Seven drawers, twenty-four products, and the specific ways they interact
with each other. Rendered from the corpus — 62 entries, all final.
Nothing outstanding. What follows is what changed since the last pass.
Virginia's medical amnesty law is Code of Virginia § 18.2-251.03, now cited on the hangover page and the Call 911 panel. It covers underage possession, consumption and public intoxication when help is sought in good faith for an overdose, provided you stay and cooperate — the entries name those charges rather than implying blanket immunity.
It is plain saline — no three-day limit, no rebound, no interaction. That entry was deliberately blocked for weeks rather than guessed at, and reading the bottle closed it.
Seven numbered compartments now, matching the printed card. The ice drawer is gone: the cold pack and the gauze moved into the tray, the throat and saline sprays moved to the day drawer, and the cough drops moved to night. Sudafed is in the day drawer as recommended.
`medicine-case-card` is the laminated surface on the back of the case. This guide is the long form and the place the reasoning lives; the card is what gets used.
One continuous list, ordered so the things a reader confuses with each other sit next to each other. The rules across it mark where the ground shifts, and each carries the question that splits what follows — that differential is the part a symptom list cannot do.
Everything here happens above the neck and none of it involves a fever — check that first, because a fever moves you to the next section. After that the questions are short. Did you drink last night? Have you slept? Is it one-sided and throbbing with the light hurting, which is a migraine, or a band of pressure that built through the day, which is usually water, food or sleep rather than anything in a drawer. The one that belongs to none of these: a headache that arrived all at once like a switch, or comes with a stiff neck.
The ordinary one — start here before anything else
A band of pressure, or behind the eyes, building through the day. Not one-sided, not throbbing, and you can still function.
Before any drawer: when did you last drink water, eat, and sleep? Most headaches at college are dehydration, a skipped meal, caffeine you didn't have, or six hours of screen. Water and twenty minutes fixes a real share of them.
Not Excedrin. It's built for migraine, its ceiling is 2 tablets a day, and the caffeine in it causes rebound headaches — using it for ordinary headaches is how people end up with a daily one.
Might be instead: It's a Migraine, I Have a Fever, I Feel Terrible and I Was Drinking, I Can't Sleep
You already know the difference — treat it in the first 30 minutes
One-sided and throbbing, nausea with it, light and sound genuinely intolerable. Sometimes visual static or zigzags first.
Dark, quiet room, and take something immediately. Migraine medication works dramatically better in the first half hour than at hour three — waiting to see if it gets bad is the most common mistake.
Do not add Tylenol on top. Those 2 Excedrin already contain 500 mg of acetaminophen, plus aspirin and caffeine. And don't use Excedrin more than about twice a week — past that it starts causing the headaches it's treating.
Might be instead: My Head Hurts, I Have a Fever
Nothing in this case fixes this — and that's the honest answer
Lying awake, or waking at 4am and not getting back down. Not sick, just not sleeping.
Get out of bed. Lying there awake teaches your brain that bed is where you're awake. Read something dull in dim light and go back when you're actually sleepy. Screens off, room cold, no caffeine after about 2pm.
NyQuil is not a sleeping pill — using it as one means a painkiller, a cough suppressant and 650 mg of acetaminophen every night for a problem that is none of those things. Benadryl every night doesn't work either: tolerance builds within days, so it stops working and you take more, and the sleep it gives you isn't the kind that restores you.
Might be instead: My Head Hurts
Advil, not Tylenol. This one matters.
Pounding head, dry mouth, nausea, and a general sense of having been hit by something. You know exactly why.
Water and food, in that order. This is dehydration and inflammation, and the only things that genuinely treat it are fluids, calories, and time — nothing in this case shortens it.
NOT TYLENOL. Alcohol and acetaminophen are processed by the same organ and together they damage the liver at doses that would be fine on their own — an ordinary night out counts, not just heavy drinking. That rules out Excedrin, DayQuil and NyQuil too, since all three contain it. And no NyQuil to sleep it off: it's about 10% alcohol and a sedative on top of what's already in you.
Might be instead: My Head Hurts, Throwing Up
Once there is a fever, the useful question is how fast it arrived. Flu lands in hours and aches everywhere at once — you can usually name the hour it started. A cold builds over days and stays in your head. That distinction is worth getting right within the first day, because antiviral treatment for flu only works inside about a 48-hour window and then the option is simply gone. Fever with a stiff neck, a rash, or confusion is neither of these and cannot wait.
