What's your favorite cold remedy?

swampwitch · Oct 14, 2006

I'm an expert at this! With a compromised immune system and a young daughter in the public schools, when I get hit, I get hit HARD. Before I learned what to do, I'd have four to six WEEKS of sinusitis, sore throat, headaches, ear infections (and loss of hearing), cough, asthma, bronchitis and/or pneumonia. It's brutal. Now if I come down with a virus I have it for two weeks, most... knock on wood!

WHAT I DO:

1) ELIMINATE ALL REFINED SUGARS (white, brown, processed foods).
One can of soda pop can suppress your immune system by 40-80% for SIX HOURS!

2) EAT SMALL AMOUNTS OF "WHOLE" FOODS. Small amounts of food lets your body focus on fighting the virus/bacteria instead of digesting (it can't really do both at the same time). Fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and legumes will give your body fuel to fight. I particularly like homemade smoothies with whey protein because they are digested quickly and you still get the benefits of the fruits and vegetables.

3) YOGURT (plain, unsweetened), especially if you are on antibiotics. A spoonful now and then when you think about it will keep your digestive system in good shape.

4) SINUS WASH. I think this has saved my life!

I hope this helps.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch

starryeyedtiger · Oct 14, 2006

Originally Posted by SwampWitch

I'm an expert at this! With a compromised immune system and a young daughter in the public schools, when I get hit, I get hit HARD. Before I learned what to do, I'd have four to six WEEKS of sinusitis, sore throat, headaches, ear infections (and loss of hearing), cough, asthma, bronchitis and/or pneumonia. It's brutal. Now if I come down with a virus I have it for two weeks, most... knock on wood!

WHAT I DO:

1) ELIMINATE ALL REFINED SUGARS (white, brown, processed foods).
One can of soda pop can suppress your immune system by 40-80% for SIX HOURS!

2) EAT SMALL AMOUNTS OF "WHOLE" FOODS. Small amounts of food lets your body focus on fighting the virus/bacteria instead of digesting (it can't really do both at the same time). Fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and legumes will give your body fuel to fight. I particularly like homemade smoothies with whey protein because they are digested quickly and you still get the benefits of the fruits and vegetables.

3) YOGURT (plain, unsweetened), especially if you are on antibiotics. A spoonful now and then when you think about it will keep your digestive system in good shape.

4) SINUS WASH. I think this has saved my life!

I hope this helps.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch

Wow- good suggestions! Thanks for posting those!

I've been eating yogut like crazy (I always do though lol...it's the one dariy thing i'm supposed to eat to help my stomach issues

and it's awesome - I LOVE Stonybrook Farm's Yo Baby yogurt in banana and vanilla (yeah I eat the baby stuff- but it's organic and it rocks!

) I've also done a few sinus washes and other things. I FINALLY got my medicne tonight! Yea!!

so hopefully that will help. I would love to try some of the food suggestions but can't because of my stomach issues ( I can only eat certain things - blahh...gastroparesis, lactose intolerant GERD, Hiatial Hernia, IBS, and my pancreas doesn't produce enough enzymes to digest my food properly- so I have to take pills with everything I eat.) Your suggestions seem like they will help with the yogurt and saline renses and all so i'm definitely trying that already

Thanks for the tips!

starryeyedtiger · Oct 14, 2006

Originally Posted by VampireCat

Well i woke yesterday morning with the sneezes and drippy nose

and again this morning

Doesn't seem to be getting any worse tho'

I do take sudafed if i cant breathe properly, nothing worse than not being able to sleep because you cant breathe. Tend to avoid things like cough medicines as i find that they just dont work for me.

I try to avoid pain killers as well as too many make me feel sick....but i do like the idea of Jack Daniels ....mmmm.....

I hope you feel better soon!!

purrpaws · Oct 16, 2006

Originally Posted by VampireCat

I try to avoid pain killers as well as too many make me feel sick....but i do like the idea of Jack Daniels ....mmmm.....

Mr. Daniels helped me sleep Friday night. Last night it was vanilla vodka. Just one shot though. Enough to help me sleep, but not enough to feel any other effects.

Also, I slept and rested a lot over the weekend, so I didn't get anything much done.

The herbal teas I've been drinking seem to be helping tons. I finished off my tube of Airborne on Saturday.

jenny82 · Oct 16, 2006

Echinacea, Vitamin C, lemon or chamomile tea with honey, and chicken soup

eagleeye · Oct 16, 2006

At the first sign of a cold, I take Cold-eeze zinc lozenges and drink LOTS of water to flush out my system. Cold-eeze has always worked well for me. My most recent cold only lasted 3 days total! I've heard good things about Airborne, but haven't tried it.

Along with that, I drink orange juice, eat chicken soup, sleep as much as possible, and sit in a really warm, steamy bath for a while.

gingersmom · Oct 16, 2006

I SWEAR by ZiCam - the stuff is AMAZING!

I used to get colds that would last weeks and weeks, now when I get the first sign of a cold I use ZiCam, and it controls the congestion, sneezing and helps make the cold go away REALLY fast.

I ought to buy stock in that company...I'll never use anything else again, if I can help it!!!

ricalynn · Oct 16, 2006

I am firmly convinced that the cure for the common cold consists of two ingredients:

Tang, made with hot water and a shot of Captain Morgan's.

Boost of Vitamin C, soothing hot liquid and just enough alcohol to help you sleep.

But, now that I'm pregnant, the Capt. is out and I've had to rely on Airborne, which for me didn't really work all that great, but perhaps that's to do with the hormones, and the fact that I was already neck-deep in germs before I started taking it.

mzjazz2u · Oct 16, 2006

Zicam works wonders for colds. I swear by it. It's a zinc based nasal swab and if you take it at the beginning, you can knock the cold out in a couple days and your symptoms are not near bad. If you take it in the middle, it will lessen symptoms. I've been using this stuff for years!

The other option is my grandmothers remedy.... Whiskey, honey and lemon juice.

If it doesn't cure ya.... at least you'll forget about it!

quill_luv · Oct 16, 2006

Boiled ginger root or ginger tea, honey, and lemon juice do the trick for a sore throat. Make some twice a day and you'll feel better in no time.

purrpaws · Oct 17, 2006

I'm already better today. I started to get better yesterday afternoon! Yay!

What's your favorite cold remedy?

swampwitch

TCS Member

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member

starryeyedtiger

TCS Member

purrpaws

TCS Member

Thread starter

jenny82

TCS Member

eagleeye

TCS Member

gingersmom

TCS Member

ricalynn

TCS Member

mzjazz2u

TCS Member

quill_luv

TCS Member

purrpaws

TCS Member

Thread starter

Latest Posts

Connect with us