Vitamin C supplementation for colds.

[rosie26]

Oh great, I managed to get through winter without a cold and thought I had been spared one for another year, but I unfortunately had to go out on a bitterly cold day last week and have caught a beauty which so far has stayed in the sinuses.

Really concerned that it my go to my chest. I was very sick last year with lung problems and can't afford this cold going to my chest. I also had bad experiences with two different antibiotics last year for the first time in my life. Antibiotics have always made me feel better but not last year. So I really don't want to have to take antibiotics.

Since yesterday I have been trialing Vitamin C tablets. I took a 250mg tablet dose yesterday afternoon and also this morning. I will take another this afternoon. I may increase the dose tomorrow. I will see how things go.

Does anyone else have a procedure during a cold with vitamin C or anything else? I'd be interested to hear it. Or anything else that you do for a cold especially to try to avoid the cold going to the chest.

 

[AndyPandy]

I use Nature's Own chewable zinc and vitamin c at the first hint of viruses. I take half a tablet twice a day for as long as I think necessary.

You might want to read up on this @rosie26. Think it works best if taken in the early stages.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[alex3619]

An old treatment is to breath over a bowl of steaming water, but not to breath too much at once. Cold viruses hate heat. A bowl of steaming water, and a towel over the head, might do it. Its important to avoid breathing it in too deep. Many add stuff to steam but I think its the heat that does it. The added stuff might make breathing easier but is not very therapeutic.

Coinfections with bacteria are another issue entirely. Sometimes antibiotics are the only real option if you want treatment.

Its unclear that vitamin C helps. One of my old biochem profs used to say "If you have a cold or flu its takes a week to get over it. If you take vitamin C it takes seven days." I have not kept up with the research over the last decade though. We might know more now.

 

[rosie26]

I use Nature's Own chewable zinc and vitamin c at the first hint of viruses. I take half a tablet twice a day for as long as I think necessary.

You might want to read up on this @rosie26. Think it works best if taken in the early stages.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

Thanks @AndyPandy What is the dosage you take each tablet?

 

[rosie26]

An old treatment is to breath over a bowl of steaming water, but not to breath too much at once. Cold viruses hate heat. A bowl of steaming water, and a towel over the head, might do it. Its important to avoid breathing it in too deep. Many add stuff to steam but I think its the heat that does it. The added stuff might make breathing easier but is not very therapeutic.

Coinfections with bacteria are another issue entirely. Sometimes antibiotics are the only real option if you want treatment.

Its unclear that vitamin C helps. One of my old biochem profs used to say "If you have a cold or flu its takes a week to get over it. If you take vitamin C it takes seven days." I have not kept up with the research over the last decade though. We might know more now.

Things have got more complicated with my health now. I used to find a bowl of steam very helpful in the past. Now... as of last year when I last tried the bowl of steam thinking it might help my lung situation, turned out to be a very bad idea. The bowl of steam combined with antibiotics caused my lungs to blow up. I had enlarged lungs - never knew such a thing could happen and thought I wasn't going to survive it. I don't want to go through that again so this is the reason I am edgy now that I have a cold.

I have been eating an apple a day for the last month or so - a routine I am trying to stick to everyday. I feel a bit stronger for it too in a subtle way - hint of it. Thanks Alex.

 

[AndyPandy]

The adult dose for this product is 2 tablets twice daily. Each tablet has zinc gluconate 45mg and vitamin c 250mg.

I take the equivalent of 1 tablet a day (2 halves) when necessary.

On a daily basis I also take 1000mg of slow release vitamin c ( 2 tablets 500mg). I add the zinc and c on top of this when necessary.

For sinus problems I add some eucalyptus oil to a bowl of hot water and inhale.

I think there is something called a Neti Pot for flushing sinuses but I've never used one.

 

[Bansaw]

I got a personal steam sauna and with regular use in cold weather I found I didn't get colds or flus at all, and my immune system got boosted because my body temperature was increased through the sauna and that meant my immune system was more active. Ok, its a bit too late for you now,but it might be a good preventative in the future.

 

[AndyPandy]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/22429343/

There is some information on the Internet about zinc and vitamin c being useful for colds etc

 

[rosie26]

I got a personal steam sauna and with regular use in cold weather I found I didn't get colds or flus at all, and my immune system got boosted because my body temperature was increased through the sauna and that meant my immune system was more active. Ok, its a bit too late for you now,but it might be a good preventative in the future.

I've never been able to tolerate a sauna. Even before ME I would get a headache fairly quickly or pressure in the head and feel flakey. Great you are ok with it.

I have been getting a lot of internal heat in the last year and think that helped keep a cold away but I have noticed in the last month that I was feeling a bit stronger slightly, maybe that is why I have succumbed to a cold. I knew I shouldn't have gone out in the bitter cold last week. I should have got a taxi to where I was going and back. Trying to save money.

 

[Valentijn]

The added stuff might make breathing easier but is not very therapeutic.

Coinfections with bacteria are another issue entirely. Sometimes antibiotics are the only real option if you want treatment.

The added stuff is often anti-bacterial/anti-viral, rather than something temporarily soothing like menthol. Thyme, Sage, and Eucalyptus seemed to work well when I was getting chronic sinus infections. Though I don't have sinus infections anymore, now that I'm on antibiotics