I'm awake
Stopped by the pharmacy on the way back from physio. The pharmacist recommended Viralex which seems to be some herbal antiviral, antibiotic and antifungal concoction involving olive leaf extract and some other stuff. I'll see if it's any good. I don't care if it's a placebo effect if it makes me feel any better. If it's no good, then I'm gonna need proper penicillin-based antibiotics to deal with this sinus infection, which I hate taking.
The pharmacist also gave me some pseudoephedrine - the straight stuff too. Many of the standard cold medications they have available while trying to avoid handing out pseudoephedrine contain stuff that I can't metabolise properly - dextromethorphan, chlorpheniramine etc. The pharmacist said I should probably take less than the max daily dose of paracetamol since it's a minor cyp2d6 substrate too, and will take longer to clear my system, meaning that it's easier to reach a toxic level with continued usage, so he just gave me a box of straight pseudoephedrine.
Now why can't they dispense dextropropoxyphene the same way? I wonder how many of the people who take it are poor metabolisers, and are taking it because they can't take codeine. They mix it with paracetamol to make it less available for opiate abuse, but by doing so they make it more dangerous for the people who need it for pain relief...