summerkc

Anyone have a home remedy that will make a cold go away faster. I currently have a horrible sore thoat and my head feels like it is going to asplode (I love fark cliches)

I've heard Zinc works and I have some of that. Also the standard Vitamins, fluids etc.

Anything else that works?

ratbastid

Yeah, try a lozenge with Zinc.

I've always believed that if you treat a cold, it'll be gone in a week and a half, and if you don't, it'll be gone in 10 days.

maleficent

The zinc works like a champ if you take it within the first 3 days of getting teh cold -- and follow the instructions on the package (COldeez I think is the brand name of the zinc losenges) No orange juice when taking the losenges.

Other than that -- drink lots and lots of water and get lots of rest...

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Carno

Gargle salt water. As soon as I feel a cold coming on, I gargle salt water like 3 times a day.

Works like a charm.

KellyC

Any scientific explaination for this?? Not being an ass, I'm just curious how this would work.

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daswig

If you're over 21, make a nice hot cup of tea, sweeten it with honey (which will soothe your throat) and put a hefty dollop of Jack Daniels in it. It tastes nasty, but will help you to feel better. Heat+honey+booze=quick recovery.

Hey, it always works for me...

eagle1

If you feel your sinuses getting plugged up and feeling the pressure/headache, drink alot of apple juice. I don't know why, but apple juice helps with the congestion and keeps a sinus infection from happening. Plus your drinking alot of fluids.

One time my cousin had a bad cold. He put a heating pad in a sleeping bag, got in and then procceeded to down a fifth of Jack Daniels. He said his cold was gone the next day, but he had one hell of a hang over. (Havn't tried that remedy yet.)

I am not a doctor, don't play one on TV, but am married to a nurse.

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hokieian

The only remedy that actually works is Zicam.

It blocks the receptors that the virus uses to enter the cells.

It doesn't work for all strains though.

summerkc

I have been taking Zinc vitamins, will this work the same as the lozenges?

Thanks for everyones input, hopefully I'll get better soon, I can't work while sick as I am a flight instructor so I can't be on medicine and not at the top of my game.

I had a Cuban cigar this morning and it actually made me feel better, maybe just because it relaxed me.

I've tried the alcohol thing before, but I usually feel worse afterwards.

asaris

Actually, I just went to the school nurse 'cause I've had a sore throat for about a week and a half. She said to gargle salt water! I guess it loosens up phlegm that's accumulated in the throat, helps you expel it (or it dissolves it, wasn't sure). In any case, it's supposed to help.

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World's King

Scotch and Mentol Cigarettes.

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hunnychile

Zicam and Airborne. Both really help, as long as you get a lot of rest and don't smoke.

Lots of rest is best with the aforementioned.

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:::OshnSoul:::

this is a good health topic....
anywho- echinecea/vitamin c, zinc, ginseng tea, chicken noodle soup (there are actually antioxidents in the broth that kill off bacteria), high-quality H2O

guthmund

Ah, the good ol' reliable "hot toddy." My grandfather used to make these when he was alive. Pick a nice tea to use otherwise it tastes like feet. I also like to use a bit of lemon. It'll certainly knock out that sore throat.

When I was a smoker and feeling congested a full pack of menthols seemed to work every time. Now I'm relegated to vapor rub and it just isn't the same.

Hope you fell better

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go-bots

lots and lots of good weed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Neptune

Thanks for all the ideas in this thread. I'll keep this handy for next time I have a cold

tropple

Man, I swear by the cold-exe lozenges. I came to work yesterday with a runny nose and sneezing. I started on the cold eze as soon as Duane Reade opened at 7 and by 10:30 my nose was clear and I hadn't sneezed for almost an hour.

The package says 3-4 a day? Hell, I musy have used about 10-12 all day long. If you keep using them for three days, that cold is history.

I thought all that zinc stuff was mothing but the latest hype, but it isn't. That shit works like a champ. I haven't tried the zicam, but it was there on the shelf. Maybe next time. There was one that you could put right in your nose with a swab, too.

