I need major help with a minor problem!

[[wcip]Angel]

Normally, I would never trouble you wonderful people with such a trivial issue as this:

I gots me the sniffles!

So why dare I intrude upon your sacred and peaceful lives with such a minute little problem?

I may have mentioned before that I play in a brass band. This weekend, we're participating in the Norwegian championship, and it's the biggest weekend of the year, both musically and .. ehh alcoholically. It's the mother of all parties. After the competition you party for two days straight, and the championship-weekend is often the highlight of the year.

Back to me and my nose.

I want it all, I want every piece of anti-sniffling/cold/flu advice you've got. What will help, and what will not? What will cure this menace before friday? I have 3 days to get rid of this thing. It's still in its infancy, so I'm wondering if there is a way to strangle this baby before it reaches maturity.

[Doc]

Eat lots of hot, and I mean HOT chilis. Drink ginger beer. Jamaican style ginger beer. Feel the burn.

Garlic. Gobble it down. And onions for the potassium.

And more chilis. Fill your blood full of alkaloids and the bugs that cause the sniffles can't survive the environment.

[Guest]

Normally, I would never trouble you wonderful people with such a trivial issue as this:

I gots me the sniffles!

So why dare I intrude upon your sacred and peaceful lives with such a minute little problem?

I may have mentioned before that I play in a brass band. This weekend, we're participating in the Norwegian championship, and it's the biggest weekend of the year, both musically and .. ehh alcoholically. It's the mother of all parties. After the competition you party for two days straight, and the championship-weekend is often the highlight of the year.

Back to me and my nose.

I want it all, I want every piece of anti-sniffling/cold/flu advice you've got. What will help, and what will not? What will cure this menace before friday? I have 3 days to get rid of this thing. It's still in its infancy, so I'm wondering if there is a way to strangle this baby before it reaches maturity.
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Stay warm. If you are physically cold you will have less blood flow around your sinuses so your body will have a harder time fighting the infection.

But if you have a cold already youre still going to be sick, this will just stop secondary infections and may help limit the colds effects.

[Occhidiangela]

I want it all, I want every piece of anti-sniffling/cold/flu advice you've got. What will help, and what will not? What will cure this menace before friday? I have 3 days to get rid of this thing. It's still in its infancy, so I'm wondering if there is a way to strangle this baby before it reaches maturity.
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1. My sister in law once advised me to eat a clove of garlic when I had a pretty bad sniffle and ear infection. I did. It brought tears to my eyes, but for the next few hours, my sinuses were clear. I smelled of garlic and did not care, the Guinness and bread helped mitigate my problems. (Irish pub event.)

If lady action is an issue, I suggest a cold medicine/cough drop called "Coldeze." One of the best I have ever used. Not sure of its availability outside the US.

Pseudophedrin for the sinuses, but the drinking will probably lay you out. Mix with care, don't drive with that combo in your brain.

Saline Nose Spray. No more than twice a day. Keeps the nose in decent shape.

Drink massive amounts of water.

If you will be slamming down the booze -- and why not if you won't be driving -- you must drink one quarter to one half a liter of water for each beer (or wine or whiskey) you drink when you have a cold. If you don't, dehydration problems will make for misery. I have erred in that direction enough times to know how badly it screws up cold recovery.

If possible, squeeze fresh lime or lemon into the glasses of water. Also helps keep the Scurvy away. ;)

Coffee won't help all that much. Some herbal teas help, but I am not wise enough on herbal teas to advise you on brands or styles.

Occhi

[kandrathe]

When I was younger, along Doc's advice, I sought to kill the cold with a treatment involving first taking two anti-inflamatory pain killers, and drinking a liter of water to prevent any trouble from a hang over...

... due to my home grown cure of drinking large amounts of warmed spiced brandy and honey, whilst snuggling in warm woolen blankets by a crackling fire, reading a good novel until unconciousness. I'm not sure it worked, but I know I didn't care.

Now I try more healthy methods. Your immune system is the only way of combating the common cold virus, so whatever you can do to prop up your immune system will be the key to defeating it quickly. Take a daily vitamin, drink at least eight glasses of water or juice per day, eat healthy foods rich in antioxidents (like citrus, or garlic), suck on zinc lozenges, and get an adequate amount of sleep. Also, try to remove any other stresses on your immune system.

[GenericKen]

Ancient Hong Kong remedies say to use Coke. :whistling:


Get a pot and boil a can of Coke until the carbination's gone. Take the coke off the water and throw in lemon and ginger. Stir, and drink.

Don't use diet coke, as the sugar substitute doesn't boil well. The ginger isn't neccessary for colds, so don't bother with it. Just boil coke, then add lemon.


The acids in the coke and lemon make you feel ridiculously better in soothing your throat, but other than the vitamins in the lemon, they won't actually cure it for you like, say, nyquil->unconsciousness will.

[whyBish]

Ancient Hong Kong remedies say to use Coke.  :whistling:
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I was confused until I re-read your message and noted that you said 'can' and not tab' :P

[Griselda]

1.  My sister in law once advised me to eat a clove of garlic when I had a pretty bad sniffle and ear infection.  I did.  It brought tears to my eyes, but for the next few hours, my sinuses were clear.  I smelled of garlic and did not care, the Guinness and bread helped mitigate my problems. (Irish pub event.)
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Hey, Occhi, you don't need to *chew* the garlic if you're just taking it for medicinal purposes and don't want to chew. If it's not too big of a clove, and you don't want to taste it, you can generally just swallow it whole.

Of course, I had a sinus infection bad enough a couple of weeks ago that I spent some time eating wasabi with a spoon just for the ~5 minutes of relief it provided. The rebound was no fun, though. :angry:

I don't have any great cold remedy ideas myself. I tend not to believe in quick fixes myself, so I have to get better the hard way most of the time (wait it out). I do like to take emergen-C, and sometimes airborne (my coworkers swear by it), but mostly that's because they taste relatively good and I figure that it won't hurt.

[Doc]

Mmm Waaaaaaaaaassaaaaaaaaaaabi.

I love that stuff. Mmm mmm peas.

I could live on that stuff. Eat it till it comes out my ears. :w00t: