@thismyusername I at these like (as) candy in elementary school. They had a rule that kids couldn’t eat candy in school, but “cough drops” were a-ok. Cough cough… Guess I need another cand-- cough drop.
@thismyusername I love those so much. I have to use the sugar-free version, though, and they are so much more expensive, as well as hard to find in stores.
@squishybrain I am not a “homeopathic” kind of girl, but I live and die by cold-eeze. The double-blind, placebo-controlled studies sold me on it initially. The fact that it works amazingly keeps me coming back for more (and fighting through the metal taste). It’s a miracle “drug.” I estimate it reduces the duration of my colds by 50%-60% and the severity by a whopping 80%+. Great stuff.
@heidiporn The irony is that Cold-eeze claims that they are homeopathic when they aren’t at all. Homeopathic medicines should have virtually no active ingredients because the absurd dilution ratios homeopathy demands.
I suspect that their marketing department is trying to take advantage of folks gullibility. As long as it works, is cheap and safe I’m good with it.
Re: metalic taste: That shows it’s working While it’s not certain why zinc works to reduce cold symptoms, some have conjectured that the zinc molecules attach themselves to the same sites a cold virus would, preventing the cold virus from infecting as many cells and allowing your immune system to respond to fewer invaders. Since the zinc coats your throat and most colds take hold in the throat first, the infection is reduced. Most of the symptoms of a cold are due to the bodies immune system killing infected cells. With fewer cells infected, there’s less damage done to the throat lining thus fewer symptoms with less severity.
@thismyusername Shouldn’t do anything to your smell unless you’re squirting it up your nose. Cold-eeze used to offer a nasel spray with zinc but they stopped when it was found out that applying it that way could permanently cause loss of smell. The current version of Cold-eeze nasal spray contains no zinc so it’s worthless (basically it’s a placebo). The throat lozenges do work though. FYI While I use the brand name, the generic versions of zinc gluconate lozenges work just as well
@heidiporn Forgot to mention, for those that are considering trying zinc tablets, make sure you start the zinc as soon as you feel symptoms. Within the first day or two is best. Waiting too long will mean that the virus will have gained too strong a foothold in the nose and lungs. zinc can’t help much once that happens.
@squishybrain The explanation of how/why it works is interesting. Never heard how it slows the replication of the cold virus. And yup, I try to take it the second I’m 80% certain it’s a cold.
Last year I got this cough thing. Didn’t occur to me it could be a cold, because my colds always start with the “I swallowed tempered glass shards” sore throat. Well, this was an anomaly. Got a full-on, miserable cold that lasted 15 days. Somewhere in the middle of that, I got a separate cold with different symptoms. Started taking zinc, and that sucker was done before the first one. And was of course much milder.
Back to the “coating” theory - I have bought generic 2X zinc “meltaways” that go much quicker but still seem to work as well. The thing I tell people when I am proselytizing in the name of coldeeze (in addition to 24-48 hours) is to flip the box over and look at the amount of zinc in the product. Even coldeeze sells some voodoo crap with half the zinc and a bunch of useless vitamin c.
Emergen-C (buttload of Vitamin C), hot tea with honey, Halls INTENSE COOL cough drops, Robitussin, and a couple shots of Fireball before bed. I go to WAR on colds.
@cpierce@unksol Yeah, Emergen-C is a scam and worthless. Also many studies have been done on Vitaman C and they all show that there’s no more effect on a cold than placebo.
If I could find some Ricola Pearls (the original ones, the gummies), that would be greaaaat. They taste like some vegan nightmare concoction of grass, wood chips and questionable herbs, but do a really great job of numbing the pain. The new ones that taste like candy don’t work nearly as well.
Ex-MIL’s remedy of Hot Lemon Tea, or more accurately, hot lemonade. Fresh lemons with pulp and rind (cuts mucus) lots of sugar (coats throat) water. Make it strong like Navy coffee. Heat to simmer. Sip as hot as tolerable. Remove rind if you make extra so it doesn’t get bitter. Guaranteed to soothe the pain and even temporarily give your voice back. Repeat as necessary. Robitussin DM or any OTC with guafenesin and dextromethorphan to quiet cough. Extra fluids, acetaminophen.
