Two cold medicines at once can be an overdose

Cold and cough medicines relieve the symptoms of a common cold: sore throat,
stuffy or runny nose, sneezing, coughing.

Start with what they are not. **You usually do not need to treat a cold or its
cough. You cannot cure a cold, and antibiotics will not help.** Where symptoms
keep you awake or cause a lot of discomfort, these medicines can help.

What each kind does

Note that suppressants and expectorants pull in opposite directions — one
stops the cough, the other makes it productive — so "cough medicine" is not
one thing.

The overdose that happens by accident

Read the labels and follow the instructions carefully.

Many cold and cough medicines contain the same active ingredients, and a
number of them include a pain reliever. Take one of those and a
separate painkiller, and **you could be getting a dangerous amount of the pain
reliever** — without having taken more than the stated dose of anything.

This is the single most likely way an over-the-counter cold remedy causes
harm, and it is entirely preventable by reading the ingredient list on the
back.

Two rules for children:

• Do not give cold or cough medicines to children under two.
• Do not give aspirin to children.

Without medicine

If you would rather not take anything:

• Drink lots of fluids
• Get plenty of rest
• Use a cool mist humidifier
• Saline nose drops or sprays
• Nasal suctioning with a bulb syringe — **very helpful in children under
  a year old**, who cannot clear their own noses

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, via MedlinePlus.