I'b gotta hed code

LEDBE
PhotonWrangler

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
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Achoo! :sick:

Do zinc lozenges work for anyone? I know about that "study" conducted by a famous hospital that turned out to have financial ties to the zinc lozenge startup company. I still bought a pack, along with a bottle of saline nasal rinse, just to have a belt & suspenders approach. Also doing Loratidine, which seems to help a little bit.

So what works for you? Vitamin C? Herbals? I'm up for suggestions.
 
It seemed to work for me. When I would start to feel a cold coming on I would take zinc lozenges and load up on vitamin C. Sometimes it seemed like it stopped the cold from coming completely or it just shortened the duration of it.
 
Always thought one sucks on zinc to combat viral infections of the throat. I could never stand the taste myself.

I'd recommend oranges - lots and lots of oranges - and if you have ginger root, slice it and boil it in water with lemon for some wonderful tea. This mix has always worked for me!
 
Hate to hear that, PhotonWrangler.

I rarely get sick but a bad bug got me last year.

Zicam didn't do a thing for me. I don't take C but I believe it might work. If I were to take a vitamin it would be a B complex. I've heard the salt water blast works for sinus infections so I'd be willing to try it for a cold. Here's my list:

Robitussin PE
Ibuprofen

For food I believe in the chicken soup theory. If you don't feel like cooking from scratch Progresso is OK. It works better if someone else serves it. If you want eggs, bacon and pancakes have it. If you want beans and cornbread have it. If you want a fillet Mignon have it. It's all about you. I like orange juice, Tropicana with tangerine. Better than that are the Naked drinks, Mighty Mango as a replacement to orange juice. The açaí Naked drinks are great if you like açaí, Rain forest and Purple Machine are good.

That bug I got last year may have been a flu. I felt like someone had driven over me in a watermelon truck, unloaded the watermelons on top of me and then poured hot nickles into my head. I coughed for hours. Honey and tea worked for about two minutes. Robitussin DM worked for about 15 minutes. I got a little worried because the constant coughing was really painful. I figured the only cure would be Codeine cough syrup. It was late. In desperation I got on the net to check out a theory that seemed to be validated. I took a Codeine pill and 25 minutes later the coughing stopped and I felt better...way better...I mean *really* better.

Humor helps. I don't know any jokes though. Sorry. Gotta go now.

Each night I like to go outside with a headlamp on. I hold a 5W cyan flashlight in my right hand and a 5W red orange flashlight in my left hand. I hold my arms straight out to the sides with the flashlights pointed forward. Then I start singing the Mazda "zoom, zoom" song really loud and go trotting through the neighborhood like an aeroplane.

Take care of yourself, PW.















Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom...
 
I've had good results with Coldeze lozenges. Taste is good and not as hard on the stomach as the standard zinc lozenge.

The other thing that seems to help - be careful - is to boil some water, pour it in a bowl, position your head over the bowl so as to be able to inhale the steam, and drape a towel over your head to help catch the steam. I try to inhale through mouth and nose but I am very careful not to inhale too much, too fast. I think you could burn yourself without caution. Whatever it does, for a head cold it seems to shorten my symptoms.
 
Zinc doesn't work for me nor echinacea. Since starting to take a daily regime of vitamin supplements a few years ago, I've only had one reasonably serious cold and a few mild short duration colds while people in the office all around me were getting quite sick at times. Not sure if coincidence or not. I don't take mega, mega doses but generally more then the daily RDA, especially vitamin C where I take 500mg plus whatever a daily glass of OJ and a daily V8 gives me.
 
I find that ice helps a lot. I put the ice in something that allows the cool through without freezing off my nose, and that usually helps open things up a bit. It's safe, it's easy to get, and if it doesn't work for you, you've only wasted a few cubes of ice.
 
Icebreak said:
That bug I got last year may have been a flu. I felt like someone had driven over me in a watermelon truck, unloaded the watermelons on top of me and then poured hot nickles into my head. I coughed for hours. Honey and tea worked for about two minutes. Robitussin DM worked for about 15 minutes. I got a little worried because the constant coughing was really painful. I figured the only cure would be Codeine cough syrup. It was late. In desperation I got on the net to check out a theory that seemed to be validated. I took a Codeine pill and 25 minutes later the coughing stopped and I felt better...way better...I mean *really* better.
Click to expand...

Gads, that does sound like the flu. That always knocks me for a loop also. Interesting that the Codeine had such a dramatic effect for you. I can't do the stuff (some sort of reaction to it) so I'm leaning towards the chicken soup. Actually that reminded me of one of my favcorite comfort foods - a nice hot bowl of cream of tomato soup! Mmmm.

