I should be in Arizona today, enjoying the lovely weather soaking up the sun and having a generally good time. But no, we canceled our trip and I’m stuck in 17 degree sunny CT with a cold.
My head feels like it weighs a thousand pounds, I haven’t slept in 2 nights due to terrible post nasal drip hell and everytime I blow my nose it feels like I’m rubbing sand paper on exposed nerve endings. I’ve been taking Day-quil, and that usually helps but I’d like to try something non-drug related…A recent study says echinacia is not as good as everyone has hoped and massive doses of vitamin C only give me acid reflux…
Has anyone had any luck with homeopathic remedies? If so which ones? Anyone have any “old family remedies” that help? My grand mother used to say, “take a spoonful of honey…you’ll be fine” and she died at the ripe old age of 94…having never taken any medication her entire life. I wish I was like that!
Homeopathic remedies are nothing but bunk. Any positive effect they might seem to have is nothing but the placebo effect. They are nothing but water. I’d stick with the OTC drugs and augment it with rest and lots of fluids. Taking hot showers usually helps me feel better as well.
If you can’t sleep at night, well, that’s why they make Nyquil. The nighttime Sudafed stuff knocks me right out as well. The whole point of these medications is to help you sleep through the most miserable of your symptoms. If you don’t need to be at work, take it during the day as well.
I’m pregnant and my doctor doesn’t have a problem with me taking any of this stuff-- if it’s safe enough for a fetus, it’s safe enough for a full grown adult. Why deny yourself something that will make you feel less miserable? It’s not as if you’ll have to take it for the rest of your life.
I just got the same thing from my wife in the next room…she gets a home office and now my days out of work are filled with cleaning and more projects…who cares if I’m sick…Boy! I do sound like a little bitch!
Garlic has proven antibiotic properties which can help your body with recovery, and certainly helps prevent the sinus & chest infection which used to always follow a cold for me. My recipe; crush one fresh piece of garlic, mix with honey, swallow. Just don’t chew - raw garlic can burn the mouth like jalapenos. The honey makes it go down easier & helps soothe the throat. When I feel like I’m starting to get sick, or if I do happen to get sick, I’ll usually do that 1-2x a day with meals for a couple days or until I feel “normal” again (like vitamins, the mix causes mild nausea for me if taken on an empty stomach). I’m happy to report my first cold in 3 years was over in about 4 days and did NOT result in a sinus or chest infection (the first time ever a cold has not ended that way), thanks in part to several garlic doses.
I’ll also second the zinc idea SnoopyFan mentioned; on a family member’s recommendation, I tried Zicam during that last cold. While it helped with symptoms and I think helped reduce the length of the cold, I would not necessarily recommend it . . . there’s a link between intra-nasal zinc applications and anosmia (loss of sense of smell). However, an oral zinc vitamin supplement might be just the thing to help knock that cold out.
PS - trips to sunny AZ might or might not be beneficial for colds . . . I GOT that last cold visiting family in Phoenix over the holidays.
You passed up a trip to Arizona and missed a chance to infect a plane load of people because of a freaking cold? What a tittie baby.
Seriously, I think the echinacia is only helpful in boosting your immune system before you are sick. Don’t think it does much once you are sick.
You might like to try one of Grandpa Toad’s hot toddies:
A glass of strong hot tea, the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of honey, and a shot of rye whiskey. (Bourbon, or any sour mash whiskey, is a suitable substitute.) They won’t cure you, but after two or three you won’t give a shit if your sick.
Try Russian Tea . I had the flu/cold from hell/plague a few weeks ago and my mom made me drink Russian tea. Being weak and unable to defend myself, I drank it even though I hate hot tea. It actually cleared my nose and throat a bit so that I could breathe better and even helped with the headache. Nothing miraculous in the ingredients but it works, probably just because it’s hot and soothing. It tastes pretty good too.
Cold-Eze (or Flu-Eze) works pretty well also. I tried that along with the Russian tea and instead of being totally miserable for a whole week, I was only totally miserable for four days. I just felt generally icky for the other three days.
Hope you start to feel at least half-way human soon!
The opposite, it would appear. This cite is almost three years old, but it says that echinacea might help treat a cold (though it does say that the results have been mixed), but that it does nothing to prevent colds. In fact, there’s evidence that long-term echinacea consumption actually suppresses the immune system.
I’d sniff lukewarm salty water up my nose, blow it out, then take a couple of Tylenol PM. The benadryl will help you sleep.
I’ve had to do this several times when in similar situations. Good luck!
