I Have a Cold

by wjw on September 19, 2007

I have a cold. Again.

It’s not a bad cold, as colds go, but it’s inconvenient, and it sucks away energy.

This is something like the fifth cold I’ve had in the last eighteen months. I conclude that my immune system has gone to hell.

Any home remedies I should try?

Kat September 19, 2007 at 1:18 am

My mother’s cold/flu/sick remedy goes like this:

Take 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add a cup of boiling water. When it cools, add a cup of cider vinegar. Drink as much as you can stand, as often as you can stand.

This was very effective, in that none of her children ever complained of being sick ever again. But it does seem to work against the cold, too.

Max Kaehn September 19, 2007 at 3:44 am

I always get hot and sour soup from my local Chinese restaurant and order it extra spicy. While I’m enjoying the burn from that, I take a very hot bath (my wife is amazed I don’t get scalded) and read something fun until I’m sweating copiously. Then I turn off the alarm clock and sleep until I wake up.

Tarl Neustaedter September 19, 2007 at 5:13 am

Keep your hands *clean*. I mean sterile. Carry around a Purell or GermX alcohol-gel thing, and any time you have touched a door handle or shaken someone’s hand, unobtrusively take a squirt of the gel and dry-scrub your hands for a few seconds.

It is absolutely amazing how often those same hands will touch your eyes, lips and nostrils without your thinking of it. If you can break the transmission path, you’ll get fewer colds.

Alyx September 19, 2007 at 6:22 am

It’s not a home remedy, but I swear by the flu shot.

I have a friend who boils up the garlic/cayenne/honey combo with whole, unpeeled citrus fruit. One orange, two lemons, and a grapefruit. Once strained, it tastes like something you’d seal your driveway with, but it does clear the sinuses and give you a big shot of vitamin c.

Feel better, W.

S.M. Stirling September 19, 2007 at 4:33 pm

Ecanecia and goldenseal. They shorten the period of misery considerably, in my experience.

Kathleen September 19, 2007 at 7:25 pm

I vote with Tari. I think you should sterilize the house.

Let me know how you’re getting on with that before I come home next.

Love,
Kathy

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