I have too much tea in the cabinet so that is always a go to with a good dose of honey added. Soup helps. Have resorted to ice cream before and as long as the stomach is feeling good, it works super good.
i do actually use ricola, but i like the original flavor. if i’m in pain, ibuprofen. if it’s in combo with a cold, mucinex. i also drink hot tea with honey.
Gargle Listerine to kill infection. Use Sucrets to dull pain. Drink citrusey ginger tea for comfort and healing properties. That said, sore throats rarely last long enough to require treatment. I sometimes get a mild sore throat at bedtime that presages an incoming cold or flu. It’s my perception that whatever sponsors the incoming illness (virus, bacteria, germs, whatever) takes up residence in my throat first before spreading to the rest of my body. Whether I’m right or just superstitious, blasting with Airborne, Vitamins B, C, & D, and ruthlessly gargling with Listerine seems to drive it off about half the time. Either way, whether I get sick or not, when I wake in the morning the sore throat is almost always gone.
If I have flu-like symptoms and trouble sleeping? The “Hot Toddy” with your choice of strong dark liquor is always fun. It’s the only time and excuse we get to drink them. Might as well have a little fun! Plus you avoid putting any medication (chemicals) in your body! (For you health nuts!)
I can’t believe I didn’t see Hall’s Mentholyptus cough drops here. I don’t use anything else when I get a cold. It’s three way acting, it clears your nose so you can breath, sooths sore throat and keeps coughs at bay. It’s the greatest stuff.
Singers and actors all have their own weird throat remedies, and mine is particularly weird. My ONE WEIRD TRICK, if you will. I dissolve a packet of EmergenC into a cup of hot water, then steep a Throat Coat tea bag in it for about 5 minutes. Then I stir in honey, lemon juice, and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and turmeric. Doesn’t taste awful, but it certainly tastes odd. Works though! I’ve performed through a lot of colds.
I got a horrific cold the first winter working in Tokyo. A Japanese roomie cooked up a traditional remedy and this is what I remember: a lot of ginger root sliced up, a dash of soy sauce, daikon (large Japanese radish) sliced up boiled in water and drank as hot as possible. It probably had honey but I don’t remember - I have tried looking this up but can’t find this remedy.
It was really horribly tasting but made me sweat while a slept and when I woke up was 100% cured. I should have asked about the ingredients … I do remember there was a lot of fresh ginger root!
@unksol that recipe really throws in everything! I live in a smallish town and don’t think I have ever seen daikon in the asian section of our supermarket. It is a very refreshing bite.
I suck it up.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
and whine.
@shahnm It’s spelled w. i. n. e.
@Mehrocco_Mole @shahnm
Wine is fine, but liquor is quicker.
I prefer to just sever my vocal chords so it no longer hurts to talk.
I use cough drops if it’s less “severe” than that, though.
@PurplePawprints
I didn’t stay up last night so just read this and you beat me, lol
chicken soup, preferably home made.
Sever that e
a sore throat? nothing some sugar can’t fix…
@thismyusername I at these like (as) candy in elementary school. They had a rule that kids couldn’t eat candy in school, but “cough drops” were a-ok. Cough cough… Guess I need another cand-- cough drop.
@shahnm you and the rest of us… sugar is a magical medical breakthrough.
@thismyusername I love those so much. I have to use the sugar-free version, though, and they are so much more expensive, as well as hard to find in stores.
@shahnm @thismyusername yes, same! and orange tic tacs aren’t “mints” either but they did taste good…
@thismyusername I just noticed that I left the “e” off of one of my words in my above post. I guess that must be contagious…
Zinc Gluconate (brand name: Cold-Ez). Shortens severity and length of cold according to some studies.
That, or cocaine.
@squishybrain also shortens your ability to smell (and by extension, taste)
@squishybrain I am not a “homeopathic” kind of girl, but I live and die by cold-eeze. The double-blind, placebo-controlled studies sold me on it initially. The fact that it works amazingly keeps me coming back for more (and fighting through the metal taste). It’s a miracle “drug.” I estimate it reduces the duration of my colds by 50%-60% and the severity by a whopping 80%+. Great stuff.
