home remedies for colds?

Scoopons

Scoopons

excessive use of poop-mod
Joined
May 12, 2003
Messages
2,304
Reaction score
141
Points
0
hey guys... i'm terribly sick... ugh...

But I hate taking medications. And they don't really seem to work this time.

Are there any home remedies that you guys stand by? A lot of people tell me to
1. not drink caffeine
2. not drink scalding hot liquids.
3. honey + Lemon combo

and why do people say to drink plenty of liquids? It seems to me that most of the liquid comes out as snot anyways. (sorry for the visual)

Any ideas would be great. Meanwhile, I will sit around breathing noisily through my mouth because I can't breath through my nose.

Scoopons
 
One of my wife's favorites is to cut a THICK slice of onion, put it in an bowl and warm it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then place a towel over your head to capture the vapors and breathe in the onion fumes. It seems to work well for her.

When I was a kid and got a bad cold, my Dad would warm up about 3 ounces of lemon juice to med. hot coffee temp, put it in a glass and just before I chugged it, drop in a shot of bourbon. I don't know if it helped the cold, but I sure slept well.
 
Put equal parts of whiskey+ honey+ lemon in a cup and microwave it and drink it as a hot toddy.I use 1 -2 oz equally.It helps.
 
I don't think this is a "home" remedy per se, but I swear by them. Cold-eeze zinc lozenges or the store brand - whatever. Just make sure to space them 2 hours on either side of taking them from any citrus food and eat some food with them, because they can be irritating to the stomach. I have used them for sore throats, aches, you name it. Always there is a quick turn around in how I am feeling within a day. I've tried honey with no luck, but I have heard lots of people say it works. Otherwise, lots of hot showers and a cool mist vaporizer.
 
Bourbon...

..plenty of bourbon.

Straight up - on the rocks - right from the bottle.

I haven't had a cold in 27 years.
 
The reason you need plenty of liquid is several-fold. First, you loose a lot of water without knowing while having fever and when your immune response revs up against the infection. These are "insensible water loses", greately underestimated by people. Second, you need water for metabolically active and immune cells to function properly. Third, you need to protect your kidneys from microtubular damage when dehydrated due to infection ("flush" toxins away so-to-speak).

One of the best home remedies I like is hot (but not scalding hot) tea with fresh raspberry preserves in it (2 spoonsfull) and drink that stuff 4-5 times/day. Don't overdo the vitamin C, though 500mg / day is not unreasonable for the 3-4 days that you're sick.

Hope you're feeling better.

Scoopons said:
hey guys... i'm terribly sick... ugh...

But I hate taking medications. And they don't really seem to work this time.

Are there any home remedies that you guys stand by? A lot of people tell me to
1. not drink caffeine
2. not drink scalding hot liquids.
3. honey + Lemon combo

and why do people say to drink plenty of liquids? It seems to me that most of the liquid comes out as snot anyways. (sorry for the visual)

Any ideas would be great. Meanwhile, I will sit around breathing noisily through my mouth because I can't breath through my nose.

Scoopons
Click to expand...
 
You need water because it keeps the mucus flowing. Mucus is the way the body gets rid of that virus.

Lots of sleep works nicely too.

Wash your hands before touching your eyes nose or mouth in the future to prevent you're getting these things. There are 106 strains. I probably already have them but you can get 2 strains & they can merge to make a third one. Spooky.
 
wow thanks guys! I'm not sure about the bourbon.. .(I still need to interact with people during the day) But everything else sounds great. Thanks guys!! Also.. the onion idea is a new one. I have never heard of that. But does your head then smell like onion for the rest of the day??
 
Your head's stopped up, how will you know?
 
This is some Chinese remedy. Cut some ginger not a big chunk but a sliver. Take the ginger and a can of coke and simmer it in a saucepan on medium heat for 10 minutes. Pour it in your mug and enjoy. You can try eating the ginger also I heard that works to clear up your sinuses.
 
So does horseradish on a nice rare roast beef sandwich.
 
interesting.. well as I write this.. I am drinking lemon/ginger/honey infusion. This seems to be doing good. ginger is quite spicy. and what the hey.. I'll throw in some bourbon and wasabi into the mix.. can't hurt. =D
 
This is kind of gross, and I've only done it in severe cases, but everytime I tried it it seemed to fix me up quickly.

Cut a grapefruit in 1/2 or 1/4 and boil it in a cup or 2 of water, peel and all, until it's pretty gone. Drink the water. Somehow it's supposed to get all the vitamins out of the peel too and give you a major dose.

To clear my head my parents used to put a scoop of Vick's in a bucket and add boiling water and then put my head over it w/a towel. Works wonders, stings your eyes like crazy. However, the Vicks label warns against putting Vicks into boiling water. Go figure. (Actually I think they make a liquid now for in vaporizors that would probably work). I wouldn't do it to my kids, but I'd do it to myself if I was desperate. Mentholatem is much more pleasant, but not nearly as potent.
 
Scoopons said:
interesting.. well as I write this.. I am drinking lemon/ginger/honey infusion. This seems to be doing good. ginger is quite spicy. and what the hey.. I'll throw in some bourbon and wasabi into the mix.. can't hurt. =D
Click to expand...


But if you drink too much alcohol + sugary stuff you can get dry
heaves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top