Winter coughs and colds that won't go away…….

[charles shepherd]

Winter coughs and colds that won't go away…..

Some info and advice from the MEA in relation to ME/CFS:

http://www.meassociation.org.uk/201...-have-a-winter-cough-and-cold-8-january-2017/

 

[Invisible Woman]

Short-term use of a decongestant (such as Sudafed) tablet or nose spray/drops to relieve the head congestion. Please note that long-term use of decongestants can make the problem worse – so they should normally only be used for a few days.

For those who are very sensitive to adrenaline or adrenaline based products - sudafed contains a product called pseudoephedrine. This can affect the system in a similar way to adrenaline so you may end up feeling very wired and have problems sleeping while on it.

I mention this because at one time a GP told me to take this and I didn't realize what it contained. It triggered a major crash (though I was on it for more than a few days).

So, you may need to weigh up the difficulty of struggling on with the congestion and using less effective techniques, like Vicks etc vs. the adrenaline like side effects for those who are sensitive.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

@Invisible Woman yes and probably quite a few of us are on drugs that are incompatible with pseudo ephedrine containing products like Lemsip and Sudafed. I can't take these due to beta blockers for POTS. This is the sort of thing that's easy to forget when you're full of snot!

I'd be interested in other supplements that have some decongestant effect. NAC (n-acetylcysteine) does some mucus thinning. This is something pwme take for other reasons.

Bromelaine, pineapple extract, has some benefit of drying out catarrh. It is also anti inflammatory and can be used for digestion after meals.

I found these very useful for a mild cold but they didn't really touch the virus I'm getting over (or perhaps the congestion would have been really horrendous without any supplements?).

Has anyone tried stopping a cold with steroids? Maija Haavisto says this can work especially with zinc, if you catch it at the start.

 

[roonie]

sambucal

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

Isn't that a ?!

 

[belize44]

Yes, I have caught this nasty virus but was actually too ill to go to a doctor so I took Gauifenesin, Goldenseal capsules, vitamin C and drank tons of honey, lemon ginger tea with a dash of cayenne pepper. I also rested a lot. That Goldenseal is amazing for attacking bacteria, which is good because I tend to not do well with most antibiotics and was not motivated to ask for any. I also used what is called Thieves oil, diffused with the aid of an old crock pot which supposedly kills airborne bacteria. It made the sick room smell nice, anyway!

 

[ukxmrv]

Isn't that a ?!

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/sh...m_medium=cpc&gclid=CIP5zKqAuNECFY8Q0wodkvcMlQ

Berry goodness all year round!
Sambucol? Original is a great tasting liquid containing Black Elderberries. It is packed with flavonoids, naturally occurring antioxidants with high ORAC value.
ORAC value is a method of measuring the antioxidant capacity of different foods and supplements.
Each bottle of Sambucol contains up to 1000 Black Elderberries and is free from artificial flavours.
Sambucol contains AntiVirinTM.

 

[Jenny TipsforME]

@belize44 ive been diffusing Thieves all Christmas! To other people it just smells Christmassy
It doesn't seem to have done me much good this time but perhaps it helped others not catch what I had?

It is really the epitome of an old wives tale (4 merchants from the east were able to protect themselves from the Plague when they got trapped in Europe with no money and by covering themselves with the thieves oil blend they were able to rob dead bodies with impunity, variations of the recipe have been passed down ). However, there has been research showing measurable effects e.g. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994788/ Uses On Guard blend which is similar to Thieves.

I quite like the smell though so I'm happy enough if it's a sweet smelling placebo...