Posted on 10/10/2004 7:14:35 PM PDT by rwfromkansas
Freepers:
I am inquiring about what you take, especially if natural, to prevent or try to lessen the impact of colds, the flu, sinus infections, etc. I go to college, and my roommates and I have been hit with illness two times already...it isn't even Halloween. This is getting a bit old; I am seeking info on what works for you; such a thread can be used for people to refer to in the future hopefully about what really works instead of what lore exists about certain substances.
There are little tidbits of info on FR, but I think it would be good to have an organized thread on a host of remedies people use.
I first want to suggest something that works for me. I am 21 and remember taking collodial silver nasal drops when I was a little kid. My word, that did wonders for a cold....killed it almost instantly. I am pretty leery about taking it much though because of the dangers of overusing silver (just as there is a danger of overusing any metal). The studies that show no use from collodial silver are BS; I have an immune deficiency in the upper respiratory tract; it is simply impossible that anything but collodial silver caused my recovery from colds when younger since I simply CAN'T recover without medicine. Silver is very effective, but you have to use it carefully. I am considering starting to use it again sparingly (perhaps every other day), but only when I am sick to avoid building up too much silver.
I have also heard that elderberry, particularly Sambucol, helps fight off infections. Have Freepers had experience with this? With Zinc?
Hopefully this thread will give a good list of remedies for people to use as a resource.
Thanks for any notes on what works for you when you start getting sick.
Wash your hands till they're chapped. (well....you know what I mean)
go to a health food store and get olive leaf extract 500mg
capsules. take 2 a day ....this stuff kills bugs dead.
If you do end up with the cold, it doesn't last as long nor is it as severe.
I thought you would be interested in this.
Hands are the key. Keep them away from your face. Don't eat food with your fingers such as french fries, pizza hamburgers, etc... unless they are clean. Carry foil wrapped packets of hand wipes and use at table just before eating. If you eat at serve yourself buffet style places, remember the ladle handles are crawling with bacterias and viruses.
Sambucol will knock down flu, colds, congestion so fast it's unbelievable, kills viruses in a heart beat.
There are several other things I take daily; but to keep sickness away CS and Sambucol is what I'd take when you feel something is coming on.
Have you lost smell? Supposedly it can be tied to a loss of smell.
It definitely works in any case. Anybody who says collodial silver is a scam needs to try it themselves.
Re colloidal silver: One night I noticed my cat had a nasty abcess on her neck. It was too late to get to a vet and I had an early appointment for work the following morning. I applied CS to the wound and put a couple of drops in her mouth.
I didn't get home till late the next evening. The first thing I did was get the cat and take a look at her neck. I could not find the injury. It had closed and dried up completely in 24 hours.
It never occurred to me to use CS as nasal drops for colds and flu.
Vitamin C (1000 mg tablets twice a day when you start feeling sniffly), and ColdEeeze with zinc gluconate glycine. And wash your hands with soap after touching ANYTHING that someone else with germ-laden hands might have touched, be it handrails, items at the bookstore, or the dorm commode handle. (I keep a little bottle of anti-bacterial no-rinse gel in my purse for occasions when we can't wash our hands after touching something, like temptations at the toy aisle in Target. No colds in our house for a couple of years now.)
Here is my little helper.
I carry and use my own pen when signing for transactions.
I didn't get sick at all in my dorm last year, but one of my roommates is from Korea (have a big room so have 2 roommates), and he brought an illness over so I seem to be more open to getting stuff this year.
I will take your advice. Luckily, the same roommate is a clean freak and so we clean a lot.
Flu: Oscillococcinum by boiron (yes thats how its spelled, sounds like ahsolokium I think)- three doses will usually kick flu to the curb. Both the Wife and I have used it and it works wonderfully. Common Cold: Echinacea/Goldenseal extract liquid - I take 3/4 a dropper in about 2 to 3 tb water if I feel a cold coming on. It tastes awful. Works most the time. Sinus: Olive Leaf - good like said above. Alkalol - Snort it. I'm not kidding. You get it at the drug store, brown bottle, yellow label, they should know what it is. Put a cotton ball over the mouth of the bottle, tip and wet, then put the cotton ball up to your nostril (block other) and inhale profusely. Be prepared for some burn and then be ready to blow your nose cause this will melt everything but your brain out of your head. Dairy Products - Supposedly in some people it will bother the sinuses. My sinuses do get a bit nasty if I eat Dairy so I just stay away from it:( Chriopractor kept telling me I might have a low grade allergy to dairy, unfortunately he was right ... dang I miss milkshakes and pizza.
For prevention: Wash your hands, keep the room clean (relatively speaking for a dorm), have paper cups in the bathroom, use Lysol spray or other disinfectant on surfaces that get hands on them (remote controls, door knobs, light switches, faucet knobs etc.), when you can open the windows and air out the room, eat well and stay well rested.
If you have caught something: Rest as much as you can the first day, pamper yourself with hot chicken soup and tea with lemon and honey, cough/sneeze into your sleeve instead of your hands. If you have a fever don't bring it down too fast - let it do it's work - but don't let it get too high. Don't go out until 24 hours after the fever is gone. That's for your sake in a weakened state as well as everyone else. Wash your bedding, towels etc. as soon as you feel well enough.
Bleach - Keep a gallon of bleach around.
Fill up the sink with warm water and a drop (no more) of antibacterial palmolive than a cap (1 or 2 teaspoons) of bleach. Wipe everything down twice a day with this soapy bleachy water. (Get lemon or citrus Clorox if you don't like the smell)
Isn't there a cure for the rhinovirus (the common cold) as of a year or two ago? I believe you need a perscription though.
Otherwise, I found in my college days that large amounts of caffeine mostly cancelled the effects of a cold, even though it didn't cure it.
Hey, you aren't a libertarian candidate from somewhere in the Northwest are you?
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