![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-496659-100x100.png\")
Dard narbit, and that stuff actually works pretty good.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-877141-100x100.png\")
@reynwrap582: Dang! I liked the non-homeopathic spray. It worked! The only reason I didn't use it on my cold two weekends ago was the stuff I had was past its expiration date.
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One of the best reasons not to be an early adopter of these new remedies...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-890779-100x100.png\")
Hmm... that might actually be a good thing in my house...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-228919-100x100.png\")
I totally use these products and like them. Ugh!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
Soon, no one will be able to smell what The Rock is cooking! Oh noes!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-857746-100x100.png\")
Damn - I just spent days swabbing the inside of my nose due to a nasty cold. This stuff actually works pretty well. I'm sad about this. :(
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@Vanilla5: Well, look at it this way. You now have a reason to try all sorts of other remedies like those mentioned above that don't present this risk (I swear by the neti pot). Losing your sense of smell is as bad as losing any other sense. It can give rise to a condition called phantosmia. It's like phantom pains or tinnitus, but of the nose. The brain seems to synthesize pessimistic sensation when there is none. You hear ringing, you feel pain, and in the case of phantosmia, you smell decaying flesh. Not worth the risk, IMO.
My 87 year old mother has been using this stuff EVERYDAY for over 2 years. She said she hasn't had a cold ever since. I just called her to tell her what they are saying. She said she is having my brother drive her to all the stores she can get to before its taken off the shelves. Think mom may have an addiction problem??? But hey, she's 87 and can still smell. More power to her.
I have used the stuff on occassion, but generally find the sensation of having gel in my nose unpleasant. One time I made the mistake of inhaling it up into my sinus cavity. You know that feeling of getting water up your nose when swimming? Well it felt like that for about eight hours. Never made that mistake again. I tried the oral version as well, pretty much ruins the flavor of everything for days.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-446131-100x100.png\")
@swearint: I used the Gel Spray about a year ago, thinking it was like any other nasal spray. I sniffed it in deeply and felt a burning sensation. This was followed by a complete loss of smell and taste. Afterwards, I read the directions that said to just squirt it in the nose and rub it around, not to sniff it in deeply, but it was too late for that.
To make things worse, it didn't even help. It's just a zinc delivery system, not a decongestant. After several weeks my sense of smell and taste returned, but are diminished, and I doubt I'll ever get it back to the level I had before.
I hope they go bankrupt.
\"pretty much ruins the flavor of everything for days\" means that it temporarily disabled your sense of smell. That is bad.
Remember, you can only taste sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Everything else is comes from your sense of smell.
Not sure if umami is considered a taste per se.
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@swearint: Yeah, I didn't like the feeling of the gel at all. And then the 2nd time I felt a cold coming, I felt gross sticking that thing up nose again.
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I have a good Idea stop using all over the counter medicine..
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@Skankingmike:
So that you can go to the ER for every little ache and pain, only to get the RX version of an OTC med prescribed anyway? (think Motrin 800) That's a GREAT idea. A better idea would be to stop the use of things that aren't directly regulated by the FDA, such as herbal remedies. Many everyday OTC drugs have been around for a LONG time and have very well documented effect/side effect profiles.
@temporaryerror: Um.. what?
I said stop using OTC medicine and you go on a rant about ER? Using OTC medicine is more about plasibo effect than it is about effectivness. Most of the drugs you get over the counter are horribly bad for you on continued use yet are completely unregulated.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): nope I wouldn't know what that was like either.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-631384-100x100.png\")
@Skankingmike: Poster Skankingmike, I believe it's spelled GRAMMAR? You did spell \"shit\" correctly though.
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Though his grammar is suspect and patronization annoying, I agree with him.
My wife is baffled on why I don't take anything when I am feeling ill.
But I am sure the reason why I don't get sick often, and when I do it's for a shorter period than everyone I know is because I have not confused my immune system over the years by taking unnecessary medications. If I have a cold, I listen to my body and rest. It knows what it's doing.
Now I don't shun antibiotics for infections, but I do worry about their overuse.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-52435-100x100.png\")
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): While putting myself through school, I worked at a hospital in clerical staff. Ratio of women to men is like 50 to 1.
Anyway, one night I had a particularly nasty headache and the hours for people to buy OTC medications were over, and the official hospital policy was not to comp any during other hours (since, if you have a problem, ER is right over there). I begged a few coworkers for some kind of painkiller and I did get one. I got two pills that I was told contained what I needed. Being more kid and less apple, I trusted her completely and took them.
Turns out it was Midol. They never let it go that I took PMS medication.
