kellinator | This can't be happening. This is not happening... right?

Current Mood: sick

This can't be happening. This is not happening... right?

Nooooooo. You're supposed to get the Con Crud after Dragon*Con, not before!

It feels like Klingons are doing a tap dance on my chest. My neck is all sweaty from the weight of my hair, and I'm in nice frigid air-conditioning. My throat... so scratchy I can't think of a clever way to describe it.

I'm snorting Zicam and about to go in search of hot soup... any more suggested remedies? I've gotta kick this, fast.

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A friend of mine takes 1000mg of Vitamin C every hour until he gets the runs.

Wow, talk about beating a cold. That's beating it with a hachet. Hehehehe!

Munch fresh ginger. Go get a root, slice it up, keep a baggie full of slices near you. Coat 'em in honey if you like. Munch regularly. Your sinuses will be so *ZINGED* that any germs hanging around your ears/nose/throat will run for the hills.

Also, gargle warm salt water. Then drink hot tea with honey. Soothes the throat and helps clear out nasty germs.

If you've got a way to do it, a few drops of tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils in warm water is good to breathe when you're sick (I've got a tea light holder with a glass "bowl" on top).

Orange juice.

Chloraseptic (sp?), if they still make that spray. Vicks vaporub if they don't (you can put it on your neck or upper lip if you don't want to coat your chest).

Body wash/lotion/body scrub that has a cooling effect will at least help the symptoms even if it won't actually make you better.

airborne or emercen-c are two cold care/cold prevention thingies you (or your hubby) can pick up at any grocery store or pharmacy. they are basically really high doses of vitamins, mostly vitamin c but a few others as well (at least in airborne) and they can help you get better faster

Hmmm... If you need to stay functional I'd go for sudafed/dayquil. If you can afford to be zonked for a night then I'd drop a couple benadryl and a good dose of nyquil. Bearing in mind that with most meds you can double the dose and be fine. 99.9% of the time any OTC medications are one half the prescription version. Granted it's not a good idea to do that over an extended period of time but for a one shot it's not terrible.

Just don't go more than 4 ounces on the Nyquil at once. Heh

And Emergen-C. Lots of that. I used to take 2 packets every hour when I was really sick. Yes the body can only absorb so much at a given time but I figured if I keep the amount in my system high then I could maintain the maximum body load of C for longer as well.

And a little blistex applied to the edges of the nostrils will help if your nose gets raw from blowing it too much.

If I think of anything else I'll keep replying to this comment.

Emergen-C is full of happy goodness. I've taken days off a bad cold that way. The only thing that weirded me out at first was that it was fizzy, so I just stir it till it stops bubbling. LOL

Bearing in mind that with most meds you can double the dose and be fine.

An important exception is acetaminophen, which can start seriously trashing your liver at 4 g/day and has been fatal at a dosage as low as 6 g/day.

Really? That's news to me then. I've taken 4 tylenol lots of time and haven't had any adverse effects as far as my tummy was concerned.

Acetaminophen (paracetamol as it's known across the pond) is the number one cause of hospitalization due to overdose - and much of that is due to accidental (as opposed to attempted suicide) ingestion (cite) (cite).

This is likely due to the perception of acetaminophen as safe because it's over the counter, and due to the toxic dosage being fairly low relative to the recommended dose (especially when compared to some other OTC medications). The amount needed depends on the individual, but can be as low as 4 grams in 24 hours (cite), which is actually the maximum recommended dosage on a bottle of Tylenol.

Emergen-C is pretty good. Zicam has always helped me as well.

Another thing, you might find it at Walgreens. Hyland's Flu Care. It's homeopathic. I used it whenever anyone at the station got sick (5 of us working at various times in one room all touching the same stuff, no real ventilation, germs loved that room) and it kept me from getting it.

If Celestial Seasonings still makes it, their echinachia tea works well, too. Put some honey in it and it'll help the throat.

Ooh, and if you have a bath tub, there's this stuff I got for the tub. *runs to go find the bottle* Village Naturals Therapy for the Bath: Allergy and Congestion. It's in a bottle and it's a warm honey color. It's a mineral bath with ginger, lemon and aloe and it works wonders in the tub. Draw the bath as hot as you can stand, put a bunch in, and then get in and just breathe. :)

Good luck. I just fought off some crud that sounded like what you've got going on. I'm without insurance right now so I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeve to fight colds.

Lots and lots of rest and fluids.

Sounds like you have plenty of great advice on how to handle it, so I will just wish you a speedy recovery - and add:

Someone has to be the source of Con Crud. It sounds like this year, it may be you...

I have a nasty cold myself right now...I'm going the Airborne/OJ route, along with hot liquids/soup when I can, and DayQuil/NyQuil at the appropriate hour.

Oh, and blowing my nose as much as I can to clear it out as quickly as I can. Gross, I know!

*hugs* Hope you feel better by Friday! You haven't by chance been hanging out with

thegreyman lately, have you? I blame him for giving me his cold. :P

That is made if AIDS and Fail, Kel. I hope to get to hug the new Bride!

Airborne is supposed to work wonders.

Some people like airborne/emergen-C. It doesn't do much for me, but Tropical C Naked Juice (one of those smoothie bottle thingies) does. You can find it at most grocery stores, and it's got echinacea and astragalus, the latter of which you can seldom find in anything, but it's fantastic when you're getting sick. Send the boy out to get you plenty of that, and get LOTS of rest. That always works better for me than anything else. (Clear liquids, too, if you're not a water-nut like me and drink 60-80 oz of it, bare minimum, each day anyway.) Good luck, and I hope you feel better in time to go! *hugs*

Odwalla makes something called C Monster that can also be found in grocery stores (and specifically, in grocery stores in Georgia, Krogers for instance). This stuff works like a charm. A bottle in the morning, a bottle at night, sleep at least 3-4 extra hours, stay out of Georgia weird weather (way too fucking hot, then monsoon all on same day). Repeat for a few days.

I was hit with this, too, Kelly. Lots of people around me are suddenly getting sick. I blame the incredibly messed up weather we've been having here. I think it stressed our bodies out too much.

Here's what I did to help me get rid of the "Pre-con crud":

Zicam, Airborne, multi-vitamin, hot tea w/lemon, water, chickeny soup, spicy foods, constant washing hands.

Good luck!

and DayQuil

I'm having a deja vu experience here. Is there something about this time of year that makes you ill?

I've posted this before, but:

Airborne is bullshit and may even be unsafe. In other words, don't waste your money.

Vitamin C, plenty of fluids and rest. There is no cure for the cold, only management.

That's why I like Emergen-C better. It's nothing but C and fizzy stuff IIRC.

Breastmilk?

:P

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