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.
Mouthwash
Posted by Tony (Miami, FL) on 02/15/2006
★★★★★
The next time that you feel as if you are coming down with a cold, gargle Scope or Listerine, diluted with a little water, for one minute when you wake up in the morning. It can prevent you from even coming down with the cold, and will entirely prevent you from having a soar throat if you do catch the cold. These mouthwashes will kill all of the viruses in your throat, before they can cause any havoc.
Gargling With H2O2
Posted by Colleen (Ontario, Canada)
★★★★★
I would like to give my natural remedy for : allergy suffers, colds and sinus problems. At the onset of any of the above, put two drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide in one ear and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Tilt head and drain on clean tissue. Repeat in other ear. I do this for two days and all troubles are gone. This is also good if you have itchy ears. This is safe and proven to be effective. You may hear a bubbling sound in your ear but don't be afraid. It feels so good when you drain it out of your ear. Once you get past the fear you will wonder how you ever managed without it. Hydrogen peroxide is cheap and available at any drugstore. Just make sure to purchase the 3% type.
Gargling With H2O2
Posted by Donna (Aspen, CO)
★★★★★
I gargled with a capful of hydrogen peroxide mixed into 1/4 cup of water and also swished it around my mouth and the next morning my cold was gone.
Lugol's Iodine
Posted by Cindy (Shady Cove, OR)
★★★★★
I use Lugol's iodine anytime I am getting a cold. I was a chronic user of antibiotics because of asthma. I have not had a bout with bronchitis because anytime i am getting a cold or virus I put 6 drops of Lugol's in water 3 times over a 24 hour period and the infection is gone. I actually have one day colds now. I follow up with acidophilus for my stomach and milk thistle for my liver. This really works and probably will work for Bird flu if you keep a supply in your cupboard.
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.
Honey Lime Drink for Summer Colds
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 06/13/2017
MtM, last summer I was making lemonade with honey and it took forever to melt the honey by stirring. Now I see how to do it: melt it in a little hot water!! Thank you!!
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 01/12/2017 2048 posts
Good observation, Art. I experience much the same. I have been drinking 2 cups?? concentration C.S. for several yrs to fight the chronic infections. I too have noticed an immediate improvement of symptoms nubulizing C.S. So this method is effective beyond killing mycoplasma in the lungs. Back to the oral; lately I have added one dropper of 99% DMSO to one cup C.S. with much better results. I have yet to experiment with C.S. absorption & utilization by adding maybe one spoon of Glycine and one spoon of Lecithin; maybe you can try this. Are you familiar with LET method of nutrition & drug delivery? The above recipe may be effective but may also need sonicating. You may also try Zapping fallowing the C.S. Bob Beck must have come to the same conclusion as you concerning oral administration, so he added zapping and swears this combo can kill all pathogens. You can also bubble ozone in a cup of C.S. but must drink quickly. H2O2 will stay in solution but I find it abrasive.
Garlic and Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Armadillo17 (Chicago, Il) on 01/28/2015
★★★★★
For me, one of the most miserable aspects of a cold is the nasal congestion that blocks the taste buds and causes endless nose-blowing. This time, I took a clove of garlic, broke it into small chunks, and put a chunk up into each nostril. Leave it there as long as you can stand it, it will probably prompt you to sneeze eventually, after a few minutes. Do this repeatedly and your congestion will be gone in a day. Also, chew a little garlic all day and keep a peeled glove in your mouth to suck on. This, plus a dose of apple cider vinegar in water 4 times a day, got rid of 90% of my cold symptoms in 24 hrs.
Liposomal Vitamin C, Colloidal Silver
Posted by Dave (Fountain Inn, Sc) on 12/09/2013
Mary to Many,
The timing is not an issue if one uses the Colloidal Silver as an irrigation. Most colds begin in the sinus cavity. To learn the irrigation (Neti pot idea that Opra has propelled) is very effective. The neti pot is like a pouring cleanse. The idea with CS is to pour a teaspoon into palm of hand and sniff into both sinuses. If an infection is there one will definitely feel a stinging usually more on one side than the other.
Tomato Tea
Posted by Laura (Dallas, Tx) on 04/01/2013
★★★★★
The Tomato Tea WORKED--Knocked out a cold in under two days. Actually I used a three pronged "tea" combination for a serious head cold I picked up from my 20 month old: 1) ACV tea at meal times/3 x day with 2 Tblsp dosage to each mug and 1 Tblsp Honey. 2) Made a pot of Tomato Tea for the morning and afternoon getting about three mugs out of each. I used Half a bulb of Garlic (cloves smashed) to 20-30 oz V-8, the juice of two lemons, and multiple dashes of cayenne pepper. 3) Lemon, Juiced Ginger and Cayenne Pepper tea ( with honey).
The ACV immediately went to work reducing the swelling in my nasal cavaties allowing me to breath ( and have some hope). The tomato tea helped get the cold a moving. ( suffered through a sinus headache about 20 hours into the remedy period). The lemon/ginger/cayenne pepper tea was a bonus immune system booster.
While you have a cold you cannot smell anything. Also the tomato seems to mask the expected garlic smell. I didn't smell like garlic per the family I was with. And all teas tasted phenomenal to me despite having no ability to smell.
This saved me a $75 co-pay to visit an urgent care doctor, no medicine head, no dry nasal passages from antihistimines. Still drinking the tomato tea and ACV tea on day 5 - just one mug or two a day each as the cold is on its last leg.
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Llloyd (Seneca, SC) on 12/09/2012
★★★★★
All my life I've been prone to sinus infections and colds turning into chest colds. I've used ACV also but find colloidal silver... a tablespoon ever hour and sniffed into sinuses kills the virus more effectively than anything else.
