Cold and Flu medication for diabetics

Q: Hi Ginny,

I am 67 and have been a type 2 diabetic for 6 years now. I have recently pick up a cold and can not shake it. I have been able to find Diabetic Tussin cough syrup, but unable to find Diabetic Tussin cold and flu tablets. I have been to all of the stores & pharmacies within a 10 mile radius of my home in Kearns and the only thing I can find is Cold-Eze which is a tablet that you have to let dissolve in your mouth and you have to take one every hour. (very inconvenient). My question is, do you know of any stores/pharmacies in the Salt Lake Valley that actually stock a regular supply of diabetic items (cold/flu meds, vitamins, testing supplies, etc.)?

Most of the stores I have been in stock only a token supply and it is mostly creams, sugar free snacks and maybe a bottle or two of Diabetic Tussin cough syrup. When I questioned some of them about their meager display, their response is there is not a big enough call for those items and they end up having to get rid of some items due to expired expiration dates. Yet right across the aisle is three shelf's of at least 20 brands of cold & flu medications which you know are not going to all be bought before the expiration dates. I wish the neighborhood grocery/super market stores would realize that there are a lot of diabetics in the world and we get colds also and we don't want to have to running to our doctor to get medication just for a cold. I would like to be able to buy something off of the shelf for 8 or 9 dollars, rather the paying the doctor for a visit and paying for a prescription.

Thanks for letting me bend you ear.

A: I was so interested in your comments, I began to search for answers and comments about cold medications too. Just as you did, I called many pharmacies and diabetes supply stores in the Salt Lake Valley. The answers I received were very similar to the answers you received---there isn't enough of a demand so often the supplies become outdated and must be thrown away. There is generally a minimum amount the stores must order from large suppliers and if the supplies are not sold by a certain date, they must be thrown away. Most pharmacies, large or small, can not afford to lose any money.

Many pharmacists stated that there is a worry that active ingredients (the ingredients that treat the symptoms) or inactive ingredients (the ingredients that don't have any treatment value but are fillers or give a flavor) in the medications may affect patients with diabetes. If there is even a slight chance that patients will be harmed, the company will print on their labels that their product is not for patients who have diabetes. How can we decide which ones may be O.K.??? Our physicians can be the ones who can help us decide. I know it is expensive, but you want the best advice you can find to choose products that will help you and not harm you.

After checking with several Internal Medicine physicians and Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat specialists, there does seem to be a very simple procedure that may help stuffy noses without using any medication. A recent article by Pynnonen, Mukerji, Kim, Adams and Terrell found that saline irrigation or nasal washing was more effective that a saline spray. A patient I spoke to also uses this procedure to help with his stuffy nose that he gets at times from allergies. This procedure is not done frequently in the United Stated, but it seems to be gaining in popularity. Check with your physician to see if this simple procedure can be done safely at home to relieve some of the symptoms you get when you have a cold.

Thanks for your very interesting letter.

Good luck to you, Ginny