What do you do to get over a cold?

[supercalifragilous]

There are so many products out there that claim to "shorten the duration of a cold" - Airborne, Zicam, Cold-Eeze, whatever.

My parents swear by Zicam nasal swabs. I had one bad experience with the Imitrex nasal spray (NASTY postnasal drip aftertaste) and now have a lifelong aversion to any kind of nasal whatever. I tried the chewables but they're like chewing on aluminum foil.

Another friend swears by Sambucol (found in natural food stores).

A couple people from work swear by Emergen-C and Airborne.

Just wondering - what does everyone here use? Mommies just don't have time to get sick!

[miki]

I use something that is like Sambucol plus echinacea plus raw honey. It's the elderberry syrup from here: www.honeygardens.com .

[TraciG]

UGH colds are the worst, they seem to last forever ! Since I have my DD & this year I've had more cold's then ever ! Last time I just took Tylenol cold, it came with a pill for daytime & a different kind for night time.

I'd also like to know what people use .

[gatorruth]

My DH uses Zicam nasal swabs and loves them. I find that by taking vitamin C daily, and when the first sign of congestion starts, I borrow DD's nasal saline spray! That clears me up and if it gets worse, I live on Dayquil capsules.

Oh yeah- Jewish penicillin works, too!! Chicken Soup!

Ruth

[Tondi G]

I've done it all

Airborne, Emergen-C, Zicam nasal Gel (that stuff makes my nose bleed but my DH swares it helps cut his colds), sambucol is elderberry right. I've even tried colloidal silver... but after reading about it turning your skin grey it turned me off of it.

I often use saline nasal spray or Alkolol to cut down on the mucus and clear my nasal passages. Chicken soup with lots of garlic. some tylenol if I am achy or have a sore throat. I take a couple of emergen-C or airborne and hope for the best!

I read good things about Herb-pharm Childrens Winter Health Compound here on the boards but every time I went to Whole Foods they were out of stock.... probably cause it's good stuff!

I try to stay up on my multi vitamin and just power through the colds when I can. It sucks to be a sick mommy!

~Tondi

[schums]

Usually it's asprin, sudafed/mucinex/benadryl (from the pharmacy, not the PE type) and nasal spray. And sleep, when I can get it. I've tried Airborne and Cold-eeze and saw no difference at all. Plus, cold eeze made my mouth, tongue and throat hurt. A lot. Never tried Zicam, but have read studies where people have completely lost their sense of smell and taste after using it, so I'm not really interested in trying it.

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[bostonsmama]

Zicam worked for me, but a friend once warned me about how it ruined her sense of taste/smell, so we haven't used it since. Other than that, I just hydrate with lots of water, soup and juice (usually orange juice...although we all know vitamin C is only a preventative measure, not a cure).

My favorite drug used to be DayQuil before they took the pseudoephedrine out of it (grr!). Now I take Mucinex (prescribed by my doctor...so it's free), Mucinex D or even Claritin D. All three are pretty wonderful. Combine w/ Tylenol for the DayQuil effect. It won't shorten the duration, but it will make you feel mildly normal. Ludens cherry drops and Halls honey lemon (esp w/ the liquid center) are so nice for the throat. I hate Cepacol...the flavor and numbing agent make me feel weird and mess up the taste of everything else.

[kcandz]

Really? Changed forever or for a brief amount of time? That is scary.

[schums]

I heard that the change was permanent in most people who experienced this side effect. In the few cases where it wasn't permanent, it was "long term temporary".

Just to clarify, this is a side effect a few people have, not the majority who take the med. Still, it's too great a risk for me!

ETA: Here's a link to an article in the Washington Post about this subject. Seems like no one is totally sure if Zicam is safe or not.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001240_pf.html

Sarah
Mom to Alex (3/2002) and Catherine (8/2003)

[kcandz]

Thank you for the detailed information and the link.