Help me get rid of a cold

Steve F · 13-02-2015 10:25PM

Meathlass wrote: »

Rest
Fluids
Paracetomal

You can't reduce the length of time the virus is in your body. By sneezing and coughing you are getting rid of the virus.

I spent 3 days this week exhausted, runny nose, cough and sneezing. You just have to preservere with it.

Complete rubbish,sneezing and coughing is only spreading the virus into the air and onto hard surfaces,it doesn't "get rid" as you say.Once you have a virus it has to run its course.Your bodys immune system "gets rid" of it in 7-10 days approx
Dr Steve

Tearin It Up · 13-02-2015 11:23PM

7 to 10 days? Just kill me now.

Stojkovic · 14-02-2015 12:52AM

Tearin It Up wrote: »

7 to 10 days? Just kill me now.

Man up ya big wuss.

Been on the couch all day myself.
Knocking back the hot whiskeys all day.

I'll be up early coaching kids in the morning.

You'd be great to have in the trenches. !!

unkel · 14-02-2015 01:29AM

Got a pretty bad cold myself a few days ago. First one in many years. Only myself to blame, sitting under an open window with sub zero outside temps, no heating in the room and only wearing a shirt. I'm self-employed so taking time off work was not an option (and unfortunately alcohol wasn't an option either

), so I spent all the hours I had in very, very hot baths, drinking veg stock larded with chili powder and just staying in bed for at least 8 hours drinking hot and cold drinks, having hot water bottles and wearing warm clothes (even though I could not sleep for most of it)

RoyalMarine wrote: »

Depends on the cough. If it gets heavy, and your coughing up green sh!t, then it could be a chest infection. In that case, you need an antibiotic.

No offense to you, RM, but people demanding and getting antibiotics from their GPs will be the death of millions of people when those antibiotics will stop to work and this will be in the next few decades, or at best in the next hundred years or so

I'm nearly 47 years old and never had an antibiotic in my life. I have been fortunate enough to never really have needed one, but so have 99.9% of the people who didn't really need one, but took one anyway

Or gave one to their pets :mad:

Rosie Rant · 14-02-2015 02:50PM

Get someone to make you Neven Maguire's beef and Guinnes stew. It's a miracle cure! It got rid of a cold I had for weeks.

endacl · 14-02-2015 02:52PM

Tearin It Up wrote: »

Is there anything that works

But any tips for this b@stard cold.

100% guaranteed cure:

Reply to this post in a fortnight. Cold will be gone. Works every time.

Mesrine65 · 14-02-2015 02:54PM

Habanero chilli infused Poitín enema will sort ye out

chasm · 14-02-2015 03:23PM

I had the same thing from Christmas eve, right through until about the 2nd or 3rd week of January. Couldn't find anything to ease the cough, and i tried everything! For the cold symptoms though sudofed (non drowsy!)was brilliant. It's dear enough but worth every cent just for the fact that i was able to get up off the couch and feel slightly more human lol Obviously it doesn't cure the cold, but it did relieve the symptoms.

seamusk84 · 14-02-2015 09:11PM

There seems to be a lot of sickness out there at the moment.

I would recommend garlic tablets, you can pick them up in Tesco. (a previous poster already mentioned garlic, really works)

Apart from that, be sure to keep warm and pile on the vitamin C. Those effervescent dissolve in water tablets are great.

Donalh · 14-02-2015 09:23PM

Neither alcohol or Vit C have any proven benefits. Lemon has mild antibacterial and anti-viral properties so a hot lemon can help. I too have spent all day on the sofa wrapped in a blanket with the worst cold/flu in years. Coughing got so bad i was giving myself major headaches - did some googling for natural cough remedies and came across this beauty - Quarter slice of lemon, sprinkle black pepper and salt on, sink your teeth in and suck that bad boy back, not for the faint hearted but it temporarily stops the coughing. I found it gives 30/40 mins of complete relief... amazing!

