# What is the best cold medicine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2000, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467 "2000-10-26T19:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ATTGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@ATTGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ATTGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/21 "2000-10-27T16:25:58Z")
**Prevention** is the best medicine. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/22 "2000-10-27T17:16:50Z")
Actually heroin is THE cure for the common cold. The only problem is, for it to work, you can never stop taking it. As far a alchol the best is shlivovitz. (sp?) There’s a new anti-viral thing they’re advertising on TV that says it will shorten the length of you cold. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/23 "2000-10-27T17:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zumba The Cat \* > **My plan works like this. Place a box of Kleenex, a box of Salteen crackers, a glass of water and a bottle of NyQuil on your nightstand. Put on sweat pants and get in bed. > Eat two crackers. Take a sip of water. Take two good swigs of NyQuil. Blow Nose. Go to sleep.** I have to second this. Nothing works for me as good as Nyquil. Probably solely because of the “knock you out” factor of the alcohol combined with antihistamine to clear your nose up. If I have a chest cold, and have to actually be awake, I take Robitussin Expectorant. Helps you hack up the gunk in your lungs. Tastes worse than Nyquil. Chloraseptic works for a sore throat, but only for 20 minutes at a time. ---
**Author:** ![kiffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d78d45/32.png) [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/24 "2000-10-27T17:29:11Z")
Ride it out with hot toddies, orange juice, warm salt water for sore throats, humidifier, lots of water to drink and sleep. If you have the mother of all headcolds like I have right now, try Tylenol Severe Cold Gelcaps. I rarely take meds for colds but this drove me to the drugstore for relief [that’s what you are purchasing when you buy OTCs]. It is a good alternative to those sicky sweet cough syrups. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/25 "2000-10-27T18:03:32Z")
I am firmly in the Nyquil camp. It probably doesn’t do anything to cure your cold, just knocks you out so your body can heal itself while you sleep. Also, if your chest is congested, rub Vicks Vaporub on it. While you are at it, rub some under your nose, too. It’ll help you breathe. Gram always made tea with honey and lemon. She never added whiskey, but I have heard this works even better when you do. Sorry you are ill, hope you fell better soon! Scotti ---
**Author:** ![boli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@boli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boli)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/26 "2000-10-27T18:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > > There is no ‘common cold’. > > The cold is a group of rhinoviruses. > > Thus, there is no one virus & therefore, no one remedy. > > Lots of sex might make you sweat it off 🙂 > > PS: been discussed before. Could you just once post something relevant, helpful or simply NOT ANNOYING? ---
**Author:** ![L714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dec6dc/32.png) [@L714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L714)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/27 "2000-10-27T18:37:24Z")
Well I can’t take most of that over the counter stuff but I’ve had god results from Echinacea (sp?) It’s kept in the vitamin section and I swear it cuts down on the time you’re sick and severity of the symptoms ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/28 "2000-10-28T01:30:21Z")
If I have a cold & I got surfing, being in the water feels just great but once I get out, oh yuck. Maybe we could all stay in the ocean? boli, yeah, I can post meaningful stuff but don’t expect any details. “Handy what haven’t we discussed on this board before?” Thats what we need, a messsage subject of what we haven’t discussed yet 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/29 "2000-10-28T05:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Poysyn \* > **Extra-Strength Nyquil, regular green death flavor.** When we read “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway in high school, our English teacher was describing absinthe. It’s alcoholic, it’s green, it has a kind of licorice-ish flavor, and it slowly poisons the one who drinks it. I was immediately reminded of green Nyquil. I think “Hibernol”, the cold medicine in the Saturday Night Live sketch that makes you sleep all through the cold-and-flu season, would be an excellent idea. ---
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/30 "2000-10-28T06:45:34Z")
Incidentally, my teeth are really green; I’ve had the current death virus for two weeks and counting, and NyQuil is the only think that’s kept me sane. NyQuil, NyQuil, NyQuil we love you you giant fucking Q. The loud rattle you hear is no snake; it’s just me breathing. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2000, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/31 "2000-10-28T07:33:32Z")
Chicken Soup. Orange Juice. Gatorade. Hibernation. Just sleep for about two days straight. You’ll wake up with some sniffles, but no cold. And BTW - a good Single Malt Scotch is better than anything, I agree. But you won’t catch me wasting my Glenlivet on a freakin’ cold…that’s reserved for savoring and celebrating. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/32 "2000-10-29T03:27:22Z")
**Boli** , you are a mensch, a stand-up woman and truth-sayer. Back to colds, they’re Nature’s quirky way of saying nyhaanyhaanyaa and keeping us humble. Yeah, you never catch the same cold twice; the beasties evolve at mind-spinning speed. But human bods are really pretty resilient, if given a chance. Ride out the cold; that’s all you can do. I tried the zinc thing, but wasn’t impressed. It all comes down to: treat symptoms enough that you can rest and heal. My preferred solution: clean sheets, lots of tissues, then an “at home sauna” with the claw-foot tub full of steaming water; soak and sip a hot toddy. Sleep. Have lots of fresh-squeezed orange juice and homemade chicken soup on hand. Stay home. Heal. Don’t pass along the germs. Let the body heal. Veb ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/33 "2000-10-29T19:47:07Z")
You forgot to add laying on the couch, watching cheesey daytime TV in your Nyquil-induced fog… or would that make things worse? I usually alternate doses of Nyquil and Tylenol Severe Cold/Allergy, which we call the sandman drug - knocks you out as fast as Nyquil. –tygre ---
**Author:** ![headshok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@headshok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/headshok)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/34 "2000-10-29T23:13:01Z")
Maximum Strength Thera-Flu Nighttime. Their slogan: “You can’t feel sick if you’re unconscious.” ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/35 "2000-10-30T00:04:22Z")
NyQuil all the way, baby! I also recommend odorless garlic pills. I think they have become well-established enough (and are available in every grocery store/pharmacy) so they are not quite in the “crackpot home remedy” category anymore. I’ve been using garlic for colds for _years_, it really does help. I remember I got a REALLY bad cold while I was on a lovely vacation. I was NOT going to let that cold get me down! So I spent one entire night (at a Motel 6, oh joy) drinking lots of water, (getting up a lot to pee, of course,) and popping garlic pills. I felt much better by morning. (The secret is garlic pills _AND_ lots of water!) Then I got DayQuil, so I could keep on driving to my next vacation destination. And used NyQuil so I could sleep at night. Had a decent vacation, despite of the cold. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/36 "2000-10-30T00:53:11Z")
When I get a cold, the thing I am most concerned about is an ear infection. Without medication, I get one every time. With medication, I used to still get one about 50% of the time. I FINALLY found one that works more often than not. The stuff I have used for several years now has been great. It’s a generic for Entex LA (prescription). Unfortunately, it contains PPA – the stuff that was just found to possibly cause strokes. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Baskety](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Baskety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baskety)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467/37 "2000-10-30T04:04:14Z")
Nyquil is the only one I use any more. The rest just leave you tossing all night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-best-cold-medicine/38467.md?page=1)