the cold

[chazza]

any ideas how i can ward one off?  i can feel it coming on and i just cant be sick this friday!

i've taken echinacea, zinc, vit c, garlic tabs, any ideas how i can stop it coming on altogether or delay it a few days?

[davkat125]

I normally drink loads of water to keep hydrated (even if it's the last thing you feel like doing), take vitamin c, and have a whisky on a night before you go to bed!!  (with hot lemonade / honey / neat).

[luckystrike]

I tend to regularly take soluable CoCodamol tablets and find that this helps.

[chazza]

where can you buy those Luckystrike?

[happy_face]

Well your certainly eating all the right stuff.

I usually get the flu jab annually and I find that also tackles the cold. All I tend to get is a slight sore throat for a couple of days and that's it.

I don't get it for free at the doc's but buy it at Boots. For me it's well worth the money. I haven't been ill with flu or cold for the last 3 years.

So next autumn it might be something for you to consider if you want to stay germ free.

[luckystrike]

A box of 100 CoCodamol are available over the counter in any chemist for the price of a perscription - currently �6.40 where I live.

Obviously read the instructions, or consult your pharmacist, but I think you take two at a time, up to four times per day.

Hope they work.

[spudqueen]

Vitamin C with Zinc. Works everytime for me. Redoxon do one that dissolves in water into a fizzy orange drink.

[cassimer]

Whenever my boyfriend gets a cold he always takes decongestant tablets - boots own or sudafed work really well, and take away that stuffy feeling. Combined with ibuprofen to help reduce swelling it really works: he is a pilot and swears this is the fasted way to get back to work.

[fairy!]

Where in the world are you?  In Australia they have wheatgrass in all the juice bars... it's basicly a shot of bright green liquid & tastes of grass (coz that's what it is) but you get used to it & it's a miracle cure!  I swear by it!!  You can get it in the UK in powdered form or buy seeds & grow your own!

[artee]

Too late for this bout chazza, but if you ever suffer badly again, one way to get quick relief is to stop eating everything except raw, juicy, sweet fruit. (not bananas or sour fruit). This relieves the system of the clogging factors that are causing the 'stuff up' in the first  place. I realize that if anyone has never done this before it could be very hard, especially it the weather is cold, but it can break the clogging after the first day on it. I used to do it years ago when I used to get colds. If of course you get the same results by taking supplements then this is easier. One of the best forms of Vit C, in my experience is Rosehips (in capsule form from health shop) taken in large doses is very effective.

[smurfchops]

Try taking the echinacea every day, I take two on the first day at the first sign of a cold or sore throat, then one every day for around seven days, also a Vit C fizzy tablet every day. Echinacea seems to stop colds, coughs, sore throats etc from getting worse.

But dont take Echinacea longer than a couple of weeks, I think you may get immune to them, you're not supposed to take them all the time.  They seem more effective if you just 'use them when you need to'.

[lizzierose]

my mum says that as its coming on when you have that awful feeling in your nose adn throat that you should gargle hot salty water and try and snort it out of your nose as it kills the bacteria and/or ejects whatevers causing the problem. apparently works although I''ve never dard try it. know its too late now but maybe for next time : )