@macromeh thanks! These are all diagnosed and I already did a 7day Amoxicillin. Follow-up appt this Thursday and again next Thursday. Just can’t shake it!
@ecanada I had a chronic sinus infection a few years ago that came and went for over a year. I finally had a CAT scan and they found a polyp blocking one of my sinuses from draining. Once that was removed (out-patient surgery at a clinic), I haven’t had a sinus infection since - not really even a full-fledged cold. Happy days!
@tinamarie1974 cuz all they’ll say is… “You’re sick. You should take some vitamin C, drink some herbal tea to soothe your throat, take DayQuil to keep any fever down, then take NyQuil to get some sleep.”
@tinamarie1974 the doctor can’t do anything for a cold. also, some of us don’t have insurance. i’m not sitting in an ER for hours or paying $200 for an urgent care visit so they can tell me to go home and rest and take some ibuprofen lol.
@goldnectar depends on the cold and how your body handles them. For me, if I don’t it turns into an infection and could turn into something worse. So yes, I do go to the Dr when I get sick.Anyway, that is what he is there for and why I pay for insurance.
@jerk_nugget@zinimusprime I do realize that not everyone has insurance, but it is still a valid answer to the question.
@tinamarie1974 of course! if you’re a person prone to infection/immunocompromised then obv don’t stay at home and die lol. (pls, go to the doctor, we’d miss you!) but then you’re not really being treated for the common cold, it’s something else. my MIL is prone to infections but is also dangerously allergic to most antibiotics so it can become a tricky situation pretty fast. (and i never visit if i have so much as a sniffle.) glad you at least have good insurance!
@jerk_nugget thanks! I just have severe sinus issues and refuse to get the surgery. Causes every cold to turn into an infection or worse. It makes my spring/fall seasons difficult, but I have no one to blame but myself…'specially since @KuoH is MIA
I’ve usually gotten some decent mileage out of zinc lozenges (or sprays) in addition to most of the list.
Proper, real rest is very important, too. No imitations, no working from home, no catching up on your backlog of adrenaline-pumping reading or watching. You’ll feel better for a bit, but you can also make yourself much sicker for much longer. Listen to some audiobooks, maybe something academic about a subject you were interested in before getting sick. Yes, it may put you to sleep - but that’s a good thing. Watch some CGDCT or (if you hate God, yourself, etc.) some Hallmark movies. Avoid as much stress as possible for a bit while your body recharges.
Capsules with Frankincense, Lemon, Oregano, Melaleuca, Rosemary, Clove, Orange, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus. Bombs out whatever is ailing me. And high dose vitamin C.
@Wookee I second that. Taking Zinc Gluconate as soon as possible helps prevent the virus from gaining ground as the zinc binds to the same sites the cold virus uses. Sort of like teflon coating yourself.
@squishybrain@Wookee My advice as well - it shortens the cold duration and the severity. Besides that, and hot tea, soup and sleep, I just take aspirin, a basic generic decongestant, and a generic tussin DM to deal with whatever symptoms are most annoying.
@Wookee I have good results with the TheraZinc elderberry lozenges, as long as I start taking them at the very first sign of a cold. Maybe they are just a placebo, but they are inexpensive and make me feel better, so who cares?
@llangley@mehmef Not the nasel spray! They removed the zinc from it awhile ago due to it permanently damaging your sense of smell so now it has NO active ingredient. That ‘zinc taste’ is how zicam (and all other zinc gluconate based treatments) works. For me, I would rather have that metallic taste in my mouth than suffer from severe cold symptoms.
Tea, vitamin c, sleep, goldenseal, and wintergreen-rosemary-mustard seed baths. Sunshine, if it’s warm enough to sit outside. Theraflu too, if I can choke it down, since it’s the only cold medicine I can take with no harmful interactions with my daily meds
Prevention (when a bug is going around):
Don’t touch anything that others touch with your bare hands. For example, I use the corner of my briefcase to push elevator buttons, my feet to open pushable doors, paper towel to pull door when exiting restroom, etc. Despite all of this, there are of course times you just have to touch stuff or shake someone’s hand. Keep a mental note to not rub your eyes/nose until you go wash.
To fight it off because you feel the warning signs or were exposed to someone sick:
Echinacea spray, zinc, high doses of Vitamin C, B-Complex, Multi-Vitamin
Natural stuff for once you got it:
Simple soups with lots of black and red pepper. Strongest hot sauce you can handle on everything. TONS of water or Gatorade G2, real ginger tea with real lime, hot toddy! Sleep.