Compared to the alternate outcome in a parallel universe where I took the pills and they all took turns robbing me of my man juice, I think I was gypped.
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@Applekid:
I got harassed for that same thing, but I think it was pamprin or something. Then I turned 2 bottles around and showed them the active ingredients.
@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!):
Or migraines, for that matter. I don't begrudge sufferers of either their pain relief.
Any nasal product containing zinc can cause anosmia. This has been known for several years. I always caution the use of these products.
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@DrPharmacist: Is this stuff even proven to work by the FDA or is it just an over the counter \"supplement\" that says \"these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to treat, cure, etc. etc.\"?
I glanced at a box of it and it says \"clinically proven\" but I have noticed that many things that say \"clinically proven\" mean they were tested at a fake clinic set up by the seller of the product.
Like the \"Airborne\" vitamin stuff, their \"clinically proven\" claim turned out to be B.S. Their clinic and data was fake, and the FDA fined them quite a bit.
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As a Pharmacist, I've been warning people for years about this. Most of the time they don't listen and buy it anyways
@npage148: I think that is the case with a lot of my recommendations. They bring a product up and ask what I think of it. I tell them to use something else and show it to them and they still buy the original product...
Is it me or does 130 reports not seem like very many?
@KLETCO: You want to make it 131? I have no interest in being another data point just to fix cold symptoms.
@KLETCO:
Think about the benefit/risk for a second. Benefit: possibly prevent a cold or shorten it by a day(the data supporting this are flakey at best) Risk: Never smell again, evar!. I'll risk the cold
@parad0x360: Very, very true...but w/o sense of smell or taste, it does make losing weight easier because you're not as hungry as often. (broke my nose may years ago and didn't have a sense of taste or smell for about 6 months after the surgeries and splints stuck up there nose and lost almost 30 lbs without trying..sense of smell & taste came back and the weight piled back on)...
I'm not a doctor, nor am I a representative of Zicam, but I will bet you $5 that each one of these 130 cases happened when the person did not follow the directions properly. The nasal gel instructions tell you to inject it at the base of your nostril and blow your nose to remove the residue after a certain period of time and warn you from inhaling the product into your nasal cavity.
Is it a good thing to have something like this on the market that can cause permanent damage when it's misused, even so slightly? Probably not. But come on!
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@annab: I thought the same thing when I heard about this. Think of the typical American stereotype of \"more is better!\" I can see some people thinking in order for it to make any difference, they have to shove it up their nose.
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@annab: Not a doctor... willing to back up conjecture with $5... pretty compelling. But, I'm going to go ahead and discontinue use.
No offense, and you may be right, but my sense of smell isn't worth the risk.
Sadly, the stuff DOES work. And sadly, it does cause anosmia in some people. It must be a genetic thing where some people are susceptible to it and some are not. Smoking seems to have similar properties where some people are prone to cancer while others smoke 3 packs a day for 50 years and be just fine.
I read about this 4 or 5 years ago after using it once and experiencing substantial pain. I immediately flushed it out, and googled it. Even 5 years ago there were MANY MANY reports online of severe nasal pain and perminant loss of smell. I even read a report that the person who invented zicam experienced severe nasal pain when using it. Fortunately I didn't suffer from any loss of smell, but I have been telling all of my friends not to use it since. Glad to see the FDA finally figured out how to hack the googe.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-5211-100x100.png\")
Yep... I love the swabs to. Work like a charm. And they are easy to pack. I always use them before and after air travel.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-350835-100x100.png\")
Saline flush of the nasal cavity will cure all! Give it a try. See the wiki on it here... [en.wikipedia.org]
Or just go buy a Neti pot kit at your pharmacy.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-521589-100x100.png\")
@GreatWhiteNorth: I wouldn't say it cures all, but it definitely helps with my mild allergies and helped me get over a cold faster.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-428486-100x100.png\")
So, by using Zicam to relieve cold symptoms your are literally cutting off your nose to spite your face.
I just bought my first Zicam nasal gel last weekend...and it causes me to sneeze eight times in a row. I don't even double sneeze.
I wonder if CVS will let me return this...
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I liked zicam too. Back to 6 shots of whiskey and 2 tablets of airborne.
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@GWN: I, too, am a fan of nasal irrigation.
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I always use this stuff when I get a cold. I love it! It's the only thing that makes a difference. Now, since people can't follow directions (Do Not Sniff Up Gel!!!) I have to suffer... Great...
If it wasn't linked so closely with the sense of taste, then I wouldn't mind losing my sense of smell. Especially when I go to a comic book convention.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-891311-100x100.png\")
@redskull: If you're a regular at comic book conventions, you may not have much to lose as far as your sense of taste, either..
