besides a multivitamin, and lots of water/fluids. Any other suggestions?
How soon to return to the gym?
I hate being sick…the reward of having kids =/
More Vit C. I generally take 1500mg if I can feel something coming on.
Plus we found that pickled garlic (whole cloves) helps (swe can get them from an intercontinental deli). Perhaps it’s just the smell keeps contagious people away from me?
Another garlic idea is mince up several a bunch of cloves and drop in a jar of honey (i think 1/3 garlic, 2/3 honey) Use a light honey so it’s easy to stir up once the garlic has settled to the bottom
Take a 1.5 teaspoons with meals.
can’t go wrong with garlic.
trust me.
It is too late now but taking zinc at the onset of the cold has been shown to reduce the length of the cold. Take the zinc as soon as you think you might be coming down with something and continue it thru the coarse of the cold.
I have found that taking a large glass of OJ everyday during the cold helps.
My dad would take a dozen lemons and squeeze the juice out and drink it straight to get rid of a sore throat (he claims it works every time).
Every once in a while take large deep breaths. This will help the lungs out. Some docs prescribe breathing treatments just so the patient will get deep breaths. The thinking is to help the lungs from filling with water. This may help against pneumonia.
If your eustachian tubes are stopped up, then holding your mouth closed and blowing can open them up. Do not blow so hard that you break your ear drum! It is just so that the tube passageway is opened. The pressure can help reduce the swelling. An ENT suggested doing it several times a day. I found it to be helpful.
thanks (sips Grow!, going back to bed)
I know of an elderly man who swears that onions help him. He would cut up a fresh onion and set it on a plate right on the night stand next to his bed. He said breathing the onion all night would usually clear up any sign of a cold.
Strongman,
I second talltom’s suggestion about taking zinc when you start coming down with something. As a matter of fact, there are these throat lozenges called Sootherbs that contain zinc, echinacea (a plant seed used in herbal medicine), and Vitamin C. I get the cherry flavor and stack it with Sudafed Cold and Sinus. I swear on my life that if I start this stack at the onset of any coldlike symptons they’re completely gone within three days.
As far as going back to the gym, I would suggest waiting an entire week AFTER you feel better again. I’m being this conservative because you’ve already been sick once and coming down for a third time could really put you on your ass. I was sick for a month once because of the fact that I couldn’t take any time off from conditioning (I compete in a Division I sport). It was the worst month of my life, so take your time getting back into gym.
Hope you get well soon.
Zac
Yeah, if it’s a true, knock you on your ass flu, wait before going back. And when you do, start off slow.
Make yourself a big pot of soup with lots of garlic and onions. I like to add some cheyenne pepper too. Always seems to help me.
Good luck.
[quote]zed962 wrote:
Strongman,
I second talltom’s suggestion about taking zinc when you start coming down with something. As a matter of fact, there are these throat lozenges called Sootherbs that contain zinc, echinacea (a plant seed used in herbal medicine), and Vitamin C. I get the cherry flavor and stack it with Sudafed Cold and Sinus. I swear on my life that if I start this stack at the onset of any coldlike symptons they’re completely gone within three days.[/quote]
I third the zinc comment. Take every 2-3hrs until you feel better plus continue for 12 hrs more to be sure. 72 hours is the max you should use it for. I take a daily dose of vitamin C of 9,000mg (in 6 dosages - 1500mg with every meal). But if I feel something coming on, I take 2,000mg every 2hrs until I feel better and then taper off back to my maintenance dose over a few days (very important or you’ll relapse). Following this method, I usually feel better WITHIN 3 HOURS. Many times if I feel something coming on in the evening, I can completely wipe it out to hit the gym hard by 5am. 
I’ve been using COLD-FX for a few months now. It really does seem to help - even if you do end up getting a cold it does shorten up the duration by 2-3 days.
I got hit hard by last years flu and lost all gains from a cycle of MAG-10. I was thinking of starting this same thread the other night. Thanks for addressing a topic that has been bugging me for a while.
Just keep in mind that colds and flu are very different. Most colds are just a minor annoyance to your immune system, but with many flu viruses it’s all-out war. With the flu, get in bed, don’t move, sleep as much as possible, and sip water and chicken broth if you can hold it down.
I caught the flu this year - for the first time in 10 years - courtesy of the flu shot. My mother-in-law got the flu shot, then got sick from it, and passed it on to me. I probably would not have been exposed to that lovely virus if it weren’t for that flu shot.
Yes, if you have the flu and are contagious, please do not go into the gym to train. Your gym mates will be very appreciative.
Nothing worse than having someone hacking out a lung and sneezing all over equipment that you’re about to use…
It is impossible to get the flu from a flu shot. There are no living viruses in it.
But viruses are nasty mutating suckers, so even a flu shot doesn’t guarantee innoculation against all transmutations of flu viruses. It’s just likely that you or she caught a virus around the same time you got the shot.
[quote]michaelv wrote:
It is impossible to get the flu from a flu shot. There are no living viruses in it.
But viruses are nasty mutating suckers, so even a flu shot doesn’t guarantee innoculation against all transmutations of flu viruses. It’s just likely that you or she caught a virus around the same time you got the shot.[/quote]
Yep. I remember reading an article that one year (not sure which) half of people that died from flu recieved flu shots. I don’t know if flu shots are that effective or worth it. There are better ways to do it than getting flu shots.