How To Speed Up Recovery Flue/ Cold?

[Femme]

I'm having this nasty flu for almost a week with a bad cough, I sweat a lot and today I finally started to 'nose-drip': which means that it is 'flowing'. I'm taking lots of (fresh and concentrated) vit C and sleep a lot.

But without the sun and the heat the recovery takes longer than usual. In this pace I don't see myself doing my things next week. I wonder if a visit to a sauna, acupuncturist or whatever will speed up recovery...

Edited October 20, 2011 by Femme

[cmsally]

Join the club! I caught this flu last weekend, it comes with a horrible cough!

Brew up some ginger tea (real ginger not the packaged muck). Chew on the bits of ginger after you have finished the tea. I resorted to the ginger today and already feel much better.

[Gladiator]

Sorry,

Maybe a bit late - but as a preventative cure my sister-in-law, ex nurse at Suandork, says that all of the nurses take MAX VIT C tablets 1000mg every day (maximum 2 tablets each day) to ward off colds and flu.

Not sure how much use, if any, antibiotics are against the flu. But plenty of hot drinks including Hot Toddys before bedtime, staying warm and sleep can be very theraputic. Oval is a good sleep inducive.

Good luck.

[Femme]

Join the club! I caught this flu last weekend, it comes with a horrible cough!

Brew up some ginger tea (real ginger not the packaged muck). Chew on the bits of ginger after you have finished the tea. I resorted to the ginger today and already feel much better.

Exactly, this weekend!

Ginger.

@Gladiatior: 1000 mg is my daily dose of VitC all year round. But I'll start with 3000 mg for the coming days. What do you mean by "Oval is a good sleep inducive?"

I feel ... .

Edited October 20, 2011 by Femme

[Gladiator]

Join the club! I caught this flu last weekend, it comes with a horrible cough!

Brew up some ginger tea (real ginger not the packaged muck). Chew on the bits of ginger after you have finished the tea. I resorted to the ginger today and already feel much better.

Exactly, this weekend!

Ginger.

@Gladiatior: 1000 mg is my daily dose of VitC all year round. But I'll start with 3000 mg for the coming days. What do you mean by "Oval is a good sleep inducive?"

I feel ... .

OVAL drink with chocolate or without does not conain caffeine and will promote sleep. Not an inverstor but my wife and I use it regularly.

Just before bedtime

[Drew Aitch]

I think these things just have to be sweated out Femme, but if you can muster the energy why not go for short walks and see if that helps speed up the recovery process? I'm pretty sure that staying in and waiting for nature to take its course is the longest way to recover. A wise old man once said to me, and I quote;

'The slower we move, the faster we die!'

PREVENTING, OR REDUCING THE SEVERITY OF FUTURE COUGHS AND COLDS

If I make it to the end of the first week in November, I'll be celebrating 2 whole years without as much as a minor sniffle. Not a single illness, soar throat, or fungicidal rash

Up until, these past 2 years, I, like most people, have got at least one cold, sore throat, slight fever etc, every single year for as far back as I can remember. I just assumed it was part of being human and something everyone had to go through when these things came around.

SO WHAT DID I DO?

The only changes I made in my life these past 2 years is to exercise regularly NO MATTER WHAT, cut down a bit on the amount of acid forming foods I consume, and finally, insist on being happy, or at least content, because I'm convinced that mood has a lot to do with the health of the immune system.

* Pissed off and miserable = a weak immune system,

* Happy and content = a stronger immune system.

You watch, I'll wake up in the morning feeling like hot shit now

Anyway, get well soon, i know how debilitating these things can be.

Aitch

Edited October 20, 2011 by Drew Aitch

[cmsally]

This particular flu seems to start with a sore throat and then the flu symptoms and then it zaps you with inflammation of the upper respiratory area. Actually lungs a bit gunky too.

Hasn't been enough to put me out of action but the cough from the respiratory inflammation only seems to appear at night and I am probably keeping the whole neighbourhood awake.

The best thing for this is fresh ginger, its one of the best anti inflammatories out there.

Ginger Anti Inflammatory

Ginger for respiratory health

[Thakkar]

Aitch has some good advice for all of us, and for all seasons.

To the op: try some hot lemon coca-cola with fresh ginger. The lemon's for the vitamin C and the bubbliness of the cola increase the efficacy of the ginger's soothing effects, delivering the soothings quickly to all parts of your respiratory system. Add honey if your throat needs soothing too. It's no cure, but it'll make you feel better.

