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NyQuil, produced by the Vicks company, is the brand name of a family of cold medicine designed to help relieve many symptoms of the common cold. Because all of the medications within the NyQuil imprint contain sedating antihistamines and/or hypnotics, they are typically taken at night, just before bedtime. Its daytime counterpart is DayQuil, which does not contain sedating antihistamines and is not intended to induce drowsiness.

NyQuil comes in both liquid form and packaged in capsules (LiquiCaps).

Contents 1 Products 1.1 NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief 1.2 NyQuil Cough 1.3 NyQuil Sinus 1.3.1 Reformulation 1.4 NyQuil Children's 2 Warnings and Contraindications 3 NyQuil in popular culture 4 External link

NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief's active ingredients are:

• Acetaminophen (pain reliever/fever reducer)
• Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant)
• Doxylamine succinate (antihistamine/hypnotic)

NyQuil Cold/Flu Multisymptom Relief is available in both syrup and LiquiCap form. It previously contained pseudoephedrine, a decongestant, but this was removed for the reasons discussed below.

Nyquil Cough's active ingredients are:

• Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant)

• Doxylamine succinate (antihistamine/hypnotic)

NyQuil Cough is available in syrup form only to help prevent abuse of both the hypnotic (from Doxylamine succinate) and dissociative (from Dextromethorphan) features of the syrup.

Nyquil Sinus' active ingredients are:

• Acetaminophen (pain reliever/fever reducer)
• Doxylamine succinate (antihistamine/hypnotic)
• Phenylephrine (nasal decongestant)

Nyquil Sinus is available as LiquiCaps only.

Previously, Nyquil Sinus contained pseudoephedrine, another nasal decongestant that also formed the active ingredient in Sudafed. Following the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act in 2006, all pseudoephedrine-containing medications must be kept behind a pharmacy counter and all purchases must be logged. Vicks chose to sidestep these requirements and keep its products more easily accessible by reformulating NyQuil Sinus, replacing pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine. Production difficulties related to the reformulation caused occasional supply shortages in some parts of the US in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

NyQuil Children's active ingredients are:

• Chlorpheniramine (antihistamine)
• Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant)

NyQuil Children's is unique among the NyQuil line in that it contains no alcohol. It is available in the syrup form only.

As with most OTC cold and allergy medications, there are populations for whom treatment with NyQuil is inappropriate. NyQuil should not be taken with medications that contain other antihistamines or cough suppressants. People with certain other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, asthma, chronic cough, excess mucus production, enlarged prostate, or high blood pressure should consult a physician or pharmacist to ensure that NyQuil will not interact negatively with their disease states. Additionally, concurrent use of NyQuil with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or other drugs containing acetaminophen is contraindicated. Another concern with Nyquil of any formulation is that it contains acetaminophen (also known as Tylenol). It is essential to avoid excessive amounts of acetaminophen as this may cause damage to the liver. This risk is additive when separate co-ingestion of acetaminophen is used. The normal maximum for acetaminophen per day is 65 mg/kg/24hrs or 4gm/day, whichever is less. Certain patients such as those on medications processed by the liver or diseases of the liver (eg Hepatitis A,B,C) should consult their physician.

• The album John Henry by They Might Be Giants featured a song which refers to a "NyQuil driver". While the lyrics were unchanged, the song was renamed "AKA Driver" due to legal issues — whether real or perceived — which required a title with no reference to the medicine. In addition, the lyrics to the song were omitted from the CD insert.

• Standup comic Denis Leary once performed a lengthy routine based on the concept of his having given up such illegal drugs as cocaine and marijuana and taking up the use of legal ones, particularly NyQuil, the flavor of which he referred to as "Green Death." He also made note of the large Q in NyQuil. He also is shown in his show, The Job, drinking it straight from the bottle while driving and going into a drug store and buying around 8 bottles of it at once, making the cashier look at him weird.

• Lewis Black humorously referred to NyQuil as "180 proof alcohol", calling it "the moonshine of medicine". In actuality, NyQuil contains 10% alcohol, making it 20 proof. Black also refers to the colors of NyQuil (Red and Green) as the only things that taste that way, in addition to them reminding him of Christmas.[1].

• Comedian John Pinette also did a routine about NyQuil. The first thing he asked the crowd was, "Have you had it? That's good stuff isn't it?" He also notes that the commercials are right in showing people taking it while in bed, because he claims to have passed out in the kitchen for 16 hours after taking it there. He then parodies the slogan; "The nighttime sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, what-the-hell-am-I-doing-on-my-kitchen-floor medicine."

• The Matches referred to NyQuil in their songs "December is for Cynics" with the line 'Let's get high on NyQuil and hibernate' and in "You (Don't) Know Me" with the line 'NyQuil at SFO, caffeine, caffeine at JFK'.

• Punk band AFI have a song named Ny-Quil in the album Answer That and Stay Fashionable.

• Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Farley spoofed NyQuil's advertised sleep aid in a skit promoting a product called Hybernol. The product was featured as a cold and flu medication that would put the patient to sleep for "the next six months" allowing the existing ailment and any subsequent ones to pass comfortably and naturally.

• German techno punk band EC8OR released a single called "Gimme Nyquil All Night Long".

• PVP comic April 20, 2001. Jade suffers insomnia until Skull gives her an old family recipe, which turns out to be NyQuil.
• Three Six Mafia refers to NyQuil "To slow me down" in their song Sippin on Sum Sizzurp

• Vicks.com