cure a cold?

[jdev]

or at least make it go away quicker..

anyone have any tips in getting rid of a cold, other than conventional medicine methods. I have never really been one to go spend my cash on medicine to cure my cold, when i have to treat it for over a week.

ive read the constantly sipping hot water, tea, or soup for about a 24 hour period can work, as it tends to kill alot of the bacteria.

also, the not eating for 12 to 18 hours during the cold helps, as digestion and such uses alot of the bodies resources and cant actively fight a cold to its fullest extent.

so, does anyone here have a method that they use to help their cold along quicker? some of the AO parents have any ideas that may help out?

[gamarada717]

Every time that I get sick, I just drink hot lemonade that my mom makes, and I try to get as many layers of cloths on as possible. I guess so much heat helps fight the germs, as one time I cured myself in 7 hours. Hot lemonade is so awesome tho...

[deathstalker]

The best way to fight a cold is to do nothing and let your body's defenses do their job. Most medicines, like antihistamines, might relieve the symptoms, but they make it harder for your body to fight the virus (the cold is not caused by bacteria).

You must keep drinking fluids in order to stay hydrated. Orange juice is good because it has a lot of vitamin C (zinc has also been shown to aid your body's ability to fight a cold). Fluids are important to your body, so do not deprive yourself of them. You can easily last 7-10 days without food, but you can only last 2-3 without water.

Starving yourself is also not a good idea. Sure, digestion takes energy, but so does fighting off a virus. If you do not eat, your body will simply start using muscle as its primary source of energy. This is the biggest reason people lose weight when they are sick.

To reiterate, the best way to fight a cold is to drink lots of fluids, eat sensibly, let your white blood cells do their job, and don't take any medicines.

[PyRo]

Orange Juice (vitiman C)

[Hamster Huey]

If you're feeling really lousy and think your cold is more of a bout of the flu, there are (relatively) new drugs on the market (Tamiflu, Relenza) that have been shown to cut the duration of the flu by a day or two. The trick is that you have to start them early in the course, say within the first 48 hours, or else they won't do you any good. See your doctor if you feel miserable enough. Otherwise, fluids and sleep is the way to go. Tylenol will also help you feel less punky. Good luck.

[logamus]

take your daily vitamin and add a zinc pill to the mix. lots of fluid, pref water, and eat enough to not be hungry. "starving a cold" is an old wise tale, but you dont want to plow through a 7 course meal when sick either.

[jdev]

bah.

I had a small bag of potato chips for food yesterday. I broke down and got some medicine (sudafed, for my stuffy nose) and some halls defense supplement drops.

so far, i feel fine. Ive also got this sstuff called super green, perfect food, which i have been taking. lots of antioxidants in there, and is supposed to help flush your system of any toxins..

but, so far, so good. thanks for the suggestions

[Kevmaster]

yeh....

99,9% of colds are virus. You can't doANYTHING to fix a virus. They just run their course. IB Profen can help relieve sypmtoms...but thats all. It wont FIX the cold. Throat Lasanges are nice too....

[Darkling]

Originally posted by logamus
"starving a cold" is an old wise tale, but you dont want to plow through a 7 course meal when sick either.

I thought it went "Feed a cold, starve a fever"? I dunno...

[Brak]

a nyquil/dayquil cocktail is always nice!

[Beemer]

Originally posted by deathstalker
If you do not eat, your body will simply start using muscle as its primary source of energy.


If you have no fat. which is highly unlikely. Fat is first to go.
Take at least 2000mg c a day. 500mg 4 times. Kills my cold in 2 days every time.