Last resort - Meds:
When I have a cold at its worst and yet HAVE to talk for a long time (I use wireless mikes, so I don’t have to be near anyone), I take Drixoral. Dries me up for hours without giving me the jitters, nor making me drowsy. They stopped selling it in the US after the meth boom, but I ordered a several-year supply from Canada.
@zinimusprime Ain’t nobody got time for that!
There are what, over 200 virus strains just for the “common cold”, each triggering a different immune response. It’s gonna take a while to be cold-proof.
Seriously though, in normal “everyday life” places I’m only more careful just when I see stuff going around (significant proportion of sick folks in one place)… but I also often go to jails and public buildings that see thousands of visitors per day, plus airports and hospitals on occasion. I’ve noticed that the folks that work there rarely get sick, but I’d attribute it more to them being very strict about what they touch, not any built up defense system. At jails, airports and court the guards wear gloves that they change out every few people they frisk or even just going through handbags. Nurses and doctors, no need to mention how good they are about it.
My family jokes that I have some type of superhuman immune system because I so often dodge trending bugs despite being in high risk places so often. But I think the toughest part for people is the not touching your face with an unclean hand.
When I do catch a cold, I congratulate the virus for being a worthy opponent. At that point, yeah, I stay away from meds as much as possible (I feel they just prolong the inevitable) and prefer to let the immune system do it’s job and just give it fluids, rest and nutrients to work optimally.
@jester747 You don’t have a normal life if you’re going to all those places on a normal basis. Therefore, I applaud the measures you take. Those places be nasty!
Best way I’ve found is a cocktail of Cetirizine 10mg (or you’re preferred allergy med) once a day, 2tablets of 4hr pseudoephedrine every 4 hours (you’ll get nose bleeds if you take more often then that) (decongestant and gives you energy equivalent to a cup of coffee), iron tablet 1 a day, zinc tablet one a day, if hacking up loogies take guafenison 1200mg 2x a day, naproxen 800mg every 6 hrs as needed for aches and pain, cup of coffee every 4hrs to help boost the effects of naproxen/& pseudoephedrine
Extra points if you go to bed with a hoodie, sweatpants, socks and 2blankets to sweat everything out.
Shower in the morning with hot water when you wake up to clean off the sweat. Make sure you get your sinus cleared out in that 15 min shower.
I typically do this and any bacterial/viral infection I get is gone in 3 days guaranteed, sometimes even just one day. Just don’t forget to drink water throughout the day to flush out your system. If you can’t eat full meals, graze throughout the day so that you have a steady supply of nutrients
@keystothebakery You had me at cocktail but then I got lost in the pharm and never found the bourbon lol. That seems like a lot of prep (and chemicals/meds) while you’re sick but as long as it works, it works!
mucinex, always, and go through the whole pack at the regimented intervals like it’s an antibiotic.
the immune support version of emergen-c every morning.
tea with local honey.
lots of water.
my mom’s family recipe for egg drop soup. (aka a packet of lipton chicken noodle with a cup or two of extra water, pinch of salt, and a beaten egg or two swirled in at the end of the five minute cook time.)
original ricola if the cold is really bad, same with nose drops. (not nasal spray.)
copious amounts of kleenex cooling lotion tissues. (bought bc it was all amazon had one time, but actually really great tissues.)
Well if it is the flu B (the one that isn’t covered well by the flu shot) I can tell you nothing much does anything if you missed the window (like I did) for the tamaflu stuff. I am about 12 days into this. There was a good solid week I was too sick to really even watch TV. If this person just got sick dragging themselves to the doctor to get the antiviral is probably worth the effort. I didn’t have the energy to drive myself there and didn’t realize it only does some good if you take it early on. Had I known that I would have forced myself to drag my sorry ass out of bed and go.
Go buy a half gallon of vodka. Drink as much as you can. Repeat. The idea is to make your body an hostile environment to any pesky virus. And it will help you “sleep”
Depends on the type of cold, but if you’re suffering from a sore throat, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the morning and before bed clears it right up after a day or two. The stuff is loaded with nutrients, but taste like Satan’s taint sweat after scissoring Bigfoot.
Elderberry tonic! Twice a day when I’m not sick, but people around me are, and four times a day when I start feeling symptoms. I also take decongestant, expectorant, and vitamins C and D.
