Dayquil and Depression - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Depression is reported as a side effect among people who take Dayquil (acetaminophen; dextromethorphan; pseudoephedrine), especially for people who are female, 40-49 old, also take Contac 12 Hour, and have Nasopharyngitis.

The phase IV clinical study analyzes which people have Depression when taking Dayquil. It is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 1,538 people who have side effects when taking Dayquil from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Dayquil?

Dayquil has active ingredients of acetaminophen; dextromethorphan; pseudoephedrine. It is often used in cold symptoms. eHealthMe is studying from 1,815 Dayquil users. Check the latest studies of Dayquil.

What is Depression?

Depression is found to be associated with 3,168 drugs and 4,129 conditions by eHealthMe. Check the latest studies of Depression.

On Aug, 10, 2026

1,538 people reported to have side effects when taking Dayquil.
Among them, 20 people (1.3%) have Depression.

Among these 20 people:

What is the gender of people who have Depression when taking Dayquil? *

female: 75 %
male: 25 %

What is the age of people who have Depression when taking Dayquil? *

What are other drugs people take besides Dayquil? *

What are other side effects people have besides Depression? *

Stress And Anxiety: 6 people, 30.00%
Injury: 4 people, 20.00%
Fatigue (feeling of tiredness): 4 people, 20.00%
Malaise (a feeling of general discomfort or uneasiness): 3 people, 15.00%
Weakness: 3 people, 15.00%
Dizziness (Excl Vertigo): 3 people, 15.00%
Dyspnea (difficult or laboured breathing): 3 people, 15.00%
Emotional Distress: 3 people, 15.00%
Mood Swings (an extreme or rapid change in mood): 3 people, 15.00%
Stroke (sudden death of a portion of the brain cells due to a lack of oxygen): 3 people, 15.00%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

Nasopharyngitis (inflammation of the nasopharynx): 4 people, 20.00%
Birth Control: 2 people, 10.00%
Psoriasis (immune-mediated disease that affects the skin): 2 people, 10.00%
Breast Cancer Female: 2 people, 10.00%
Narcolepsy (brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally): 2 people, 10.00%
Multiple Sclerosis (a nervous system disease that affects your brain and spinal cord. it damages the myelin sheath): 2 people, 10.00%
Multiple Allergies (allergy to multiple agents): 2 people, 10.00%
Drowsiness: 2 people, 10.00%
Eye Disorder: 2 people, 10.00%
Weight Decreased: 1 person, 5.00%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Do you take Dayquil and have Depression?

- Check whether Depression is associated with a drug or a condition
- Predict drug outcomes for up to one year with AI
- Get an AI agent to monitor your drugs continuously

Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Dayquil:

Dayquil (1,815 reports)

Depression treatments and more:

Depression (652,152 reports)

How severe was Depression and when was it recovered:

Depression in Dayquil

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of acetaminophen; dextromethorphan; pseudoephedrine:

Depression and drugs with ingredients of acetaminophen; dextromethorphan; pseudoephedrine (30 reports)

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Dayquil:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Depression:

Depression (3,168 drugs)

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Depression:

Depression (4,129 conditions)

Related publications that referenced our studies

Pang, T., & Gudi, A., "Chest pain following the use of fluvoxamine in depression", Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare, 2018 Jan .
Pang, T., & Gudi, A., "Chest pain following the use of fluvoxamine in depression", Proceedings of Singapore Healthcare, 2018 Jan .

How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on acetaminophen; dextromethorphan; pseudoephedrine (the active ingredients of Dayquil) and Dayquil (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.