On 9/16/05 9:58 PM, in article 1126934899.809491@news-1.nethere.net, "MS"
<ms@nospam.com> wrote:

Thank you for a very learned discussion.
Its strange - many of the ENT doctors use guaifenesin and few of the
pulmonary doctors do.
The mucinex people recently sent out a flyer from some "research"
organization. They listed all the good doctors that took part in a round
table, suggesting that they were advocating this product, but not saying so
in plain words. Then they had lovely drawings and discussions of post nasal
drip.
Then they gave a case history of the patient who was cured by Mucinex. But
in the very small print they noted that she also used irrigation twice a
day.
Worse, they give legitimate references which I happen to be familiar with,
that implies that these authors recommend their product.
Frankly this sort of thing really angers me and I wrote to some of the
participants in the round table to tell them what is happening.

I often see the most nonsense product, and they list legitimate references
as though the articles recommended their product.
Buyer beware.

Are you aware that guaifenesin is also still sold as Humibid--much cheaper
than as Mucinex? Not the prescription Humibid L.A., that was supposed to
come out again, but never did. (Alas--for me, with a good prescription plan,
much cheaper as prescription RX.)

Guaifenesin isn't under patent, only the long-acting formulation of Mucinex
is. (And somehow, they were able to convince the government to disallow all
other long-acting formulations. So, the Humibid-E (OTC) (they also have a DM
version with cough suppressant, E is only guaifenesin), is supposed to last
for 8 hours, rather than the 12 hours of Mucinex. Big deal. The tablets have
400mg of guaifenesin each, rather than the 600 mg in Mucinex. So--to get the
maximum dose 2400 mg per day of guaifenesin, with Mucinex you take two
tablets twice per day, with Humibid-E you take two tablets three times per
day. Even considering taking six tablets per day of the Humibid, rather than
4 tablets per day of Mucinex, the Humibid comes out much cheaper. For $20
you get 100 tablets I believe, rather than the 40 tablets of Mucinex for
that price. 100 tablets taken six per day, last many more days than 40
tablets taken 4 per day.

A couple days ago tried to find the Humibid-E in the drug store, and
couldn;t find any, had to buy Mucinex instead. I hope that the Mucinex folks
haven't managed to get Humibid-E banned as well! It certainly was available
recently.

Alas--I'm not really sure that guaifenesin works to thin mucus, at least for
me. I've taken it on and off for years, including again now, but don't
really notice that it helps to thin my extremely thick, sticky mucus at all.
(It's always hard to know for sure--"I might be worse if I wasn't taking
this", etc.) How many people are really sure that guaifenesin products
significantly loosen your mucus? I believe the medical tests on it have
actually been quite inconclusive, its efficacy hasn't really been proven.

I understand that in Europe NAC is frequently used as a mucus thinner. I
tried that too, the "supplement" version available here, didn't help at all
either. I really wish there was a medication that really worked to loosen
overly-thick mucus. (Of course irrigation works, the only thing that really
does for me, to loosen up and wash out the glue. I have to use a LOT of
saline though, to loosen up and wash out the gunk. Not very pleasant, and
time-consuming, a few times per day.)

With the Mucinex being so expensive, I found that ordering them from
CVS.com was much cheaper than I can get around Atlanta. I can get a
quantity of 40 for close to what I pay for 20 in town.

Violet

Only thing, the companies will change the formula just enough to retain a
patent somehow, or $$ to the FDA. Look at what happened with the *new*
Mucinex... guaifenesin was $8 a hundred, and now it is .50 cents a pill and
more. The FDA freeze out the generics except in foreign markets. Beconase
has been around forever it seems (but no generic here), but still costs a
fortune, and even in Mexico it is still is more expensive than Rhinocort. Go
figure...

...Allen

Has the patent on any brand of steroid spray expired yet?  Vancenase was
one of the first and it's been around for at least 10 years, so maybe a
generic form will come along soon.

For those paying out of theor own pockets, there might be the option of
importing from Canada.

Also, it may still work at reduced dosage.....

skoczor@sympatico.ca (Steve)

I've used Flonase on a continual basis for the last 5 or 6 years. ...No
side-effects, and it works great to help keep my sinuses clear.
...However, it is quite expensive.   ...Jon

OK so I went to an allergist and was diagnosed with being allergic to Cats
(which was obvious) and mold.  Mold is everywhere, especially the stuff they
tested for which is what you would find in grass.

I was prescribed Flonase and would like to know what you all think of this
drug?

I am also wondering how this drug works, I checked the website and it
basically says nothing about it.

Thanks,

Steve