Oil of Oregano is a miracle in a bottle for colds & feeling any sick coming on. Also I use Trace Minerals Power PAC (grape) & my holy grail to sip- Gypsy Cold Care Tea by Traditional Medicinals. Lots of rest, fresh air & soup- apparently a quality Chicken soup is best (but I can’t eat poultry) so a garlic onion veggie soup is my magic broth and Miso throughout the sick days. Oh- and plenty of Siracha when congestion is an issue. Quality local honey by the spoon for sore throat. Good food is the cure.
I make a tea that works every time. The tea consists of mint (or whatever base tea I have sitting around) garlic, cayenne, lemon, honey, ginger. Make enough for a few cups and suck it all down.
Bare knuckle…
/giphy fight club
Take Sambucas elderberry syrup. Don’t skimp, take the recommended dose.
I’ve been sick since Jan 1st. Cold. Laryngitis. Sinus Infection. New Type of Cold.
I’m subscribing for answers.
@ecanada IME, if it is an actual sinus infection, the best remedy is antibiotics. In other words, see your doctor.
@macromeh thanks! These are all diagnosed and I already did a 7day Amoxicillin. Follow-up appt this Thursday and again next Thursday. Just can’t shake it!
@ecanada I had a chronic sinus infection a few years ago that came and went for over a year. I finally had a CAT scan and they found a polyp blocking one of my sinuses from draining. Once that was removed (out-patient surgery at a clinic), I haven’t had a sinus infection since - not really even a full-fledged cold. Happy days!
So going to the Dr was not an option???
/giphy say aaahhhhhhhh
@tinamarie1974 cuz all they’ll say is… “You’re sick. You should take some vitamin C, drink some herbal tea to soothe your throat, take DayQuil to keep any fever down, then take NyQuil to get some sleep.”
@tinamarie1974 the doctor can’t do anything for a cold. also, some of us don’t have insurance. i’m not sitting in an ER for hours or paying $200 for an urgent care visit so they can tell me to go home and rest and take some ibuprofen lol.
@tinamarie1974 FFS, get a sniffle and run off to the doctor to waste his time? Ok, Mr. Moneybags/Health Insurance Beneficiary.
@goldnectar depends on the cold and how your body handles them. For me, if I don’t it turns into an infection and could turn into something worse. So yes, I do go to the Dr when I get sick.Anyway, that is what he is there for and why I pay for insurance.
@jerk_nugget @zinimusprime I do realize that not everyone has insurance, but it is still a valid answer to the question.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@tinamarie1974 of course! if you’re a person prone to infection/immunocompromised then obv don’t stay at home and die lol. (pls, go to the doctor, we’d miss you!) but then you’re not really being treated for the common cold, it’s something else. my MIL is prone to infections but is also dangerously allergic to most antibiotics so it can become a tricky situation pretty fast. (and i never visit if i have so much as a sniffle.) glad you at least have good insurance!
@jerk_nugget thanks! I just have severe sinus issues and refuse to get the surgery. Causes every cold to turn into an infection or worse. It makes my spring/fall seasons difficult, but I have no one to blame but myself…'specially since @KuoH is MIA
KuoH
@tinamarie1974 that signature gets me every time
(also MIL = mother in law 
)
@jerk_nugget oh, duh! I should have known that!!
@tinamarie1974 happens to the best of us! so many acronyms, so few brain slots - at least that’s how it is for me
Mushroom immune defense pills along with oregano oil pills help me get through colds quicker.
Gargling pure ginger juice for a sore throat works wonders if you can handle the spice.
Neti Pot helps. You can add a tsp of xylitol to help kill bacteria.
I also heard sex was a good cure. Wouldn’t hurt to try.
@hchavers Well, it might hurt if you forgot to fill the prescription from that clinic…
I’ve usually gotten some decent mileage out of zinc lozenges (or sprays) in addition to most of the list.
Proper, real rest is very important, too. No imitations, no working from home, no catching up on your backlog of adrenaline-pumping reading or watching. You’ll feel better for a bit, but you can also make yourself much sicker for much longer. Listen to some audiobooks, maybe something academic about a subject you were interested in before getting sick. Yes, it may put you to sleep - but that’s a good thing. Watch some CGDCT or (if you hate God, yourself, etc.) some Hallmark movies. Avoid as much stress as possible for a bit while your body recharges.
Capsules with Frankincense, Lemon, Oregano, Melaleuca, Rosemary, Clove, Orange, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus. Bombs out whatever is ailing me. And high dose vitamin C.
