expensive drugs. The stereotype of what is expensive means good, is gradually collapsing. Perhaps in the near future all consumers will take long-proven and inexpensive drugs, abandoning new drugs at sky-high prices.
Summarize
From the article you learned which medicines for the common cold are prescribed especially often and with what they can be replaced. Choosing an analogue of the drug alone is not recommended. Despite this, many patients do not listen to this rule. It is worth remembering that, when choosing a generic of an expensive medicine, you should pay attention to its composition, dosage and limitations. Many cheap medicines do not pass a thorough check, so they have more contraindications. Save on health without harming yourself, all the best!