Anyone got a tissue? (Lemsip Max Cold & Flu Lemon)

Member Name: wendz86

Product:	Lemsip Max Cold & Flu Lemon
Date:	08/09/09 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Is in drink form, does help with cold symptoms

Disadvantages: Tastes not very nice and doesn't last too long

Well I have somehow managed to get myself a nasty cold on probably hottest day in September. Don't know how I manage these things. Anyway I had a look through my supplies of tablets etc to take and came across a packet of lemsip max. Whenever I have a cold I tend to take a mixture of this and also cold and flu tablets (although obviously not at the same time).

Lemsip is basically sachets of powder that you add to hot water to make a drink. The powder is made up of paracetamol, phenylephrine hydrochloride (decongestant) and vitamin c. As it has paracetamol in it you can't take it at the same time as any other paracetamol products, which is why i alternate it with the tablets.

The sachets of powder come in a box. There are ten sachets within the box. The box tells you on the front what is should help you with. This includes headache, fever, blocked nose, body aches and pains and sore throat. It also tells you what flavour it is, the one I have is lemon flavour. You can also get it in blackcurrent flavour. On the back of the box it has some directions of how to take the medicine and also how often. It is important to read this information because it is not good to overdose on these products. The box is easy to open and you can also reshut it which means you can out the box of sachets away for next time you have a cold.

Inside the box there is a sheet of more detailed information on the product which is probably worth giving a read before you take it. There are also the ten sachets. Each of these is made of paper. They also all have instructions on the back so you can take individual sachets if you are going to work or something and you won't forget how to make one, although I think it would be pretty hard.

To take the product you just need to rip the top off the packet and put it in a mug or cup. Then you need to add hot but not boiling water. I am not quite sure what the reason is for this. I tend to boil water in the kettle and either leave it to cool a minute or stop it before it boils. Not sure if this is the best thing to do but it easier for me. You then need to mix it up, it is a good idea to do this well otherwise you will end up with lots of powder up the bottom which will not be nice to drink. It is easy to prepare and as I said before it would be pretty hard to forget how to do it. They also suggest that you can add sugar or honey to sweeten it, but I don't bother with this.

Once it is all ready you can drink it. One of the plus's of taking the paracetamol etc in this form is that you get a nice warm comforting drink out of it. For people who can't swallow pills this is probably ideal. When I have a cold I often drink hot drinks so I do like this aspect of it. I would say though that this is not the nicest tasting drink. They have added lemon flavour to it to make it more appealing but it doesn't really disguise the fact that you are drinking tablets in powder form. I do tend to drink it quite slowly because of the taste and then you are left with a cold drink which really is not nice at all. I have had the blackcurrent flavour as well, which doesn't fare much better. If yoou are expecting a more enjoyable way to take cold tablets you may be dissapointed.

In terms of whether it actually works. I do admit that a while after drinking one of these I do feel a little better. It does seem to make some of the symptoms die down. I don't find that it lasts too long though and am more than ready to have some more tablets or another lemsip after the 4-6 hour wait. There isn't a cure for the cold yet so you can't expect them to do miracles. They do help though and if it was having a lemsip or nothing I would definitely have one.

A packet of ten sachets is around three pounds. It isn't really cheap but worth it if you are feeling under the weather. You can buy them from most chemists and supermarkets.

Overall lemsip max cold and flu is a reasonable product that will help lessen the symptoms of a cold.

Summary: A reasonable product to help lessen cold symptoms