@heidiporn The irony is that Cold-eeze claims that they are homeopathic when they aren’t at all. Homeopathic medicines should have virtually no active ingredients because the absurd dilution ratios homeopathy demands.
I suspect that their marketing department is trying to take advantage of folks gullibility. As long as it works, is cheap and safe I’m good with it.
Re: metalic taste: That shows it’s working
While it’s not certain why zinc works to reduce cold symptoms, some have conjectured that the zinc molecules attach themselves to the same sites a cold virus would, preventing the cold virus from infecting as many cells and allowing your immune system to respond to fewer invaders. Since the zinc coats your throat and most colds take hold in the throat first, the infection is reduced. Most of the symptoms of a cold are due to the bodies immune system killing infected cells. With fewer cells infected, there’s less damage done to the throat lining thus fewer symptoms with less severity.
@thismyusername Shouldn’t do anything to your smell unless you’re squirting it up your nose. Cold-eeze used to offer a nasel spray with zinc but they stopped when it was found out that applying it that way could permanently cause loss of smell. The current version of Cold-eeze nasal spray contains no zinc so it’s worthless (basically it’s a placebo). The throat lozenges do work though. FYI While I use the brand name, the generic versions of zinc gluconate lozenges work just as well
@heidiporn Forgot to mention, for those that are considering trying zinc tablets, make sure you start the zinc as soon as you feel symptoms. Within the first day or two is best. Waiting too long will mean that the virus will have gained too strong a foothold in the nose and lungs. zinc can’t help much once that happens.
@squishybrain The explanation of how/why it works is interesting. Never heard how it slows the replication of the cold virus. And yup, I try to take it the second I’m 80% certain it’s a cold.
Last year I got this cough thing. Didn’t occur to me it could be a cold, because my colds always start with the “I swallowed tempered glass shards” sore throat. Well, this was an anomaly. Got a full-on, miserable cold that lasted 15 days. Somewhere in the middle of that, I got a separate cold with different symptoms. Started taking zinc, and that sucker was done before the first one. And was of course much milder.
Back to the “coating” theory - I have bought generic 2X zinc “meltaways” that go much quicker but still seem to work as well. The thing I tell people when I am proselytizing in the name of coldeeze (in addition to 24-48 hours) is to flip the box over and look at the amount of zinc in the product. Even coldeeze sells some voodoo crap with half the zinc and a bunch of useless vitamin c.
^^^ That’s a lot of writing.
@squishybrain are you sure you have used it? if so and you can still taste and smell while “zinced” up … you must be a level above a supertaster.
Zicam throat spray or swabs at the first hint of a cold, I usually nip it before it “sets in”. Chloroseptic if sore throat.
Hot burgundy with nutmeg and cinnamon. At Shush Mountain Shanty Creek Ski Resort in Northern Michigan this was known as the King’s cold remedy.
@Mehrocco_Mole Oh, that sounds amazing.
Miso soup, and I eat a lot of ice.
Gargle pure ginger juice. It burns/kills everything in its path.
@bluebeatpete Including one’s will to live…
Livin’ on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine,
All a friend can say is “Ain’t it a shame?”
@2many2no You’re busted…down on Bourbon Street
Pho
Cough syrup with Codeine or another sleep aid.
Emergen-C (buttload of Vitamin C), hot tea with honey, Halls INTENSE COOL cough drops, Robitussin, and a couple shots of Fireball before bed. I go to WAR on colds.
@cpierce Did you get you share of the Emergen-C class action settlement? Since it does nothing?
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5184850
@cpierce @unksol Yeah, Emergen-C is a scam and worthless. Also many studies have been done on Vitaman C and they all show that there’s no more effect on a cold than placebo.
Delsym. 12 hours of cough-free bliss. And sleep.
Don’t over dose. More is not better. You’ll be woozy and not clear-headed after it wears off.
Hot chocolate with rum or brandy
I reach down my throat and ‘severe’ the cords.
@tomvarela That seems a bit sever.
"Fisherman’s Friend"
Works like a charm.
And also helps with mild asthma cough until you get the rest you need.
@RedOak Double menthol! Nausea menthol! Good stuff!
