Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; NSD cold busters

What do NSDers take when they get colds? I have a cold and think it's turning into bronchitis. So far I've just been drinking lots of hot apple juice and hot OJ

Any known brands of cough syrups, losenges etc that might be safe?

Is this a good time, bad time, or neutral time for doing an apple fast?

thanks,
Peggy

I think the time zone is my reason for being awake - is yours the cold?

I didn't get colds when i was taking Naproxen - as a general rule. This is my first winter med-free for a few years so i don't know what to expect. Basically i'll be annoyed if i get them as i am MUCH healthier.
I have just started taking two Zinc+VitC tablets each day.
Treatment for me is usually VitC and Echinacea with Codral-type pills only for really nasty infections. I also swim in the sea and "breathe" salt water back through the nasal passages. Steam inhalations are good. Basically all activities that keep a good circulation help as long as they don't take too much energy - needed to fight the bugs.
I hope you stay healthy enough not to get any virii...
NSD is good for colds as we do not eat all that mucous producing starchy stuff - bananas are the absolutely worst item to eat with a cold.

Any time is a good apple fast time, but here they are fresh at the moment. I avoid winter fasting as the demand for heat energy from food is so high - one feels so hungry.
As they say "Feed a cold, starve a fever" fasting may not be the best course of action.

Ted
proAS_KickAS

Hi Ted,...

Thought I should jump in here just to mention there are dangers for those of us with auto-immune disease by taking Echinacea. It boosts the immune system and therefore can initiate flares. The one and only time I took Echinacea was immediately prior to my first iritis attack (which has continued to haunt me now for over a decade). This was no coincidence. 1 year later, the warnings about this connection appeared in the news, but for me too late. I would be extremely careful and strongly consider avoiding it altogether.

Take care,

mig

Peggy,
Lots of good suggestions already. I would add that getting extra rest is also valuable. As far as activity goes, if your symptoms are neck and above it is recommended you may continue normal workouts if you feel up to it, but if it enters the chest, as yours has, then rigorous exercise such as running is contraindicated. I myself increase fluids, use cool mist humidifier, and avoid OTC meds other than Tylenol! I usually don't seek antibiotics unless there is green nasal discharge for more than 7-10 days, or if bronchitis is productive of green sputum (who wants pneumonia?), or if high fevers are persistent.
Hope you improve soon!
LindaG

Echinacea is not a good idea for those of us with the compromised immune systems. Zinc lozenges that you disolve on your tongue seem to work well for me. I drink lots of hot tea with grated ginger root, lemon, and honey, and I make some hot and sour chinese style soup. I don't know exactly what it is with the soup but it makes me feel better. I take a broth base and add tamari soy sauce made with no wheat, a little apple cider vinegar, sweetener like honey or fructose,(if you add sweet to any spicy food it tempers the spice) ginger and maybe a touch of horseradish*( or wasabi powder) or maybe a few flakes of red pepper...be very careful with the red pepper and it can be omitted.Then I add some sliced fresh vegetables or salad greens and some tofu and heat them thru but don't cook them down. You could add a little chicken to it too. This is a good way to get greens into you if you are thinking you can't possibly face anything nutricious while sick, and it's chicken soup without the noodles.

I also like to drop a cherry flavored mentholated cough drop into a cup of tea and sip it slowly. This has the advantage anyone within ten feet of you knows you're sick from the smell of the cough drop wafting on the air.

I don't mess around with serious chest colds, it's the one thing that will get me to a doctor fast because I can't breathe well with asthma anyway and then to add coughing to my stiffened ribs... whhhoooooo not good.

*watch out for prepared jars of grated ginger and horseradish that they do not contain other things you are trying to avoid, while easy to use, the horseradish jar I have has sulfites in it as a preservative and the ginger jar has corn syrup. Oops.

Thanks for your thoughts Ted! Re why I was awake at 2 a.m. - in part due to muscle spasms in my back, partly the cold, and partly because I'm a night hawk.

I hadn't thought of Zinc so I perhaps will try that. I think all the hot juice yesterday meant too much sugar and possibly more active klebs as a result. Re your not getting sick much - me either - seldom ever a cold, never a flu, but the occasional bronchitis attack in the winter. I guess that's one of the benefits of an overactive immune system!

cheers,
Peggy

Mig,
You raised a good point re Echinacea. I've read the same thing re avoiding it if you have auto-immune disease. Echinacea actually makes me very sick to my stomach (presumably I'm allergic) so I already avoid it.
thanks,
Peggy

Wind_rider,
Thank you for your many good ideas. I was wondering what to make for dinner... I think I'll try your broth, I've already got all those ingredients on hand except for the chicken. I like beaten egg dropped into soup so will use that instead of chicken.

hi Linda,
I'm so cheap I have never purchased a humidifier but perhaps it's time to break the piggy bank since you are the second person to suggest this. I'm chasing my 19 month old around the house which along with stretching is about all the exercise I can take. He's been the best therapy so far - he runs and gets my slippers when he sees I'm not wearing them and tries to put them on my feet... and this morning he went and pulled the frying pan out of the cupboard and handed it to me (I typically make us both scrambled organic eggs for breakfast!).
Thanks for your note,
Peggy

Hi Peggy,

You have lots of advice already, I just get through from such a long serial of Cold and finally go to find a doctor cause it's been stay too long, make my voice weird and afraid of pneumonia.

Apparently it's only a common cold, happened because of the bad weather and I've been tired of working so nothing to worry about. He prescribe me common paracetamol.

At home, I took lots of Cinnamon Ginger Tea and Chicken Broth, most of the time it helps if the cold isn't the heavy one. Plus you need to take more rest, I realized that my cold stay long because I don't have enough rest.

Take care,
Sinta