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-443428-100x100.png\")
Switch to the melts and there will be relief and smelling capacity. Plus CVS has their own (cheaper) brand of the melts. Win Win!
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Did no-one else notice the fact that Zicam is marketed as a homeopathic remedy? It's right there on the box. Wikipedia link for those unfamiliar with homeopathy: [en.wikipedia.org] . That alone is enough to make me wary of the product.
OK. Although I don't see how these products can help, because they are quack homeopathy, where the \"active ingredient\" Zincum Glucnicum, has been effectively reduced to below trace element status by repeated dilution, I also don't see how these products can harm you, for the same reason. And yes, I know that the theory of homeopathy is that the dilution is what makes them effective, because the water somehow memorizes whatever is dissolved in it, and the less of the substance is in the cure, the more effective it is, literally hundreds of actual scientific studies have proved that there is no way for the water to do this. Perhaps the carrier gel is to blame, and not the non-existent \"active ingredient\". Flame away, quacks.
@Mel Phistopheles: Are there other nasal gels with other active ingredients that have the same effects? If not, then what else could it be?
It is pretty sad I had to go all the way to the second page of comments to finally see someone call a spade a spade.
Sorry, I misspelled the Zincum Gluconicum. I stand corrected.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-10572-100x100.png\")
I never did use that stuff. I did it the old-fashioned way: sweated it out, drank a lot of liquids, and alternately exercised and rested, all to wait out the flushing of the virus from the system.
So since Smart Mouth mouthwash has Zinc in it, does it make this bad for me as well?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-665832-100x100.png\")
Well, that explains why after using the Zicam gel-up-the-nose stuff to help with my cold this weekend, I all the sudden can't taste food.
Going to go throw this stuff into the furnace...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-136660-100x100.png\")
So is there going to be a refund process if we still have this sitting around in our medicine cabinet or are we SOL.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-27359-100x100.png\")
What I don't understand is why it took this long for the FDA to issue this recall. I blogged about the loss of taste resulting from my intake of Zicam in February 2008, and back then, there were other complaints about Zicam as well.
Sure, this is a recall about the Zicam products that result in loss of smell. I guess I have to ask the FDA what they are planning on doing about the Zicam products that result in loss of taste. According to the comments on my post, I'm hardly the only one who was affected.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-257922-100x100.png\")
I worked at an unnamed giant media corporation for a few months in 2007 and whenever they had unnamed giant corporate media events Zicam was one of their major sponsors. We had free Zicam coming out of our ears to give away at these events, so naturally whenever anyone in the office had a cold we had tons of Zicam on hand. One of the guys that worked with me knew the company well, and said \"I wouldn't use that stuff, it can ruin your sense of smell.\" So I guess it was an \"unknown known\" at that point.
Anyway, it's labeled \"homeopathic\" and it's only active ingredient is Zinc, isn't it? I'm wondering what's causing it.
And where, pray tell, was the FDA when they approved this stuff for sale?
Under Bush, they obviously had their heads in the sand...
I am SO leary of all these latest wonder drugs. The side effects, which usually seem to get discovered AFTER the drug has been on the market for some years, are horrendous...
I almost used this during my last cold but then use Cold Ease instead... Man am I happy now...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-342841-100x100.png\")
Um did anyone test this crap before it was released to the public ?
When i get stuffy i take Zyrtec ,chop it up with a razor blade and snort it
Why pay for a spray to do what a snot rocket will do for free?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-107600-100x100.png\")
Kinda surprising it has any side effects since it's homeopathic... which by definition contains absolutely nothing!
When I feel a cold coming on I take 100mg of zinc (full stomach) and 1000mg of Vitamin C each night. This also seems to help when \"everyone\" is sick at work.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1691-100x100.png\")
I have used a total of four of those swabs. They really seemed to help. I dodged a bullet, I guess.
Damn, I always use this stuff in the wintertime. Good looking out, Consumerist. :)
Can someone explain the approval process to me? I think that's the real story that's being overlooked here. As a commenter above points out, homeopathic means \"diluted to the point where it's just water\" (this, mind you is not the way homeopathic practitioners would put it, but if you go read the Wikipedia article, it's pretty clear). If that were the case, logically, this medicine wouldn't be causing side effects. The side effects are from taking zinc nasally. If it were homeopathic, there wouldn't be a measurable quantity of zinc in it. Therefore this cannot really be \"homeopathic\" as the word is normally used.
