The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Vapor Rub
Posted by Linda (Eugene, Oregon) on 09/15/2009
★★★★★
I have been reaping the rewards of the many postings on Earth Clinic and now it's time to give back. My grandmother spent some time living on an Indian reservation in the 40s and 50s and she learned from their medicine "person" a remedy for severe chest colds. Begin by using a vapor rub or a similar camphor product and rub it on the chest, back and neck. Using two thin cotton squares, (large handkerchiefs work well) wet them in ice water then apply them at once to the chest and back. Then quickly put on a heavy wool sweater, keeping the handkerchiefs in place. Add a wool scarf around the neck and pin it in place. Lastly, pull a cotton sweatshirt over all and then go to bed. This combination will do it's work during the night. By morning the cold will be gone. I used this on my nine year old daughter....she didn't like the treatment but it worked!
Good luck and thank you Earth Clinic for this wonderful site.
Vinegar Bath
Posted by Toma (Chicago, IL) on 06/26/2007
★★★★★
I had a cold for a month, tried everything - nothing helped, so I decided to take baths with a cup of white vinegar after an hour running, in 2 days all the symptoms of cold are gone.
Vitamin C
Posted by Susan (San Francisco) on 03/01/2020
★★★★★
I woke up with the beginnings of a cold Friday morning. I generally take 1,000 mg of Vitamin C every hour every day. I started taking it (1,000 mg) every half hour and from the hours of 1:30pm – 4:00pm I took it every 15 minutes. I went back to every 1/2 hour after I started getting gassy. I did the same thing on Saturday. Today is Sunday and I'm back to my usual schedule of 1,000 mg every hour and I don't have a cold anymore. The Ascorbic Acid got rid of it FAST. FYI – I'm a 65 year old female and I've never had the flu. I've always gotten colds (bad ones). This is the first cold I've had where I hardly felt like I had one.
Vitamin C
Posted by Raeofsun13 (Colorado) on 12/25/2018
★★★★★
Vitamin C
Posted by Kathleen (Chicago, Illinois) on 10/26/2011
★★★★★
For colds, 4000 milligrams of Vitamin C spread out over the day (1000 milligrams after each meal and before bed).
I try to start the remedy as soon as I feel a tickle in the back of my throat or nose or nose congestion that I know signals a cold. Usually, I feel great the next morning or at the very least within two days.
The very best of health to everyone.
Vitamin C
Posted by Corinna (London, Kent, England) on 02/05/2010
★★★★★
When I feel a cold coming on I immediately take 1000mg of Vitamin C and continue to do so every 2 or 3 hours until symptoms subside. I did not get a 'proper' cold in decades. I may have some symptoms for a day or two and then it is over. It also works for my 10 year old son.
Vitamin C
Posted by Russell (Lawton, Oklahoma) on 10/23/2008
★★★★★
I have twin boys with allergies and they both can't stand to take pills, so I use pharmacuetical grade SODIUM ASCORBATE powder I bought over the internet, and mix 1/3 of a tsp (that's about 1200 mg) in just a small amount of juice or other drink. The sodium ascorbate works faster and your body absorbs it better. If they are coughing and getting congestion I give them 1/3 tsp every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours in the evening time. I also learned this from Linus Paulings writings!
I've been able to deal with congestion and allergies myself over the last 3 years by this same Vitamin C regimen. I just call it Vitamin C "Megadosing". It works great and my blood pressure is perfect!
Vitamin C
Posted by Lisa (Liverpool, New York USA) on 10/21/2008
★★★★★
Colds and Allergies: My children usually get sick at the beginning of the spring and the beginning of fall... most likely allergies. They also usually get whatever sickness is going around school. For the last year, I've been successfully giving my 6 and 8 year olds 500 mgs of vitamin c under the recommendation from the Linus Pauling Foundation. They love the chewables (ascorbic acid). They havent gotten sick AT ALL in that time. Meanwhile, my 13 year old has gotten broncitis and pneumonia who refuses to take the vitamin c. I've been trying to get her to take the vitamin c but she is not big into the taste of the chewables and doesn't like taking pills. Everytime she gets sick, I try to reason with her that the other two are not getting sick anymore, and in fact, NONE of us are, so why is she the only one in our house getting sick?? It used to go from one of us to the next and the next like a domino effect. Now, it's just her.( My husband and I take 2000 mg of Vitamin C per day, also recommeded by the Linus Pauling Institute)
Vitamin C
Posted by Bryce (Vancouver, Canada) on 06/17/2008
★★★★★
At the first signs of a cold, I dose myself with 1000's of milligrams of Vitamin C. I will take 2000-3000 milligrams at a time, throughout the day. Perhaps the most I've taken in a day is 6000-7000 mgs. This is the first thing that I have found that actually stops a cold in it's tracks. It's great, give it a try.
