Tips To Curing Colds?

So, I usually get sick a lot. And it's annoying because I hate having a stuffy nose or a sore throat.

What are some things you do to cure colds fast? Besides taking medicine and all.

The sore throat and stuffy nose is usually solved for me by either:
1. Eating spicy food.
2. Drinking lots of tea with honey.
3. Lotsa soup.

First of all it's called having a sore throat.

Drinking lots of water, sleep, and gargling with hot salt water are probably the best three ways to get better. Besides that having a throat lozenge is helpful to minimize the pain.

Zinc and citric acid are proven inhibitors of rhinovirus replication (the viral family that causes the common cold), so one of your best bets is to actually up your intake of these. Most drugstores carry specific zinc lozenges for this purpose, while citric acid is best taken by adding lemon juice to tea (my favorite iteration is green tea with lemon juice and honey, as the green tea antioxidants + lemon juice citric acid + honey's antimicrobial properties make for a winning combination).

Note, however, that both are most effective at the absolute onset of symptoms, not, say, a week into a full-blown cold. So if you start to feel something creeping up, start a powerful regimen.

I also take a Stress B-Complex supplement every day, which contains high levels of B-Vitamins, Zinc, and Vitamin C, to help support energy levels and immune system health. This is something you could consider as a daily tool, or something to use while sick (I began taking them during a cold and didn't stop when the cold went away to maintain the health benefits).

Finally, like everyone said, the tried-and-true methods of really clearly a cold are drinking plenty of fluids to keep your lymph system active, sleeping as often as you can, and consuming plenty of healthy fruits, vegetables, soups, etc. You want to avoid high sugar content products, like candy and baked goods, as sugar dampens the immune system, and lower your dairy intake as well, as dairy can produce excess mucus in the body. And, of course, don't go out drinking - alcohol is just all around terrible when you're sick.

Feel better!

First of all it's called having a sore throat.

Oh wow, I feel dumb now Adam. This is what happens when you get sick, you lose all sense for grammar ;_;

My usual ritual is to drink as much Ribena as possible, get fruit, get as much hot soup as possible (I prefer chicken, it's said to cure colds for reasons unknown) and then sleep for as long as possible. It seems to work...or so I'd think since I only kept having colds until I turned twenty.

Oh wow, I feel dumb now Adam. This is what happens when you get sick, you lose all sense for grammar ;_;

It's ok, go get some rest.

Rest, fluids, hot food (preferably something not too strong but with sharp flavours). But above all, don't spread your cold!

Hadriel

The sooner your doctor writes you a script for antibiotics, the faster you will get better.

Unless virus.

The sooner your doctor writes you a script for antibiotics, the faster you will get better.

Unless virus.

Specifically Z pack is what you want. Typically a Z pack or lots of orange juice does it for me.

Specifically Z pack is what you want. Typically a Z pack or lots of orange juice does it for me.

Azithromycin literally. I still have the freaking box from when I was sick four months ago (4/26/2012) and have yet another box from Greenstone.

The zinc lozenge stuff is a great way to get something other than guzzling OJ to give you some case of indigestion but its not going to make you feel better fast.

This is literally the stuff I was swallong, I just finished a bottle of 60.

Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid Sodium Ascorbate) 300 mg
Zinc (from Zinc Gluconate) 24 mg
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra) (10:1 extract) 200 mg
Echinacea Purpurea (Root) 50 mg
Bee Propolis 50 mg
Slippery Elm Bark (Ulmus rubra) (Bark) 50 mg

I'm also taking an immune boosting complex called Wellness Formula from Source Naturals, you can look up the nutrition label online. But let me be candid with you. For someone like me with a consistent history of bronchitis every single winter:

Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK Z-PACK

As someone who just realized that they went through a cold, a staph boil infection, and then a cold again within the last four months. Get the script.

Warm liquid, lots of bed rest.

Apple Cider Vinegar helps for me.

Also make sure you're getting a good mix of Vitamin C.

Just want to emphasize the comments regarding Z-Packs of antibiotics...for bacterial infections, like staph infections and some forms of bronchitis.

But like Sardines said, please note that antibiotics do not treat viral infections, including the common cold, and usually worsen your condition if you don't have something they can treat as antibiotics also decimate some populations of your natural microbial flora. So only take it if you need, as advised and prescribed by your doctor.

I know this isn't the community where I should have to differentiate between a virus and bacteria and that they're completely different entities with completely different treatments, but it's all too easy to know you have a cold or bronchitis before going to the doctor and DEMANDING they give you a Z-Pack when, in actuality, you have a virus.

Well, actually when I get cold I just go to bed and cover me with a lot of duvets etc etc till I start sweating. Then I fell asleep and when I wake up... there... no more cold.
Works for me.

Demand the Z-Pack anyway. Z-Pack never fails. My bronchitis has cold symptoms and I can't tell the difference until I bomb it with a Z-Pack.

About good microflora being destroyed, are you worried about candida albicans? hahahahahahaha.

[MENTION=9365]ShadeCaro[/MENTION];

Doctor told me today that I have walking pneumonia LOL.

Demand the Z-Pack anyway. Z-Pack never fails. My bronchitis has cold symptoms and I can't tell the difference until I bomb it with a Z-Pack.

About good microflora being destroyed, are you worried about candida albicans? hahahahahahaha.

Um no? Because Candida albicans isn't an issue unless you're immunocompromised, and destroying good microflora =/= an AIDS-like ravaged system.

Also note what you said: your bronchitis has cold symptoms. "Cold" symptoms can arise from TONS of underlying conditions - you're lucky that you took a Z-Pack when the underlying condition was a bacterial infection. Offering the advice of "just get a Z-Pack when you have cold symptoms because it ALWAYS WORKS FOR ME!" is idiotic and reckless for people who actually follow that advice when they have a viral infection.