So this has been labeled as \"homeopathic\" and thus bypassed the normal requirements of proving safety to the FDA before bringing it to market, but clearly it's not a homeopathic medicine as we know it or there would be no need to pull it off the market. Homeopathic medicines are only going to be helpful due to the placebo effect, but they're also only going to be harmful due to the placebo effect. So what appears to have happened is that the law must have a loophole which allows certain types of over-the-counter medicines to be labeled as \"homeopathic\" even though they are not and thus to be brought to market untested. That's the real story here and one that needs investigating.
Finally! I have been telling my patients this for years. FDA definitely needs a reform! They should have addressed this issue a long time ago.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-332258-100x100.png\")
I smell a lawsuit.
The FDA had no power over it, or any other \"supplement\" or homeopathic quackery, because they gave away oversight years ago, so long as these \"cures\" put a disclaimer that they have not been approved by the FDA for the treatment of any disorder. Quite chicken, but they bowed to the pressure of the new age \"supplements are better than real medicine, and anecdotes are better than science\" crowd, who apparently had a really strong lobby.
I'm amazed by the number of people here claiming this works. Zicam is a placebo. It doesn't actually contain any medication.
It's a homeopathic remedy, which are placebos. I suppose the surprising thing is that Consumerist readers aren't aware of this. Zicam was a scam *before* it stopped anyone from being able to smell.
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html
Airborne is also a placebo. Some of you mentioned that too.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-210697-100x100.png\")
@YvonneMusca: so if it's a placebo and contains nothing active, how come it can mess up the sense of smell? Do you lose your sense of smell from swabbing water in your nose?
@jenjen: Amen. I lost my sense of taste for several days after taking the Zicam oral mist and I never had that happen to me when I drank water.
I remember years ago TV's 20/20 program did a segment hosted by Ba-ba-wa Walters (RIP Gilda) on Zinc helping to shorten the duration of a sore throat and common cold. I started using zinc because of that show. I wonder if I can SUE Ba-ba-wa even though I still can still smell, swell. Just funnin' about the lawsuit, the rest is truth.
Okay, I'll bite. Don't lump all homeopathics in with Zicam, which is barely homeopathic at all.
All homeopathic products list their dilution. This product is a 2X, meaning it was diluted with water in 1:100 ratio (technically, 1:10 twice). Zinc would still be present in the solution. If a homeopathic has a higher dilution than 24X or 12C, the substance would probably not contain a single molecule of zinc.
Generally, single homeopathic remedies are only used in higher dilutions (12C and 30C being the most common), and even then they are typically administered by mouth. This is why many people have safely used Arnica montana, something that would be dangerous to take internally at its full strength (probably would be at a 2X dilution as well, but I don't know for sure).
Regardless of whether or not homeopathics work, please don't suggest it is unsafe simply because of this one product. The vast majority of products described as homeopathic are extremely safe. If they don't work, they'll just do nothing.
When Mom lost her senses of smell and taste at the age of 85,she was referred to a specialist who could not explain the loss except to say that smell and taste are the first senses to go, not sight or hearing. She never took Zicam amd died at 89.She could remember what food used to taste like.
I've used Zicam Nasal Gel for two colds now, and I have no sense of smell. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. I put Vicks Vapo Rub under my nose today and could not even smell it. Usually it is so strong it makes my eyes water - but nothing. I am NOT HAPPY!
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Dammit, I usually used the Zicam gel when I would start getting colds in the winter because it worked. I hate the taste of the mouth spray, so what alternatives do I have now?
@theblackdog: Try the Zicam that dissolves in your mouth. I've used it for several years and just this morning was smelling some sweet lilac bushes, so I think its safe to recommend.
@theblackdog: Crap, I've used this for colds ever since it came out and have never had a problem. I wonder if people have been using it correctly. For the swabs, you're only supposed to stick it just barely inside your nostrils.
@theblackdog: as others have mentioned, a sinus rinse bottle is the way to go. i prefer it over a neti-pot because you can control the pressure of the water going in and you don't have to place your head at a weird angle. neil med makes a version, as do a few other brands. you can get these bottles at cvs. youtube has videos of people actually using sinus rinses...not the most pleasant thing to watch, but you'll see how effective it can be and what it's all about.
@theblackdog: Yep, use the lozenges. They don't work as quickly but they still work well.
@theblackdog:
Zinc is the main feature of Zicam, and you can get zinc lozenges that don't taste too bad. I think they help.
@theblackdog: How about you just let your body do its job
@theblackdog: Daily vitamin C could help. 500mg twice a day.
@theblackdog: Neti pot. Walgreens sells one for about $15 with a bunch of pre-mixed packets of buffered salt.