Vitamin C
Posted by Kate (Vancouver) on 01/28/2006
★★★★★
Ester-C brand vitamin C taken 3x daily for 3 months and then once daily for the rest of the year builds up your immune system so that colds are less frequent and less in duration. Gel capsule form absorbs the fastest into the bloodstream.
Vitamin C
Posted by Kathryn (Glasgow) on 11/28/2005
★★★★★
I think the best way to cure a cold or the flu is plenty of bed rest and loads of fluids (Preferably no water otherwise you will be up and down to the toilet all the time and you won't get that all important bed rest!) Loads of Vitamin C (Pure Orange juice) is the best way to cure it!
Vitamin C
Posted by Isabel (Austin, TX) on 10/09/2005
★★★★★
At the first sign of a cold, take 1000 mg of vitamin c every 2-3 hrs for as long as you feel symptoms. This has kept the cold from getting bad and ended sooner.
Vitamin C
Posted by Debbie (Calgary, Canada)
★★★★★
This one has been good for me when I have had a bad cold. Take 1 cup of cranberry juice and add in 2-1000 mg dissolvable tablets of vitamin C and heat in microwave until very hot. I have found this to really help when I have been sick. Repeat the next day.
Wake Up the Dead Juice
Posted by Ray (New York City) on 03/31/2008
★★★★★
Wake up the dead juice: When I was younger I used to get a lot of fatigue, loss of appetite, and body aches as a result from a cold. It would be those types of colds that just basically gave you those symptoms. It would have none or very little fever, coughs, stuffiness and sneezing. So I used to say to myself i would go to school if I had the energy. That's when I started drinking "Wake Up the Dead" juice.
There are a few ways to make this. You can either boil some water and add sliced onions to it. Or boil water and add chopped garlic to it. I usually mix both onion and garlic to the hot water. I leave the chunks inside. You can remove them if you wish. Drink that water as hot as you can take it. Another way people do it is by mixing about 2 cups of cold water and 1 chopped onion and/or some garlic chunks all in a blender. They can either drink it hot or cold. But drinking it hot is better. It is extremely important that you drink this as soon as you get up on an empty stomach. One cup is fine and 2 is better. The more onions and garlic you put in it the better it is. It tastes very disgusting but it will give you one hell of a boost. It will last anywhere from 3 to 6 hours. Then you have to drink it again. You should only drink it twice a day.
Zinc
Posted by Prioris (Florida, US) on 10/15/2014
FYI: There are several kinds of zinc that you can take for colds. But only two kinds of zinc are actually effective against colds.
The best kind is zinc acetate. It's the only kind of zinc that consistently slashes the duration of a cold in half. Zinc gluconate was the second best choice, but zinc acetate worked much better.
None of the other kinds of zinc were effective at fighting colds.
Why are zinc acetate and zinc gluconate effective and other kinds aren't? Because they both release zinc in the form of a positively charged ion. The ionic form is what makes the difference in whether zinc can cure your cold or not.
They discovered that zinc acetate was best. Zinc acetate releases 100% of the zinc in an ionic form. Zinc gluconate was second best. It only releases 70% of its zinc in the ionic form.
The researchers also found that you need at least 75 mg of zinc acetate a day to fight colds. And finally, they found that zinc is only effective when cold viruses are exposed to zinc for at least 20 minutes at a time.
Since zinc needs 20 minutes of exposure to fight colds? pills, syrups, or sprays simply won't work. You need slow-dissolving lozenges that release the zinc right where the viruses are.
