Cold Remedies

[foxytina_69]

oh and teas also help me, aswell as dark colored fruits/veggies.

[moochbabe]

Thank you all so much! I upped my vitamin C intake considerabely, and thankfully I eat a lot of garlic and things already. I think becuase I eat so healthfully (and only ate really nutrient-dense food for a few days) I got better much faster than my carniverous counterparts. All I have now is a stuffy nose, and I think I'll try the tea tree oil thing to see if that helps. Thank you all sooo much for the help! And sleep helped too! It's crazy cuz everyone around me has been getting sick, but for days on end, I had one really bad day and then it kinda fizzled, 3 cheers for veganism IMO!

[assilembob]

Emergen-C is the best. It usually helps me ward off colds and the like...don't do a thing for stomach viruses though :-(

[foxytina_69]

poor assilembob. i hope u rest lots this weekend and dont get out of bed too much and eat lots of nice warm soup and teas and fruits and things!!

[assilembob]

I really hope you feel better too Foxytina! It sounds like you have some terrible illness to get through.

~Mel

[foxytina_69]

thanks assilembob. all in good time i suppose! just gotta be tough!

[Roxy]

Do you have a Saje natural wellness store near you Foxy?

[foxytina_69]

no i dont, but theres a couple of health food stores.

[Roxy]

Well then - there's another great reason to come to Vancouver!

[foxytina_69]

what do they have there?

[Roxy]

Mostly aromatherapy products. I buy quite a bit of stuff from there. During the colder months I use their "Immune" oil which I love. They have remedies for so many different ailments Foxy.

Saje

[moochbabe]

i wonder if i can find something like that from wholefoods in their whole-body section...

[pinkgirl]

Does anyone have any suggestions of the best way to ease the symptoms? Sadly going home to bed is not an option . I have been drinking lemon and ginger tea like it is going out of fashion, but that is just making me keep need the loo! This is my 1st cold in a year and had forgotton how awful they can make you feel.

[Pob]

Only thing I do is keep eating shedloads of fruit and veg.

I've been doing good this year for colds. Everyone around me is coughing and spluttering and being generally rough. I've had the odd bit of snot and a few sneezes, but nothing too bad. Normally I would be dying with the best of them. I can only put it down to eating buckets of fruit and veg.

[maya]

Elderberry: Elderberry Defense contains an extract of the purple-black berries that grow on the tall elder shrub. These berries have long been used to fight the common cold. During the winter, the people of England historically took a teaspoon a day of a rich syrup made from the elderberry to prevent winter diseases. Elderberries are high in vitamins A and C, and studies show that both these vitamins strengthen the immune system. Elderberries are also high in iron. Fighter cells use iron to produce enzymes and oxidants which digest cold-causing bacteria.

[moochbabe]

that's very interesting, i never knew! ppl of england were lucky, ppl in america used to take cod liver oil to fight off winter colds--yuck!

[Seaside]

Make some miso soup (do not boil!), and add LOTS of cayenne or other hot pepper (not black), as much as you can stand. I like Thai red curry paste in mine. The capsicum actually relieves the pain of a sore throat, and it mobilizes the mucus, which makes it easier to breath. Its the best natural symptom relief I have found. But it won't be much use if you don't love hot stuff as much as I do.

[moochbabe]

lol, i knew about the hot stuff...and thankfully i really love spicy food. very moderate excercise (walking) can help to get over the cold faster

[thecatspajamas1]

For me, if I have a stuffy nose, eating anything hot and spicy clears me up. Even just smelling some tabasco should work. And hot liquid, like tea works well.

[Vegan cat]

Hi

I have started to come down with a sore throat and feel very headachey.

can anyone advise me on vegan remedys that may help, obviously before becoming vegan I would reach for the beechams.

I am still new to the vegan world and am only starting to learn about alternitives.

Thanks

xxx

[Taste Test]

((pahhhhh-choooo!!!))

What do you do when you've got a cold?
At the moment I'm using my b/f's patented ice-in-towel head band to ease the headache...

((groans))

[puffin]

Hope you feel better soon.
I just try to rest as much as possible and get plenty of sleep.

