Sick!?.......!!

[Este]

Um, so I just got sick for the first time in quite a while and lost my voice. It's hilariously switching between low/raspy and high pitched/pubescent.

Anyway, what do you do to feel better? Take cough medicine? Snort salt? Stare directly into the sun? Shake your fist and yell at little kids as they pass?

I've been sticking to ricola cough drops and tea, wearing my favorite sweatpants/hoodie, and watching college football.

[Justin]

Dayquil/Nyquil combo, with 2 fingers of Scotch at the end of the night. Oh and Chinese TakeOut/McDonalds rules!

[SkyeWelse]

Best things that work for me when I'm sick are the following:

1. Emergen C or equivalent powdered 1000 mg vitamin C mixture with water.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 tablespoons directly. For sore throats and indigestion/food poisoning. Strong stuff, but it will kill off anything bad that is hiding in your body.

3. Drinking tons of water + replenishing electrolytes with stuff like gingerale or gatorade/powerade.

4. Ginger and Garlic is also good items to help combat a cold. Ginger Tea is especially great for sore throats.

5. Sleep. This is the key and it can be hard sometimes to want to sleep when you've got stuff to do, but it helps more than anything.

Best of luck! : )

-Thomas

[tancients]

I don't remember ever having a problem...I guess it's because female vocal chords don't shift anywhere nearly as much?

Stay away from soda and other acidic drinks. It'll help prevent unneeded irritation to the larnyx which I assume will help some with the pain.

[Yakra]

Honey~!!!! That be the bestest medicine on earth! Really! Truly! It is the best anti-septic (it heals burns and odd cuts pretty well too?) and the best anti-biotic? Why don't ye just make yourself some mild tea (or just take plain hot water), stick in LOADS of honey, 1-3 tablespoons, some cinnamon, and a clove or two, let them all steep, and ta da~! Drink drink! It depends on what sort of cold/flu/thing you have, but you can also go with star anise or basil leaves in it. With honey ofcourse. Or star anise with cinnamon.

:'D

Basically, I never take any medicines. Never. (Unless if my family is being a meanie and has yanked a death-bed-ridden me to the doctor) Teas and herbs be the ultimate cure-all!

Also - cough drops are actually not good for one's throat? They apparently dry them up. It's more recommended that you have fruity sweets. Like those Foxes stuff. (Do you have them where ye guys are?)

[HJ]

I drink tea with honey too. Other than that, I just lie in my bed and play video games all day. You don't need a voice for that.

[tancients]

Nov 28, 2009 11:19:02 GMT -5 HJ said:

I drink tea with honey too. Other than that, I just lie in my bed and play video games all day. You don't need a voice for that.

haha, if I do that for a day or two I come out with an accent of whatever language I've been around the most during that time. Obviously this tends to mean people who hear me for the first time think I'm Japanese. Way too tall to be one though!

[Este]

Nov 28, 2009 11:41:58 GMT -5 tancients said:

Nov 28, 2009 11:19:02 GMT -5 HJ said:

I drink tea with honey too. Other than that, I just lie in my bed and play video games all day. You don't need a voice for that.

haha, if I do that for a day or two I come out with an accent of whatever language I've been around the most during that time. Obviously this tends to mean people who hear me for the first time think I'm Japanese. Way too tall to be one though!

Wow, that has to be funny when it happens. My aunt just called and I was the one to pick up the phone. Long story short, she thought I was an intruder... I have to wonder what kinds of pranks I could be pulling on people using my voice right now.

I'm surprised honey is as effective as you say. Is there anything that food isn't good for? I should try a mixture of what everyone said... big glass of tea with plenty of honey, emergen C (which I actually bought already), and 2 fingers of scotch in it. It's gonna be the best drink ever.

Hrmm... I guess I should encorporate a sauna into that as well. I'm thinking I just stick my face over top of the drink for 5 or 10 minutes.

[Bug]

buhh i got sick a couple days ago, could barely talk, and I'm just starting to get over it and I can still barely talk.

I dont do anything when I'm sick, no medicine or anything. I just suck it up and wait till it passes.

[Lumi]

My recipe for wellness:

1) Moment I feel the scratchy throat that heralds a potential cold, I'm popping vitamin C/Airborne or a similar product several times daily. Also drinking echinacea tea, or some other immune-boosting herbal infusion.

2) Get sick anyway? Keep doing the above, and get sleep. Lots and lots and lots of sleep.

3) Also, where tea fails, hot water + lemon juice + honey does amazing things for congestion and a sore throat. You'll never need cough drops again. ^.^v If you have someone who can make it properly home made for you, chicken soup is also a good remedy as long as it's got a ton of lemon and garlic in it.

4) Coffee. This one's technically unique to my situation; I have asthma, which automatically kicks into high gear whenever I get sick. Coffee's a pretty good home remedy for keeping the airways somewhat open. Can't skimp on the genuine medication with this one, though, so I keep the rescue inhalers close and whatnot.

5) More sleep.

[fuyuko816]

I usually hug a pillow when I'm feeling sick.
Well actually I do that even if I'm not feeling that way... ^^''
I also draw and drink a lot, but again, I already do that without being sick.
Maybe I'm sick right now and don't know!

