Colds and Flu Time!

[John in Covina]

As we wind on thru the holiday season, many of us are in more crowded situations, big get togethers or greeting a greater number of people right at the time Colds and Flu seems to begin their sweep thru the nation. A lot of running around and burning the candle at both ends and less sleep lowers our resistance.

I woke up Wednesday morning Christmas eve with a sore throat and by Christmas it was working into a full blown cold. I don't like to take a lot of medications but sometimes the symptoms get to be too much and I need relief especially at night trying to sleep. While I tend to avoid dairy, and look for more liquids especially hot tea and even soup (chicken soup too!)

I find Drixoral is the most effective for me these days. My cousin is reccomending a boat load of green tea to me as it make her get over colds quicker! It seems to me that some over the counter cold remedies are effective of a period and then seem to slip into a much less effective period. (Coricidan did just that for me.)

Just wondering what works for you and how you cope.

Hope it skips you or you get better soon!

 

[Hemingway Jones]

And to keep it vintage-orented, please offer some traditional remedies and those used duriing the first half of the last century.

Thanks!

Personally, I wear tissue boxes on my feet and touch everything with tissues.

Actually, I do keep Purell hand sanitzer behind my desk.

 

[Paisley]

Antibiotics have been around for awhile. But penicillin and other antibiotics won't help a cold (rhinovirus) or flu (influenza virus).

Handwashing as a preventive medicine practice has only been around for a little over a hundred years, I think.

I know that being cold isn't supposed to make you sick, but I think it wears down your resistance.

 

[John in Covina]

As a little kid, my parents were firmly in the Vicks Vapor-rub camp for staving off those night time symptoms.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

As a little kid, my parents were firmly in the Vicks Vapor-rub camp for staving off those night time symptoms.

I totally forgot about that! Me too! And a vaporizer!

 

[RBH]

The old Vicks used to work best for me, the new stuff just dont cut the mustard....
I used to take a dose when I felt a cold coming on, and by morning I would feel better.

 

[scotrace]

Vicks schmeared all over my chest and a dollop on my nose when I couldn't turn my head fast enough to escape mom's Vicksing Clutches.
Wash wash wash. Until your hands chap. Wash more.

(Nowadays I SWEAR by Zicam, tough many poo-poo it).

 

[handlebar bart]

Vickslol lol My mom would hold us down and smear it all over our chests and then make us put on a fresh white t-shirt before bed. Now my wife does it to the kids, luckily I can outrun the wife.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Another Vapo-Rub kid here. And I also got fed an awful lot of Father John's Medicine.

 

[Solid Citizen]

VICKS Vapor RUB

Parents,

VICKS and a VAPORIZER
for colds in the 1950's

Solid Citizen

 

[Tomasso]

Stay well rested!

Easier said than done but it really is the key to staying healthy; whether it be cold and flu season, heavy travel itinerary or any stressful situations.

 

[Flivver]

My Mom was a great believer in Vicks Vapo-Rub when I was a kid in the 1950s. She would slather it on my chest and also on my neck. Then she would wrap my neck with a scratchy white woolen scarf...always the *same* scratchy white woolen scarf!

I don't know which was worse...the sickness or the cure!

There was also a rumor at this time that *eating* Vicks had some theraputic effect. But, I never tried it!

To ease a soar throat, my Mom always gave me tea and honey followed by a spoonfull of honey.

 

[Imahomer]

Since I have a very weak and compromised immune system, I need to really watch it and be careful. So, nothing vintage for me, only the latest and proven medicines.

 

[Inky]

Vicks schmeared all over my chest and a dollop on my nose when I couldn't turn my head fast enough to escape mom's Vicksing Clutches.
Wash wash wash. Until your hands chap. Wash more.

(Nowadays I SWEAR by Zicam, tough many poo-poo it).

Vicks is still in use at our house, along with a vaporizer (but I agree, scotrace, those Zicam nasal swabs are the best - if you catch it early I swear it keeps the cold at bay, or at the very least, much lighter symptoms - we've been using them for a couple of years now and they work for me).

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Hot water, lemon juice, and honey. Or lemon tea and honey. At least, that's what we use to help soothe sore throats. I'm not sure how vintage the "lemon" part is, though; only people in certain climates would be able to get lemons in winter.

 

[KittyT]

I find Drixoral is the most effective for me these days.

Drixoral is the best and I find that little else works for me, although Drixoral is harder and harder to find these days.

I also really love this effervescent medication called Tabcin that my dad brings me from Central/South America. It's basically Alka Seltzer Cold, but with more medication in it.

The traditional hot toddy comes in a close second for me for helping to clear congestion.

I couldn't tell you about the flu - I've had it once in the past 16 years. Flu vaccines are the best - I highly recommend getting one.

 

[byronic]

I drink a green tea infused with echinacea, haven't caught a cold in 3 years. Could be a coincidence, but it's said to strengthen the immune system & cut recovery time in half should one be unlucky enough to catch a cold.
And I believe this is a vintage remedy- I read somewhere that Red Indians used it a long time ago.