Oh, a cold it has caught me and I’m feelin’ so blue.
I’m about as darned worthless as a smelly old shoe.
There’s a fire in my throat but none in my head.
My snot glands are runnin’, my brain cells are dead …
— Howlin’ Garglin’ Wolfe
I get sick only about once every five or seven years. Lucky that way. But when something does catch me, oh my. I’m currently lying abed, sucking zinc lozenges and guzzling hot tea. No reason I can’t keep posting (it’s more entertaining than playing another game of spider solitaire). I’m just saying don’t expect too much brilliance for a few days, okay?
I’m sorry, dear. Take care of yourself. If you have some eucalyptus essential oil, put half a teaspoonful into your hot bath water – no soap or bubbles. It can’t help but make you feel better, especially just before bed time. And if you don’t have the oil, see if you can get some eucalyptus leaves and make a strong “tea” from them, then add some of that to the hot bath water.
I had a cold that felt like that poem, and with a high fever yet. Some friends forced a rye whiskey on me and gave me two aspirin; I went to bed, kept two blankets on top all night and sweated it out. By next morning, the whole thing was gone. It’s never happened since.
Hope you feel better soon, no matter how you treat it.
Jala Neti cleans my head right out and helps get my colds over with faster (no infected gunk in the sinuses to keep the pot boiling), but I recognize that most people look at that treatment and go, “Eeeeeeeeeew!”
Nevertheless, it does move, to quote a famous Italian.
Pat, that’s what my dad used to do, too (well, he drank hot toddies, which are whiskey plus), and he was never sick. I generally fight off colds well, also. But I do not think I could gag down whiskey, even on a good day. Shudder.
ML, I’m not sure where to get eucalyptus oil around here, but that does sound lovely.
RG — I’ve heard of that but never (oh thank heaven) had any reason to look into it farther.
http://www.jalanetipot.com/
Um … ugh. But I’m now off to read the data on why it’s supposed to help.
Dr. Mercola just did an article on “Foods That Fight the Common Cold”. Also, at the bottom of that article he mentions using 3% hydrogen peroxide in your ear canals. I’ve used H2O2 in this manner and it helped lessen the severity and duration of my cold. Here’s a quote from that section:
“While I was in practice, many patients at my Natural Health Center reported curing colds and flu within 12 to 14 hours simply by administering a few drops of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into each ear. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide in 3 percent solution is available at any drug store for a couple of dollars or less. You will hear some bubbling, which is completely normal, and possibly feel a slight stinging sensation. Wait until the bubbling and stinging subside (usually 5 to 10 minutes), then drain onto a tissue and repeat with the other ear. ”
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/26/vitamin-c-foods-fight-common-cold.aspx?e_cid=20151026Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20151026Z1&et_cid=DM89118&et_rid=1185810064
Get well soon.
BTW, that’s not a poem. It’s a blues song I’m singin’.
Blues are Poetry…of the Soul.
Get better soon Claire. I’m just getting over the crud too. My secret is Excedrin every 4 hours (and a bit of whiskey also).
My family tradition is whenever anyone gets sick, make a big bowl of Jell-O.
But it may be more an acknowledgement of the problem than a solution. I trust your family is already treating you with sympathy. (And not saying, “Yeah. Remember that walk yesterday?”)
Then there’s the old standby, chicken noodle soup.
Try a search on Amazon for “Olbas” — a Swiss line of natural products made with eucalyptus, wintergreen, and peppermint oils (and some others I’ve forgotten).
Oil, inhalers, cough drops, etc. Stuff’s freakin’ addictive and clears your nasal passages nicely, but gently and gradually.
Added: I just noticed, Olbas even makes a Therapeutic Herbal Bath product. Now if only I had a bathtub…gee…doesn’t someone around here have one she’s recently snazzed up?
Oh…and of course, hope you feel better soon!
You need a friend to trek over to this place and bring back some schniken to go with the tea. Their pastries are to die for.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g58566-d1896337-r287939458-Cottage_Bakery_and_Delicatessen-Long_Beach_Washington.html
Get well.
“Now if only I had a bathtub…gee…doesn’t someone around here have one she’s recently snazzed up?”
What a coincidence … somebody does! Now, if Amazon only had same-day delivery here in the bergs. Well, sometimes they do have next-day for only a small charge.
Sorry you don’t have a bathtub, Beth.
“Schniken?”
If nothing else, I just learned a new vocabulary word.
My usual cold remedy is Emergen-C, and this herbal stuff called “Cold Snap”. Add the Cold Snap to your usual tea.
Schniken? Schneken?
Hope you feel better soon. In the meanwhile, amuse yourself with the kittifier. YMMV.
Never tried a neti pot, but I know a few folks who use and like them. My main concern would be ensuring I’ve killed all the Naegleria fowleri in the water first.
Hope you feel better in a hurry! Got no advice on how to do that…..
I don’t know if you can find it there, but elderberries have been proven to contain something that interferes with a virus’s ability to infect new cells. You can find studies about it on Pubmed.
Last year I mixed a tablespoon of elderberry syrup in my tea every day as a preventative. My entire family, my entire office, and as I understand it most of the neighborhood, all got a nasty strain of the flu that put several people in the hospital.
It took 5 weeks of constant exposure before that nasty little bugger got ahold of me, and even then it was milder than the average cold when it did. Given that I usually get sick pretty easily, the only thing I can think of that made a difference was the elderberries.
If you prefer pill form, you can find it at the drug store near the cough drops, under the brand name Sambucol. Take once a day as a preventative, once every few hours to treat an active infection.
Hope you feel better soon!!!
It could be spelled schnecken? Anyway, they have them. The last time I was up there I had one that was flat and cut in the shape of a parallelogram, topped with lemon frosting and filled with raspberry jam. Delicious.
Sorry to hear about your cold, Claire. Hope you shake it soon. I hate colds.
I take Vitamin C & Vitamin D, every day, and zinc lozenges if I feel a cold coming on. Still get colds occasionally, but not often. Treat them with bed rest and video or book fiction.
FWIW, my wife swears by her Neti pot. She boils the water first (to kill off whatever’s in it) and allows it to cool down. Claims it works every time. Personally, I’ve never tried it, but I don’t get colds often.
Hope you feel better soon.
I take Vitamin C & Vitamin D, every day,
A couple of times a winter I get a craving for oranges. I buy a bag-full and work my way through them one or two per day. A couple of weeks after the craving starts a cold or flu will make the rounds with everyone else.
[Cue Twilight Zone theme]
Hate to hear that, but you know last winter I ate oranges like crazy,and never had a cold… I need to get started on oranges again… hope you feel better
Claire, I know you haven’t taken my advice – yet – but here’s some you can’t resist. Jump in that new tub for a while (hot, hot, hot). After a while take a double dose of nyquil (the real thing, not a generic version). After about 30 minutes get out of the tub and go to bed. Tomorrow some time, when you wake up, you will thank me. Bear in mind, I am not a doctor.