For cough, sore throat and phlegm relief, I recommend a herbal concoction called 'Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa' available at many pharmacies

Get better.

T

[Femme]

Gladiator: I won't be needing Oval... only the thought of my pillow makes me fall asleep

Sallycm:

it was the rain + fan in restaurant + jetlag that killed me. Hot ginger tea sounds really good. I usually eat/drink ginger to heat up my body, and didn't want to use it because of the fever. But it's also an anti-inflammatory... ooooh! Kha!

Thakkar: Thanks! Again ginger I will replace soda,as I don't like coca cola.

And see what this Thai remedy is about.

Aitch:

By reading your post I should be having an ultra-powered immune system! I'm content, live a healthy life, but overactivation in the past crashed my system. This year I'll add daily exercise to all of this.

Good night, I need a good night of sleep to prepare myself for a 'walk' tomorrow. To all my flu-fellows: happy coughing tonight!

Today's motto:

"To insist on being happy" - Aitch

Edited October 20, 2011 by Femme

[rogerdee123]

My father always told me to fill my mouth with water and sit on the stove until the water boils. Who knows, it may work!

[cmsally]

I don't eat much sugar anyway but staying off the sugar is normally a good idea as it feeds any bacteria that are lurking in your throat.

If you want it sweet add honey instead of sugar.

[sunnyhor]

Tiffy.

Whenever I caught a flu, Tiffy always do it's part!!!

I Love Tiffy.

[GooEng]

orange juice + tiffy

tiffy is truly the best cold/flu medicine in know!

stay off the booze and cigs too!

this virus must be ALL OVER the place - i picked it up in korat 2 weeks ago!

[sunnyhor]

Some might not work with Tiffy.

As far as I'm concerned, Tiffy is a very strong para. Once I had it, I will feel very drowsy withing 15 mins.

So this is the best time to take some sleep with blanket.

Everytime when I am awake, my bed and my blanket always soaked!!!

[MilesCh]

Knocking on wood I haven't had a cold or flu for many years. My remedy is probably too late for you, but here it is to try now and definitely for next time: Jump into a steaming hot bathtub (or what you have available) and keep adding hotter and hotter water until barely tolerable. Stay in the water for a good half an hour and then to bed and keep warm under blankets, if you have any. If not, put anything over you that will assist in maintaining body temperature. I do this when a sub-clinical cold is first felt and although weak the next day, all is OK the following day.

And as others have said I always pack down the Vitamin C -- 3 or 4,000/day for a few days, then taper off. Good luck and hopefully by now you're past the contagious stage.

[Mickeem]

A big bowl of Khao Soi with a small spoonfull of the oily chilli condiment added with freshly squeezed lime juice .. mmm .. works wonders

[Thighlander]

just a business graduate, but i'LL throw in my two baht. Eat some Tom Yum (spicy) and drink water until your piss is clear. Dehydration is the cause of many diseases. I work in schools and ride public buses and I rarely get sick, I also walk the 6 km to school just to stay off the bus. Smokin' MJ won't make you any sicker (might even help you to come out of it), otoh, alcohol won't help you, but a nice hot brandy/water/lemon might work some short term wonders. Good luck.

[bkkjames]

Go to tops or similar, get a chicken carcase, boil it up for an hour, discard, remove some of the fat on top and you have the beginnings of homemade chicken soup.

Dice up some chicken, add in your veggies (chopped garlic), season to taste, let it simmer for awhile..enjoy.

The key is the carcase and not just a cube of knorr's although you can add some for extra flav.

Make lots and freeze individual portions for another time.

Lots of recipes online.

Fluids, fluids, fluids-clear are better.

(Also like a spicy thai soup when having a cold etc)

[Ta22]

Ginger is really like what it said . what i do is i boil a few slice of it and then add sugar to it , so i taste better . you can also add soem honey to change the taste ,

Thing to note .

Ginger is Heaty . so to counter that you need to drink more water .

i also have some Herb i use specially for flu and cold .

in my garden .. if you PM me and is not far form my place i will send you some .

[bkkjames]

I like ginger, have a cup every night

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Two words:

SANG SOM THERAPY!

Works for me anyway.

[Ulysses G.]

This is the best thing that I've ever found and many studies say that it works.

A 2011 systematic meta analysis of studies conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration indicates that zinc lozenges definitively shorten the duration and severity of cold symptoms...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_gluconate

Edited October 21, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[moe666]

Sorry,

Maybe a bit late - but as a preventative cure my sister-in-law, ex nurse at Suandork, says that all of the nurses take MAX VIT C tablets 1000mg every day (maximum 2 tablets each day) to ward off colds and flu.

