I'm sorry you're feeling so bad. When I have those symptoms I call my Dr. and ask for a Z-pak. It's the antibiotic that you take 2 the first day and then one everyday for 5 days. It always knocks it out good for me.

My husband has a bad sinus type cold thing going on right now too and he's using Zycam...they have both day and night formulas. It comes on the little plastic spoon and you stir it in a liquid...he swears by it and they have tablets now too.

vicks works if you put it on your feet? i HATE the smell of vicks so i refuse to use it but it would be so strong of an odor if it's far away from my nose, on my feet. i'll have to try that sometime.

Brooke, so sorry you are not feeling well :( . Nyquil works for me when i feel that badly. Hope you feel better soon.

Aaw Brooke! So sorry you're feeling so crappy. There's nothing worse than that "feeling like you can't breathe" cold symptom. If it is a bad cold this is always works for me:
1) ZICAM nasal mist. This will shorten the duration of the cold; it can be purchased without a prescription at most pharmacies.
2) COLD EASE - like tjdmom says, it really works, as long as it is taken at the onset of the cold.
The above 2, when taken at the first sign of the cold (for me it's the scratchy throat symptom), really shorten the duration and the severity.

If you feel like it is turning into a real flu, ask your Doctor about a prescription for TAMIFLU. This works to also shorten the duration and severity of the virus.

A great general immune booster is AIRBORNE, which you can dissolve in water and drink every couple of hours.

Oops I forgot to mention the REALLY GOOD STUFF: Lots and lots of cuddles/kisses from Steddy and the TaterTot. If that doesn't cure you, nothing will.:D

Hope you're feeling better really soon!:exclaim::exclaim::exclaim:
Lauren

I had that cold, it usually hangs on for a few weeks but mine only lasted about a week. I kicked it quickly by: (this may not be pretty but it works killer)

Dealing with the Sinus:

1. If you have a runny nose or clogged sinus passages... don't suck on candy or cough drops of any sort. The sucking actually pulls the mucus down the back of your throat and gets into your lungs... and makes things waaay worse.

2. As Dr. Oz shows (on Oprah)... get a tea pot or other pouring mechinism and use a warm water and salt solution, tilt your head to the side and pour. (I personally can't do this one, I almost drowned as a kid)
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This is what I do:

Put a pot of water on the stove and make a pot of tea with mint or "breathe easy" tea bags.

lean over the pot and steam your sinus passage, when things "start to move" go to your sink and run warm water... now BLOW YOUR NOSE, clear the bugger right out! Use the warm tap water to clean up the mess and then a nice fluffy face cloth or hand towel followed by a nice moisturizing lotion (you won't need the lotion but it's a nice touch and when your cold breaks you'll have killer soft skin). If you still feel "the run", start all over again until you feel "all cleaned out" and keep doing this whenever you start to clog up.

Alana

Dealing with a sore throat:

Warm water or tea with lemon and honey: The honey coats your throat and the lemon is an anti-septic.

Warm water and salt gargle: Anti-septic, you can also follow this up with a little honey on a spoon.

As you can tell I prefer natures cures to the ones created in a lab.

Both the lemon and salt are a cleaner or anti-septic.
Honey coats your throat and reduces the itching and soreness.

Alana

what I find works wonders for me is alieve cold and sinus...pop one of those babies and I can breath (through my nose) and feel like a normal person again lol

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Me too! I had the ickies a few weeks back and this is what I did and it made me feel much better, where I could breathe out of my nose and get some sleep. Lots of hot liquids too;)

I still have the cough, it lingers for weeks from what everyone I know says, and my own experience:rolleyes: But at least the feeling bad part is over in a few days.

Feel better soon:love:!!!!

I am so sorry that you are sick....:( . Let me tell you, the next time you even feel a cold coming on, start using Zicam...it is a miracle cure. I am telling you, buy some of this stuff and have it on hand.

