Thursday, January 17, 2013

Feed a Cold

I have always wondered about the "Feed a cold, starve a fever" adage. Mind you, I have no idea where it came from, nor do I really have any desire to research it.

I've also heard the corollary of "Feed a fever, starve a cold," which makes an equal amount of sense to me.

And yet, when I posted a question online, today, asking people the best course of action when confronted with a cold - this is NOT the same as the flu, I know that it's not the flu because I checked all of the 2013 flu symptoms online on reputable websites and was assured that it wasn't that - the answer was pretty clear.

I know that a cold is one of those things that just "is." There really isn't a way around it. You can stock up on vitamins and herbs and tea and all that stuff, but if a cold has you in its sights, there's a very good chance you'll be catching it.

For me, my cold started as a sinus issue about a week ago. Then, on about Monday, I started to feel the sinus thing moving into my throat. This happens about once every couple of months, so it wasn't a surprise to me.

But then the throat thing started to move south, and I started feeling it in my chest. No coughing. No sneezing. No fever. Just a weird feeling in my sinuses/nose/ears/throat/chest.

In other words, the start of a cold.

So I've been pumping up the vitamins and minerals and wearing a heavier scarf. But I've got some stuff going on in the next 10 days that I can't be sick during, so I decided to reach out to friends and family for some suggestions.

Happily, most of the comments were actually sort of helpful. Or at least not too snarky.

Hot and sour soup, whining, a few brand name medicines, and nasal flushing all made the list.

Mainly, though, what I've come away with is that I need to eat and drink more - particularly Brandy and carbs. Which is lucky, considering that the other repeating suggestion was to sleep more.

Wish me luck.

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