Zinc
Posted by Joyce (San Marcos, Ca) on 10/16/2012
★★★★★
This is not a cure, but a preventive. About 17 years ago, when I moved from one location to another, I got a really bad cold -- one of the worst I've ever had. Since then, in 17 years, I have had only 3 colds, only 1 of which lasted more than a few days. My prescription is zinc lozenges. I can't remember where I heard about them, but they've worked wonders for me.
The key to their effectiveness, I think, is taking them immediately on the first sign of a cold -- a sore throat, sneezing or stuffiness. Chances are that sometimes I've taken them when a cold wasn't actually coming on, but I'd rather take the extra precaution than risk getting a cold.
I start out with just 1 lozenge and may take as many as 3 if the symptoms persist. A bottle of 100 will last for a couple of years, and they're quite inexpensive.
For years scientists have said that zinc lozenges were not effective in preventing colds. Now they're saying their studies show that they can shorten the length of a cold. I'm not sure what they've based their studies on, but I think, again, that taking them immediately upon any symptoms of a cold is the key to their effectiveness.
Turmeric
Posted by Katta (Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh) on 10/24/2011
★★★★★
It is a remedy used by village folk from several centuries. All kinds of common cold and flu get relieved remarkably with 5G of turmeric powder in hot milk. The turmeric powder must be swallowed, and no residue left behind. Some people also add about 1G of pepper.
Fasting
Posted by Capirussa (Orlando, Florida, Us) on 12/12/2010
★★★★★
Something that really helps get rid of the flu or a cold is fasting. When you feel the beginning stages of a cold, if you stop eating for a just a day you will often stop it dead in it's tracks. Drinking juice throughout the day instead of eating is another good alternative if you feel you need to get some calories in. Orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed, green juices (made by juicing fresh veggies like celery, broccoli, spinach, kale, etc. ), and other fruit juices like apple juice or mango juice are great to drink for a day or two of fasting.
If you'll be purchasing them, make sure the juices are not from concentrate and are not juice cocktails. Since I use natural remedies during colds, like cayenne pepper or grapefruit seed extract, I've had no problem taking them while fasting or juice fasting but I'm not sure if taking prescription medicines on an empty stomach is a good idea. I've taken the general over the counter stuff like tylenol with no problem, though, I still keep the dose low and don't take it as often as I would if I were eating. Also, if you've got a full blown cold already, you will likely have to fast 2-3 days to get rid of it, maybe more. If you get the chance to stop it early, usually one day will be enough.
Fasting
Posted by Julia (Spokane, Wa) on 12/23/2011
★★★★★
Short term fasting is an age old practice in almost every culture throughout history. If you google it, you will see countless studies documenting the therapeutic effects of fasting. Animals naturally fast when they are sick. It has resolved many of my own physical issues, including fighting viruses and germs.
L-Lysine
Posted by Traveler (San Antonio, Tx) on 11/09/2010
★★★★★
I used to love Oil of Oregano and still find it useful, however for cost and effectiveness I would have to say that garlic or lysine are better. Lysine is around $6 a bottle, garlic around 40 cents a bulb. Lysine is better and doesn't stink me up :) Compared to a bottle of Oil of Oregano which the cheapest, most effective form was around $15/bottle, and only worked half the time, lysine is stellar. I take one to two grams at a time several times a day. If I've gotten really sick, I do the 5 grams over 5 hours (1 gram an hour taken with one gram of aspirin to increase blood saturation of lysine) and that's REALLY helped.
I've also recommended it to others and it has helped either a medium amount or a lot. I overloaded my boyfriend with it and he got diarrhea, but we're not sure if that was because of the lysine (he took 25 grams in a day) or because of his sickness which was part early signs of bronchitis and part stomach upset. The good news is that after the diarrhea cleared he's completely better whereas he said before, once bronchitis symptoms started it would last a couple weeks to a couple months. His bronchitis symptoms quit in about a day and a half, and his diarrhea cleared in four days (but that was off and on. )
Sinus Rinse
Posted by Dale (Omaha, Ne) on 01/25/2010
★★★★★
At the first sign of a cold or other URI, using sinus rinse morning and evening, usually prevents it from developing completely. But the few colds that do take me on are pleasantly mild now. After about 4 days of sinus rinsing, I am back to my old self. I use 50/50 mix of plain salt and baking soda, with about 3/4 teaspoon in to 8 oz. rinse bottle of warm 110-degree tap water. Rest of the year, just once rinse Tuesday evenings.
Hydrogen Peroxide in Humidifier
Posted by Lucia (Moscow, Russia) on 03/03/2011
★★★★★
I have just started this and it makes a difference.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Craig (Felton, CA) on 12/18/2008
★★★★★
I have been using oil of oregano for almost a year, after a suggestion by a naturopath. It seems to work to ward off the many tingles in the throat. I would suggest however, that anyone who is thinking of trying this for the 1st time start with one drop in a half glass of water. The aroma is so strong that most people I give the remedy to are turned off by the very pungent odor. I am able to take it without water but do not suggest it. 3 to four drops in a couple ounces of warm water is very tolerable after a few times of the lighter dose. I have acid reflux and taking the remedy too often definately brings it on, so I do it once in the morning and another time at night. Hope this helps.
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Jill (Chicago, IL) on 11/19/2008
★☆☆☆☆
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears: This method didn't work for me. I tried it last nite....in both ears at 15 mins each....and I feel worse today. Not sure if I didn't catch it time or if I just was a dud for me. I am at least drinking the ACV but let me warn you ladies. I started out with 2tsps in 16oz of water 3x/day and I got a yeast infection. I stopped for a few days until the infection went away then started up with 1tsp in 16 oz of water and sipped thru out the day. After a week I upped it to two 2tsps and I think that is my limit. Still got a cold tho.....boo to that.
