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This is an archive of our old website. We're now on Facebook! Reply to Ean's Comment on Common Cold
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Submitted by Anonymous on 26 July, 2008 - 08:04
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Hi Ean
I have had Colds but not many. I used to have more until I discovered what works for me but I do not know if it will work for you. There have been some years, I have had NO COLDS AT ALL.
Cold Cures
1. Tough it out I'm personally not a big fan of throwing a bunch of drugs at a common cold, so I prefer to drink lots of fluids, top up the sleep and cut back on the exercise. I am not a fan of drugs per se. In fact, re: pain killers and stuff, I seek the “weakest solution” for example. However, if it works, I would use it until I find a good weaker alternative. Yes, one needs to drink the fluids, mostly room temperature water, so that “bad bugs” are cleared from the system as often as possible and perhaps the effects are diluted. Stay away from a n y t h i n g that causes flem such as juice from citrus fruits, anything colder than room temperature especially feeling hot or after or during exercise, dairy products, anything with too much sugar/sweets for starters. Unless one feels so miserable with stuffy nose and coughing that would interfere with breathing, where exercise induced cough and sneezing would result, yes cut back on exercise but if that were N O T to be the case, even though it might be minus 6, dress with a double or triple technical shirt (one long sleeve), stretch tights optional, shorts is okay and go and run but not at max, that’s all.
2. Over the counter drugs There have to be about a million "cold cures" you can pick up at the drug store. I'd lump in everything from NeoCitran to aspirin. I'm not sure if any of this has been proven to cure anything rather they make the symptoms a bit easier to take. I do not know either whether they are proven or not but what works for me is, “ As soon as I feel the symptoms of a cold, i.e. runny nose, plugging sinuses, headachy feeling precursor to a cold and constant sneezing. I take a NeoCitran ASAP and in less than 15 minutes, the sneezing is reduced or stopped, the runny nose has dried up and I would be coughing less. Sometimes, if caught too late, I may need to take another dose in about an hour but after doing so, even before going home from work, my symptoms are significantly relieved.Then, in addition, I would take 1000mg Vitamin C (generic, Superstore/Costco), Garlic Tablets, and Echinacea and now is a good time to take that “hot lemon drink with table spoon of honey” then go straight to bed as soon as possible, stay warm under covers, “Cook it off” “perspire profusely if possible” and sleep it off.If somehow you want to ensure you do not cough as much, what really works to reduce the coughing sensations is Buckley’s. Yes, it tastes horrible, but it works. Another thing I have done to stop the regular “tickling of the throat” that induces coughing is to take a Fisherman’s cough drop and set it at the back of my throat and then go to sleep. It slowly melts and without sucking, it lasts for over 1 hour and it allows me to sleep.100% of the time, as miserable I was the previous day, I am find to go to work the next day and I would no longer have cold symptoms from then on. So I miss, at most half a days work.
3. Natural remediesI suppose one might argue that since Cold FX is made from "natural" ingredients, it's a natural remedy, but I think it's more of a #2 that comes from the health food store. A lot of people swear by garlic. I like hot tea with honey and lemon and a bit of rum.Cold FX does not work for me. Should this cold be caught too late and sleeping is a problem take Nyquil and Buckley’s, daytime or night time. Garlic is okay.
4. VitaminsIt seems to me that once you have a cold, it's too late to throw vitamins at it. I don't know if that's true or not? Not true. The sooner you can injest Echinacea the better but even after the fact. Echinacea will shorten the time of recovery together with 1000mg of Vitamin C daily for at least a week after all symptoms of a cold are over. In fact, I am taking now (not before) is 1000mg of Vitamin C every day even though I have no cold. I have been doing this for the past year.