Hitchens · 14-02-2015 10:00PM

unkel wrote: »

I'm nearly 47 years old and never had an antibiotic in my life. :mad:

yeah you have, the meat we buy is riddled with antibiotics :eek:

..............although maybe you're a vegetarian all your life

unkel · 14-02-2015 10:30PM

It's quite the opposite afaik. The antibiotics fed to sick animals* will have passed through their system by the time they are slaughtered. But if their manure is used to fertilise vegetables, it could be passed on to humans!

*antibiotics use just to promote animal growth is banned in the EU (not in the USA or many other regions)

Hitchens · 14-02-2015 10:38PM

unkel wrote: »

It's quite the opposite afaik. The antibiotics fed to sick animals* will have passed through their system by the time they are slaughtered. But if their manure is used to fertilise vegetables, it could be passed on to humans!

*antibiotics use just to promote animal growth is banned in the EU (not in the USA or many other regions)

matter cannot be destroyed, and, antibiotics are used in food animals as a preventative,

they are also used in milk (animal product) to reduce the bacterial content,

as regards being 'banned' ..........yeah

Eugene Norman · 14-02-2015 11:01PM

unkel wrote: »

Got a pretty bad cold myself a few days ago. First one in many years. Only myself to blame, sitting under an open window with sub zero outside temps, no heating in the room and only wearing a shirt. I'm self-employed so taking time off work was not an option (and unfortunately alcohol wasn't an option either ), so I spent all the hours I had in very, very hot baths, drinking veg stock larded with chili powder and just staying in bed for at least 8 hours drinking hot and cold drinks, having hot water bottles and wearing warm clothes (even though I could not sleep for most of it)

No offense to you, RM, but people demanding and getting antibiotics from their GPs will be the death of millions of people when those antibiotics will stop to work and this will be in the next few decades, or at best in the next hundred years or so

I'm nearly 47 years old and never had an antibiotic in my life. I have been fortunate enough to never really have needed one, but so have 99.9% of the people who didn't really need one, but took one anyway

Or gave one to their pets :mad:

Yes but I recently had the green phlegmy cough and for the first time in my 38 years used antibiotics. Nothing else worked. It hadn't cleared for 5 weeks.

So some people do have to get them.

Eugene Norman · 14-02-2015 11:04PM

Hitchens wrote: »

matter cannot be destroyed, and, antibiotics are used in food animals as a preventative,

they are also used in milk (animal product) to reduce the bacterial content,

as regards being 'banned' ..........yeah

They are exgested and wouldnt be in the meat anyway. He's correct that they would end up as manure. I'm dubious about whether they have any anti-bacteria properties at that stage though.

14-02-2015 11:12PM

Vitamin C - like most things - does nothing at all. There is SOME evidence to suggest it helps prevent you contracting an infection in the first place - but there is next to no evidence suggesting it helps you rid yourself of one. The Common cold is merely an unavoidable consequence of how our immune system works. The depressing thing is most symptoms are not caused by the infection. They are caused by you and how YOU fight that infection. Your system simply reacts in every direction in the hope one direction helps. Like air bags in a car that go off no matter which side or direction you get crashed into from.

The only thing you can do - despite the plethora of old wives tales you have seen above - is stay hydrated - fed - and active. And ignore that horrible cliche of feed a cold and starve a flu - or vice versa - that could not be more rubbish. Stay hydrated and fed - you need the energy and minerals and so forth to do the immune system thing.

Hitchens · 14-02-2015 11:16PM

Eugene Norman wrote: »

They are exgested and wouldnt be in the meat anyway. He's correct that they would end up as manure. I'm dubious about whether they have any anti-bacteria properties at that stage though.

take an example, say, a man has thousands of chickens in buildings being fattened for meat, and one morning he finds a few hundred dead ones and veterinarian he uses arrives and diagnoses that they died from an infection (a fowl dose of a cold) ......now guess what happens next?

