Comments

1
You haven't had flu shots? Duh.
2
DO NOT TAKE ZINC ON AN EMPTY STOMACH

You will be wracked with the worst verge-of-throwing-up feeling for hours.
3
Where's the option for steak, whiskey, and a stripper parade?
4
Hot Toddies, lots of them until you fall asleep, and when you wake up more Hot Toddies until you fall back to sleep repeat until you feel better.
5
Nice, Thanks! I'm boiling water right now for a hot cup of Lipton Tea, with a lemon wedge. Forgot about in the pantry until reading this.
6
Too late for flu shots - new batches affected by #shutdown

Chicken soup and plenty of rest
7
Whiskey, Thera-flu PM, and some of that medical weed the kids keep going on about.
8
Oscillococcinum and G.S.E.
9
2 hoodies, 1 stocking cap, preferably wool, long underwear, and a nice softshell jacket to seal the package. Go to pho, get larget bowl of chicken all broth possible (no noodles). Put the whole freaking jar of chili paste in, way more than you normally would, consume, go home, and sweat it out. You will wake up soaked in sweat which is disgusting, but the flu's back shall be broken...
10
All of these things are placebo. You get better when your immune system has fought of the invaders.
11
I've found that zinc worked for this thing, and Apple Brandy hot toddies at Linda's were equally* as good. Also, don't eat sugary foods, which includes most complex carbohydrate groups: bread, beer, pasta, pizza, probably even rice. And, you know, actual sugar.

Stick to fresh fruits and vegetables, steamed veggies are particularly good. That and miso soup couldn't hurt. Tom Ka Gai would be good too. And ginger. Lots of ginger. Motherfuckin' ginger. Raw,.. in tea,.. in carrot-ginger-white pepper soup, whatever. Eat ginger. Ginger's effect was noticeable. With that regimen, plus staying home to actually rest, you should be over the actual virus in three days.

The worst part, though, was the nearly two weeks of feeling totally healthy yet hacking up a lung clearing the catarrh and being generally snotty all the time. A custom blend of tea that included: slippery elm, eucalyptus, elecampane, kava, fennel, & licorice was particularly helpful with that part.

Good luck.

*not true. but tasty :)
12
I opt for Vitamin D supplements and plenty of sleep.
13
None will cure you any sooner, especially not emergen-c (what a freakin' racket) but lots of liquids are good, especially @4's suggestion.

Or, all of the above, as the wonders of the placebo effect cannot be understated.
14
Whiskey + Hot water + Lemon + All Day Rockford Files Marathon = CURE
15
Go for a good bike ride!

In the early days of the Fat Cyclist blog, Fatty (Eldon, so you can see the need for a nickname) claimed that riding your bike immediately cured any cold. Unfortunately, at the end of the ride, you come down with a new cold that is identical to the previous one. Not one of his best jokes, IMAO.

My handle was chosen for use on that blog, BTW.
16
Most pathogens do best in an environment slightly cooler than that of the normal human body. Immune cells do best at a temperature slightly higher than the normal human body. That's why (simplified) we get fevers.

So with that in mind, warming up your head is a good idea; hot liquid (tea, broth, &c) can help with that. Also helps symptomatic relief.

I read a paper at some point discussing how pretty much all remedies for the head cold perform no better than placebo, with the exception of nasal and sinus lavage (which improves recovery time). That's the science name for neti-pot. There are instructions online all over, but if I remember right the important thing is to use warm sterile physiologic saline and do it once or twice a day while sick (not more often, and not as a preventive measure; there is no benefit and some harm associated with those).
17
What 10 and 14 said. You're not going to affect the course of a virus with anything, but a couple each of ibuprofen and Sudafed plus a big bowl of soup will certainly make you *feel* better. Then rent a few classic three-hour-long movies and zone out.
18
I had something nasty several years ago and what worked as my placebo was a couple DVDs of House. Watching the cycle of crazy symptoms>misdiagnosis>recovery a few dozen times was balm to my spirit while my immune system did its work.
19
@9,

I do that but couple it with a really hot bath, basically as hot as I can stand it. Then I'll pile on the warm clothes and get in bed with hot tea. It's the only thing that gets me a good night's sleep if I have a fever.
20
@16, a good way to get and stay warm is to take hot baths. Really hot, as hot as you can stand it, and stay in there forever. Reload the hot after a while. Pour pots of boiling water in (while temporarily out, of course). Drink tons and tons of fluids. Sleep as much as possible.

One thing about the neti pot -- really, use distilled or boiled water. Just plain tap water can GIVE you a cold or flu.
21
I like to make a tea of fresh ginger and garlic with turmeric and a dash of cayenne, served with honey and fresh lemon. And then also take all the things and go to the gym just to hang out in the sauna.
22
Neti pot. It's best used as prevention, but it can also speed up the cure. I haven't had a head/throat/chest cold since I started using it four years ago, except one spring when I got lazy about using it. Eventually it gets to be as routine as brushing your teeth or clipping your nails. You don't have to use it every day, only whenever your head feels slightly stuffy or scratchy.
23
So you had a three day flu but because of your supplements it was gone in 72 hours. MIRACLE!
24
Drop a peppermint tea bag into a cup of boiling hot water, stick your face over it and huff in the fumes until it's cool enough to drink.
25
Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D (especially).
26
Tea made by steeping fresh rosemary.
27
I boil water for tea and let it cool for a Neti pot. Brain eating amoebas are way worse than a flu.
28
Gypsy Cold Care Tea (tm) is great for relieving symptoms. It does what other hot drinks do via steam and fluid replacement and contains several highly aromatic herbs which promote relief. It will not cure but it does help. My entire hospital-based office use it.
29
Lots of sleep and fluids. None of the others will speed your recovery in the slightest, and some can cause serious problems.
30
also, pot cookies to induce all of the sleep. MAJOR win. And very lurid, but interesting dreams.
31
Or you could go yachting
32
None of this is going to do any good since Walter White put that ricin in your "Stevia crap".
33
Do all of those things, but sleep is the best way to let your body heal itself.
34
First, a cold is not the flu and I wouldn't do the same things.