[rianaelf]

Dr Stuarts Echinaceae plus is really good and of course lemon, cinnamon, ginger, vitamin C, Elderflowers.
Myrhh is amazing for sore throats. you can get it from Baldwins in tincture form. Just take a few drops every few hours. It tastes awful but it's worth it!
http://www.baldwins.co.uk/?DCSJumpGU...a-0ce57d777a07

[pavotrouge]

A friend of mine from Finland swears by hot blackcurrant juice... I don't really now if it helps, but it's surely tasty.

[Stu]

Oranges! Eat oranges!

(But not too many, cos they make you poo)

[howdawg]

gaaaaaarlic!

[Roxy]

Hello E.F. Sorry to hear you're not feeling so well. When I had a cold a couple of weeks ago, I found comfort in Amy's No Chicken Noodle Soup. It's especially nice for when you're sick during the winter.

[Pob]

A fruit smoothie per day until it's gone - preferably organic:
1 apple cored but with peel still on
1 kiwi fruit peeled
1/2 mango peeled and stoned
slice of cantaloupe melon peeled and deseeded
blueberries whole

Whizz that lot up in a blender with a little water or orange juice.

The last 4 ingredients are apparently classed as superfoods.

[dreamqueen]

Uggg. So my hubby and I have been quite sick, me since Saturday, him since Monday. We have some seriously nasty cold (I think) that involves a lot of coughing, general fatigue, and headaches. I'm coughing so hard I'm gagging and he can't stay awake - neither would I be able to stay awake, if I weren't coughing myself awake every 10 minutes.

Anyway, this is the thing: I haven't been able to find any cough medicine that's both vegan and alcohol-free so I'm avoiding that stuff. My usual vile concoction of chopped garlic, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper in tea for once is having no effect on me. I drank a little bottle of oil of oregano (*shudder*) in two days and that also didn't help.

I'm also making lots of hot and sour ginger soup.

Anyway, if this goes on much longer, yes, we'll see a doctor. But I wanted to give "natural" another shot before giving in. Help!

[harpy]

Oh dear, poor you. Have you got a temperature as well? Could be early flu I suppose.

If I get a cold I do the ginger soup thing (ginger-and-garlic actually) but I'm never sure how much good it actually does. I also take echinacea because some studies have shown the colds go away faster (though some have also shown it doesn't make any difference )

I'm not sure that cough medicine really does much good, if that's any consolation. You can get cough sweets that are vegan, though; at least they ease the coughing a bit while you're eating one.

Hope you both feel better very soon.

[flutterby]

http://veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2100 thread may help dreamqueen.

[dreamqueen]

http://veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2100 thread may help dreamqueen.

Ah, thanks. I should have tried harder with the search function I guess.

Hubby went and got me some cough relief stuff from a homeopath but it's not working very well. However, I will say that it let me get 30 minutes of sleep just now before it started wearing off so that's better than nothing!

[dreamqueen]

Oh dear, poor you. Have you got a temperature as well? Could be early flu I suppose.

No temperature for me at all, but my husband was running one briefly on Tuesday night.

Just the endless coughing and sore throat, the headache, and the sore ribs and back now.

I'm sure it'll depart in a few days...but in the meantime, I think I'm lending new meaning to the phrase "cough your head off."

[foxytina_69]

dreamqueen, are you sure you cant find any cough medicine that is vegan? there are tons of cough medicines that are vegan. well as far as ingredients are concerned. youre going to hurt yourself if you dont calm your coughing soon!

[foxytina_69]

http://www.raysahelian.com/cough.html

[foxytina_69]

bump.

its cold season after all!

[pavotrouge]

have you tried hot blackcurrant juice (that's what a friend from Finland suggested once... and they must know about colds up there!) ?

[snivelingchild]

The best thing I've found for the sore throat is Thayer's slippery elm losenges. I used to gargle salt water, but I found it was very temporary. Slippery elm also decreases the inflammation and helps clear the excess mucus. As for colds, the usual Vit. C, zinc, and olive leaf work wonders, although I haven't gotten a cold in years.