Take your temperature first — everything below is a number
Hot then chilled, achy, wrung out. You feel it before the thermometer confirms it.
Use the thermometer, under the tongue, mouth closed, and not within 30 minutes of anything hot or cold to drink. Fever is 100.4°F or above. Write down the number and the time — you'll need the trend, not the reading.
Don't take NyQuil or DayQuil on top of Tylenol — each dose already contains 650 mg of acetaminophen, more than two Tylenol, and that's how you clear 3,000 mg without noticing. Not Excedrin either; it hides 500 mg in two tablets and contains aspirin, which you don't want during a viral illness. And don't chase a normal reading — the goal is well enough to drink and sleep, not 98.6.
Might be instead: I Think I Have the Flu, My Throat Is Killing Me, My Head Hurts
The 48-hour window is the whole point of this entry
It arrives in hours, not days. Whole-body ache, high fever, and a level of exhaustion a cold never produces — you want to lie down on the floor where you're standing.
Call the health center today, not tomorrow. Antiviral treatment only works if it's started within about 48 hours of the first symptom, and after that window the option is simply gone. This is the one illness here where being stoic costs you something concrete.
Not Excedrin — it contains aspirin, and aspirin during a flu-like illness under about 19 is linked to Reye's syndrome, a rare but serious liver and brain injury. And don't run NyQuil and DayQuil back to back all week; two doses a day is the ceiling here, and a flu you're still medicating on day five is a phone call rather than another bottle.
Might be instead: I Have a Fever, Stuffed Up, Runny, Sneezing, My Throat Is Killing Me
Where it is, and what came first. Burning behind the breastbone after eating is heartburn, and it is the easiest thing here to fix. Nausea and vomiting that arrived suddenly is a bug, and the treatment is sips rather than medicine. But pain that came BEFORE any nausea, or that started vague near the navel and is settling into the lower right, is neither — that one gets no painkiller at all and gets looked at, because the pattern is the diagnosis and a painkiller erases it.
Sips, not gulps — that's most of the treatment
Nausea, vomiting, maybe diarrhea, cramping. Usually 24 to 48 hours and genuinely miserable throughout.
Stop eating entirely. Then a tablespoon of water every five minutes — set a timer if you have to. Gulping a glass because you're thirsty is what restarts the vomiting, and this is the single thing people get wrong.
Not Advil — it's hard on a stomach that's already angry. Not Pepto while you're still actively vomiting; wait for the gap. And don't take an anti-nausea approach to something that started with severe belly pain rather than nausea, which is a different entry.
Might be instead: The Other End, My Stomach Hurts and I Don't Know Why, I Feel Terrible and I Was Drinking, Burning After Eating
Fluids are the treatment — Imodium only stops the traffic
Loose and frequent, usually with cramping, often the tail end of a stomach bug. Miserable and almost always short.
Drink. This is a fluid problem before it is anything else, and the medicine does nothing about the part that actually hurts you. Water plus something with salt and sugar in it — or make it: 1 litre of water, 6 teaspoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt.
Not Imodium if you have a fever or see blood — that combination means an infection, and holding it in makes it worse rather than better. And never take more than the label says because it is not working: at high doses loperamide causes serious heart rhythm problems, and that is the mechanism, not a warning label being careful.
Might be instead: Throwing Up, My Stomach Hurts and I Don't Know Why
Fast to fix, and the drawer's one absorption trap
Burning behind the breastbone, sour taste, worse lying down or after something rich or late.
Sit up. Don't lie down for two hours after eating, and put something under the head end of the mattress if it's a nightly thing.
Tums blocks other medicines from being absorbed — leave two hours either side of anything else you take. This matters most if you're on doxycycline or a similar antibiotic for acne, which simply does not work if taken near calcium. Also: Tums does nothing for nausea, which people reach for it for constantly.
Might be instead: Throwing Up, My Stomach Hurts and I Don't Know Why
The one page here that tells you to take nothing
Pain in the abdomen that you can't account for. Not after a bad meal, not obviously a stomach bug — just pain, and you don't know why.
Do not take a painkiller. Note the time it started and exactly where it hurts, then check again in an hour and see whether it has moved. That movement is the single most useful piece of information anyone will ask you for.
