If you are achy and feverish it sounds more like the flu than a cold. Colds don't normally produce fevers. As far as remedies, the only thing that really works for me is time.
Sorry you are feeling cruddy!!

Hot shower then sleep. Repeat.

This stuff is a miracle worker. You need to start it the minute you feel the first symptoms...but no matter when you start you will be amazed . I used the liquid elixir on my recent bike trip. Believe me I didn't want to be sick with a cold and riding 60 miles a day. Two others were getting the cold at the same time as I was and laughed at my stops at Walgreens until I found a bottle of it...ha...I had the last laugh and then some. I was well in 2 days...they were still coughing 2 weeks later...

My DH and DD used it recently and wow...their s/s went away so fast...DD only missed one day at work and everyone in her office was sick and hacking for days.

Here is a link that might be useful: UMCKA

Expectorant to keep the crud moving out. water water water, Tee Tree oil in a steamy hot bath.

That's interesting Trail. I'll have to read up on that.

For me, it seems like rest, fluids, tylenol for aches and pains is the best. And yes, mucinex if congested. A hot bath. I think it generally just has to run it's course.

tina

I discovered this method only a couple of years ago, but it is a miracle cure, and cheap and doable (unlike the zinc stuff, yuck!)

Cayenne Pepper Tea

Add as much Cayenne Pepper to hot water as you can stand - 2 or 3 shakes, the juice of one fresh lemon and about a teaspoon of honey.

Catch it early and drink as much as you can stand, 2-4 times the first day, taper off as you feel better, but if you catch it early enough, your infection will never manifest into "the galloping punies", as my MIL calls them.

The honey takes the hard edge off the pepper, it's really not that bad, and soooooo worth it not to get sick!

Great suggestions! I was just about to get in the hot tub when my Dr. called me and prescribed some prednisone & asthma meds as he could hear me wheezing over the phone. I think that, plus the rest, fluids and pain relievers helped. And I just got out of the hot tub (DH had it up to 103) after taking my meds and I feel half way human again. I think I'll be able to sleep comfortably tonight.

Usually when I get a cold, I wash my hands CONSTANTLY, use tissues, not a hankie, and also use a saline nasal spray and gel, but this time it was coupled with some asthma symptoms so it really got me hard. I suppose it didn't help that on Saturday, as I was feeling it come on, I went and dug up some rose bushes for transplanting at my house!

Oh I hope you feel better soon. I usually take something like sudafed but for many years now, I take Ziacam dissolvable tablets at the very first sign of a sniffle or sore throat.

Knocks it out so nothing develops. I would get up in the middle of the night to go to Walgreens to get some if I didn't have any when a sniffle developed, that's how much I swear by it. But they are often out at the stores during cool seasons so I try to keep it in stock at home.

When I feel something coming on I eat a lot of garlic. I especially like garlic broths, perhaps with a touch of ginger.

I also swear by green tea with peppermint. I find the peppermint soothing and the green tea works just like the active ingredient in Robitussin and loosens up anything that is clogged up.

When I have a cold or respiratory issues, I absolutely stay away from all dairy as it thickens mucous and is believed by some to be inflammatory.

Greenthumbfish, that's close to the 'recipe' for quick weight loss.

I swear by a couple of days of Alka Seltzer Cold Plus. ;o)

I haven't read the replies yet, but since I have asthma I get that at least once a year. I'm always put on prednisone for a week, and that's what helps the wheezing and breathing.

I also get some strong cough medicine. Other than that if your nose isn't doing anything, you must REST, and drink plenty of fluids, and take your Tylenol and Advil.

Poor baby. :(

I just read the replies and saw you're on Prednisone! Watch out for sudden crankiness and wanting to eat eat eat. I always gain 5 lbs. on Pred. lol.

Mucinex is great too. Two at a time. If you don't have prescription cough medicine, take Robitussin DM. It helps with coughs and it gets the goop to loosen.

My coughing gets so bad I have to take the cough med with hydrocone in it, then take Musinex along with it.

One bourbon, one scotch, one beer...
sorry- couldnt help myself! -those lyrics popped into my mind when I read the title of the post. from the old band - Delaware Destroyers- I think.

Homemade chicken soup with pearl barley with lots of ginger and garlic.

toast with honey.

toast "soldiers" with boiled egg.

tea.

Neo-Citran. There's probably something major wrong with it aside from the sugar content. But it's hot, relaxes me and lets me sleep. I love Neo-Citran.

Another vote for homemade chicken soup! Lots of rest, and drink, drink, drink until you think you are going to float away.

Feel better soon!

Haha!! Good one Cooper! Actually, I think I might have been premature in my exclamation of feeling better. I called my doc today since my friends are very persistent (and frank...they told me I looked like cr*p today!). There is a generally feeling that I may have pneumonia. I haven't felt like eating a thing in days, and can't even muster up the ability to drink something. Ribs hurt, exhausted, still a bit feverish. So I see Doc in the morning. Hoping it's NOT what I'm afraid it is.

Southern cure for a cold:

You'll need a 4-poster bed, a hat and a bottle of your favorite hootch. Put the hat on a bedpost; take the bottle to bed; drink 'til you see two hats. If it doesn't cure you, you won't care.

My ancestors think I'm a bore. I kept the 4-poster bed, and I'm awfully fond of hats, but I just do nasal irrigation with warm salt water in a neti pot.

Patty, my BIL said the same thing - he and my sister are now believers! Trust me I don't do it for weight loss; sadly I'm overweight, but I've never noticed any real difference that way when drinking the tea. I did try that "diet" once, too much citrus for my body.

I'm with ya yoga; OTC saline or neti, both are staples in this house ;-)

Dr. started me on antibiotics and instructed me to take 1/2 a vicodin every 4 hours as it acts as a cough suppressant and will alleviate the pain. He said it's essentially the same thing as the prescription cold medicine, and since my cough is not productive (the mucinex didn't help) I needed to suppress it rather than try to make it move. Combined with the prednisone and albuterol I'm feeling a lot better. Should be able to quit the prednisone by Friday.

Found out that the reason I felt so especially bad yesterday is that I accidently took one of DH's medications! Couldn't harm me, but did make me feel really sick. I am hoping that I can sleep thru the night tonight instead of waking every few minutes coughing! Yeeps.

And keep up those great suggestions...kinda liking that four poster bed idea...

Saline spray works for me.

Before it was discontinued, I used the zicam nasal swabs at the first sign of any symptoms. Worked like a charm. If they still sold them, I'd use them again, even if it does carry a small risk of diminishing my sense of smell(!). Bumblebeez--which zicam tablets are you using? So far nothing that i've tried works as well as the zicam nasal swabs.

I agree with you robin, and I have stockpiled swabs and the nasal gel in the little pump bottle. I save them for emergency situations, like not getting sick before a trip!