Runny nose, coughing, and feeling like crap.
Just read that cough syrups are no cure and nothing more than sugar water (some MSNBC health report a few weeks ago.)
So, other than two aspirina, lots of fluids and rest, anybody got any sure-fire cures for this cold?
Sleep!
(Easier said than done, I know…)
Thanks…so how many days do I have to sleep?
BTW, “aspirina” from my OP is “cold language” for aspirins.
Dave Barry recommends drinking lots of beer. He says that he cannot clearly remember having a cold since discovering that particular cold prevention/cure. 
If you’ve got a sore throat hot lemon drinks work great (lemon juice, hot water and honey), stuffed nose have a hot shower or do the towel over head over bowl/pan of boiled water and blow your nose real well. I find it can help with runny nose as well for a little bit, as it clears out some of the mucus further back.
Uhm… chicken soup and rest… vicks vaporub or similar product (if you have a chest cold)
Grandma swears by a small glass (hardly more than a shot) of amaretto before bed when ill.
What often works if I catch it early is hot bath, warm clothes, wee dram of bourbon, electric blanket on and sweat all night. Sometimes I’m fine by morning. For the last few years I have been using a herbal remedy recommended by a friend. They are a mixture of echinacea, zinc, vitamin C, garlic and vitamin E. Since I started taking one day and night at the first hint of a cold I haven’t been really sick for about 4 years. I have read that theses things don’t work and while they don’t help the symptoms they just stop them worsening while I fight them off. Usually about 3 or 4 days of mild early symptoms is all I get now.
It might be a bit late for this for you, but I take Echinacea at the first sign of possible cold symptoms. I cometimes do still get a cold, but it is lessened in severity. As our family passes a cold around (mainly due to my brother, who doesn’t care if others get sick from him and therefore takes no precautions to prevent it), its interesting to note that those of us who take the Echinacea when we first begin to feel the symptoms get over it a lot faster.
I meant get sufficient amount of sleep. Like 8-9 hours a night until you get over it. It may be obvious to most people but I find it easy to neglect this. (Unless I’m so sick that I can’t get out of bed, that is.)
(IANAD, I’m just relating my experience…)
Loading up on the echinacea, zinc and vitamin C really does seem to help, if taken at the first symptoms. But, since it’s too late for that, just treat the symptoms you actually have (multi-symptom cold medicines often treat symptoms you don’t even have, meaning you are unnecessarily medicating yourself). For congestion: Sudafed (check for the generic, it’s way cheaper); for runny nose, sneezing: chlorpenaremine maleate (Chlor Trimeton) works well for me, and doesn’t cause as much drowsiness as Benadryl (diphenhydramen). For sore throat, some sort of throat drops (yes, I know they’re mostly sugar, but dammit, they’re soothing!) and Tylenol. If your throat’s really sore, and you’re desperate, you could use Chloraseptic spray, which will numb your throat (I don’t like it because I hate the way it numbs other parts of my mouth). A cup of hot tea with a shot of bourbon wouldn’t hurt, either, but only at bedtime. And if you’re taking an antihistamine (something for a runny nose or a multi-symptom cold medicine), be damned careful about mixing it with alcohol.
Hope you feel better soon!
In my experience, loading up on orange juice and getting LOTS of sleep is helpful.
Let me give you my “better living through modern chemistry” means of cold alleviation:
Sudafed Non-drying Sinus or the generic equivalent, every four to six hours, except for those hours when you’ll be sleeping (Sudafed is only to be taken if you have normal blood pressure; do not take it if you have high blood pressure or any other disorder contraindicated on the back of the box.) The pseudophedrine dries up the mucus, the guaifenesin thins out the mucus.
If you’re really coughing, Delsym helps. It’s a 12 hour cough suppressant.
Lots of water. Cough drops for sore throats. An anti-inflammatory to lower fever or reduce inflammation of the sinuses/throat.
It doesn’t cure it, but it makes you feel a lot better. Note: I am not a doctor. I’ve just had a lot of colds in my lifetime.
I eat lots and lots of fruit and it always seem to help. Dunno if it really does or if the effect is entirely psychosomatic. I think that’s the real trick: find something you believe will help and it usually does.
Thera Flu (apples & cinnamon, which is still pretty disgusting). Sleeeeeeep. Your favorite soup. Second the suggestion of some fresh fruit. More Thera Flu. Get your sweetie to rub your temples and forehead. Sleep again. Repeat for 2 days. 
Time release vitamin C supplements, sleep, chicken soup, sleep, watch a movie, sleep, have a nice meal, sleep, get some fresh air, sleep, drink lots of nonalcoholic liquids, sleep, aspirin, sleep.
cough, cough
sniffle
umm, I recommend a couple of days off work, accompanied by an over-the-counter cold remedy such as Contact-C or Sudafed (read package instructions for dosage and cautions), washed down by copious amounts of fluids, preferably steeped in Vitamin-C-rich stuff (ie honey-lemon tea, orange juice, whatever you like).
In addition, you must watch the cheesiest daytime TV available, and whener you feel like getting up and doing something, you may boil some water for Neocitron, and go sleep. When that gets boring, wash, rinse and repeat.
I love my sick days … 
Yet another vote for sleep. It’s a boring cure, but really. If you’re at all like me, you go through life pretty sleep deprived and your immune system is just keeping its head above water because of it.
At the onset of a cold, if I can stay home from work and nap, and go to bed early for a change, I lick it quicker.
I also believe Echinaciea can help, but I have a hard time remembering to keep up with it after the first day of frantic “I must get better” dosage compliance.
Oh really???
**Zicam ** is a miracle drug for me. I get nasty colds that hang on for two weeks or more. With Zicam, the symptoms are reduced to a bearable level and the cold lasts just about three days.
I am in the midst of a friggin-fraggin summer cold, myself. I like all the advice people have given here, but I have one secret weapon to add.
For those couple days where the cold is at its worst and my head feels like its clogged with contruction adhesive, at bedtime I do a couple toots of Afrin nasal spray. For 12 hours straight you can breathe clean and free through your nose, which is truly a blessing when you’re sick.
You have to be a bit careful with it though. You can get addicted. I limit myself to two days of use. Plus there can be a rebound effect where you feel stuffed up worse when you stop using it. But with self-limiting, I’ve avoided that.
Oh, one other thing. Whenever I’m sick I load up on Puffs Plus (with lotion) or Kleenex with Aloe. I know some people don’t like em, but after a week of blowing your nose with regular tissue, my schnozz is usually ready to fall off. The lotioned ones prevent that.
Feel better soon. I hope I will.
I know exactly when my colds start - I get a microscopically slight sore throat on one side when I wake p that goes away in about an hour. As soon as I get that, I take a humectant and do a shot of nasonex. I follow the timing on my meds EXACTLY, if I do this at 0700, I time it from there, if I start ay 2pm, I time it dfrom there… I follow the regimine anally compulsively for the entire 10 days of my normal cold cycle. I make sure to keep swimming in fluids for the sake of the humectant, and take a multivitamin. If I do this, I don’t get any symptopms at all, other than I wake up with a slight sore throat which goes away in about an hour after waking. If I miss a dosing, I get the full effects of the cold for the balance of the time=\ [I am really good about keeping my meds with me, and a small alarm clock to remind me to take them.]
IANAD, and YMMV.
And the reason I ended up with pneumonia this june was being away at a SF Con in Baltimore without any meds=( so the cold got a 3 day head start on me, and like it always does if I don’t nip it in the bud immediately, it rolled iinto pneumonia. I hate pneumonia=(