Every painkiller in the PAIN drawer will mask this, and masking it is the actual danger. Appendicitis classically begins vague around the navel and settles into the lower right over several hours — kill the pain and you erase the one signal that identifies it. A routine operation becomes a serious one on that delay. This is the deliberate exception to every other page on this card.
Might be instead: Throwing Up, Burning After Eating
The dividing question is whether you are coughing. A sore throat that comes with a cough and a runny nose is almost always viral — nothing here shortens it and it has to run out. A severe sore throat with fever and swollen neck glands and NO cough is the strep pattern, and that one needs a test and antibiotics rather than a numbing spray. If it has dragged on for weeks with real exhaustion behind it, stop treating it as a cold and ask about mono.
The one complaint here that can need antibiotics
Raw and painful to swallow, worst first thing in the morning. Sometimes only one side.
Gargle half a teaspoon of salt in warm water — it genuinely helps and costs nothing. Then look at the back of your throat in a mirror with your phone light, because what you see decides the rest of this entry.
Don't use the numbing spray to ignore this for a week. It treats nothing. And a sore throat this bad with no other cold symptoms is exactly the pattern that isn't a cold.
Might be instead: Stuffed Up, Runny, Sneezing, I Think I Have the Flu, I Have a Fever
Honey works. So does not lying flat.
Dry and tickling, or wet and productive. Worse at night and when you lie down.
A spoon of honey in hot water. In head-to-head trials it performs about as well as cough suppressant, and it's better for your throat. Prop your head up — flat is what makes it worse at 2am.
Don't treat DayQuil and NyQuil as separate medicines — they contain the same cough suppressant and the same acetaminophen, and two doses total across both is the day. Don't buy Mucinex DM on top of either; DM is the same drug again. And don't suppress a productive cough that's clearing something — that one has a job.
Might be instead: Stuffed Up, Runny, Sneezing, I Think I Have the Flu
Day drawer or night drawer — never both
Blocked nose, running, sneezing, throat a bit rough. You feel bad but you can function.
Fluids and steam — a hot shower with the door shut does more for congestion in ten minutes than most of this drawer.
Don't default to DayQuil for a runny nose — it's a painkiller you didn't need and 650 mg of acetaminophen you'll want later. Don't take Sudafed and DayQuil together; both are decongestants. Never buy the Max, Severe or Multi-Symptom versions of either, which stack on more drugs. Nothing shortens a cold — it's 7 to 10 days regardless.
Might be instead: My Throat Is Killing Me, I Can't Stop Coughing, I Think I Have the Flu
Size and speed decide everything on this page. One bite or one patch of rash is an itch problem and the drawer handles it. Hives spreading across your whole body within minutes, or anything at all happening in your mouth, tongue or throat, is a different category — and the thing to know before you need it is that antihistamines are not the treatment for that. Benadryl works on hives. It does nothing for an airway.
Know which of these is the emergency
Itching, welts, a spreading rash, or a bite that's gone angry. Usually annoying. Occasionally not.
Decide the size of this first. Something local — one bite, one patch — is an itch problem. Hives spreading across your body, especially with anything happening in your mouth or throat, is a different category entirely and the next paragraph is the one that matters.
Benadryl is not the treatment for a severe allergic reaction, and believing that it is has killed people. Antihistamines work on hives and itching; they do nothing for a closing airway. If your throat, tongue or lips are involved, the answer is epinephrine and 911, not this drawer.
Might be instead: I Burned Myself
The bleeding and swelling ones all come down to pressure or cold, applied properly and for longer than feels necessary — ten timed minutes for a cut, fifteen for a nosebleed, twenty minutes of cool water for a burn, and four steps of weight is the test for an ankle. Time them; don't estimate them, and don't keep lifting off to check, which restarts the clock every time. People reliably invert the order here too, reaching for a painkiller before doing the thing that actually changes the outcome. The tooth is the odd one out and the only thing in this guide with no home treatment at all — it cannot heal itself, so pain you are managing with Orajel is an infection getting quietly worse.
Ten timed minutes of pressure stops almost everything
A cut, scrape, or gash. Bleeding, and you're deciding whether this is a bandaid or a problem.
