It’s definately an August thing. This is my month for bad luck. I thought I had gotten thorugh it but with 3 days left it hit me…
My cold arrived 2 days ago. My head is stuffed up- nose is running- coughing. This is my last day of work and I have the next two weeks off. I am going to a music fest this weekend where we will be camping and drinking heavily. I need to get rid of this by Friday!!!
I have been drinking NyQuil and crashing for 8-10 hours a night the last two nights. A co-worker suggested garlic pills. I have been taking 180mg garlic pills, around 20 in ten hours. Does anyone have any suggestions???
Does this garlic thing actually work???
Well, when I want to feel better, I take lots of mult-vitamins, drink lots of OJ, and take Alka-Seltzer Cold Remedy.
You may not be completely over it, but the Alka-Selter (sp?) stuff makes you feel much better, although I don’t know if I’d mix it with alcohol… actually, I have, but I’m a solidly built kinda guy who can take a lot’o punishment!
High dose vitamin C tablets (you can safely take up to 3 grammes a day…) If I take these as soon as the cold starts, it lasts about 2 days. If I don’t, it lasts a week. Garlic is meant to be a long term thing to raise your immune system (or the alternative theory - no one comes close enough to infect you…).
Something to make you feel better:
hot toddy:
usual recipe is honey, whisky, hot water & lemon juice. Replace the whisky with lemon vodka. Thoroughly gorgeous!
I find that pseudoephedrine works for me. It is readily availalble in quite a few of the cold/flu symptom reliever medications. If you have a brand called Drixora or Demazin in your part of the world, then you are in luck, because these two consist almost entriely of pseudoephedrine.
Make sure you get the largest dose you can, because it will work better and last longer. Some medications come in a 12 hour version - they are excellent.
Also use a spray-type nasal decongestant (like Vicks Sinex). That way you get fast relief from the blocked and running nose. Sinex also lasts up to 12 hours.
Bear in mind that these are not cures - they simply remove the worst of the symptoms. You still need to apply the basics: warmth, rest, good nutrition and plenty of fluids.
Don’t use antihistamines they do nothing for a cold. Major on cough drops and teas with zinc, Vitamin C and echinecea (sp?). Use pseudoephedrine and cough syrup with Guaifenesin (it will say “expectorant” on the label) to keep the back of your throat from developing a secondary infection from being irritated by the rivers of guck. Supplement with occasional salt-water gargles and shots of liquor.
All this won’t cure you, but it will help minimize things.
Not that this helps much but Agouron Pharmaceuticals (now owned by Pfizer) working on an honest to God treament for the common cold that seems to be doing pretty well in clinical testing from what I last heard.
Having been in similar circumstances, my best advise is to definitely take it easy in terms of what you do to your body, especially when you first get to the place. That is, don’t play tackle football at 2:00am even if there ARE hot naked drunk women playing on the opposing team. If you are going to drink, take lots of water before you go to bed and try to minimize dehydration. Dress warm, and try to drink hot liquids as the steam will help loosen the mucus.
I’ve always been a little sketchy on herbal remedies such as echinacea and even Vitamin C, as I truly believe these are just a placebo thing, but some people I know (who are fully aware of this) still seem to have some luck with it and they are generally cheap enough that I’d say ‘what the hell’