The most common decongestant on pharmacy shelves — and the worst at its job — is phenylephrine, which is found in cold medicines like Sudafed, Mucinex, and Dayquil, among others. Now the FDA is preparing to require that it be pulled from shelves between now and May 2025, after which manufacturers will be required to reformulate their products. Phenylephrine is supposed to be a decongestant that reduces the stuffiness of your nose and sinuses, but it simply doesn’t work. How can they sell a cold medicine that doesn’t work? That’s a question that doctors and scientists have been asking for years. The FDA considered taking phenylephrine off the market in 2007, but ultimately decided more research was needed. Now they have the information they need to warrant removing medicines containing it from shelves and banning their sale in their current formula. Phenylephrine isn’t just in Sudafed. What should you do if your favorite cold medicine gets pulled from the market? If your congestion is allergy-related, antihistamines can help. Irrigating your nose with saline using a nasal pot seems to help. Phenylephrine in a nasal spray probably works, and isn’t going anywhere. Don’t forget that you can always talk to your doctor, or even the pharmacist at the drugstore, to ask about other options.
