What makes you feel better when you have a cold?

[youthere]

My husband has one-a bad one. He doesn't complain. He just keeps slogging away at work and home. He won't take time off even though I know he feels awful and exhausted. I want to do what I can to make him feel better. I'm making a big pot of chicken soup right now, and I've been drowning him in hot tea, Nyquil and Vick's vaporub. Any other ideas? What makes you feel better when you have a cold?

[anarch]

1. scotch

It also makes me feel better when I do not have a cold.

[youthere]

2. Applied externally or internally? LOL

[skygazer]

3. I like the nighttime Theraflu drink

Nyquil tends to give me a headache and the Theraflu I find soothing because it's a hot drink. It helps me sleep and eases the symptoms. But honestly, the thing that makes me feel best is taking some time off and just resting my body so it can concentrate on healing. I seem to get better faster if I just rest and conserve energy.

At least he doesn't complain - most men I know turn into little balls of jelly when sick. ;)

[youthere]

6. I never thought of Thera-flu.

Yes, I'm lucky he's not a complainer. I have a friend who's husband can get a paper cut and then he sits in the recliner and moans all day. I wish he would take some time off, but he says "It's just a cold, I'll survive."

[tigereye]

4. Thera-flu

depends on the type of cold, i guess.


Also salty snacks and V-8. I don't know why.

[deucemagnet]

5. Thai hot and sour soup.

I always keep a jar of tom yum paste around during cold & flu season. It clears my stuffy nose and makes my sore throat feel better. But maybe I'm just wierd. :crazy:

[youthere]

I'll bet that would make a sore throat feel better...

the chili peppers would help numb the sore throat.

[deucemagnet]

15. It's very easy to make, too.

If you have a local asian grocery, get yourself a jar of tom yum paste (and a jar of asian chili paste, if you want a little extra heat :) ). Then just boil some water, add 1-2 tsp of tom yum paste, about 1/4 tsp of chili paste (for the brave), and then some chopped green onion, sliced shitake mushrooms, and maybe some small shrimp, fresh calimari (my favorite), sliced cooked chicken, or whatever floats your boat. Prep time less than 10 minutes. Serve to sick hubby in liberal doses.

[youthere]

16. Thanks! He lovesTom Yum soup but I never tried to make it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. YES! Spicy Asian soups!

There's a Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from my apartment that serves a wonderful soup containing, among other things, lemon grass, tomato, pineapple, cayenne pepper, and all sorts of other good stuff.

If I can get me some of that while the cold symptoms are just starting, I can sometimes prevent the cold from happening at all.

I learned this trick by accident back in the 1970s. I was coming down with a cold and went with some friends to a newly opened Szechuan restaurant. I ordered my favorite hot and sour soup at my customary preferred intensity of "medium," and it came out H.O.T. My sinuses exploded, I was coughing, and the waiters felt so sorry for me that they gave me a free beer. :-) But the cold never materialized.

[datasuspect]

7. sleep

lots of it

[Flaxbee]

9. if he has a sore throat, have him gargle with warm (not hot)

salty water, it will make his throat feel better almost immediately - it's magic. Get a coffee-cup, fill with warm water, salt liberally and have him gargle through all of it.

Otherwise, I also feel better after a slice or two of lemon in hot water (make water for tea, pour over a slice of lemon). Avoid too much tea/caffeine, give him lemon instead.

[NewWaveChick1981]

10. Campbell's Chicken & Stars soup has made me feel better when I'm sick.

Mom used to give it to me as a kid, and even now, it does wonders. :) Hot chocolate and hot herbal teas do great, and spicy Asian soups really open the sinuses. It's always comforting to me to wrap myself up in a big blanket on the sofa and watch funny movies too. :D

[youthere]

18. My mom used to give us spaghettios when we were sick...

I still crave Spagettios whenever I've been sick.

[Arugula Latte]

11. Orange juice is always so refreshing when I have a cold...

which isn't often. However, a bad one got me last week. I had been bragging how my excellent immune system would nip it in the bud, and I got too cocky ...

[youthere]

17. Orange juice has always been my weapon of choice...

it always makes me feel better for some reason. I think because it really cuts through all that gross crud in my mouth and throat (pardon the grossness).

[Mutley]

12. Nyquil and sleep.

As much of each as possible.

:P

[Strawman]

22. yep. that's it

[caty]

13. I have a hard time taking

cold medications. I get a bad reaction to most of them. When I have a cold I just take Tylenol and I use a 12 nasal spray. I time the nasal spray so that I use it at 12am just before I go to bed so I can breath through my nose pretty well while I sleep. And, I drink lots of liquids.

[noonwitch]

14. Tom Yum soup or Southern Comfort

the soup will clear out my sinuses and the SC will help me sleep.

[youthere]

20. I think he'd feel a lot better if he could breathe through his nose..

I think that's the worst part of colds anyway. I actually got him to wear one of those sticky nose strips last night. He said it helped a little, but I think the soup will work great.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. Not to get your thread locked but...

(and I can't believe I'm typing this so if you tell MrG I'll deny it) :blush:

...nothing cures MrG, or at least makes him feel better, than a roll in the hay.

[youthere]

21. LOL!

:spank: :blush: :spank: :blush: :spank: :blush: :spank: :blush:

[Blue-Jay]

23. Yeah, but do you make house calls?

:bounce:

[MissMillie]

24. a hot toddy before bed

part whiskey, part honey, part lemon.... heat it up. It'll knock the fever out of anyone

vicks vapor rub is great, but I will only use it during the day because it loosens me up and makes me cough and I don't want to cough all night--I want to sleep.

hot and sour soup is full of protein and very good for ya.

[idgiehkt]

25. a hot bath.

because I always seem to get the achy kind.

[Broken_Hero]

26. a nyquil IV....:)

So I can sleep right through it all...