Repeat after me: Antibiotics do not treat colds. Again: Antibiotics do not treat colds
No doctor (IMO) should be calling in antibiotics for a cough, or a sore throat, or an earache etc. The overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and by patients and doctors who know better but want to make their patients happy is leading to a huge proliferation of multiple resistant bacteria. Zithomax, the "wonder drug" suggested above, is now becoming increasingly useless due to overuse. It is the drug most docs, especially ER and doc in a boxers give to everyone with anything wrong.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/820736
Acute cough (less than 3 weeks) should not be treated with an antibiotic unless you have pneumonia. Bronchitis does NOT, repeat NOT, require or benefit from antibiotic treatment as it is almost always a viral illness
http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/campaign...gh-illness.pdf
If your cough is so severe that it causes vomiting from the intensity of cough then whooping cough should be considered. All adults should have received a recent w. cough booster but very few have gotten it. W. cough requires a very specific test and cannot be diagnosed by physical exam.
Codeine may or may not help cough, the literature is conflicted. Codeine works by depressing the central nervous system's protective response to airway irritation. It of course has a host of well known side effects including constipation and respiratory depression.
Honey has been shown to be as effective as DM (Delsym) for control of pediatric cough. Apparently the thick honey coats the tissues in the back of the throat thus protecting them from the irritation which causes the reflex coughing
1.Paul IM, et al. Effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 2007;161:1140