Cold Prevention
1. Get enough sleepIt seems simple enough, but with all of the stress of jobs, school and training, it's easy to cut back on sleep in order to fit it all in. Yes, get enough sleep, if you can but it is hard. Avoid “f e e l i n g” the effects of stress.” Note that I have said, avoid the feeling. You may not be able to avoid the stress but avoid the feeling. For instance, (note that this is not a recommendation to do the undesireable but only in the event that it infrequently does happen) just an example, you are late for work and the “Boss is going to kill you”. Fact is, you are late. If he is going to kill you, he is. There is nothing you can do about it now. However, do show up, take the punishment recover as eloquently as you can but do not suffer the symptoms of stress, i.e. do not worry about it. Relax from stress. Stress causes many things to go wrong, it can kill you.One good thing to do, if there is anyway to make it work is to take an afternoon nap. A power Nap. It should only take 10 – 15 minutes. I have done it on a desk (when and where permitted) feet extended under the desk, 2 palms faced down on the table and forehead on the back of your hands. That position is okay when you need to “put your head down” but it becomes uncomfortable in about 10-15 minutes and now more rested, realize that you were just “taking a power nap” you would then lift your head up and continue much refreshed and the stress is lessened as well. Concentration is much improved and after that, I could work for hours with great alertness.
2. Eat WellMy Grandma would say that eating an apple a day would keep the doctor away. I think science is proving my Grandma right. I'll try to dig up some references to antioxidants.An apple a day has been recommended by other well-known advisers of healthy living and eating. This is the apple not citrus or any other kind of fruit. And…should it not be correct, you had a good apple, it is a food item and you need fewer calories for the rest of the day.
3. Flu ShotI may be mixing things up a bit here. I always try to get one every year as an insurance policy. I still get sick, though. Not sure if they work?Yes, that is true about FLU shots. The shots only work on the viruses or germs that you will be inoculated for and there are many, many more “bugs” that you may confront during the day/week that has not been included or even known to exist. Do not forget that if you take a flu shot a doctor will get reimbursed for his shot and his treatment. I do not object to that but if it works, okay. I have been asked if I want a flu shot many times and I have said NO but on time, it may have been a weak moment when there was a lot of colds and flus “going around” and my doctor was poised with the “needle” above my arm and asked me if I wanted a flu shot. I said,..hmmm, ok, the needle was in my arm in a nano-second.That week, I had the flu. Go figure. From then on, I have declined to have the “flu-shot” and I have not had the flu since then. I must clarify. There is a virus that one can contract, at least for me, is if it attacks my throat. If I start getting a “sore throat”, I have not been able to avoid the subsequent symptoms. It will last for a week or so. I still do the same stuff but the symptoms are not quickly removed. I am better but no instant near normal relief.
4. Wash your handsListen to what yo Mamma always told you! Yes, you never know which doorknob you have handled was also touched by someone much less cautious than you about hygiene (or that hand-shake). In fact, you have no idea what they might have touched before they touched that doorknob. Dilution is a reduction of the efficacy of the viruses or germs. It would help if a sanitizer or mild detergent(soap) to help carry more of the undesirables away from you. Since I routinely get a cold or two every year, I must be doing something wrong on the prevention side. I hope that people who never get a cold share their wisdom here.I get no more than one cold every year, if at all. My recovery period, should I catch a cold will be a few hours to two days. It does not usually affect my work or play. (drats)
So, do consider what you want to do. If you are adversed to taking the stuff that I use, then, your body does have a recovery mode but it will take time, about a week or so with bed rest and healthy and the right food consumption as indicated above.
However, if you do nothing about it and it lasts longer than a week or two, you risk the cold becoming Pneumonia. This will then require a visit to your doctor and a prescription for antibiotics. And once you get pneumonia, it will occur more easily and more frequently. So it is best to avoid getting it the first time. Anything that lingers more than its normal incubation time can become chronic and it might be something you will need to live with the rest of your life. When you hear of anyone who has a chest cold, coughs, headachy symptoms of colds for a month or more, there is something wrong. This will happen for them time and time again. Do not let this happen to you. Get it over QUICK.
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Cold remedies