Cough!! Cough!! Splutter!! Slurp... ooh that's better! - Covonia Mentholated Cough Mixture

Advantages: Gives an instant soothe

Disadvantages: The soothe is short lived

I had 'man flu' just before Christmas. Not that man-flu, where you can't be bothered doing anything for yourself and things are really not as bad as they seem, but proper man-flu, where you are on your back, can't move, feel absolutely lousy, ache everywhere, have a banging headache, a nose that can't make its mind up whether it is running like a tap or blocked-up, sinus pain, sneezing fits, oh and I almost forgot, a painful cough annoying not only to me but all those around me. When I started to feel better, the cough remained, so off to the chemist who recommended Covonia. 

This is a cough bottle that has 150ml of medicine within - this particular type being mentholated. It cost £2.70 from a local chemist; I don't know if it is cheaper in any of the big ones like Boots or Superdrug. The dose is 5ml for 5-12 year olds and 5 to 10 ml for over 12s/adults. It is a brown syrupy mixture and contains levomenthol, squill tincture and liquorice liquid extract. These are supposed to be the ingredients that soothe the throat, and aid removing phlegm. The bottle claims effective relief from troublesome chesty coughs and claims to be non-drowsy. 

Is it effective? 

Well I found that it is probably the distracting effect of the taste that makes you forget you have a cough. No seriously it doesn't taste too bad - it does have that typical medicine taste to it, but there is also a pleasant menthol-liquorice thing happening. You do start to feel the effect of it as soon as the medicine slips down your throat. It does start to soothe and although it is a cough medicine, the menthol also gives a little relief if you have a lightly blocked nose, and your air passages feel a little clearer. What must be borne in mind though is that it is not a cough cure, it is cough relief. 

Another little 'comfort factor' that may be worth mentioning is the slightly old-fashioned appearance to the bottle it comes in - nostalgia is comforting and when we are ill comfort is craved. The bottle has the name Covonia embossed into it and the bottle is also an old fashioned looking brown, although the bottle colour may be more for practical reasons i.e. the contents probably need protecting from the light. 

I haven't found cough medicines really do the trick, but this one is probably nearer to the mark.

Summary: Better than nothing