For a cold, the first sign, drink Emergency C three times a day and wash your hands a lot. It may back off and not get established.

If it does, then treat the headache and, like all others say, rest and clear fluids (not soda or coffee). Eat sparingly. Wash your hands a lot. (You're trying to protect everyone else.) If your nose is running, maybe a decongestant (I like Musenx for both running noses AND draining down the back of your throat).

For flu, much different. A flu is not going to back off so resign yourself. You'll not just have a headache but body aches. Get TheraFlu, chicken soup, and just rest. Make sure there is someone who might be able to bring you these things because the flu really hurts.

Again, wash - your - hands. (In cold/flu season, try to not touch anything - railings, door handles, elevator buttons - that can house germs.)
35
Kill it with garlic. Order a half pie from Piecora's Pizza of whatever your favorite toppings are (mine's usually Italian Sausage and green peppers) and roasted garlic. Tell them you're sick and would like them to go 'heavy on the garlic'. They've always done it for me...

Eat the whole damn thing. You will not want to be alone with yourself in enclosed spaces for the next couple of days, but you *will* feel better and faster.
36
Agree with sweating it out and forcing the fever to break. I drink tons of water/tea then burrito myself in many warm blankets. Sometimes I even cover my face, making sure I'm completely sealed in, and wait until I am so goddamn sweaty and hot I can't stand it any more. It can be fairly torturous. I then peel it all off, immediately throw all the soaked blankets in the wash, and shower. My temperature is always nearly back to normal after that, and I feel healthy again the next day.
37
Go see a great chiropractor!
Mine is a miracle worker.
Get the spinal column to work properly and you will get better sooner and stay healthier longer.
38
Hot lemon tea with some whiskey in it!
39
I'm in with @36 et al.: Don't take those drugs to lower the fever. The fever is there to bake out the bad stuff, so go with it. I usually have a hot bath or shower, dress up in all my fleece camping clothes, crawl under my big down comforter, sleep and sweat. Also drink lots of water & tea. That usually takes care of it in a day (or two, if nothing pressing is going on at work and I want another day off).
40
Lemon-Ginger-Echinacea+tequila will help you feel better until it is over.
41
number one is right GET A FUCKING FLU SHOT! $14.95 at Costco etc. And if you are even a tiny bit sick STAY THE FUCK HOME and keep your sniveling brats home too! I have lung trouble and could LITERALLY DIE from influenza. Ugh I'm going to wash my hands. Oh, and whiskey seems to help in moderation.
42
120,000 IU of Vitamin A twice a day as soon as you feel symptoms. I can firmly attest to the fact that you will skip the cold or it will be gone within 2 days if it does arrive. And, yes, Zinc lozenges, too!
43
"Feed the Fever" with Hot Shots of echinacea, ginger and cayenne (tequila optional), in addition to long hot bath/shower and wrapping yourself in layers of clothes and blankets after. Put water bottles filled with hot water between layers of clothes, especially on the inside of your wrists, to keep you steeping longer. "Starve the Cold" with minimum carbohydrates and no dairy.
44
Zinc for sore throats, along with salt water gargles (or tea tree and salt water if you can stand it). I agree though that you don't take zinc on an empty stomach. Too much will make you puke for a few hours.
At onset, elderberry ( I just get the concentrate from super supplements in the white bottle, natural sources is the brand), mixed with water (or rachel's ginger beer or soda water), plus olive leaf extract (herb pharm is my preferred brand but, the herbalist and others are good too). I do about two tablespoons of elderberry in a glass of water every hour or two. I expect my links won't work, but there's research available about this stuff: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/her… has the overly simplified bit on elderberry success, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15869… is just one on olive leaf.
Aside from that, fluids, stay warm, and sleep are really the best things you can do.
45
Stay at home. You don't have to confine yourself to bed all day, but you can at least keep that shit away from the rest of us.
46
As several other commenters have said in various forms, SPICEY SPICEY soup. Any kind of spice will do it so long as it makes your sinuses explode. Then sleep and wake up better!
47
Just for the record. By the time you feel yourself coming down with a cold it is already over. The varied rinoviruses that comprise the cold do your body absolutely no damage. What does happen is that your body sees one of the viruses and goes into slash and burn mode. It will successfully kill that version of the virus in just a day or so. About that time you will start to notice that you don't feel well. Notice that this is AFTER the virus is dead. What makes you feel like shit is the cleanup. So if you want to know just what is making you feel so bad.... Look in a mirror. Your body has WAY over-reacted to a fairly (if not totally) harmless virus and is making you feel unwell. This makes the cold one of the few viruses that affect you less if you have a compromised immune system. The worse your immune system the less your body reacts causing you less problems with the cold. Of course you will probably die from damn near everything else but hey you don't have to worry about the common cold.

The flu on the other hand. Well you feel it while it is still being fought by your body. Win and you still feel like shit for however long it takes. Lose and you get to find out for certain if there is life after death. And while there are a few here I would urge to be around coughing people a lot most of you on slog would be missed... SO GO GET YOUR FLU SHOT.... NOW!!!!!!

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