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i caught the flu..or a cold or...something. miserable
in all your healthy watch ways...any tricks to combatting it?
achy, fever, sniffles sore throat and cough
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^ I got this via PM, but wanted to shared my answer with everybody.
The biggest way to "combat" colds are to avoid them. While that feels a bit like an "I told you so", it's good knowledge for next time!
Once you have it, you really just stave off symptoms, while your body fights it off. The most you can do is give your body the right fuel -- i.e., your diet while sick.
Best Ways to Provide Adequate Fuel:
Eat. Drink. Do not starve yourself because you feel bad. Do not forgo healthy food because you're unable to prepare it. You need vitamins and calories. Translation: orange juice and chicken soup. Noodle soup. Vegetable soup. Any lean non-meaty soup. No more than 2-3 glasses of the juice, because you don't want to ingest too much sugar. Consider the low-acid juice, too.
Drink lots of water. Lots and lots of water. More than 8 cups per day.
Sleep. Don't waste your body's energy with being awake. You must sleep. Forget work, etc. You'll sleep best starting 30-60 minutes after taking the Claritin D. You won't wake up because you can't breathe, because you have to sneeze, etc.
Best Ways to Fight Symptoms:
Claritin D -- the "D" is important -- uses the best decongestant that currently exists: pseudoephedrine. All that crap building up in your head will be dried up, and the pressure and misery of having a chapped nose will be gone. Get the 24-hour version. The generic Walgreens "Walatin D" is just as good. Be aware that not all generics are. It's not just the chemicals that matter, but the release system. Loratadine, in this case. Just be prepared for your boogers to turn into boulders (picking required?), though it's still better than snotting a Kleenex full of Ghostbusters slime.
NyQuil is a waste of money. Most "cold medications" are crap. You get a low dose of decongestant and NSAIDS. (NSAIDS = Advil, aspirins, etc). Take the pseudoephedrine. If you still feel like crap, take Advil separately for the sinus headaches.
If your throat is sore, drink a can of ice-cold regular Coca-Cola. It helps. Not diet, not a bottle, not warm, not "almost cold", not Pepsi, not Dr. Pepper. It needs to be regular, in a can, near-freezing-cold Coca-Cola. Drink two, if needed. Don't suck down too much in one day, however. Sugar isn't good right now.
Wear socks. Yes, even in bed. Cold feet are your enemy.
Plain cough drops will help give you temporary breathing abilities, after the pseudoephedrine has kicked in to stop production of more junk. Not cherry, mint, whatever -- the plain menthol ones. They're like $1/bag at the drug store. Suck down a whole bag in a day, if you want to.
Best Ways to Avoid Colds
It's as easy as avoiding germs. Don't touch things. Wash your hands frequently. If you wash less than 15 times per day, you're not doing it enough. With soap -- and scrub hands for at least 10+ seconds.
Your kids are germ factories. Wash hands after interactions with them or anything they would normally touch. Yes folks, kids are nasty, regardless of how much you love them. (Trying to purify them is bad for them. So don't try to overclean them -- just overclean yourself.)
It has NOTHING to do with how cold/chilly you are. Germs cause colds, not the cold. The cold, at most, weakens your immune system for existing germs to take foothold.
Take your daily multivitamin. Take extra C as needed.
Consider taking garlic supplements, or cook with garlic powder frequently. I do the latter. I love garlic in my cooked food. And I tend to only eat food that I prep at home. I don't eat out much, and I totally avoid fast food. Garlic helps the immune system.
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These are all my tips, from my own experimentation and experiences through the years. (All have been run by doctors, too, FYI.)
I rarely get sick now, because I follow my own advice.