cold/flu remedies

Re sore throat remedies, I find that gargling with salt water as hot as you can bear does the trick. It also helps ease the urge to cough. I like the idea of turmeric. I'll try it. And Vicks on the soles of the feet

Honey and lemon and a paracetamol always works for me, start taking it as soon as i feel a cold coming, never fails me.

I always find fresh ginger is good; grated and infused for five minutes in boiling water. Strain it into a cup, put some honey into it and sip it. It has antibacterial properties, and is very soothing.

I have read that too by putting Vick on the soles of your feet then wear socks in bed will help stop coughing seems weird but if it works all the better ....

Have had flu for the last two years and both times had a flu jab. Told my GP who said think how bad you'd have been if you hadn't had a flu jab. Yeah right. Thanks to Bellanonna for the image of liberty bodices. Mine had buttons up the front and l had to wear a vest over the top. !!!! My mum didn't take chances !

My mother would say you were probably wearing your Liberty bodice !

Pardon me if this seems like bragging or such like but I haven't had a cold, sore throat or even a headache for over 30 years. People say 'oh you shouldn't say that, you'll get one now' but I don't. DH hasn't had a cold for about the same time either. Now believe me, he has had lots of other things, including diabetes and cancer so he has had his fare share. I have often wondered why we don't get colds. I had one after the other as a child and have even wondered if I have become immune in some way, although I know this is unlikely. Apologies if this is irritating for those of you who are suffering at the moment!

Turmeric in hot milk is supposed to be good for coughs, according to my Indian friend

Hi everyone. Have been ill since last Saturday with what l think is flu. Still feeling rough but obviously not as bad. It's the sore throat l have. Been sucking strepsils, taking paracetamol and today my other half very kindly went and got me some Covonia throat spray which is absolutely useless. Have just had some hot water with honey in but nothing seems to help. And l had a flipping flu jab !! So can anyone suggest anything else. Many thanks

anything would improve the flavour of my casseroles, Im not good at making them, they are either too watery or too thick and burned.

Can you put them in a casserole the next day? Waste not, want not!

I found a good remedy, I got it from the 'net. I put a slice of raw onion inside my bedsocks , on each foot before bed. It smelt horrid but in the morning I felt much better. I put the slice on the sole of my foot. The onion was almost cooked by morning with the heat of my feet. In future it will be onions for bed when I get a cold.

groan, I finished antibiotics yesterday and have started to cough again, I worked in the rain all day today and got soaked, my chest is tight and I am soooo fed up. I need to work. I might take the brandy remedy to heart MammaN.
the perils of working outside

Boiled lemonade with brandy - then sleep.

I had a horrible cough with the cold/flu a few weeks ago and found a remedy on line - a teaspoon of honey with a couple of pinches of turmeric in! Sounds odd, but tastes OK and it did the trick! A friend has since told me that she'd been told the same thing by a friend who is from India and I've also heard that turmeric has anti inflammatory properties from a vet who gives it to her horse!

For the coughing I take ICE COLD water. I sip it when the coughing starts and it seems to help me. For the rest it's paracetamol and hot Irn-Bru.

Ethelbags, so sorry to hear that you are poorly, and I hope that you will soon begin to feel better. Please take care of yourself, easier said than done I imagine, especially when you are on your own, but don't become so ill that you may end up with something worse. A couple of years ago I got pneumonia, and was in hospital for 4/5 days. It took ages to feel like me again. I know from reading some of the posts that folk are concerned about you, and hope that the suggested remedies have helped a bit.

etheltbags1, if I have been out of action with a virus or other affliction, I have found it useful to do my food shopping on the internet. It's very easy and I also find that if I do this, I'm not browsing the aisles and buying things I don't really need.

starbird I could eat that every day of the week, cold or no cold!

I find that chicken soup really works- made with the bones, lots of onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, carrot, for the stock, and after sieving add anything green - herbs etc I add frozen spinach, and if you want to make it more substantial, add some chicken meat, and/or pulses like chick peas or lentils. If you are vegetarian just use vegetable stock.

Regarding Bug180s post - if you use menthol crystals use only the merest pinch otherwise they will knock you out of your socks! Even a pinch is strong stuff.

I find the spray Flu Defence has prevented me getting colds when all around are dropping but may be coincidence

I have atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and am on anti-coagulants that thin my blood. Due to this, I cannot take most over-the-counter cold cures as they usually contain aspirin which you cannot take together with anti-coagulants.

I've found that tea with added freshly-squeezed lemon juice and honey, or at a pinch hot lemonade with honey, helps lessen the cold's effects. To really help the cold move on quicker, I make myself a curry to which I add extra garlic.

Jack - these germs are spread by touch. So it wasn't your 'masks' that saved you, it was the fact that you didn't handle any one or anything that had germs on, or, if you did, you washed your hands afterwards

I use a variation of this (I take turmeric for my arthritis. It works). freshly-grown.com/ginger-turmeric-cold-flu-elixir/