I wish this stuff had been around when I was in the navy.

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DJ Happy

Whilst go-bots idea has a certain merit and will be employed by me for years to come until it eventually does work, I have always been a firm believer in the power of spicy foods. Whenever I have a cold I make sure I eat as much chili and curry as I can. I loosens up the boogers and makes them slide right out of your nose and onto a waiting tissue where all the offending germs can be gently wrapped up and lobbed into a waiting trash receptacle.

I hope that wasn't too detailed a description.

Dark Assailant

Wow !
This post certainly seperates the technical/scientific people between the good ol' folks.

my tip : chicken noodle soup and flat ginger ale.

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Redlemon

FDA Reviewing Complaints Whether Nasal Spray Causes Loss Of Smell

maleficent

My Irish Granny thought the cure to everything was a cup of tea with a splash of Jameson's Irish Whiskey in it... Have the sniffles at her house, when I as a wee lass... You got parked at the formica kitchen table, with a cup of tea, some honey and lemon in it- -and the secret ingredient (years later, i realized was the Jameson's) You might have still been sick, you just probably didnt care.

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Bill O'Rights

A mixture of whiskey, honey and lemon juice. It usually knocks whatever is in me...outta me. And, on the rare occasion that it doesn't, drink enough of it and it makes me not mind as much.

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portereight

Several years ago a friend recommended echinacea to my wife who was suffereing from a miserable cold. It triggered Asthma type symptoms bad enough to merit a trip to the hospital.
Moral is, herbal medicine is still medicine. You should probably run any suggestion by your family doctor before experimenting.

JustDisGuy

Drink lots of water, and get lots of rest.

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Redlemon

Amen to that. I hate the radio ads that say "Its all-natural, so there are no side-effects". Yeah, buddy, arsenic is all-natural too.

Seans4.2

I always eat lots and lots of lucas. you know that mexican candy? its got a duck on the front and its in like a salt shaker. Its mostly chili powder. anyways anytime i get a cold or anything i eat lots of this stuff or anything else spicy. It always seems to make me feel way way better. Viva Mexico!!

bonehed1

That works but I go old skewl and down some tapatio hot sauce, like 5 or 6 swigs of it straight out the bottle...if you cant handle the hot stuff then it will burn the crap out of your through but it will release the pressure and make your nose runny

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theguy420

Sleep it off as much as possible and pray to god it's not Capt. Trips...hehehe

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superiorrain

I have used in the past but its usually the last resort and if i'm going to be staying in for a day or so. What you do is get some honey (thats the nice part) then you chop an onion into small bits. Once you done all that mix the onion and the honey together in a jar after about 10 minutes the honey becomes a liquid the same consistency as water. Take a tea spoon and chow down, one spoonful every hour should see you right. You get used to the taste after the first go. Works for me (but don't go kissing anyone after).

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Flaymin'

Garlic. (It's great in nearly every food!)
Make onion, chicken, garlic soup. Eat/drink hot.

Eat a bunch of different veggies and fruits.

Drink hot tea or juices. Black currant has a lot of vitamin C.
I've also understood that drinking hot fluids helps the body to recover from flu, since it doesn't have to heat itself up that much since the neccessary heat comes from an external source.
Is this correct?

VitaminH

No, you need something topical such as the lozenges or the nasal sprays. YOu want the zinc to coat your throat because that's where the cold virus first attaches and it blocks the virus from getting into your cells. However, it only is effective if you start ASAP when you feel the cold coming on, so at this point, it's porbably moot.

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CinnamonGirl

The non-alcohol variety: soak a lemon wedge in hot water for a few minutes, then add honey. I might try the Jack in it next time, though

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omega2K4

I just usually down some vodka and some nyquil.

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macsmith230

I use Theraflu for the flu, the kind that comes gel-like in a pouch and you pour it into hot water. Then I add a lot of sugar and/or honey because it tastes like ass. Seems to work for me where nothing else does.
And for a sore throat/cough I use nothing but Fisherman's Friend. Best cough drops ever!