Hot and Sour soup from my favorite Thai place or tea or hot water with a splash of orange juice.
(And please fix the heading before anyone else cuts their own throat).
If I could find some Ricola Pearls (the original ones, the gummies), that would be greaaaat. They taste like some vegan nightmare concoction of grass, wood chips and questionable herbs, but do a really great job of numbing the pain. The new ones that taste like candy don’t work nearly as well.
Extra sleep when first coming down with a cold I find often stops it cold in its tracks.
Ex-MIL’s remedy of Hot Lemon Tea, or more accurately, hot lemonade. Fresh lemons with pulp and rind (cuts mucus) lots of sugar (coats throat) water. Make it strong like Navy coffee. Heat to simmer. Sip as hot as tolerable. Remove rind if you make extra so it doesn’t get bitter. Guaranteed to soothe the pain and even temporarily give your voice back. Repeat as necessary. Robitussin DM or any OTC with guafenesin and dextromethorphan to quiet cough. Extra fluids, acetaminophen.
@tngrannyd
I’m not taking anything that has “-orphan” in its name.
I have too much tea in the cabinet so that is always a go to with a good dose of honey added. Soup helps. Have resorted to ice cream before and as long as the stomach is feeling good, it works super good.
Whiskey and lemon juice right from the fridge.
i just sit and deal with it because I’m not a baby
Ricola Dual Action Glacier Mint Cough Drops
Hey, this is my lucky day!
i do actually use ricola, but i like the original flavor. if i’m in pain, ibuprofen. if it’s in combo with a cold, mucinex. i also drink hot tea with honey.
Gargle Listerine to kill infection. Use Sucrets to dull pain. Drink citrusey ginger tea for comfort and healing properties. That said, sore throats rarely last long enough to require treatment. I sometimes get a mild sore throat at bedtime that presages an incoming cold or flu. It’s my perception that whatever sponsors the incoming illness (virus, bacteria, germs, whatever) takes up residence in my throat first before spreading to the rest of my body. Whether I’m right or just superstitious, blasting with Airborne, Vitamins B, C, & D, and ruthlessly gargling with Listerine seems to drive it off about half the time. Either way, whether I get sick or not, when I wake in the morning the sore throat is almost always gone.
It’s not so sever.
Hot sauce usually works pretty well.
mucinexD
If I have flu-like symptoms and trouble sleeping? The “Hot Toddy” with your choice of strong dark liquor is always fun. It’s the only time and excuse we get to drink them. Might as well have a little fun! Plus you avoid putting any medication (chemicals) in your body! (For you health nuts!)
I can’t believe I didn’t see Hall’s Mentholyptus cough drops here. I don’t use anything else when I get a cold. It’s three way acting, it clears your nose so you can breath, sooths sore throat and keeps coughs at bay. It’s the greatest stuff.
Sever, huh?
Singers and actors all have their own weird throat remedies, and mine is particularly weird. My ONE WEIRD TRICK, if you will. I dissolve a packet of EmergenC into a cup of hot water, then steep a Throat Coat tea bag in it for about 5 minutes. Then I stir in honey, lemon juice, and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and turmeric. Doesn’t taste awful, but it certainly tastes odd. Works though! I’ve performed through a lot of colds.
Pretty much all of the above, plus wasabi peas. A good handful or two usually clear my sinuses and throat for a bit. Also good for allergy season.
I got a horrific cold the first winter working in Tokyo. A Japanese roomie cooked up a traditional remedy and this is what I remember: a lot of ginger root sliced up, a dash of soy sauce, daikon (large Japanese radish) sliced up boiled in water and drank as hot as possible. It probably had honey but I don’t remember - I have tried looking this up but can’t find this remedy.
It was really horribly tasting but made me sweat while a slept and when I woke up was 100% cured. I should have asked about the ingredients … I do remember there was a lot of fresh ginger root!
@fjp999 http://www.laura-madden.com/blog/daikon-radish-immunity-tea/
@unksol that recipe really throws in everything! I live in a smallish town and don’t think I have ever seen daikon in the asian section of our supermarket. It is a very refreshing bite.
Tequila, it cures everything!!
Glass of Crown Royal as needed
chicken lo mein (plus a number on the original list)