DIY Cold Remedies

greyhound/salty dog.

-- chicago kevin, Thursday, December 27, 2007 11:28 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

somewhere once David R.posa I think posted that his solution was to drop two glasses of red wine and a dose of nyquil at the first sign of an oncoming cold, then pass out. wake up covered in sweat and good to go. I go for something similar, just leave out the nyquil and double up on the wine.

What do people know about garlic and ginger -- and what i need to do in order to access their restorative properties?

-humidifier
-hot tea
-hot showers
-vicks vaposteam thingy
-as well as the usual vitamin c/echinacea/zinc/chicken soup cocktail

sauna
whiskey
Alka-Seltzer Plus
sleep

boatloads of garlic, vitamin c, zinc and fluids. I hit hard and early w/ these and my colds rarely last longer than 2 days.

goldenseal is usually thrown in there, too.

chicken soup
funny movies
fluffy feather duvet
mint tea

OMG mint tea

wow this is the biggest flu/cold i've ever suffered with, and my best mate has caught it right at the same time.

So today we've just lounged in my front room watching Bond feeling sorry for ourselves.

On with the fluids, and vitamin C OTM

Change bedclothes as soon as you start feeling like you're through the worst of it.

toothbrush

For the ginger thing: get the root, peel it, chop into discs or bits or whatever and simmer for maybe 15 minutes. Strain and serve in a mug with honey.

I'm not really sure how to consume a lot of raw garlic painlessly. Maybe just get garlic pills from the health food store?

suggestions welcome

broth
neti pot
mellow tunes
wait it out

Gargle with hot salt water with a dash of cayenne pepper until you can't stand it anymore. It always helps clear my sinuses a little and make my throat feel less disgusting, cuts the cold down by a day or two if you start doing it early enough.

matzoh ball soup or tom kha gai.

all that plus copious amounts of raw garlic imo

i did eucalyptus oil in a bowl of hot water/towel/steam inhalation thing last night, it worked p good!

Kale juice works great for me, add garlic + lemon + ginger + cayenne.

Alcohol I stay clear of, unless I can't sleep, then it's a shot of whiskey.

I'm also taking this stuff right now http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa and it's OK.

Do any of those cold prevention home remedies and over-the-counter "first defence" type things actually work?

I generally suspect not but everyone else in this office has a cold including the guy who sits a foot behind me and I'm wondering if there's any way I can avoid it...

I used to take a concoction of chopped ginger, garlic, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and honey with hot water poured over it in a mug. Think it worked to some extent

yeah that def worked for me

I'm drinking all the lemon ginger honey and powers tonight

First Defence nasal spray has averted about five oncoming colds this winter. Everyone has been fucking ill but I've been spraying disinfectant up my nose and killing every single cold dead. I don't know why everyone doesn't do this

Illegal for sale in the US apparently! But it looks like it's just a gel with some acidity so perhaps one can DIY.

Why are they illegal?

To clamp down on recreational abuse? Or possibly just hasn't made it through the medical vetting process.

Seriously, these nasal sprays work insanely well! I was coming down with tt's monster cold/flu last night, took this twice in quick succession and I'm absolutely fine now. I notice there's a big ad campaign this year - well, let me add to the chorus

There’s actual peer-reviewed controlled-study evidence for swilling ionic zinc powders in the mouth, to stop or shorten a cold. I’ve used it many times and it works about 3/4 of the time. Something like a zinc sulphate powder - just mix it with a little water and swill it round your mouth then spit. If you swallow it you get zinc chloride which can upset your stomach. All of the chelated zinc products are useless btw. Just swill it around a few times a day and symptoms and duration are majorly reduced. Supposedly activates local immune defences.

also zinc lozenges for the same purpose, but it has to be ionic zinc not chelated.

Nana's oldtimey downhome remedy: dig out entire sinus cavity with a tomato huller.

My brother's father-in-law from his first marriage, when he felt a cold coming on, would buy a pint of whiskey, drink it, go to bed, pile blankets on himself, and sleep as long as he could. He swore by it.

btw, there are no peer-reviewed control-group double-blind studies to back up my brother's father-in-law's treatment.

First Defence nasal spray has averted about five oncoming colds this winter

The active ingredient in this seems to be zinc. If the Mayo Clinic is to be believed (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/expert-answers/zinc-for-colds/faq-20057769), the evidence for zinc supplements is weak.

I made it into work today on a mix of Bronkaid and coffee, with the side effects of having zero appetite and probably not being able to sleep for the rest of this calendar year. But at least my sinuses are not gushing like Old Faithful.

If a cold remedy enables me to make it into work then I'm not sure I want to take it.

yeah otm