Fastest way to get rid of a cold?

[kunoichi2003]

I am feeling so crappy right now, I have a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat and am very nasueated. Is there anything I can do to shorten the life span of this cold? I just bought the Tylenol cold medicine and it isn't really helping with my stuffy nose. Any ideas?

kunoichi

[renato]

chew and swallow 4 big cloves of raw garlic! it's a great anti-toxant thingy. works really well for me. two days later i'm perrfect. natural taoist solution!

warning! will make your tummy feel hectic for while!

[renato]

oh my! i think i did a faux pas in my pants... doc. so sorry for answering here. but honestly i think western medicine knows sh*t about the cold. as usual western thought is way to based on symptomatic "cures".

yeah i rock with my uniformed opinions!

[Firbolg]

Garlic is said to be a pretty good anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and not to mention anti-social! Although I've heard that swallowing too much raw garlic can do some damage to your stomach.. dunno how true that is but it certainly burns - try crushing some and put it on your hand for a while - will be red and swollen quite soon and the skin will peel the next day or so. Apparently it was used to treat soldiers wounds in ww1 (or 2) when they had no anti-biotics left.

Another good 'cure' is a hot drink made with hot water, honey, cloves and some kind of strong alcohol of the not exactly licensed variety (allegedly ) although brandy would do nicely. Might not cure anything but gives you a nice buzz which is the next best thing.

I always get a craving for grapefruit when I have a cold or the flu.. probably doesn't hurt to scoff a load of those.

So there's my uninformed opinions too..

[doc]

Garlic has antibacterial properties, but for it to be effective in the human body, the amount that you would have to ingest so that you had appropriate blood levels for proper bactericidal activity, would make you fairly ill and smelly. It's a good homeopathic approach, (also for hypertension), if that's the way you'd like to go.

As far as colds go, you have only a few options.

Get a flu shot every year.
Avoid people that are obviously ill.
Keep your immune system in good shape (rest, exercise, vitamins, proper diet, no smoking, minimal alcohol, etc).

Once you get the inevitable "cold", the only thing that I've found helpful in either eradicating it early, or, diminishing it, is zinc sulfate.

Zinc sulfate, 200 mg a day for two to three days, taken at the very first inkling that you might be getting ill, can sometimes abort a viral illness. That along with one to two grams of vitamin C daily, for the same amount of time. There's actually scientific evidence to support this. Plenty of water is key also.

Zinc sulfate boosts the immune system, and, also, in large doses, inhibits viral replication. But, if you don't take this early enough, it either won't work, or, it will only shorten the duration of your cold. Time is of the essence. Oh, and the 15 mg tablets that you find in these new "cold remedies" is not an adequate dose. Take it with food so that it doesn't upset your stomach.

I also add a good slug of Nyquil to this, for the first night. A good ten hour sleep, with your body full of vitamin C and zinc, and I usually get rid of these annoying illnesses the first day. I've been doing this now for over sixteen years. It's very effective.