Staying the hell away from me.
Yep, that’s the ticket. Works every time.
Zinc. As long as you can make each tablet last. It reduces severity and longevity of the illness, at the expense of my sense of taste.
@Wookee I second that. Taking Zinc Gluconate as soon as possible helps prevent the virus from gaining ground as the zinc binds to the same sites the cold virus uses. Sort of like teflon coating yourself.
@squishybrain @Wookee My advice as well - it shortens the cold duration and the severity. Besides that, and hot tea, soup and sleep, I just take aspirin, a basic generic decongestant, and a generic tussin DM to deal with whatever symptoms are most annoying.
@Wookee I have good results with the TheraZinc elderberry lozenges, as long as I start taking them at the very first sign of a cold. Maybe they are just a placebo, but they are inexpensive and make me feel better, so who cares?
Zicam
@mehmef Yep!! The nasal spray. The chewables leave that bad zinc taste.
@llangley @mehmef Not the nasel spray! They removed the zinc from it awhile ago due to it permanently damaging your sense of smell so now it has NO active ingredient. That ‘zinc taste’ is how zicam (and all other zinc gluconate based treatments) works. For me, I would rather have that metallic taste in my mouth than suffer from severe cold symptoms.
(The US version uses a grape wine base and is a bit sweeter, but it’s still good.)
/giphy flamethrower
This will make you feel better. May even kill some germs.
@mehcuda67 Interesting that they have a giphy of my bidet.
@yakkoTDI Might be time to turn down the temperature and pressure for that application.
I just concede.
A bongload of some indica and a shot of whiskey before bed. Spicy foods if you need to clear your sinuses.
Tea, vitamin c, sleep, goldenseal, and wintergreen-rosemary-mustard seed baths. Sunshine, if it’s warm enough to sit outside. Theraflu too, if I can choke it down, since it’s the only cold medicine I can take with no harmful interactions with my daily meds
I’ve been using Umcka for years and swear by its effectiveness. Also Xlear nasal spray before bedtime and Zinc supplement during flu season.
https://www.naturesway.com/Brands/Umcka
Prevention (when a bug is going around):
Don’t touch anything that others touch with your bare hands. For example, I use the corner of my briefcase to push elevator buttons, my feet to open pushable doors, paper towel to pull door when exiting restroom, etc. Despite all of this, there are of course times you just have to touch stuff or shake someone’s hand. Keep a mental note to not rub your eyes/nose until you go wash.
To fight it off because you feel the warning signs or were exposed to someone sick:
Echinacea spray, zinc, high doses of Vitamin C, B-Complex, Multi-Vitamin
Natural stuff for once you got it:
Simple soups with lots of black and red pepper. Strongest hot sauce you can handle on everything. TONS of water or Gatorade G2, real ginger tea with real lime, hot toddy! Sleep.
Last resort - Meds:
When I have a cold at its worst and yet HAVE to talk for a long time (I use wireless mikes, so I don’t have to be near anyone), I take Drixoral. Dries me up for hours without giving me the jitters, nor making me drowsy. They stopped selling it in the US after the meth boom, but I ordered a several-year supply from Canada.
@jester747 Or you welcome all germs and then you develop immunity to everything.
@zinimusprime Ain’t nobody got time for that!
There are what, over 200 virus strains just for the “common cold”, each triggering a different immune response. It’s gonna take a while to be cold-proof.
Seriously though, in normal “everyday life” places I’m only more careful just when I see stuff going around (significant proportion of sick folks in one place)… but I also often go to jails and public buildings that see thousands of visitors per day, plus airports and hospitals on occasion. I’ve noticed that the folks that work there rarely get sick, but I’d attribute it more to them being very strict about what they touch, not any built up defense system. At jails, airports and court the guards wear gloves that they change out every few people they frisk or even just going through handbags. Nurses and doctors, no need to mention how good they are about it.
At that point, yeah, I stay away from meds as much as possible (I feel they just prolong the inevitable) and prefer to let the immune system do it’s job and just give it fluids, rest and nutrients to work optimally.
My family jokes that I have some type of superhuman immune system because I so often dodge trending bugs despite being in high risk places so often. But I think the toughest part for people is the not touching your face with an unclean hand.
When I do catch a cold, I congratulate the virus for being a worthy opponent.
@jester747 You don’t have a normal life if you’re going to all those places on a normal basis. Therefore, I applaud the measures you take. Those places be nasty!
