How bad is it to take cold medicine to clear your nose just from having mucus ?

Better options: It's not terrible but does nothing to make your cold go away and can cause side effects. Your body is producing mucous to clear the infection. I don't like treatments that interfere with your natural defenses. Use if you're miserable but I advise Umcka, a herb from South Africa proven to help colds go away sooner, as well as zinc lozenges and Vit. C. See http://tinyurl.com/ztoepsy