Husband Is Sick W Cough and Cold

Suz nailed it. Also, my husband uses Nyquil and Dayquil to ease his symptoms. I prefer the theraflu hot drink, but he says it's so bitter and he hates it. I think it's lovely and hot and wonderful when you're feeling cold and snotty and miserable.

You can alleviate the symptoms (to follow), and support the immune system (to follow) but aside from avoiding things that make it WORSE (also to follow)... there's nothing else to be done. Can't cure a virus!The average down time is 3-10 days.

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Alleviate the symptoms:

Alleviating the symptoms DOES NOT CURE the cold. It makes us more comfortable AND when we're more comfortable we heal faster HOWEVER see below for things that make illnesses worse.

- Decongestant (real, not antihistamine). Meaning Pseudoephedrine HCl, or Sudafed from behind the counter. You need ID, but not an Rx.

- Cough Suppressant + Expectorant. These work best in tandem, because the expectorant thins the mucus making it able to be coughed out, and the suppressant calms the cough reflex so it's not a hacking, exhausting cough. The combo = a productive cough. IF the mucous is already thinned (rare), just the suppressant is fine. If he's not coughing much, and it's a dry unproductive cough, just the expectorant is fine. Both are fairly rare, hence why the combo is preferred.

- Tylenol &/or Ibuprofen. Our bones ache (because our marrow is producing b-cells), headache, and inflammation from our lymph system being swollen (good) pressing on our other systems and creating inflammaiton on them (bad). The mild pain reliever + antiinflammatory is super helpful in allowing our immune system to function, by our body not diverting energy dealing with being in pain.

.... All of these things USED to be found in Nyquil / Dayquil (nyquil also had benedryl in it)... and in fact, I have a video TAPE from the 80's that says "You USED to have to take all of these pills, to get the same effect as ONE dose of Nyquil." SIGH. Since the stupid drug war decided to make pseudoephedrine monitored (not controlled) all the major cold/flu meds took pseudoephedrine out of their cold/flu cocktails (sudafed, tylenol cold+flu, ibuprofen cold+flu, Dayquil, Nyquil, Mucinex, Triaminic, etc.). So now we're BACK to having to actually take 6-8 pills instead of 2. Same meds, in the same doses, just in multiple pills.
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Support the Immune System

REST
Fluids
High Fat EASILY DIGESTIBLE foods (like chicken soup & fast food)
Antioxidents (vitC in particular)
DON'T shut off your immune system!!! (to follow)

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Avoid making things worse

The number one MISTAKE people make with illnesses is shutting off the immune system. How do they do that? By getting up off their tucus. We have 2 systems that can ONLY work independently; the adrenal system, and our immune response. You cannot, cannot, cannot operate both at the same time.

It's WHY we feel tired when we're sick. Our body yanks ALL of the energy that would go to our motor system (and digestive system) and shunts it over to our immune system.

The FASTEST way to get better is to sleep and be taken care of. Let ALL of your energy go to your immune system. Parents rarely have this luxury (ever notice how fast kids get well... who stay home from school and sleep and watch movies and have things brought to them all day?)

The WORST thing to do is to try to be active. In order to be active (especially being stupid by exercising when you first start feeling better) your body shuts off your immune system. Even "just" walking around the house turns your immune system down to 'low'. Working parents who can't afford to miss work are often sick for WEEKS because they're fighting an ongoing battle with a bug that they "could have" gotten over in 3 days... if they'd been able to just lay down and take care of themselves

((This includes stay at home parents... who are working by taking care of children all day, and can't afford a baby sitter)).

The #2 mistake people make is NOT alleviating the symptoms. Our bodies heal faster when we're not in pain/miserable. Again, it's an energy distribution issue.

#3 = combo of 1+2. As in, alleviate the symptoms BUT then get really active because they feel better. You're NOT better if you're living of meds. That just prolongs the illness.

#4 = eating "healthy".

4a) Our ratiocination (sitting, standing... not exercising, but also not being a puddle on the couch/floor/bed) uses up MOST of our energy every day. DIGESTION uses up 80% of the REMAINDER. "Healthy" foods require a lot of energy to digest. Go for easy easy easy (almost predigested) foods... so that your body isn't yanking energy away from your immune system. Soups are a perfect example of this. So is fast food. LOL, which I always bring up. R. is prescribing 1 McDonald's cheeseburger and Sprite at least once a day until better.

4b) Antibodies are made up mostly of fats, with just a little bit of protein thrown in for structure. "Healthy" foods tend to be loooooow in fats in addition to being difficult to digest. Don't do that. Healthy food when you're SICK is completely different than healthy food when you're WELL. Like 180, polar opposite different.

#5 Dehydration. Our immune system is using MORE energy than long distance running. Using that energy creates heat. People get WICKED DEHYDRATED when they're sick (which then makes their brain not work well, and their immune system work in spurts, and fevers spike because homeostasis craps out)... Unless they're pushing fluids. Expect to drink the same amount as if you're running 3 miles every single hour (or in the desert). As in a couple gallons a day. At least 8-20oz every single hour.

colds have to run their course. plenty of rest, vitamin C, echinacea, good healthy food, and separate beds until he feels better.
khairete
S.

Get him into the doctor. We're getting over what we thought was the cold, but in reality was bronchitis and pneumonia. When all was said and done, we had one confirmed case of Type B flu (four that had the same symptoms but didn't get tested), 6 cases of bronchitis, 2 cases of pneumonia, 5 cases of sinusitis, 3 people with ear infections in both ears, and one ruptured ear drum. There are 6 people including me in our family...we were all coughing, washing hands, disinfecting the house, running fevers on and off, hoping it would get better soon. It was bad. We were still hungry, but no one had the energy to cook anything. We ended up ordering anything and everything that would deliver, lol.

Anyway, the point is, when everything started, we just thought it was a cold. So we treated at home with Sudafed, Mucinex, NetiPot, plenty of water and rest...and it only got worse. The first sign it was something more was when hubby's coughing started keeping me up at night. Get him into a doctor to make sure it's not something worse.

Mucinex. Lots of water. Rest.

Can't get rid of it..He can wash his hands more frequently,blow his nose,cough in a kleenex,any OTC pain reliever or OTC cough syrup.A cold is a virus it has a course to run with plenty of rest,stay hydrated,eat well it will go away it's usually 7-10 days longer or shorter ddepending on the virus.Don't you become sick from time to time how do you handle it?

go to the dr. I had a bad bug..io was wheezing really bad.. first the dr thought it was just asthma flaring up and gave me inhalers.. but 3 days later I was back at the dr with my wheezy son...Dr,. decided we both had pneumonia. and we both got antibiotics.. I do think it started with the influenza. as this was not at all like a cold.

Whenever I feel a cold coming on I like to take oil of oregano capsules (I like Gaia Herbs brand). That usually knocks it out pretty quickly. I also like Echinacea Supreme by the same company. Whole Foods sells them but I buy them cheaper from iherb.com.

Of course I check to make sure there are no problematic ingredients (for instance I am very sensitive to soy).

Hope he feels better soon.