[dreamqueen]

dreamqueen, are you sure you cant find any cough medicine that is vegan? there are tons of cough medicines that are vegan. well as far as ingredients are concerned. youre going to hurt yourself if you dont calm your coughing soon!

It isn't just the vegan issue - it's finding one that is both vegan and alcohol-free. However, I did find some Buckley's Mixture but it had absolutely no effect. I finally gave in two days ago and went to the doctor - turns out I have both bronchitis and a really bad sinus infection. I buckled and got the antibiotic he prescribed. I was getting worse by the day and didn't think I could take it anymore.

I realized though, that this is the first time I've had to take antibiotics as a vegan. Before I went veg, I was on antibiotics once or twice a year for things like bronchitis, strep, sinus infections, etc - so overall, I think I'm doing okay. I'll be even more optimistic when the antibiotics start making a noticeable difference.

[foxytina_69]

ohhh. yeah the alcohol is soooo common isnt it.

poor dreamqueen! i sure know what thats like! good for you for getting antibiotics. youll feel better in no time i hope!

lots of hugs to you hope you can manage to get enough rest.

[snivelingchild]

Dreamqueen, be sure to take a probiotic supplement during, and after your antibiotics. Look for one that's at least 8 milllion strains (24 is best) for a month or so afterwards.

[Roxy]

I bought a bottle of this Umcka syrup yesterday and have been taking it for the past 24 hours.

It was quite expensive at $23.99 for a small bottle. But I think it's helping me to kick this cold in the butt. I'll know more tomorrow.

[foxytina_69]

Dreamqueen, be sure to take a probiotic supplement during, and after your antibiotics. Look for one that's at least 8 milllion strains (24 is best) for a month or so afterwards.

yes definitely! i use bio k for this. except my naturopath says to not use it before and during antibiotics, only after. it always prevents yeast infections for me.

[snivelingchild]

I just got some Umcka chewables today, and I already feel better. They were only $9.

[dreamqueen]

Probiotics - is that like acidophilus?

[foxytina_69]

yes.

this is what i take. you live in canada so i assume youd be able to find this in a health food store, or even a grocery store.

http://www.biokplus.com/Products.asp...3654&lang_id=A

its a very high quality probiotic. you can get a dairy free verison.

this is what i do with it:

after i am done my antibiotics, i put 1 1/2 bottles of bio k into a big tub of soy yogurt and mix it around. i eat 1 serving of yogurt a day for 2 weeks. (you should run out of the big tub of yogurt in one week, and then you repeat the bio k into another tub of yogurt, and it eat it every day again for another week)

so in total youll need 2 big tubs of soy yogurt, and 3 bottles of bio k.

or you can have 1 1/2 bottles a day by itself. but its much cheaper to do it this way because the bacteria multiply as it sits in the yogurt.

you might only be able to buy the bio k in a six pack, but its worth it anyways, because you can eat the rest of them anyhow or save them for whenever you are having digestion problems or to boost your immune system.

i do this EVERY time i take antibiotics.

[Frosty]

I've got my first case of man flu this year. It'll probably be gone tomorrow, so I won't bother buying any products for it. But thought I'd post this link of products (UK site I'm afraid) for you poor folk that are feeling rough in this cold germ season - http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-...ect/SAHCC.html

x

EDIT: some of them aren't vegan on this page though.

[veganlinda]

I'm feeling rough and sounding rougher .... apparently I sound like a bloke! Drinking lots of homemade smoothies to no avail. Am pretty sure there is a Halloween party I am going to next weekend too. I shall start working through the suggestions on this page tonight

[Frosty]

So from last weekend, Chris, VBB, me and you have all been ill. Definately something in the Nottingham air that night I think. Hope you start feeling better by the end of the week. I shall have to give you some special medicine on Saturday otherwise.

[foxytina_69]

i love how you have the need to classify it as the "man flu" to give it some masculinity it seems like. like what frosty, is the regular flu too feminine? hahaha

hugs to everyone who is sick. i hope you all rest enough and get lots of hot fluids!