Best way I’ve found is a cocktail of Cetirizine 10mg (or you’re preferred allergy med) once a day, 2tablets of 4hr pseudoephedrine every 4 hours (you’ll get nose bleeds if you take more often then that) (decongestant and gives you energy equivalent to a cup of coffee), iron tablet 1 a day, zinc tablet one a day, if hacking up loogies take guafenison 1200mg 2x a day, naproxen 800mg every 6 hrs as needed for aches and pain, cup of coffee every 4hrs to help boost the effects of naproxen/& pseudoephedrine
Extra points if you go to bed with a hoodie, sweatpants, socks and 2blankets to sweat everything out.
Shower in the morning with hot water when you wake up to clean off the sweat. Make sure you get your sinus cleared out in that 15 min shower.
I typically do this and any bacterial/viral infection I get is gone in 3 days guaranteed, sometimes even just one day. Just don’t forget to drink water throughout the day to flush out your system. If you can’t eat full meals, graze throughout the day so that you have a steady supply of nutrients
@keystothebakery You had me at cocktail but then I got lost in the pharm and never found the bourbon lol. That seems like a lot of prep (and chemicals/meds) while you’re sick but as long as it works, it works!
@hems79 And if you drink 12 of them, you’ll be 12 times as healthy. It’s science.
Sleep and a slightly higher than normal calorie diet.
Chicken fat (aka Chicken Soup).
Hot Toddy. Whiskey lemon and honey. It’ll help you forget what you’re suffering from too.
@Oldelvis If lazy you can skip the lemon and honey and get mostly the same results.
I don’t…
mucinex, always, and go through the whole pack at the regimented intervals like it’s an antibiotic.
the immune support version of emergen-c every morning.
tea with local honey.
lots of water.
my mom’s family recipe for egg drop soup. (aka a packet of lipton chicken noodle with a cup or two of extra water, pinch of salt, and a beaten egg or two swirled in at the end of the five minute cook time.)
original ricola if the cold is really bad, same with nose drops. (not nasal spray.)
copious amounts of kleenex cooling lotion tissues. (bought bc it was all amazon had one time, but actually really great tissues.)
Well if it is the flu B (the one that isn’t covered well by the flu shot) I can tell you nothing much does anything if you missed the window (like I did) for the tamaflu stuff. I am about 12 days into this. There was a good solid week I was too sick to really even watch TV. If this person just got sick dragging themselves to the doctor to get the antiviral is probably worth the effort. I didn’t have the energy to drive myself there and didn’t realize it only does some good if you take it early on. Had I known that I would have forced myself to drag my sorry ass out of bed and go.
@Kidsandliz Yuck. Sorry to hear that - get well soon!
@mehcuda67 thanks. Amazing how long this is dragging on.
Chicken tortilla soup with salsa added.
It works.
Vitamin C. LOTS of vitamin C.
Go buy a half gallon of vodka. Drink as much as you can. Repeat. The idea is to make your body an hostile environment to any pesky virus. And it will help you “sleep”
@j37hr0 yep, just mix with orange juice to get lots of vitamin c!
@j37hr0 @LordSalem Vitamin C does nothing for a cold (it’s a scientific fact!) so best to dispense with the orange juice and go straight for the vodka.
Depends on the type of cold, but if you’re suffering from a sore throat, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the morning and before bed clears it right up after a day or two. The stuff is loaded with nutrients, but taste like Satan’s taint sweat after scissoring Bigfoot.
Hot cider with butter and rum.
Elderberry tonic! Twice a day when I’m not sick, but people around me are, and four times a day when I start feeling symptoms. I also take decongestant, expectorant, and vitamins C and D.
Sudafed is The Best for the heavy head full of pain!!! Mucinex for congestion!
Oil of Oregano is a miracle in a bottle for colds & feeling any sick coming on. Also I use Trace Minerals Power PAC (grape) & my holy grail to sip- Gypsy Cold Care Tea by Traditional Medicinals. Lots of rest, fresh air & soup- apparently a quality Chicken soup is best (but I can’t eat poultry) so a garlic onion veggie soup is my magic broth and Miso throughout the sick days. Oh- and plenty of Siracha when congestion is an issue. Quality local honey by the spoon for sore throat. Good food is the cure.
I make a tea that works every time. The tea consists of mint (or whatever base tea I have sitting around) garlic, cayenne, lemon, honey, ginger. Make enough for a few cups and suck it all down.