Icebreak, thanks for the advice and a good laugh! Zoom zoom zoom... what a funny visual. :crackup:
 
shakeylegs said:
The other thing that seems to help - be careful - is to boil some water, pour it in a bowl, position your head over the bowl so as to be able to inhale the steam, and drape a towel over your head to help catch the steam. I try to inhale through mouth and nose but I am very careful not to inhale too much, too fast. I think you could burn yourself without caution. Whatever it does, for a head cold it seems to shorten my symptoms.
Click to expand...

Another good suggestion - thanks, shakeylegs. I might get some Vicks Vaposteam going. I remember that this technique got me over pneumonia back when I was a teenager. I was amazed at how well and quickly it helped.
 
We keep Zicam & Emergen-C on hand - along with all the other "standard" treatments, they seem to help lessen the severity & life of the cold.

Works for our family, always best to start treating the cold when first symptoms occur if possible.
 
Zinc works for me. BUT it only works if I overdose on the stuff at the first throat tickle. If I ignore that first tickle, zinc doesn't help me.

What I mean by overdosing. The package says take # pills every # hour(s). I suck on a zinc lozenge. After it dissolves, I wait until the tickle returns. I then take another one. I repeat the process. I have never gotten past 4 zinc lozenges.

Yes, you have to plan ahead. EDC zinc lozenges, I do.
 
Just getting over a hed code myself. I find zinc and massive doses of vitamin C help when I'm just starting a cold, but if it's already got me then I don't bother. Egg flower soup works as well as chicken noodle for me. REAL Sudafed, not the new crap that druggies can't cook, is the only thing that'll clear my sinuses. I stocked up before Oregon's ban went into effect and I know enough truckers that'll buy it for me out of state, so that even when I run out I won't often have to make a doctor's appointment just for a Sudafed script.

I also brew mint tea really strong, then gulp it down as fast as I can as hot as I can stand it. Blow my nose and EVERYTHING comes out. Lasts a couple hours, then repeat. I try to get the mint tea that's JUST mint, not a blend with caffeinated stuff.

Good luck. Hope you feel better soon. :buddies:
 
Mint tea, Emergen-C, duly noted. Thanks, guys.

I think I made a small discovery. Two days ago I took a generic lorantadine, expiration date Feb 2009, nothing. No effect at all. Then last night I took the same med from a different package dated Jan 2011 and it helped. It makes me wonder if this stuff's potency really goes down that quickly. It could be poor quality control also (it is a generic store brand) but it's got me thinking.
:thinking:
 
I'm closing in on 3 weeks for some hed code. Totally stuffed up and with my first of any ear infections that I ever remember getting. I hope you don't have this one. I went through a Z-pack (antibiotics) to keep from getting the bronchitis that I always get. That worked but I haven't been able to hear anything outta my left ear in 1.5 weeks. I just finished a week of amoxicillin. Still no change, but at least I'm not worse. Body feels fine. I can even go for a run or bike ride. Stuffed up & ears ringing like crazy. Very annoying.

It's being spaced out that's killing me. I backed over my fancy mountain bike last Saturday and completely destroyed it. Since then I've avoided driving. I got my warning loud & clear. At least it was only a mechanical thing. "Step away from the car!"

Took a 4 hour nap today. Spaced out. At least I work for myself and can do much tech support remotely & at odd hours, but I can't afford to make a mistake on a client's computer. Being spacey doesn't exactly help when I'm trying to, say, set the permissions correctly in a directory tree on a server. Hit the "propagate permissions" button at the wrong time and I'd truly be in my own mess of trouble.

Hope you're well soon.
 
Wow Peter, three weeks is a long time! Keep an eye on that ear infection; you don't want any lasting damage to your hearing. If you're taking amoxocillin I'm guessing that you're receiving medical care for this, so ask your doctor to keep a close eye on that ear infection also.

Yes, I completely agree that the spaciness is the worst part of it! I'm ok for walking around, but I needed to go to the drugstore today, not a long trip, so my spouse drove me there because I didn't feel confident behind the wheel.

This is the first time I'vce tried the saline nasal irrigation (don't think about that image too much!) and it does seem to allieviate the nasal burning, at least for a short time. I suppose it re-establishes the ph balance of the nose among other benefits, and saline water has zero side effects.

Yeah, I'm not doing much deep-thinking work today either. "Propagate permissions"... yeah... sort of like lighting a fuse and then waiting for the results!

Hope you feel better also, Peter. You've more than paid your dues over those three weeks.
 
Yep, my wife got me one of those "netipot" things. I didn't like it much, but it was the first time. Maybe I should give it another shot. Yes, a doctor's been peeking & poking into my ears frequently. Thanks!

Good luck.

I'm off to go light some fuses on another server... :help:
 
Emergen-C, Gummy bear vitamins, Airborne, apples, tea with honey, orange juice, Gatorade and lots of rest.

Just stay away from the sugars since it's really hard on the immune system. I sometimes water down the OJ and Gatorade.


Hope you feel better soon! :sick:
 
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