Eugene Norman · 14-02-2015 11:23PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Vitamin C - like most things - does nothing at all. There is SOME evidence to suggest it helps prevent you contracting an infection in the first place - but there is next to no evidence suggesting it helps you rid yourself of one. The Common cold is merely an unavoidable consequence of how our immune system works. The depressing thing is most symptoms are not caused by the infection. They are caused by you and how YOU fight that infection. Your system simply reacts in every direction in the hope one direction helps. Like air bags in a car that go off no matter which side or direction you get crashed into from.

The only thing you can do - despite the plethora of old wives tales you have seen above - is stay hydrated - fed - and active. And ignore that horrible cliche of feed a cold and starve a flu - or vice versa - that could not be more rubbish. Stay hydrated and fed - you need the energy and minerals and so forth to do the immune system thing.

How active?

Arbiter of Good Taste · 14-02-2015 11:32PM

Vitamin C is a myth. Zinc, on the other hand is a good preventative measure and can help shorten the duration.

Last year I had some medical issues and was on a lot of prescription medicine. I'm also prone to colds and sinusitis. When I got a dose I didn't want to be putting more medicines into my body so tried the natural remedies.

Lemon and ginger tea is a lifesaver. Definitely take it if you feel something coming on, but it also helps the symptoms. Ideally fresh ginger and lemon. But the tea bags are just as good. Now I always have a box in the house, and pack a few teabags if I'm travelling.

Manuka honey is also good.

Apples - apparently they have an enzyme which helps fight colds. I came up with my own hot drink recipe as an alternative to lemsip. Get some apple juice - if you have a juicer get some fresh apples. If not, buy some "good" juice. Heat the juice in a saucepan (not microwave) until it's hot but not boiling. Add a teaspoon of manuka honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Stir and enjoy. I found it great, and with no medication, you could take as much as you want.

The only medicines I used was benilyn 4 flu. Knocked me out like a horse tranquilliser which meant I got good nights sleep. Getting sleep is the best way to get over a cold

14-02-2015 11:34PM

Stay consistent. Or slightly above. You feel run down - but just aim to be what you normally are.

Having said that - speaking of old wives tales - my mothers grandad used to swear he never had a cold in his life. When he felt a sniffle coming on he used to stride forcefully up bray head or howth head - whichever one was closer to the horse racing he was losing his money on that day

- and he used to swear he would "sweat the cold out".

Epidemiology does NOT support his theory

Perhaps he was right perhaps he was wrong. Or perhaps every time he felt a tickle he simply ran up a hill. The ability of hypochondriacs to cure themselves is unparalleled in the medicine world

Eugene Norman · 15-02-2015 01:02AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Stay consistent. Or slightly above. You feel run down - but just aim to be what you normally are.

Having said that - speaking of old wives tales - my mothers grandad used to swear he never had a cold in his life. When he felt a sniffle coming on he used to stride forcefully up bray head or howth head - whichever one was closer to the horse racing he was losing his money on that day - and he used to swear he would "sweat the cold out".

Epidemiology does NOT support his theory Perhaps he was right perhaps he was wrong. Or perhaps every time he felt a tickle he simply ran up a hill. The ability of hypochondriacs to cure themselves is unparalleled in the medicine world

In my lifetime of not going to doctors until recently ( the 5 week cough ended that) my solution was definitely bed rest. In general I get 5-7 hours sleep mid week and 8 at weekends. Maybe 9 max.

I found sleeping for as long as possible worked in these cases. By that I mean if the cold wasn't recovering I would spend a day in bed sleeping in and off. 19th century solution.

15-02-2015 01:07AM

Any solution to any problem in life - that involves more time spent in bed - is a solution I explicitly endorse

Calibos · 15-02-2015 10:06AM

There is definitly a long duration cold/cough going around. Father and brother had it for 5 or 6 weeks.

Me? Looks like a quarter of a century in retail has ensured I've caught nearly all the main Heinz 57 varieties of cold virus at this stage and am likely immune to the lot now. Haven't had a cold or sore throat in 4 or 5 years now.

Help me get rid of a cold

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