Rinse it under clean running water for a few minutes — actual water, not alcohol. Then press firmly with gauze for ten timed minutes without lifting to check. Peeking is why bleeding restarts, and ten real minutes stops nearly everything.
Not alcohol swabs inside the wound — alcohol destroys the cells that are trying to heal it. Those are for your hands and your tweezers. And don't go buy Neosporin: on a clean wound plain Aquaphor works just as well, and the neomycin in Neosporin is a common skin allergy that looks exactly like the infection you were trying to prevent, so people apply more and it gets worse.
Might be instead: I Burned Myself
Lean forward, pinch the soft part, fifteen minutes on a timer
Bleeding from one nostril, usually starting for no obvious reason. Common in winter, common in dry rooms, and alarming out of proportion to how serious it usually is.
Sit up and lean FORWARD, not back. Then pinch the soft part of your nose — the squishy bit below the bony bridge, not the bridge itself — and hold for fifteen minutes on a timer without letting go to check. Almost every nosebleed stops with exactly this, and almost nobody does it right: people tip their head back and pinch too high.
Don't tip your head back — the blood runs down your throat, you swallow it, and you throw it up an hour later. Don't pack tissue or cotton up there; it sticks to the clot and tears it open when you pull it out. And don't keep releasing the pinch to see whether it's working, because the fifteen minutes starts over every time you do.
Might be instead: I Cut Myself
Twenty minutes of cool running water. Set a timer.
A burn from a pan, a curling iron, steam, or sun. Red, painful, maybe blistering.
Cool running water for twenty full minutes. Not thirty seconds, not until it stops hurting — twenty minutes on a timer. This single thing does more to determine how bad the burn ends up than everything else on this page combined, and essentially nobody does it long enough.
Not ice — it causes a second injury on top of the burn. Not butter, not oil, not toothpaste. Not Aquaphor on a fresh burn, because it traps the heat in; that's for later, once it's cooled and closed. And don't pop blisters — that roof is a sterile dressing your body made.
Might be instead: I Cut Myself, Hives, a Bite, or a Rash
Ice, wrap, elevate — and one test for whether it needs an X-ray
Twisted it, and now it's swelling and painful to stand on. Wrist, knee and shoulder follow the same rules.
Get the weight off it and get it up higher than your heart. The swelling that arrives in the first hour is most of what will hurt for the next week, and elevation is what limits it.
Never put the cold pack straight on skin — wrap it, or you add a cold burn to the injury. Don't wrap so tightly that your toes go pale, cold, or numb. And don't heat it in the first 48 hours; heat increases the swelling you're trying to control.
Lift the skin over it — don't dig for it
Something small and sharp under the skin, usually a finger or a foot, and it hurts every time you touch it.
Good light and clean hands. Swab the skin with alcohol and sterilise the tweezer tips and the lancet. Then look at which way the splinter is lying, because that decides everything about how you get it out.
Don't dig. Going across the splinter breaks it in half and leaves the worse half in you, and a hole chased through the skin hurts longer than the splinter would have. Two failed attempts is the point to stop rather than the point to try harder.
Might be instead: I Cut Myself
The gel softens it; the trim is the fix
The side of a toenail — nearly always the big toe — pressing into the flesh beside it. Sore in shoes, sore when anything touches it, and it gets worse rather than better on its own.
Soak it in warm water for ten minutes to soften everything, then look at where the nail is actually going into the skin. That is the spot the ring goes over.
Never cut a V in the middle of the nail — it is folklore, it does nothing, and it makes the next one worse. Don't cut down the side into the corner either; that leaves a spike that grows straight back into the flesh. Straight across is the whole technique. And don't keep using the gel past a week hoping it resolves.
Might be instead: I Cut Myself
The only thing here with no home treatment
Aching, throbbing, or sharp on hot and cold. Sometimes worse lying down.
Work out whether it's the tooth or the gum, and whether anything is swollen. Then make a dentist appointment, because unlike everything else on this card, this will not resolve on its own.
Not Orajel on a throat — it's for gums, and numbing your gag reflex is how people choke. Don't put aspirin against the gum, which burns the tissue. And don't let numbing it become the plan: a tooth has no blood supply to heal itself with, so pain that needs Orajel for more than a day or two is an infection getting worse quietly.
