Don't know that one, but I use oregano oil -- 1 or 2 drops under the tongue -- as soon as I get an itchy throat or other first signs. It's really worked well for me.

I doubt there's any evidence of efficacy for the two items mentioned above.

Other than following well known and tested daily habits to stay healthy, including getting enough sleep (that everyone should adhere to anyway), I suspect that if any new wonder substance or supplement had been found and demonstrated to prevent or treat typical cold and throat problems, we all would have heard about it. And doctors would be recommending their use to patients.

In the absence of that, well, just because something does nothing negative doesn't mean it does anything positive.

Ok I will keep my results to myself. Good or bad. Always people here who know more than I , with closed minds.

Ladypat, I do hope you will share your findings. I've not heard of nasomin and would be interested in your experience with it.

I, too, hope you will share your experience. A doctor recently suggested trying hypertonic saline spray for the same purpose, so I’m using that now (Ayr brand). I am regularly going to PT so probably exposed to lots of germs and washing hands a ton, but am willing to try inexpensive, harmless remedies as extra insurance.

ladypat, I probably could have worded my comment differently. Sorry.

Here's the thing - there is no known cure for the common cold. Besides following healthy life practices to keep one's immune system strong and regular hand washing, nothing has been found to prevent infection. If you have any good ideas or experiences, it's probably better to talk to your doctor before you talk to your friends.

A saline spray is used to wash out mucus and other debris from the nasal passage, to unclog it. It's salt and water, no magical ingredients. It's like running water down a tube or pipe to unclog it. It's sometimes called "nasal irrigation". Doing so relieves symptoms (it can help clear a stuffy nose), it has no interaction with a viral or bacterial infection.

I'd be interested in hearing your outcome too, ladypat!

I use budesonide in my saline rinse. It really helps the main symptom of colds. Doesn't stop colds though. They should have something similar for "regular" people to use when they get a cold, rather than saving it for people like me with high eosinophil counts. I should patent that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAYaWphOkrE

I would think nasal lavage would be the most effective thing you can do. It does rinse away the what evers and actually lessens symptoms. Of course you can mask in public and use hand washes. I think we all know this sort of thing. Salt will actually kill some bacteria but I dont think it does a thing for virus which with colds is more to the point. Oh, avoid children. That works.

patriciae

I just wear a KN95 mask in public, and keep hand sanitizer with me - an ounce of prevention and all that 🙂

" I would think nasal lavage would be the most effective thing you can do. "

The most effective thing to do for what, exactly? And under which circumstances?

You probably already know that lavage simply means rinsing or washing. Saline is used for that purpose and for IV hydration—not because salt has special antimicrobial powers, but because the body’s natural salt concentration is higher than plain water. Putting pure water (sterile or otherwise) into a wound or body cavity can sting.

Salt isn’t a treatment. It may offer some symptom relief in certain situations, but in most cases it’s the immune system that clears respiratory viral infections, and antibiotics are used for bacterial ones. There are a few other options in specific cases, like Paxlovid.

I doubt that respiratory pathogens stay confined to the nose for long—whether viral or bacterial. They spread through the body and replicate along the way. So rinsing out the nose after symptoms have already started doesn’t seem likely to have much effect on treating or preventing the actual illness. If there’s evidence or valid opinions suggesting otherwise, I’d be interested to hear it.

Reading along here, and then I realized the iodine aspect. I googled and yes, if allergic nasomin is not to be used. It may seem obvious, but the quest to feel better sometimes clouds my brain.

I do remember though years ago my daughter had made a tincture of elderberry and of course it did not cure me, but it was so soothing. I was sharing it with my coworkers who all agreed that it helped.

salonva, I've never encountered elderberries but reading your comment reminded me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies:

" Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Said by the French soldier standing on a castle wall as an insult to King Arthur standing on the ground below, in

Monty Python and the Holy Grail .

Kendrah You are right. School nurse at the school I taught at always talked about not touching your face, and she was never sick. Of all the unthinkable things she was exposed to, she relates it to hand washing and not touching face.

When I was visiting Scotland once I came down with the most horrific cold. The woman at the house where we were staying (way up north near Thurso) gave me some packets of an herbal drink that had elderberries and blackberries and lord knows what. I laid on a chaise in a bay window of a 17th century house formed from the original curved window glass and drank this stuff and baked in the sun. I have never gotten over a cold so fast in my life. Maybe it was the honey. The room smelled of honey because the window frames were infested with bees.

Honey is said to be medicinal

patriciae

My motto is wash your hands immediately upon entering your house and never ever touch your face unless you're in your own home. I have to nag husband like he's a toddler...did you wash your hands coming in and dont touch your face when we're out.

I always think of Mr. Rogers, lily - he did that at the start of every show🙂 and changed his shoes too. I do it too now.

I wish you well. Just a reminder not to get too confident if you avoid catching a cold. There are hundreds of viruses that cause colds, including more than a hundred rhinovirus strains. They come and go, and once you’ve had a particular strain, you’re unlikely to get it again if your immune system is strong. The one your daughter had may simply be a strain you dealt with a year or two ago. There’s really no way to know.

Regarding Nasomin, I don’t see why it wouldn’t help. Iodine is a known microbicide, and as you said, it’s harmless when used properly.

I’ve always had a strong immune system myself. I’ve never had the flu, which is true for about 15 percent of people, and I rarely get colds. In fact, I haven’t had one in 14 years, and even before that they were infrequent. Of course, no one is completely immune, I did come down with bacterial pneumonia three years ago.

I'm sure I'll here something from someone, maybe with a fake doctor account about this post as misinformation. I'm just getting ahead of the attack that seems to always follow some of my posts.

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I'm surprised the above comment didn't recommend injecting Lysol or bleach, or taking an anti-malarial drug, as his moronic leader touted during the early pandemic days. But of course when he got sick, something that at first was hidden from the public, these phony steps weren't what was done for his own illness. He was treated properly, quietly so as not to leak to the press.

Isn't it time for your fake doctor to step in with a bit of copy and paste just like the covid days? It came as I said, the virus which infects these threads with sickness.

Oh, and everything you said is no true. the guy was given an experimental monoclonal antibody therapy through a compassionate use request because the FDA had not authorized it for Emergency Use at the time. It was approved shortly after, and I know this for a fact because my son received monoclonal therapy treatment in 2021! It was approved after the guy used it, and available for a couple of years to the public.

He also was given Remdesivir and Dexamethasone which were available to the public, so why do you continue to mislead people?

It was not the guy you hate some much who said inject bleach, it was Jonathan Karl from ABC news that suggested this by trying to put words in his mouth. Listen to the April 23rd 2020 briefing to know the truth but it wouldn't work so well in your rant, you know the truth. And 5 years later you're still spreading vicious misinformation and kind of sick.

How about exposing your medical records so we know why you act this way? But it's private and none of my business, just like every citizen in America and protected with laws like HIPAA. But it's been nice serving you a platter of reality and hope to do it again soon.