This past Saturday, I woke up with a sore throat. It was bothering me to the point I felt I needed something so I ended up driving up the street to Walgreen’s in search of something.
At the time, it felt like I had a cold starting and, I have found zinc therapy drugs like Zicam have been helpful with that so I originally intended on buying that. However, both the Zicam and the generic equivalent were kind of pricey and I ended up looking for a more affordable alternative. This ended up being Walgreen’s Homeopathic Zinc Lozenges; which were designed to be similar to another product I had heard good things about, Cold-eeze.
As it turns out, I didn’t have a cold starting; I actually had strep throat. And, as a result of that, nothing I would have taken over the counter would have helped me with my problem. However, I did try these lozenges out and, even taking that into consideration, I don’t think I would buy them again.
First of all, the lozenges did nothing to soothe my throat. Yes, I had strep and, as a result, I shouldn’t have expected a miracle. However, I purchased other cough drops and found they at least gave me some temporary relief until I finally got to a doctor and got some antibiotics. These didn’t even do that much (and were more expensive).
Another reason I wouldn’t buy this brand was the taste. They were awful. And, when I say that, I mean they were as bad if not worse than some of the worst tasting cough drops/lozenges that you can buy. To make things worse, they (like most zinc products) pretty much killed my taste buds and nothing tasted like it should for hours afterward. In fact, they were so bad, I couldn’t finish even one. I ended up spitting them out after they were about half gone. So, even if it was just a cold, I doubt they would have helped me all that much.
Since I have never tried the Cold-eeze product they were supposed to be an alternative to, I really can’t tell you if they are better or worse than that product. However, after trying them, I do know I should have stuck with the Zicam and, the next time I have a cold (and not something like strep), I think I’m going to stick with the more expensive zinc brand instead.
