• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
She's Your Friend logo
  • Summer
  • Mom Lifestyle
  • Pregnancy
  • Baby Tips
  • About
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Summer
  • Mom Lifestyle
  • Pregnancy
  • Baby Tips
  • About
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Summer
    • Mom Lifestyle
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby Tips
    • About
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    She's Your Friend » Life Advice

    4 Best Cold Medicine For Adults

    by Joanna Stephens Published: Sep 9, 2022 · Updated: Feb 8, 2023 · This post may contain affiliate links. We earn commission from purchases made. ·

    • Share
    a man and woman who look sick and text overlay that reads cold and flu medicines that actually help

    Have you ever gotten a cold or the flu at the worst time?! You have so much going on and it's a battle to manage the symptoms.

    Here's our top picks for the best cold and flu medicine for adults that we have used over the flu season.

    Jump to:
    • Best cold and flu medicine for adults
    • Liquids vs Capsules
    • What ingredients to look for
    • Cold medicine FAQ
    a woman and a man on a cough who look sick

    As a good rule of thumb, you should always check with your doctor or pharmacist before starting any new medicines especially if you are already on medications.

    Best cold and flu medicine for adults

    1. Mucinex Fast Max Cold & Flu liquid gels (our top pick)
    2. Mucinex severe congestion and cough
    3. Alka-seltzer Plus cough mucus and congestion
    4. Mucinex Severe Congestion & Cough (best liquid cold medicine)

    1. Mucinex Fast Max Cold & Flu liquid gels

    2 boxes of Mucinex fast max liquid gels

    Hands down these liquid gels are the best cold medicine that works FAST! My daughter brings home all sorts of things from school, including viruses and colds.

    This helps with so many of the annoying symptoms from common colds to the flu. Just make sure to also find time for some rest too!

    I typically just use the daytime ones, but they also have a multipack with day and night time.

    What we like:

    • It comes in day time and night time.
    • No disgusting after taste because they are liquid gels.
    • Works fast and helps get rid of a lot of symptoms.

    2. Mucinex severe congestion and cough

    multi-pack of mucinex cold medicine for day and night time

    Mucinex has another great option that works well for alleviating certain symptoms that come with a cold or flu.

    What we like:

    • It comes in a day time liquid and night time.

    3.Alkaseltzer plus cough mucus & congestion

    Alka-seltzer power max gel capsules for cold and flu

    If liquids aren't your favorite, these liquid-gel capsules from Alkaseltzer are another great choice.

    What we like:

    • They don't leave an awful after taste.
    • It comes in a daytime capsules and night time capsules.

    4. Mucinex Severe Congestion & Cough

    If you prefer liquids over pills, our preference is Mucinex severe congestion and cough. It works quickly to relieve your symptoms and the taste isn't too bad.

    What we like:

    • It comes in a daytime and night time liquid.

    Liquids vs Capsules

    While most medicines come in both forms, everyone usually has a preference. Some people would rather drink the cold medicine over swallowing a capsule or pill.

    There are benefits to the liquid version in that they can immediately coat your throat and relieve any sore throat momentarily until you drink something.

    What ingredients to look for

    Most cold and flu medicines have cough suppressants or expectorants.

    According to the Cleveland Clinic, an expectorant helps make it easier to cough up mucus. This is an important thing for ridding your body of excess mucus and bacteria making you sick.

    The National Institutes of Health describes a suppressant as substance used to stop coughing. This is great for a dry cough, but if you have mucus or productive coughs it's better to let your body cough out that junk.

    Cold medicine FAQ

    Does DayQuil Severe with honey work?

    Yes it works, but the taste is awful. More awful than most cough medicines, stick to Mucinex if you want a liquid form or the DayQuil with honey.

    You might also enjoy reading:

    • How to boost your immune system
    • Liquid iv review (& why we love it)
    • Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test Review
    • Share

    Reader Interactions

    Join the Discussion Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    about me picture of the founder Joanna Stephens

    Hi, I'm Joanna! Wife, and mother of 2. Here you will find a mom friend to talk all things motherhood, beauty, home decor, and other helpful advice for life.

    More about me →

    a 2023 planner with text overlay that reads free printable and 24 pages

    Follow us

    • go to our pinterest account
    • go to our facebook page
    • go to our instagram account

    Summer

    • a girl reading in a box with other books beside her
      Summer Story books for 7 year olds
    • a mom and her kids wearing sunglasses with text overlay that reads summer bucket list trying new foods and drinks
      10 Summer Bucket List Foods & Drinks to try
    • twelve different toddler girl outfits with text overlay that reads summer outfits for toddler girls
      Summer Capsule Wardrobe for Toddler Girls
    • a family of four ready to have some fun this summer
      24 Fun Summer activities for Kids
    • a woman sitting on an floatation device in a steel framed pool
      Best Steel Frame Pools for 2023
    • an infant girl in a baby swimming pool with her mom
      8 Best Sunscreens for Babies & Kids

    What's Popular

    • a-baby-who-is-crying
      Gassy newborn: a parents guide to help
    • a mom combing her baby's hair
      Complete guide to Cradle Cap and Baby
    • a 1 year old holding a sippy cup
      Transitioning from Formula to Milk
    • a pregnant woman holding a purple gift by her belly bump
      Awesome Baby and Pregnancy Freebies
    • a baby holding a box of zarbees baby cough medicine
      An Honest Review of Zarbee's Baby Cough Syrup
    • Geralt and Yennefer funko pop characters from the witcher
      31 baby names from The Witcher

    Features

    collage showing HuffPost Today parenting team, Verywell family, Newsweek Lifewire, Workest by Zenefits, and GoodRx Health

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Connect

    • Contact
    • Sponsor

    About

    • About Us
    • Accessibility

    Legal

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosures

    She's Your Friend provides information for educational purposes only and is not to be taken as medical advice. See our privacy policy for more details. Posts within this website may or may not contain affiliate links. She's Your Friend is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program.

    Copyright © 2018-2023 She's Your Friend

    She's Your Friend
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.