My Sick Week Rx(s)

I can’t even remember the last time I took a sick day from work; it’s rare that anything knocks me down low enough to result in self-prescribed apartment-arrest and no movement. It hit quickly and without much warning on Tuesday afternoon – suddenly I could barely swallow and it hurt to talk – and settled in comfortably by that night.

The “good” thing is that this intruder’s route was easy to track – stress from traveling, a three-day sugar intake that could’ve been that of one month (thanks, holiday!) and a roommate that’s been plagued with a cold/cough for over a week (poor guy).

I’ve never been one to reach for the meds, no matter how much I know they might “help”. For a long time it was simply because I hated swallowing pills, but it’s grown into the feeling that sure, you can mask the symptoms but that doesn’t cure them (aside from antibiotics, obviously). I hate the taste of Nyquil and don’t mix well with acetominophen, so if it’s anything I might cave for ibuprofen to reduce swelling, fever, headache, etc. (Which I did on Tuesday night.)

All of that said, my go-to cold-curing* techniques are these:

-Chamomile tea
Known mostly as a sleep-aid, this flower is a member of the sunflower family that has shown to have a few other healing properties: stomach & cramp soother, cold fighter and relaxer.

-Orange Juice
There may be plenty of ways to get large doses of Vitamin C in your system, but orange juice just sounds so delicious when I’m sick. It helps to get that extra dose of sugar when it’s hard to swallow any “real” food and also keeps all systems hydrated.

-Hot water with Lemon & honey
   Sore throats were always cured with hot water and honey when we were younger, so why not stick with what works? Honey is thought to be more effective than the common cold medicine’s active ingredient – healing the cough  and congestion along with the throat. Lemon provides another dose of vitamin C as well as acting as an alkaline agent.

-Multivitamins
These are pills I don’t mind swallowing; I know the body doesn’t absorb every last milligram or IU in the mix, but it’s worth adding some extra nutrients to your daily intake to combat what you can.

Last but not least, rest & relax! I spent the better part of the last 2 days on the couch with my laptop or a book, taking in a lot of fluid and eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Voila! Friday morning and while my voice is basically gone, my cough is getting out the last remnants of congestion and everything else feels back to normal.

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What are your go-to cold remedies?
*There’s no real “cure” for a cold, but these do the trick just fine.