*Introduction*

I like everyone else hates it when you get a cold. And it usually tends to be when you have a holiday, party or some other special occasion coming up. So when I was feeling like death warmed up, sitting in bed sulking, I called my mum and asked her to buy me some medicine in Tesco or her way home from work. What did she buy me? Beechams All In One Liquid...

*What Are They?*

Beechams All In One Liquid is a menthol flavoured syrup in a non-drowsy formula to help you get on with your day. It is manufactured and packed by GlaxoSmithKline.

*What Are They For?*

Beechams All-In-One is a product for the short term relief of the symptoms of colds, chills and influenza. These symptoms include headache, shivers, aches and pains, blocked nose and sinuses and also and sometimes most importantly, chesty coughs.

*How Do They Work?*

Beechams All In One Liquid contains three active ingredients. Paracetamol relieves your headache, shivers, aches and pains. A decongestant to relieve your catarrh and help clear your blocked nose and sinuses. And an expectorant to relieve chesty coughs. In all honestly it could have anything in it, so long as it made me feel better. Although it is a shame it doesn't have an ingredient to make it taste better.

*Directions*

Adults and children 12 years and over: Fill measure cup to 20ml mark and take one dose (four 5ml spoonfuls).

Undo the bottle and fill the supplied measure cup to the 20ml mark. This is the one dose that you are advised to take. Alternatively you can take four 5ml spoonfuls. After swallowing, pull the 'yuck, that tastes disgusting face' and go and wash up your little cup.

Do not exceed the stated dose which means that you are not to take more than 4 doses in 24 hours.

*Frequency of Use*

Beechams All In One Liquid is to be taken every four hours as necessary. Unlike with the tablets or hot drinks, I find that this liquid medicine works for the full four hours and I can sometimes go about 5 hours without needing my next dose.

*Who Can't Use the Tablets?*

There are various people that Beechams All In One Liquid is not to be taken by. These are:
- Children under the age of 12 (unless advised by your doctor)
-If you are allergic to any of the ingredients
- Sufferers of liver or kidney problems
- Anybody who suffers from heart disease
- Anybody who suffers from an high blood pressure
-Anybody who suffers from an overactive thyroid gland
-Sufferers of diabetes
- If you are pregnant, suffer from epilepsy, alcoholism, brain injury or disease.
- People who have taken a monoamine-oxidase inhibitor antidepressant in the last 14 days.

Ensure that you do not take with any other cold or decongestant products or with alcohol. If you overdose, immediate medical advice should be sought after.


*Side Effects*

Skin rashes and other allergic effects can occur with paracetamol. With Guaifenesin, you may find you have an upset stomach. There have also been a few reports of raised blood pressure, headache, dizziness, upset stomach, trouble with sleeping and palpitations occurring.

If you get any of these side effects, stop taking the product and the side effects should go away.

*The Packaging*

The packaging of Beechams All In One is a dark and light blue cardboard box with a picture of a measuring cup filled with the golden syrup. Inside the cardboard box you will find a leaflet which contains all of the details that you need to know about the product.

Inside this cardboard box is a short, fat brown glass bottle which is the container of what I believe is the magic medicine. The bottle is quite heavy, especially when full. The bottle is not the easiest to open due to it child protective lock lid. This drives me nuts because clearly it is a child and Lauren protective lid because it always takes me about 5 minutes to get it undone. Sitting on top of the bottle is a small plastic measuring cup which you use to take the medicine. I always tend to wash this up after use and put it straight back on top of the bottle because it is so small that otherwise, especially in my house, it is likely to be thrown in the bin.

This is definitely just a product that will sit in your medicine cupboard so don't expect it to be perfect for travel like the tablet alternatives are.

*The Contents*

So, what is the contents of this brown glass bottle like? Well, the colour of the syrup is a golden yellow/orange so it looks pretty harmless, almost nice in fact. It is also more translucent than the pure colour and you can see little air bubbles in it. The texture of this is fairly thick, gloopy although it is also smooth to swallow.

Now for the not so positive part of the product... the smell and taste. Vile, repulsive, disgusting, revolting, horrible. Need I go on or do you get the picture? The smell and taste is the same... menthol. But it is not just menthol, but the strongest menthol you have or will ever taste in your life. I try to swallow it down as quickly as I can but it never seem to work out that way, instead it is in my mouth for longer than I would like. And the taste lingers for almost half an hour which is the worst part.

*How Much Is It? And Where Can You Buy It From?*

Beechams All In One is available to buy in 2 different sizes: 160ml and 240ml. The 160ml bottle retails at £4.49 and the 240ml bottle costs £5.18. These are both quite high prices but I would definitely opt for the 240ml bottle as it is obviously much better value for money. Is it too expensive? I wou;dn't say so because it worked so effectively for me.

This medicine is widely available to buy as Beechams is a popular medicinal brand. You will find this bottle on the shelves of most large supermarkets like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury. Alternatively you can buy them from stores like Boots, Superdrug and your local chemist will also stock it. And if you aren't able to get out to buy them, you can visit www.boots.com and have them delivered directly to your door as it is not a prescription medicine.

*Do They Work and Would I Recommend Them?*

Ok, so what you really want to find out is whether Beechams All In One is effective or not. Well I can tell you that it most definitely is. For me the worst part of having a cold is the blocked nose and sinuses and chesty cough and this product helps to get rid of these symptoms and quickly. Almost as soon as you have taken this medicine you begin to feel better and as 20-30 go on, you start to feel quite normal for a while. And what I find is really great about Beechams All In One is that it actually lasts longer than the 4 hours that is recommended between each dose. I found that after I had been taking this for 4 times a day for 3-4 days, my symptoms were almost gone and I was feeling much better in myself. Time to face the world again and stop moping about in my bed.

There is absolutely no question in my mind that I would recommend Beechams All In One especially for those of you that don't like to take tablets. If you can ignore the awful taste and the high price tag, then this is the perfect product.

*Overall*

I absolutely detest the taste of Beechams All In One Liquid but I must admit that it is easily one of the best products that I have used for curing my cold symptoms. I probably wouldn't have selected this product myself as I have used it numerous times before and I hate the taste but parents usually do know best and my mum chose a great product to get rid of my cold.