Not sure how much use, if any, antibiotics are against the flu. But plenty of hot drinks including Hot Toddys before bedtime, staying warm and sleep can be very theraputic. Oval is a good sleep inducive.

Good luck.

Not enough vit. c daily dose for prevention should be 4,000 to 8,000mg if you become sick take 2,000mg every 2 hours and big dose of vit.d3 as most people are low on vit.d. Most people donot get enough sunshine the skin cancer fear has put a stop to that. Also with thais the white skin freakout is a problem not enough sunshine we need it folks for good health.

To stop the thats too much vitc group, your body will absorb the vit.c that it needs when you are sick you need more. There have been studies that measured all the body intake and excretution to measure how much vit.c was taken up by the body the amout you excrete is very low.

[jaideeguy]

My 2 baht on flu

I've always heard that large doses of vit C just get eliminated and that the best way to get the full benefits of vit C is to take many of those chewable 100mg tabs all day long for a continuous intake.

And there is a great herbal expectorant made locally......wife calls it 'mawang' and it does really make you cough it up and out.

Re: 'tiffy'.....it's simply paracetamol, and an antihistamine and that's what makes you sleepy.

question re: the ginger: is the local Thai kind used or the 'hawaiian' type??

[amexpat]

Not enough vit. c daily dose for prevention should be 4,000 to 8,000mg if you become sick take 2,000mg every 2 hours and big dose of vit.d3 as most people are low on vit.d. Most people donot get enough sunshine the skin cancer fear has put a stop to that. Also with thais the white skin freakout is a problem not enough sunshine we need it folks for good health.

To stop the thats too much vitc group, your body will absorb the vit.c that it needs when you are sick you need more. There have been studies that measured all the body intake and excretution to measure how much vit.c was taken up by the body the amout you excrete is very low.

Citation needed.

[Semper]

Sorry,

Maybe a bit late - but as a preventative cure my sister-in-law, ex nurse at Suandork, says that all of the nurses take MAX VIT C tablets 1000mg every day (maximum 2 tablets each day) to ward off colds and flu.

Not sure how much use, if any, antibiotics are against the flu. But plenty of hot drinks including Hot Toddys before bedtime, staying warm and sleep can be very theraputic. Oval is a good sleep inducive.

Good luck.

Not enough vit. c daily dose for prevention should be 4,000 to 8,000mg if you become sick take 2,000mg every 2 hours and big dose of vit.d3 as most people are low on vit.d. Most people donot get enough sunshine the skin cancer fear has put a stop to that. Also with thais the white skin freakout is a problem not enough sunshine we need it folks for good health.

To stop the thats too much vitc group, your body will absorb the vit.c that it needs when you are sick you need more. There have been studies that measured all the body intake and excretution to measure how much vit.c was taken up by the body the amout you excrete is very low.

your body will absorb the vit.c that it needs

Quite right, and that should be about 60-90 mg/day. Anything above that is just rejected from the body.

[uptheos]

Most people do not get enough sunshine the skin cancer fear has put a stop to that.

Seems almost impossible not to get enough sunshine here, unless a person never goes out.

Just 15 minutes a day exposure is plenty (take a short walk, water the garden etc), is enough and won't give you skin cancer

Edited October 21, 2011 by uptheos

[thaimiller]

Raw uncooked onions, eat them like apples.

[jackr]

Sun & sea, lots of water & electrolytes, green smoothies (coconut/banana/spinach or kale), and exercise. If that don't work, get lots of alcohol up in ya.

[NancyL]

Here's what I do in CM:

tea made with fresh ginger

vitamin C tab (500 mg) every 4 hrs the moment I feel a cold coming on

Tiffy -- but only to a point; I start to feel jittery if I take it, as directed, for more than 18 hrs. Pharmacist suggested just taking one tab and that gives some relief without the jitters.

hot salt water gargle for sore throat

drink lots of water

UG -- I'd forgotten about the zinc tablets. I used zinc nasal gel in the U.S. to shorten a cold. I wonder if they have it here. I'll have to ask the two sisters, next time I visit their excellent pharmacy across the street from Hotel M (the old Montri). If the cold/flu gets very bad (with chest congestion and coughing), then Hubby visits the two sisters, gives them a full report of my condition, and returns with a bag full of stuff.