I was so smug when Roland got a cold last month and I didn't. Then just as Shawn was getting his second cold (along with a lot of other people, I've noticed) BAM, my luck ran out!

Unfortunately, the first time I went to the farmacia and asked for a cold remedy, they gave me some nasty powder gunk that did nothing and I spent last night sleepless and completely stuffed up. I went again to the farmacia today, armed with the knowledge that Shawn had found Vicks cough syrup, and that Salvat makes my preferred kind of decongestant called Nazolina (oxymetazoline in the states). Got what I needed this time; thought it might be helpful to others when they succumb to a bug. Still no Nyquil to be found, however!

Now if only nature would take it's course a little quicker, please?? I'm missing out on Spain here! *ACHOO!*

When I was living in Leon, I had a bad cold one time. The woman who ran the house we lived in gave me orange slices with sugar on them heated up in the microwave. I don't like oranges (it's a texture thing), and I certainly don't want them warm, but I ate them to avoid being rude. I'm not sure it did anything either. But she claimed it was the cure for a cold.

Anne

I've had very good luck using J�germeister liqueur as cough syrup. Tastes rather like Nyquil too...

Hey Juliette,
sorry you're not feeling well, seems a lot of people have gotten colds lately.
My latest prevention medicine is Echinacea. I usually buy the capsules in the US but I know you can get it here too, specially at health food stores and such.
However, when luck runs out and I get hit I swear by Frenadol. It's something you can get in the pharmacy here and it is a powder so I don't know if that is what you tried before or not. The best thing about Frenadol, in my opinion, is that it knocks you out completely, :z: matter of fact, I only take it before going to bed. I just fed some to my roommate earlier this week (she was on her second cold of the season too) and she loved it because she was able to sleep.
This brings me back to how wonderful I think Echinacea is, my roommate has had two colds already, several of my colleagues have had it, including peoplel with whom I have had to work in very close contact. I still haven't gotten sick. KNOCK WOOD and keep popping those capsules, at least until everyone around me gets healthy again.
Que te mejores!
Lena

J�germeister makes me forget about colds too! (and other things)

I too swear by "FRENADOL"!

Take it when you first feel the cold creeping up on you, that is when it is most effective and if you douse yourself with it you will most likely stop (frenar) the cold before it gits ya!!!

quote:

Unfortunately, the first time I went to the farmacia and asked for a cold remedy, they gave me some nasty powder gunk that did nothing

Juliette, can you tell us the name of that powder so we can avoid it???

Saludos,
jer...

Thanks for the advice! Vincegrippe is the stuff I tried. Bleah.

Great to hear about Frenadol....I just knew there had to be something local....this way I don't have to lug a small bottle of Nyquil to Madrid each November.

The Jagermeister idea is an excellent one...taste reminds me of Creomulsion, though....in Meeaami we called it Liquid Valium.....I still have a t-shirt with "I Got Jagermeistered" on the front....don't remember where or under what circumstances I got it but I suspect it involved 180cc skiis and revolving doors....just can't be sure.

Thyglow

"Sopa de Ajo" Garlic Soup, or French Onion soup, and LOTS of it, with extra black pepper in it.

If ever I get a cold or flu like symptoms, I get out the bulbs of Garlic & Xtra Large Spanish onions, and get chopping.

It works every time, just have as many bowls of Garlic or onion soup as you can stand.

You need to dose yourself up with it, for it to work properly.

True, it will make you stink of garlic & onions for a couple of days, but it's that or a stinking nose dripping head cold, and a couple of extra days suffering in bed with a runny nose. Take your pick.

It dries out that head cold really fast, without the need for sometimes very expensive cold remedies from the pharmacy.

I also always go on a high dose of vitamin "C" 1000 mg 3 times a day, and 1 super high dose of "Zinc", 200mg morning & evening, and that really does do the business.

I also take everyday of the year 1 a day Unique Garlic tablet super high strenth, (1250mg) specially coated, so (no odour) and that really does help to boost up the Immune system.

You can buy the soup's if you don't want the bother of making them, or are too sick to, but try adding more garlic, or buy some garlic bread & eat that with the soup, and you'll feel better in no time at all.