Might be instead: My Head Hurts
The questions a reader actually asks out loud, answered where they can be found by skimming. This replaces the rules as printed matter — a rule is read once and forgotten, a comparison gets looked up.
| Cold | Flu | |
|---|---|---|
| How it starts | Creeps in over a couple of days | Hits in hours — you can name the time it started |
| Fever | Rare, and low if any | 100.4°F or higher, often much higher |
| Aches | Mild, if any | Everywhere, and severe |
| Exhaustion | You can still function | You want to lie down on the floor where you're standing |
| Head | Stuffed, runny, sneezing | Often clear — it's your whole body, not your nose |
| How long | 7–10 days | 5–7 days of feeling genuinely awful, then a slow tail |
| What to do | Ride it out. Nothing shortens it. | Call the health center TODAY |
| Tylenol (acetaminophen) | Advil (ibuprofen) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Fever and plain pain | Anything swollen or inflamed |
| Reach for it for | Headache, fever, when your stomach is upset | Sprains, sore muscles, tooth pain, sore throat |
| One dose | 2 caplets — 1,000 mg | 2 capsules — 400 mg |
| How often | Every 6 hours | Every 6 hours, with food |
| Day limit | 6 caplets — 3,000 mg | 6 capsules — 1,200 mg |
| Empty stomach | Fine | No. Food or milk, every time. |
| After drinking | NO — never | Yes, with food. This is the one. |
| Hidden in | NyQuil, DayQuil, Excedrin | Nothing else here |
| Both at once? | Yes — alternate about 3 hours apart | Different drugs, so it's safe to stagger them |
| Where it is | Probably | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A band around the whole head | Tension, dehydration, screens, skipped meals | Water, food, Tylenol or Advil |
| One side, throbbing, light hurts | Migraine | Dark room, Excedrin early, sleep |
| Forehead and behind the eyes, with a cold | Sinus congestion | Sudafed and steam, not more painkiller |
| Behind the eyes, morning after drinking | Dehydration | Water, food, Advil — never Tylenol |
| Comes on when you haven't had coffee | Caffeine withdrawal | Have some, then taper on purpose |
| You've taken painkillers most days this week | Rebound headache — the treatment causing it | Stop, call home. This is real and common. |
| Back of the head, stiff neck, fever, light hurts | GET SEEN NOW | Student health or ER — meningitis spreads in dorms |
| The worst of your life, or arrived like a switch | CALL 911 | Do not wait to see whether it passes |
| Cold | Heat | |
|---|---|---|
| Use for | Anything new or swollen | Anything tight or stiff |
| Examples | Rolled ankle, bruise, bump, burn, fresh injury | Sore back, stiff neck, tight shoulders, cramping muscle |
| Why | Narrows blood vessels and limits the swelling | Opens them up and lets the muscle let go |
| Timing | First 48 hours | After 48 hours, or any time for stiffness |
| How long | 20 min on, 20 min off | 15–20 minutes |
| Never | Straight against skin — always wrap it | On a fresh swollen injury, or on top of a Salonpas patch |
| Never together | Why |
|---|---|
| Tylenol + NyQuil or DayQuil | All acetaminophen. A dose of NyQuil IS your Tylenol. |
| Tylenol + Excedrin | Both acetaminophen — two Excedrin hide 500 mg. |
| NyQuil + DayQuil, past 2 doses | Same drugs. Two doses total across both per day, not four. |
| Advil + Excedrin | Both thin your blood. |
| Benadryl + cetirizine | Same job, doubled dose. |
| Benadryl + NyQuil | Both sedating antihistamines. |
| Benadryl + your daily melatonin | Pick one. Melatonin lives with your vitamins, but it still counts. |
| Sudafed + DayQuil | Both decongestants. |
| Sudafed + your ADHD medication | Both stimulants. Pick a day. |
| Imodium + fever or blood | Not an interaction — a stop sign. Keeping an infection in makes it worse. |
| Alcohol + Tylenol, Excedrin, NyQuil, DayQuil | Your liver. An ordinary night out counts. |
| Alcohol + Benadryl or NyQuil | Suppresses breathing. This is the one that kills people. |
| Tums + anything else | Blocks absorption. Two hours either side. |
| Excedrin or Pepto + flu | Aspirin relatives. Reye's syndrome, under 19. |
| If it's lasted | Then |
|---|---|
| Cold — more than 10 days | Student health |
| Cough — more than 3 weeks | Student health |
| Sore throat — more than 3 days | Get a strep test |
