HACK!  HACK!  ... and HAAACKK!!!!!! My last viral infection produced a tickling and strenuous cough that just wouldn't quit.  One of my piano students, a doctor, apparently got tired of hearing it.  He stopped the lesson to call in a prescription for **Cheratussin AC Syrup**.  I was *so* grateful. **Cheratussin **and other prescription cough syrups with names followed by **AC** get to the brain base of the unending HACK.  **Codeine **is** **a narcotic that signals the brain's cough reflex to "Stop it!".  **Guaifenesin **(pronounced *gwye FEN a sin)* serves as an expectorant that loosens the gunk in your chest and makes it easier to expel.  (Ick.)  These are the active ingredients of **AC Cough Syrups**. In **Cheratussin**, the cough syrup prescribed for me, I can find no list of inactive ingredients, but some type of sugar syrup is prominent.  Your prescribing doctor will offer something like **Robitussin C**, sweetened with sorbitol, if you are diabetic. (I recently read in several health columns that over-the-counter cough syrups are now considered basically ineffective for most coughs.  I was happy to pick up this prescription and find it in the same price range as the over-the-counter syrups.) The warnings about this medication are plentiful.  Foremost among them? 1)  Check with your doctor or pharmacist before using cough or cold meds at the same time you are taking your **AC cough syrup.** 2)  Various heart, breathing, seizure, adrenal gland, thyroid, stomach or intestinal disorders may require special dosage.  Pregnancy or nursing, history of mental illness, drug addiction, brain tumor; history of head injury, liver or kidney disease or enlarged prostate may also enter into the equation. 3)  And, of course, the operation of heavy machinery! 4)  Finally... *keep this medication away from others*.  It is intended for adults with coughs from colds or viruses.  If anyone you know might be tempted to seek a high from* **Codeine and Guaifenesin**, *be advised that he or she can get plenty sick and horribly constipated if attempting the excessive doses it would take for a "light and insignificant buzz".  (This information came from a man online who tried it.) **IMPORTANT NOTE!** ***DO *****NOT* CONSIDER THIS LIST AUTHORITATIVE.***  *It is just an outline of potentials.  ***TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR** if unusual disorders prevail, **AND READ THE DIRECTIONS!**    

TunefulGal

Los Angeles, CA