I have found for years that having a lot of garlic, onions & Leeks, in the form of soup's eaten piping hot, is for me the best thing for a bad head cold. There's something in them that gets rid of the worst of the symptoms very effectively. So give it a try this winter.

I love sopas de ajo, Iberian, in spite of the few chances it leaves when trying to "triumph" in a night out, and the massive stampede it may cause everytime you open your mouth if you put more garlic in it than the necessary amount , but I had never heard it is a good remedy for colds. It really warms you up when you have them, that's for sure.

However, I can say that Frenadol is good, at least it has been effective for me in the cases I needed help with the symptoms, and although it tastes disgusting (as any medicine does) you don't have to be afraid to speak in not to scare everybody away.

:cheers:

If there is a cold, I'll get it. At the first sign, take a whopping dose of zinc and eat an entire orange; even then it's usually too late.

And from there, it's cheap Spanish brandy with a dollop of honey, heated slightly. It clears up the nose right away, and if you keep at it, you get a good night's sleep too.

Just don't drink more than five at a sitting, or the cold will be the least of your distresses!

Reb/

quote:

"Sopa de Ajo" Garlic Soup, or French Onion soup, and LOTS of it, with extra black pepper in it.

Yes but I think that has a 50/50 chance of actually KILLING you so it may not be worth the risk :jeje:

Saludos,
jer...

Well Jersey, you could be right in a way, it might be a bit strong for some people, but I would'nt really say it was a kill or cure in those terms, and of course the soup can be made to suit the tastes of the maker, it don't need to be that strong really, the main idea of it is to get the hot soup down you, preferably with garlic and onions in it, according to ones own taste preference.

Its probably better to just buy it ready made in a can, and have it at normal strenth, the main objective being to keep at it throughout the day.

I have been having that for years, and it always helps me to shake off a head cold very quickly. Especially during the winter months, if you catch cold, you should have lots of Hot soup throughout the day. If you really don't like garlic or onion soup, then I can highly recommend some nice Hot Kosher chicken soup, with Kneidlach
(Matzo Dumplings) or just plain ordinary chicken noodle soup will do the trick.

Un Saludo


by the way, sensis, please sort out your Hotmail account, it is not working or something, a couple of mails kept returning. Also, please check for any private messages that you might have, you have got one in there for a week or so now, so please go to your profile and access your private messages, at least check for them every couple of days.
Saludos Cordiales.

Hey guys,

I'm here with my Frenadol, and it doesn't taste that bad actually (not near as bad as the Vincegrip) and seems to have all the important ingredients. However I will note that it also contains 30 mg of caffeine...and I see no indication on the box that it's a "daytime version," so I'm not sure how it knocked you all out? Maybe they changed the formula? But, aside from not knocking me out, it does seem to have some good effects in pain and cough reduction. Thanks for the tip!

Frenadol moooola. Besides, I have had it before going to bed several times and those 30 mg of caffeine have never been an obstacle for my sleeping :z: , unlike a running nose which doesn�t let me rest at all.

My mother says that having a teaspoonful of honey everyday prevents colds, much better if it's natural honey (received directly from an "apicultor" instead of the honey one buys at a supermarket). I do it everyday: I put a teaspoonful of honey in my bowl of milk for breakfast and I haven�t caught any cold so far this year (aunque toco madera por si acaso )

I might also follow rebrites' example and put the honey in a glass of brandy instead of adding it to hot milk but it wouldn�t be a good idea given that I usually have it everyday before going to work. But I'll try the brandy remedy next time I already have caught a cold, and if it doesn�t cure me straight away, at least I can have a good laughing time and surely it would help me forget the symptoms for a while :jeje: :cheers:

I�ve also heard that natural orange juice helps as well.

So if we put together Iberian's garlic or onion soup with extra black pepper, orange juice, a teaspoonful of honey in hot milk, hot Brandy with honey and pray for our stomach not to blow up , we can make sure we won�t catch a cold for the rest of our lives (if we survive to the mixture :jeje: )