| Fever — more than 3 days, or over 103°F at any point | Student health, same day |
| Throwing up — nothing staying down for 12 hours | Urgent care |
| Diarrhoea — more than 2 days | Student health |
| Heartburn — most days for 2 weeks | Student health |
| Not sleeping — more than 3 weeks | Student health |
| Toothache — more than a day | Dentist. It will not heal on its own. |
| Any painkiller — most days for a week | Call home |
| Got better, then got clearly worse | Always worth a call, whatever it is |
| Where | For | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Call home | Anything at all you're unsure about | Free, always available, and there is no such thing as too often |
| Student health center | Colds that won't quit, strep tests, fevers, sprains, anything dragging on | Cheapest and closest. Schiffert Health Center at Virginia Tech is 540-231-6444; VCU Student Health is 804-828-8828. Put yours in your phone before you need it. |
| Urgent care | Nights and weekends, cuts needing stitches, bad dehydration | Costs more — check what your insurance covers now, not at 11pm |
| ER | Chest pain, severe belly pain, large burns, heavy bleeding, head injury | Expensive, and never the wrong call for anything on the 911 list |
| 911 | Breathing, unresponsive, allergic reaction, worst-ever headache | Never hesitate over cost or trouble. Ever. |
If you are weighing up whether it's bad enough to call — that IS your answer. And Virginia's medical amnesty law, Code of Virginia § 18.2-251.03, protects you from prosecution for underage possession, consumption or public intoxication when you seek emergency help in good faith for an alcohol or drug overdose, whether it is yours or someone else's. You have to stay at the scene and cooperate. It covers those charges, not everything, and your university's conduct policy is a separate thing that also has amnesty — but none of that is the calculation to be running while someone is not breathing.
| With food? | After drinking? | |
|---|---|---|
| Tylenol | Either way | NO — never |
| Advil | Always, every time | Yes, with food. This is the right one. |
| Excedrin | With food | NO |
| NyQuil / DayQuil | Either | NO |
| Sudafed | Either | Not great — it dehydrates you further |
| Benadryl | Either | NO — sedative on top of sedative |
| Pepto-Bismol | Either | Fine |
| Tums | Either | Fine, and genuinely helps |
| Mucinex | Either, with lots of water | Fine |
Sick people cannot remember a day they mostly slept through — and that, rather than anyone deciding to take too much, is the mechanism behind almost every accidental overdose.
Quoted from the labels, never inferred. Doses live here and only here — a complaint page that repeated a number would drift from the box the first time something was re-bought.
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advil Liqui-Gels | Ibuprofen 200 mg per capsule | 1–2 capsules | Every 4–6 hours | 6 capsules (1,200 mg) in 24 hours without a doctor |
| Excedrin Migraine acetaminophen | Acetaminophen 250 mg · Aspirin 250 mg · Caffeine 65 mg (per tablet) | 2 tablets with a full glass of water | Not repeated — this is the whole day's dose | 2 tablets in 24 hours. This is a much lower ceiling than any other painkiller here. |
| Orajel | Benzocaine 20% | Small dab on the gum or tooth with a clean fingertip | Up to 4 times a day | 4 applications in 24 hours |
| Tylenol acetaminophen | Acetaminophen 500 mg per caplet (Extra Strength) | 2 caplets | Every 6 hours | 6 caplets (3,000 mg) in 24 hours |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cough Drops (Ricola Original) | Menthol 4.8 mg per drop | 1 drop, dissolved slowly | Every 2 hours as needed | No meaningful ceiling — they are lozenges |
| DayQuil acetaminophen | Acetaminophen 650 mg · Dextromethorphan HBr 20 mg · Phenylephrine HCl 10 mg (per 30 mL dose) | 30 mL to the line on the cup, or 2 LiquiCaps | Every 4 hours, and realistically once or twice on the worst day | 2 doses in 24 hours. The label allows 4 — this cabinet says 2, counted together with NyQuil. |
| Saline Nasal Spray | Sodium chloride 0.65% (buffered saline) | One or two sprays into each nostril | As often as you like | No ceiling. There genuinely isn't one — it is salt water. |
