Random Remedies

I've had a nasty cough for about a week now, bordering on bronchitis. My dear old Dad has been harassing me to try his cure-all, the all healing powers of Apple Cider Vinegar. Now, when I say cure-all, I really mean cure-all. He recommends it for a cough. Sore throat. Headache. Constipation. I swear, if someone went up to him and said, "Hey, I've got AIDS", he'd suggest it.

And after coughing enough I thought I'd actually start throwing up, I decided to drink the Kool-Aid, so to speak.

It does, however, taste what I think piss would probably taste like.

2 tsps honey
2 tsps apple cider vinegar

Mix in water, drink.

Surprisingly enough, my cough has gone down by at least 75% since I chugged it an hour ago.

FOCUS: What other cure-alls or old standbys do you tend to go with? The more random/bizarre the better.

 

I've had the same cold that's been going around and still can't quite shake it - it's been 3 or 4 weeks now and it's kinda pissing me off. My mom keeps telling me about lemon concoctions and something disgusting made of a reduction of thyme, and of course taking industrial quantities of vitamin C and Airborne and a bunch of other stuff that is very well-known to have no nonplacebo effect on colds whatsoever. I occasionally take zinc as a placebo since the jury is still out on whether it actually has a physiological effect also.

 

What a timely thread. In the last month and a half, I have lost my voice for the first time in my life...and it's happened twice, both times with a very painful soar throat and persistent cough.

Personally, I like the following stuff;

-Scalding hot green/jasmine tea with lemon mixed in.
-Ricola and Cepacol cough drops.

 

Yes, the entire known universe has gotten this cold virus. Seems to hit the sinuses and the throat worst. I lost my voice for 10 or 12 days. I will also say that lozenges say that you're only supposed to take one every two hours. What the fuck, seriously?

 

Does anybody know how (in)effective expired OTC drugs are? I usually end up wasting boxes of 2-for-1 Tylenol Cold because I only get sick once a year...

 

I don't know for sure, but I can say that the only medicine that is OTC that relieves a cough for me is Nyquil daytime.

My home remedy for a cough is a bit similar in the fact that it uses honey. I make myself some peppermint tea, liberally squeeze in some honey and chug. You can even mix a little ginger ale in for some bubbles, but it tends to give it an odd taste (which I like, but some of my friends think is terrible).

 

Inflavonoid is a life saver.

For any kind of insect bite or sting, mix some baking soda and vinegar together, slap it on there, and you'll be fine.

Sore throat? Green tea, lemon, whiskey works well.

Really dehydrated? Drink a beer before you drink whatever-ade; it'll help you absorb the water easier.

Apple cider vinegar works very well in a bath in place of Epsom salts.

The best OTC cold drug I've found is Tylenol Severe Allergy (whatever generic brand works the same). Claritin-D, sudafed, benodryl, allegra, none of that stuff works for me. Severe allergy does, though.

 

Or just drink a 6 pack. DayQuil fucks me up. The first time I took it, it kicked in while I was driving to campus and I could've easily been accused of DUI had I been pulled over. I sat in class like a zombie.

I'll second the <something> + honey = cured. My something is whiskey. Grab a shot glass, and pour one part honey, two parts whiskey. Stir with a toothpick or something small to mix it well, and give it a go. Repeat as needed.

The honey coats your throat, eliminating any scratchy feeling, and the whiskey acts as an analgesic, providing a little bit of numbing to alleviate some of the itchy sensation once the honey is gone.

Plus, it's whiskey. Drink enough and you just won't care anymore.

 

Steep whole cloves with your favorite tea, add a shot of whiskey, a liberal sqeeze of fresh lemon and a tablespoon of honey. The cloves act as an astringent to the irritation on your throat and numb it for hours.

 

For a sore throat, gargling with salt and warm water works well for me. When I get a cold, Alka-Seltzer Plus cold medicine is my go-to OTC remedy, daytime and nighttime versions, which help relieve the symptoms until the virus moves into my chest and becomes bronchitis, which it always does. Best case, I have a really bad cough for a few days and an Rx for codeine-laced cough syrup. Worst case, I end up in the hospital with pneumonia.

 

My new found favorite remedy that I recommend to everyone who will listen is the nasal rinse:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation

It's just 3 parts non iodized salt and 1 part baking soda in warm water that you squirt up one nostril and it comes out the other. It could be a placebo, but I get better from a cold much faster than any other medication and there are no negative side affects and I also don't have to ingest any chemicals.

 

My mom brings this stuff back from England every year and it works like a charm for sore throats. It's a liquid antiseptic so I guess it could do a lot more, but I've only used it for that. Also drinking a couple hot toddy's will cure just about anything. Boiling water with a healthy dose of scotch, add honey and lemon to taste and say goodbye to your ailments.

 

I felt myself getting sick a few weeks ago. I know how my body works so when I started to feel that slight lung irritation when inhaling, I made myself OD on airborne, cold-eeze, and cough drops(for sore throat relief). On day 2, I started Dayquil which was awesome sinus congestion. At night I took nyquil and it truly reduced the severity of my cold/flu/whateverthefuck by about 75%. In less than 5 days from the start, I felt almost completely better.

If you let it get bad before you start to take stuff, the homeopathic shit won't work at all. Obviously, they don't "cure" anything but it won't be as bad. My .02

 

FOCUS: My kickass immune system. I haven't thrown up, other than from alcohol, since like middle school. The worst sickness I've had in my adult life is the sniffles.

Who wants to start a countdown? It's only a matter of hours now before I'll be posting in the Rant and Rave thread about my bout with a combination of SARS, swine flu, AIDS and ebola.

 

Hiccups. Got an easy, sure-fire cure for them.

Take a deep, deep breath and hold it in. Without exhaling at all, try to suck in a little more air. Then a little more, and then a little more after that. Hold it for another second or two, and then exhale. Hiccups will be gone.

So far this has worked for everyone I've told. Give it a shot and let me know if it works. Got the method from my grandfather and he'd love to know it's success/failure rates.

 

Expiration dates on drugs mean very little. The US military did a study that found that most drugs were still good more than 10 years after their expiration date.
A quick google didn't turn up the study but here's an article that talks a little bit about expiration dates.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update1103a.shtml

 

I've always jokingly wondered if I just consume enough alcohol and drugs that I would never get sick because my body would be far too toxic for germs to exist.

I've always liked to use whiskey to stop mouth pains from cuts or cole sores. I mix it with a bit of water and just keep swishing it around in my mouth. Then drink it. Now that I think about it, I'm not exactly sure which way the alcohol kills the pain...