How do you deal with your cold?

sharalee99

I am probably one of thousands of people who are currently suffering from a really bad cold.
I am feeling really sorry for myself
I can't breathe, though my nose is constantly running, my eyes are running, I didn't sleep last night, so am really tired. My voice sounds like Deidre Barlow, and it hurts when I cough and sneeze- Say awwww, c'mon, feel sorry for me! :rotfl:
What I'd like to know is, how do you deal with your cold? Any ancient family remedies that seem to work for you? Or are you all over the counter medicine people, or do you not bother at all?
And just on a side note, if you do have a bad cold, do you stay off work or do you think a cold is not a reason to stay off?

betsie

Hi
I do know how you feel, mine is only just starting to go and i got is two weeks ago. I was using sudafed, but have been told it can make things worse and that Olbus oil is better ( the sudafed did really make me thirsty and didn,t make me feel much better).
I do think the cold tablets help and lots of fresh orange juice. I would stay off work if you feel really bad and they can cope without you. Your work colleagues will not be best pleased if they come down with it one xmas day.

Mrs_P_Pincher

Sambucal - buy it from Holland and Barrett or our local health food shop. It's elderberry extract and packed with Vitamin C. May be too late for this time, but buy a bottle when you're out and about again and stop the next cold in its tracks.

In the meantime 'boil your head' and if you have any tea tree or eucalyptus oil, put a couple of drops in the water. A handful of sage from the garden works well too.

Hope you feel better soon.

Mrs P P

j.e.j.

Sudafed is a good decongestant. Boots Cold and Flu are also very good, - these contain painkillers and decongestant. They're about £5 a pack, though!

Work's a bit of a tricky one.. some companies can be draconian and will look at using disciplinary procedures (or 'managing employee sickness' to use the corporate jargon) if someone takes time off sick. Hopefully that's not the case everywhere! I think it's far more sensible to stay away if you've got a cold/flu. As someone's said, you might pass it on to other workers if you go in.

glowgirl_2

Night nurse, the old fashioned liquid not the tablets, the day one allows you to carry on and the night one knocks you out, disgusting stuff but it really does work, you really do have my sympathy hope you feel better soon:)

sharalee99

Thanks, all useful info.
I very very rarely get a cold, thankfully-this is the first this year, but boy, it's made up for it-I really do feel dreadful. Not due back to work til Tuesday, hopefully I'll feel a bit better by then. I would hate to think of the people I work with feeling like I do on Christmas day
I was hoping someone would have a miracle cure that their granny's great aunt swore by lol
Oh, and I now sound like Deirdre Barlow too

geri1965_2

I had a cold a couple of weeks ago but thankfully it was very minor and only lasted a couple of days.

I had some Tesco cold capsules in the house and they dried it up a treat, although they did make me feel a bit spaced out.

I would probably have taken the day off work, but I had a new colleague starting and there was only me to greet him/show him to his desk etc.

I did cancel meeting friends for lunch that day and going to the dentist!

Chocolatedrinker

If I have a really bad cold I will take a day off to try and sleep it off. This time I've been coughing for three weeks and finally went to the Drs as I was being nagged to do so by work colleagues. I got some cough mixture to take. But it is finally going now. Hope you all feel much better soon!

ali-t

As soon as I feel something coming on I get on the first defence spray. It is vile but seems to kill the cold before it takes hold. http://www.vicks.co.uk/first-defence/nasal-spray/

If I don't get to it in time I take loads of vit c and feel sorry for myself snottering all over the place. I take nytol at night as it is works as an anti-hystamine so as well as knocking me out it dries up the snot.

Padstow

sharalee99 wrote: »

I am probably one of thousands of people who are currently suffering from a really bad cold.
I am feeling really sorry for myself
I can't breathe, though my nose is constantly running, my eyes are running, I didn't sleep last night, so am really tired. My voice sounds like Deidre Barlow, and it hurts when I cough and sneeze- Say awwww, c'mon, feel sorry for me! :rotfl:
What I'd like to know is, how do you deal with your cold? Any ancient family remedies that seem to work for you? Or are you all over the counter medicine people, or do you not bother at all?
And just on a side note, if you do have a bad cold, do you stay off work or do you think a cold is not a reason to stay off?

Horrible I know. The open mouth through the night cause you can't breathe. The pain in your face when your sinuses are blocked. (Have a remedy for that.)

But at the risk of sounding smug, and yes, I could be struck down with something far worse, I haven't had a cold now in five years or more.
I started taking high doses of Vit D3 and just once I felt a cold coming on.
I rushed to the pharmacy and bought my next cold prevention, Vicks First defence I think it's called. It's brilliant.
As long as you catch it when you first have the tingling, although it does say on the box that it lessens the duration of any cold.
I used to hate that feeling of knowing a cold was coming.
If you want to do the Vit D3, too late for this year as it takes three months to build immunity, but start it anyway, colds are not just for Christmas.
The Vicks is really, really good, stops a cold in it's tracks.

Badger_Lady

Sinus medicine and nassal spray are my priorities. As soon as the sinuses are clear, nothing else feels quite so bad - I can breathe, my face doesn't ache, it's a big relief.

Also hot baths. Like, really, really hot baths - the ones that turn your skin pink. They feel so lovely, a relaxing soak, and really help to 'cleanse' the cold away