| Sudafed | Pseudoephedrine HCl 30 mg per tablet | 1–2 tablets | Every 4–6 hours | 240 mg (8 tablets) in 24 hours |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AYR Saline Nasal Gel | Sodium chloride 0.65% in a water-soluble gel base | A small dab just inside each nostril with a clean fingertip | As often as you like | No limit — it's saline |
| Mucinex Sore Throat Spray | Check the panel — this line is sold with different numbing agents | Follow the box — typically 3–4 sprays to the back of the throat | Every 2–4 hours per the box | Per the box |
| NyQuil acetaminophen | Acetaminophen 650 mg · Dextromethorphan HBr 30 mg · Doxylamine succinate 12.5 mg (per 30 mL dose) | 30 mL to the line on the cup | Every 6 hours, and realistically once, at bedtime | 2 doses in 24 hours. The label allows 4 — this cabinet says 2, counted together with DayQuil. |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allergy Relief (cetirizine) | Cetirizine HCl 10 mg per tablet | 1 tablet | Once daily | 1 tablet in 24 hours |
| Benadryl Allergy | Diphenhydramine HCl 25 mg per capsule | 1–2 capsules | Every 4–6 hours | 6 doses (300 mg) in 24 hours |
| Benadryl Itch Relief Stick | Diphenhydramine 2% · Zinc acetate 0.1% | Dab on the bite or rash | Up to 3–4 times a day | 4 applications in 24 hours |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imodium A-D | Loperamide HCl 2 mg per caplet | 2 caplets (4 mg) at the first loose stool, then 1 caplet (2 mg) after each one after that | After each loose stool, not on a clock | 4 caplets (8 mg) in 24 hours. Never more — see the caution. |
| Pepto-Bismol | Bismuth subsalicylate 262 mg per caplet / per 15 mL | 2 caplets or 30 mL | Every 30–60 minutes as needed | 8 doses in 24 hours |
| Tums | Calcium carbonate 500 mg per tablet (Regular Strength) | 2–4 tablets, chewed | As symptoms occur | 15 tablets in 24 hours (Regular Strength) |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol Swabs | Isopropyl alcohol 70% | Wipe the tool or the intact skin around a wound | As needed | n/a |
| Aquaphor | Petrolatum 41% | Thin layer over a cleaned wound or chapped skin | As needed | No limit |
| Bactine Max | Lidocaine HCl 4% · Benzalkonium chloride 0.13% | Spray onto the cleaned wound | Up to 3–4 times a day | Per the box |
| Bandaids — Standard, Hydrocolloid, Cooling | No active ingredient — dressings | Match the type to the wound | Change standard ones daily; leave hydrocolloid alone | n/a |
| BleedStop | Hemostatic powder | Pour onto the bleeding point, then press firmly with gauze | Once — then leave it alone | n/a |
| BloodCEASE | Calcium alginate (seaweed-derived dressing) | One piece, tucked into the bleeding nostril — then keep pinching | As needed | No limit — it's a dressing, not a drug |
| Dermoplast (Pain, Burn & Itch) | Benzocaine 20% · Menthol 0.5% | Spray from about 6 inches, no rubbing | Up to 3–4 times a day | Per the box |
| Ingrown Toenail Kit | Sodium sulfide 1% gel · Foam rings · Bandages | Ring over the sore spot, fill the slot with gel, seal under the bandage | Morning and night | Up to 7 days, then stop |
| Salonpas | Methyl salicylate 10% · Menthol 3% · Camphor 3.1% | One patch to the sore muscle | Up to 3 times a day, max 8 hours per patch | 3 patches in 24 hours |
| Splinter Out | No active ingredient — sterile lancet | One lancet, along the splinter rather than across it | As needed | No limit |
| Product | Active ingredients | Dose | How often | Never exceed / 24h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gauze, Pads & Self-Stick Wrap | No active ingredient — dressings | Pads against the wound, roll or wrap to hold them | Change daily or when soaked through | n/a |
| Instant Cold Pack | No active ingredient — chemical cold pack | Squeeze until the inner pouch breaks, shake, wrap in cloth | 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off | No limit, but never longer than 20 minutes at a stretch |
| Thermometer | No active ingredient — instrument | Under the tongue, mouth closed, until it beeps | Whenever you want a number, and again a few hours later for the trend | No limit |
| Tweezers | No active ingredient — instrument | Sterilise the tips with an alcohol swab first, every time | As needed | No limit |
The index the card assumes exists. Each carries the one warning that is too late to learn afterwards.
