Can you stop a cold coming?!

[C1239]

In the last couple of hours I’ve had a headache, scratchy throat and sneezing out the blue, I’ve got a really busy week coming up really can’t afford to have a stinking cold! Any tips of how to stop it in its tracks… please?!

I’ve had success with the nasal spray from Boots. You need to get on it tonight though for it to work!

According to the "Sliced Bread" podcast ( which speaks to experts to tear claims of various products claiming results) , Boots Dual Defence spray may help avoid a cold if used at the first signs.

Yes, nasal spray. I use beconase.

No, by the time you are feeling unwell it is already inside you, those rapid action sprays are a placebo at best

Vicks first defense. Only works on colds like I've found.

Yes, First Defence spray or Boots own version. Can’t guarantee it but it’s worth a try.

That was meant to be test claims....

Btw as an aside,the Vicks First Defence is a totally different mechanism to the boots Dual Defence, and according the the same expert, less likely to work.

No. If you've already caught it then you've caught it - you can't do anything other than get a head start managing the symptoms. Olbas oil, happinose, tissues, lemsip, etc.

Echinacea can help

I've recently tried Vicks First Defence. One of the DCs had a stonking cold and I felt slightly under the weather and wondered if I was fending it off and started taking it and continuing through the scratchy throat phase over a few days and did end up with a milder cold than either DC. Either I got lucky, or it worked!

You can reduce viral load by saline nasal wash/inhalation. There is a paper on that. I swear by my nasal nebuliser, it works.

First defence and keep fluids up

Here it is: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.794471/full

For the record, for everyone suggesting nasal sprays:

"There is no evidence whatsoever that it prevents a cold. There is no evidence whatsoever that it either prevents or treats flu. There is some evidence that it may help treat a cold. It’s really hard to know whether it does or not from the studies that have been done so far. If it does help to treat a cold, it probably doesn’t help very much. The moral of this story is that if you see the words “clinically proven” in an advert, please be aware that that phrase is completely meaningless."

www.statsguy.co.uk/clinically-proven/

I swear by this, it works every time. If you're too late to stop it, still use this as it will make the symptoms a lot better very quickly too.

The paper you linked doesn't say it reduces viral load. It says it reduced "symptoms of blocked nose, runny nose, or sneezing" but had no impact on "ears and eyes symptoms, anosmia/ageusia symptoms, and infection duration".

No. There is literally no cure to the common cold (that person would be a billionaire or dead!). Various products sooth the condition but there is nothing you can do.

Have used Vicks first defense with some success. Usually it lessens the severity of the cold, though that could purely be coincidental and due to the variance between each virus. For the sake of a few quid I will continue to use it however, placebo or not it makes me feel better

Sorry, this is a chat forum not phd research. The OP asked what could tips we could share to help and I can categorically say that Boots First Defence has helped me, and family members, not to get a cold.
It’s only a fiver and has no adverse effects so if OP wants to give it a go then no harm
done.

I felt the same yesterday evening. No sneezing though but very first symptoms of a cold. I used Vicks First Defence spray and a swig of night nurse before bed. I knew that would ward it off. Today I feel fine.

I take a couple of thousand Mgs of Vit C at the first sign of a cold, and keep taking it a couple of times a day. Really blast my system with it. I know you just wee out the excess but taking more than you can possibly process really seems to work for me - it doesn't stop the cold but I'm sure it makes it less rotten and shorter than the colds I have when I don't do this.

Same here with first defence and the boots own version - they might not be miracle cures but since using them for the last few years I've never had a really heavy cold whereas I used to have bad ones at least once or twice a year. Agree that for the sake of a few quid it's worth a go.

• even if it only reduces symptoms by 10% that's much better than nothing and, mixed with medication/Steam baths etc can make the difference between feeling too ill to do anything or carrying on.

There is something far better than Vicks first defense. It’s called Coldzyme. You spray on the back of your throat. It’s expensive but so worth it.

ColdZyme Mouth & Throat Spray (Not Nasal Spray) - Cold Virus Treatment & Symptom Relief - Use at First Signs of a Cold - Menthol Flavour 20ml amzn.eu/d/9V9egiO

I'm a hippy at heart and swear by grated ginger, sliced lemon, turmeric and cayenne as a tea.
Really helps my symptoms when I have the beginnings of a cold

Take a heap of vit c and gargle salt water. Drink lots of water

It worked for me once 😊