Home remedies, concoctions, comforts & cures ...

I think the wine & chocolate treatment might be the go, dag! And the sunlight ....always cheers me up! Thanks for your suggestions, all the way from Vienna!

eeeyep. anytime (especially whenever i have a deadline hovering above me like a dark cloud!)

Like this very minute, dag?

I imagine this smells pretty good? Could you do it on a deck in the summer instead of a citronella candle?

I'm very curious about blonde tendencies... is that a cognitive predilection?

I'm having a difficult time visualizing . I've never seen fear in the eyes of a mosquitoe.

I was kidding about taking benedryl in the bathtub...

And I suppose oatmeal baths work for some, just not me.

actually someone doesn't like this smell including me : D

I don't know if it helps but my mom taught me this trick. It was used by ancestors of my country

acne: drink a lemonade with little sugar every night before going to bed. I tried this and the acne sting went away on the next morning

maybe yes/maybe no.

Wow, that pulling the hir thing actually worked, I had a niggling headache but its certainly relieved it a bit.

Sadly I had to try this method as I had already done the aspirin thing and it was easier to accomplish than the sex technique.

Here's my question: how do you cure or deal with the common cold?

I am pretty sure that's what I have, doesn't seem to be anything fancier than that... yet. I saw a doc right at the beginning and she gave me some nasal spray decongestant that is not supposed to be used for more than 3 days. It helped each day, then I've been improving incrementally since (almost a week). I haven't been using any other decongestants since, just lots of fluids and steam, etc.

The main effect right now is an incredibly irritating cough. It starts slow, builds in frequency over the course of the day, and for the last several nights has been absolutely awful at night, as I try to fall asleep. I was reading a book by flashlight after hours of coughing (and still coughed) and was seriously considering bashing myself on the head with the flashlight to knock myself out and stop the accursed coughing.

Other than that I'm pretty much OK -- a bit tired, but not too bad. No fever, and my handy tell-tale lymph node, which indicates infection, isn't swollen.

There seems to be a mental component to the coughing -- I spent several hours on Sunday drinking tea and reading a particularly absorbing book and it slowed to a trickle. I thought I had it beat then. But it came back.

When I've had this problem before, no cough suppressant on earth got it to stop, up to and including super-strong stuff with codeine. Just have to wait it out.

I think a decongestant would probably help things along, though. The mechanism is basically post-nasal drip=irritation=cough=irritation=more cough, etc.

Any ideas?

I wish I had some brilliant suggestions, soz, but I haven't come across any remedy that really works. The best treatment (for me) seems to be lots of rest & hot lemon drinks with aspirin, especially just before going to bed at night. I'm sorry that you're copping a dose of it right now. Very debilitating!

<bookmark>

Sozobe: Hope your cough is gone by now,but if not,
have you tried:{1} Vicks vapor rub on your chest,throat,and upper lip ? Putting it on your upper lip,helps you keep inhaling it,and keeps your head open. For the cough,do you/can you sleep
with your head on 2 pillows? That works for me,and keeps my head draining. If the hot tea worked before,keep drinking hot tea mixed with liberal amounts of honey.
Good luck

G, I have taken your advice & bought a bottle of pure coconut oil & an unadulterated by chemicals shampoo from my local Indian shop. I will report back on my progress.

At least one person in the world listens to me.....

And I'm gonna have a wonderful, shiny, head of hair, G! The young Indian at the shop told me that massaging in the coconut oil would also stimulate my brain! Wow! What a bonus!

Cold: About two ounces of apple cider vinegar. Works like whiskey in the chest.

Snorting warm salt water up the nose, way up, through a straw on both sides of nose. Repeat if necessary. Head will clear and drain. Have lots of tissue on hand. An old remedy that works well and is cheap with no side effects!

Sounds good -- I'm gonna get me some of that coconut oil, too!