Tylenol 500 · Advil Liqui-Gels 200 · Excedrin Migraine · Salonpas · Orajel
Tylenol and Excedrin both contain acetaminophen — 3,000 mg is the whole day across both, and so do NyQuil and DayQuil in drawer 2 and 3. A dose of either of those replaces your Tylenol rather than adding to it. In Sheppard's case the Tylenol lives up in the tray instead, to keep it away from the Excedrin.
DayQuil · Sudafed 30 · Throat spray · Saline nasal spray
A dose of DayQuil IS your Tylenol — never both, and two doses is the limit here rather than the four on the label. Sudafed is real pseudoephedrine from behind the pharmacy counter and needs your ID; 'Sudafed PE' on the open shelf is a different drug that does not work. Not the same day as your ADHD medication. The saline spray is just salt water — no limit, no rebound.
NyQuil · Ricola cough drops · AYR saline nasal gel
NyQuil is already a painkiller, a cough suppressant and an antihistamine in one cup — no Tylenol on top of it, and no Benadryl. Two doses a day maximum across NyQuil and DayQuil together.
Benadryl Allergy · Allergy Relief (cetirizine) · Benadryl Itch Relief Stick
Cetirizine for daytime — 24 hours and you can function. Benadryl knocks you out for about six hours, so it is the rescue for a reaction and the night-time option when you are sick. Never both, and never Benadryl on top of NyQuil.
Pepto-Bismol · Tums 500 · Imodium A-D 2 mg
Tums blocks other medicines from being absorbed — leave two hours either side, especially around acne antibiotics. Imodium has two hard stops: not with a fever or blood, and never more than 4 caplets a day.
Bactine Max · Aquaphor · Bandaids — plain, hydrocolloid, cooling · Alcohol swabs · BloodCEASE / BleedStop · Splinter Out · Dermoplast · Salonpas · Ingrown toenail kit (Sheppard)
Alcohol swabs are for your hands and your tools, not for the inside of a cut — alcohol kills the tissue trying to heal. Rinse a wound with clean running water instead. There is no antibiotic ointment here on purpose: on a clean wound Aquaphor works as well and Neosporin is a common skin allergy.
Thermometer · Instant cold pack · Gauze roll, pads, self-stick wrap · Tweezers · Tylenol 500 (Sheppard's case only)
The tray is the tools rather than the drugs — the things you reach for before you decide what to take. Cold pack: 20 minutes on, 20 off, always wrapped, never straight against skin. In Sheppard's case the Tylenol lives here too, deliberately separated from the Excedrin so the two acetaminophen products are not sitting side by side.
These no longer print on the card. They remain the canonical statement each inline stamp is generated from, so the stamps cannot drift — shown here for review only.
Tylenol, Excedrin, NyQuil and DayQuil all contain acetaminophen. A dose of any one of them IS your dose — never stack a second on top.
Stamp: Tylenol, Excedrin, NyQuil and DayQuil ALL contain acetaminophen. One of them IS your dose — never add another.
Two products doing the same job do not add up to more relief — they add up to more of one drug.
Stamp: Two medicines doing the same job give you more drug, not more relief. Tylenol and Advil are the one safe pairing.
If you have been drinking, the answer is water and sleep — not something from this case.
Stamp: If you've been drinking: no Tylenol, no Excedrin, no NyQuil, no DayQuil. Advil with food, and water.
Keep NyQuil and DayQuil occasional rather than routine, and never buy anything labelled Max, Severe, or Multi-Symptom.
Stamp: On an SSRI: keep NyQuil/DayQuil occasional, never routine. Never buy the Max or Multi-Symptom versions.
Painkillers are for pain you understand. Belly pain you do not understand is information — do not turn it off.
Stamp: Don't silence a pain you can't explain. The pattern is the diagnosis, and a painkiller erases it.
Do not reach for Excedrin for an ordinary headache, and never while you have flu or chickenpox.
Stamp: Excedrin and Pepto are aspirin relatives — never during flu or chickenpox under 19. Excedrin caps at 2 tablets a day.
Open your phone notes and log the drug and the time, every single dose, every time you are sick.
Stamp: Log every dose and the time in your phone. It's the only thing that makes the 3,000 mg ceiling real.