So I'm sick. Started a couple days ago with a tickle in the back of the throat, which progressed in to dry sinuses, in to a stuffy nose, and finally down in to the lungs with a nice hacking cough. Luckily I work from home, so I am able to take it easy and go through my usual sickness regimen: Stay hydrated! I drink plenty of water, juice, tea, and coffee, and if I'm feeling dehydrated still, I pop a couple salt pills. Edibles! A good solid body buzz is key to taking it easy all day. Throat Coat tea by Traditional Medicinals! Contains slippery elm, which coats your throat with a weirdly slippery feeling, and soothes the rawness. Also hydrates you. In fact, anything by this company is just tits. I recommend it all. Food! I force myself to eat, even if my appetite is not great. My body is fighting off an infection, and needs all the energy it can get. If you've ever read "A Piece Of Steak" by Jack London, imagine that. That's my mental picture. Good balance of protein, starches, and veggies so your body has all the naturally occurring vitamins and nutrients it needs. Stay occupied! Nothing is worse for a cold than sitting around and thinking about how sick you are. Movies, books, solitaire, posting things online nobody will read for absolutely no reason, whatever you like to do. Sauna! I swear by this for colds, hangovers, basically any kind of general malaise. Sit in a sauna for at least an hour. I take a break every 15-20 minutes to take an ice cold shower and let my body cool to normal temp. Then it's back in. I make sure to drink more water than I sweat out, I use a 1.5 liter bottle and try to drink one every 20 minute session. If it's a sauna where you can pour water on, then even better. I like to add a but of eucalyptus oil to the water for some good, therapeutic steam on the lungs. That's my ideal way of dealing with a cold, no medicine or anything like that. However, often times I had to work through a flu or cold, and if that's the case, I recommend heavy medication. Aspirin or ibuprofen for aches and fever, and a special thing called Bronk-Aid that will seriously fuck your cold symptoms (and you) up. It's a two drug combo, the first being guafenesin to loosen the phlegm and mucous in your lungs, and the second being ephedrine hydrochloride. That's right, trucker speed. It happens to be a fantastic decongestant, and a bronchial dilator as well as being the only thing this side of legal that can overpower the fatigue of a full blown flu. You have to ask special for it at the pharmacy, and you'll need to sign your name on a list, but it is the best thing for working through being sick. What is everybody's favorite cure or treatment for the common cold or flu?
Normally I get a cold once a year but since I've had a toddler in daycare that number has increased significantly. Typically I drink a lot of water and take some echinacea with goldenseal. Sometimes I'll use some homeopathy and essential oils like tea tree and eucalyptus.
Last time i got the the warning tickle, i went straight for white ginseng caps. Stopped it dead, well, in three days. It never made a home in my body.
Right now I'm stuck with the cold. Watery eyes, nasal congestion. Mucinex is what's helping me along with lots of sleep andsome heavy indica