My husband has had the same thing for 2 weeks now. Last week when I woke up with sinus congestion and drainage I used the zicam for 1 day and I never had any more symptoms....well enough for prevention, thats not going to help you now...so for now you should take something like sudafed-the real sudafed that is behind the counter, something with pseudoephedrine in it (unless you have a cardiac problem then you shouldn't take it). It is the best decongestant and that is what you need, that sinus drainage it causing your stuffy nose and sore thoat. I take childrens dimetapp when I get it because I have a fast heart rate and I can not take the adult dose of sudafed. Claritin also works good if you can't take the sudafed. I hope you feel better soon...;)

I was just informed of the Vicks Vabor Rub on the feet at bedtime on Saturday....well I tried it and for me it really did work...didn't cough at all through out the night...Sat or Sun night.....just started coughing at 5:00 am when I usually awaken....now during the day is a different story.....I can't take alot of the over the counter remidies due to diabetes/breathing problems/high blood pressure.....soooooooo the only thing my doctor recommends is Robustin DM....I started with this a week ago Friday and this cold is sure a nasty one, just doesn't want to let go......I don't feel too bad now, but during the day at work I get coughing spells...and of course it's when the phone rings or a parent comes in....go figure :p

Brooke~ I'm so sorry you're feeling lousy! And I'm also sorry b/c I have not read all the replies, so I don't know if this is a repeat. I'm an RN and having worked in ICU forever(retired now thank the LORD!), I was ALWAYS coming down with a cold b/c of other people coming to work sick. And I always got it worse than anyone else did which is what made me so upset, LOL. One thing I can't STAND is to have my nose stuffed up and not be able to breathe thru it. I used to use nasal sprays, but after awhile, they burned the mucosa inside my nose, so I stopped using them (along with having patients who had gotten brain abcesses from using nasal sprays). An LVN friend of mine turned me on to NOSE DROPS. I think the kind I used initially were Neo-Synephrine II, but now I just buy the generic, whatever drug store or Walmart has as their "extra strength" nose drops. I swear by them. They last several hours and allow me to get some sleep. I may wake up and have to do them once during the night, but I'll take that over struggling to breathe thru my nose ANY day!
The rest of it, I just take cold eeze and drink lots of hot tea, water with lemon in it, and if I'm super miserable, at night I'll have a hot brandy and water with lemon and honey. And drink lots of water and thin soups during the day. I try to stay away from Nyquil b/c it knocks me out initially, but then I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep plus, I feel even worse, like I've got a hangover the next day. Ibuprofen for aches and pains and just try to sleep as much as I can.
Sure hope you feel better quick; I know there's some bugs going around out there; sorry you caught one! Big hugs from Maxi dog and me!!!

Robitussin DM is supposed to be one of the better cough meds over the counter! I'm glad it works for you...I'm gonna have to try the Vicks Vapo rub on the feet; I've never heard of that before, LOL. I have a bunch of it b/c I always hope it will clear up my nasal congestion when I have a cold (which it usually doesn't but it makes me feel a little better for some reason). Thanks for the tip! I'll try ANYTHING although, knock wood, I haven't had a cold or flu for YEARS.

You can bet I'm writing all these things down, LOL! I HATE being sick (and don't have time for it since NOBODY helps with anything else around the house like feeding or cleaning animals) and there's so many new things out there since the last time I was sick! I guess it would have to be if I hadn't been taking Ibuprofen for anything just before, but that's amazing that it really helps clear your sinuses! I just don't like anything with Benadryl (diphenhydramine) in it. I'll have to check that out! Thanks from me too!

[QUOTE=AlJo;1596802]I had that cold, it usually hangs on for a few weeks but mine only lasted about a week. I kicked it quickly by: (this may not be pretty but it works killer)

Dealing with the Sinus:

1. If you have a runny nose or clogged sinus passages... don't suck on candy or cough drops of any sort. The sucking actually pulls the mucus down the back of your throat and gets into your lungs... and makes things waaay worse.



Not to be picky, but when you swallow, things do NOT go into your lungs, unless you aspirate and it goes down your trachea instead of your esophagus. Normally when you suck, you swallow; and it goes into your esophagus into your DIGESTIVE tract, not your RESPIRATORY tract. Unless, you happened to be coughing aggressively and aspirated it into your trachea and into your lungs. It is true that when things go down into your lungs it can set you up for a bacterial infection, but normal, active, usually healthy individuals don't usally get aspiration pneumonias; it's usually physically compromised people that happens to.

I agree with Lauren on these things! Airborne is great and so is Cold Eeze...as long as you start them the instant you start to feel it coming on....likewise the zicam. I also like to take Emergen-C (the fizzy stuff...best place to get it is at Trader Joes, Costco, or my health food store, LOL) which you can take twice a day all the time. I usually take it once a day and I swear I haven't had a cold or the flu for (knock wood) years! But I'm not around a lot of people most of the time either and I carry Purell with me EVERYWHERE...also I know a lot of grocery stores now have the antiseptic wipes to wipe down your cart (at least they do here) and I always use those.
This is a good thread....even if it's b/c you're feeling so crappy, Brooke:( .