[Ascended Mermaid]

Nov 29, 2009 5:04:14 GMT -5 fuyuko816 said:

I usually hug a pillow when I'm feeling sick.
Well actually I do that even if I'm not feeling that way... ^^''
I also draw and drink a lot, but again, I already do that without being sick.
Maybe I'm sick right now and don't know!

Same here. It's insane.

[Gamemusicfreak]

The last two weeks have been rough. I worked through a bad cold with no energy, no drawing, barely any gaming, and no web comic progress! Then yesterday I thought my insides were gonna explode (that might have been the result of Thanksgiving overeating, but I was in serious pain). I still went to work anyway and made it through. Today things are going much better.

I rarely ever get sick, but this time around I slept during all my free time, took some Claritin to clear up the cold and ate a lot of soup with orange juice and water to drink.

[Cyhirae]

When sick, best to get as much sleep as you can. It's your best medicine, more than any drug or food since it lets your body pay utmost attention to fixing what needs to be fixed.

Other things that can help:

Peppermint tea/real peppermint candy - peppermint is a good natural 'cure all' for sore throats, upset stomachs and even certain headaches. While the tea is advised (and drinking it as hot as you can stand it), the candy is generally cheap, convenient and safer to consume in large quantities as necessary than most cough drops- and they're about as effective. Just be sure to get real peppermint candy rather than the artificial or sugar-peppermint meltaway varieties. They won't do you any good.

Honey - very much a cure all but something important to keep in mind: the stuff you buy off a store shelf has been processed to the point it's medicinal value is greatly reduced. If you're going to go this route, try to find some honey that's as close to natural as you can get; if it has some of the comb in it still, even better. Natural honey is also not as sickeningly sweet as the store-bought variety.

Stay warm; when you're sick, it's time to just grit your teeth and endure any extra costs you incur by turning the heat up.

Constantly washing your hands or keeping hand sanitizer on hand is also not a bad idea; lots of people re-infect themselves or pass it around without thinking about the fact that germs travel and spread pretty easily when handling things like phones, TV remotes and so forth.

Gargle warm salt water - if your throat is being particularly uncooperative to other treatments, this is the way to go. You need to do it for as long as you can/coughs allow for it to be effective, however. Two or three seconds and then spitting won't do you much good.

Orange juice - if you can find a decent brand that really IS orange juice and not "75% artificial flavors", this is a good way to get some vitamin C going. Just be sure not to overdo it; too much vitamin C won't do you any favors.

Lastly- you can't go wrong with Vicks/vapo rubs short of having hyper sensitive skin. Some under the nose and rubbed on the chest can go miles in making sure you get that sleep you need and keep you from using every tissue in the house in a single day.

[Este]

Peppermint? I've never heard that one, but the way your throat feels afterwards I'm not really surprised. Although, by that logic I guess smoking would be good for your throat as well... I can't imagine the environment you create in your throat by smoking a cigarette is friendly to any kind of life. Too bad I only smoke socially (and rarely even at that), and I'm not very social when I'm sick.

Question about the salt water thing. I've been told since I was little that it's the best way to kill the germs in the back of your throat, but wouldn't listerine work almost equally as well and be a much more pleasant experience. It would be easier to gargle longer and maybe prove more effective.

[AllenSmithee]

I get sick a lot and I'm really pretty terrible at it.

I just take medication and laze around. I usually watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off. That helps a bit.

I'd play games but I'm usually too miserable for that. Drinking tea with milk and honey, yes helps.

Try calling a friend, it'll give you morale.

[Cyhirae]

Nov 29, 2009 13:29:40 GMT -5 Este said:

Peppermint? I've never heard that one, but the way your throat feels afterwards I'm not really surprised. Although, by that logic I guess smoking would be good for your throat as well... I can't imagine the environment you create in your throat by smoking a cigarette is friendly to any kind of life. Too bad I only smoke socially (and rarely even at that), and I'm not very social when I'm sick.

Question about the salt water thing. I've been told since I was little that it's the best way to kill the germs in the back of your throat, but wouldn't listerine work almost equally as well and be a much more pleasant experience. It would be easier to gargle longer and maybe prove more effective.

If you use the real peppermint rather than the sugary stuff, you'll find there's a world of difference between the two. The tea is especially recommended; the candy form is more for when you can't sit down to have a cup and it can be hard to find the kind that is made with the real oil rather than just being 'peppermint flavored' sugar gloop that'll just make your throat rough.
The tea is thankfully much easier to find and generally isn't particularly expensive either. You can find it in nearly any supermarket's tea & coffee aisle.
Can't say much about the comparison to smoking though; never smoked. ^^; Given the way that supposedly coats your throat though, don't know that'd do much good.

As to the salt water vs Listerine- the salt water is more effective as long as it's warmed/hot. You do that with Listerine and you'll lose some -if not all- of the alcohol that makes it effective. The salt water should be a good bit warmer than room temp but not boiling hot and it should be sustained for as long as you can go without breathing for proper effect. Doing that with listerine can cause little problems like mild poisoning and upset stomach if it slips too far down the throat. Salt water's somewhat safer to swallow by accident as long as you aren't taking in large quantities. You can also safely use it more often than you can the Listerine so if you need a few treatments in a few days' span, you can do so.
Listerine also dries your throat far more than salt water will; that can lead to just exchanging problems rather than fixing one.