is there anything we can take for a cold?

[addictedishavingagirl]

i feel like crap today, my ears are blocked and hurt, my nose and head hurts, my ears hurts and i've had enough

is there anything that i cna take (other than paracetomal) for a cold?

Hi,

I'm currently suffering from the same. I'm using copious amounts of Vicks vapour rub along with paracetamol, and hot fresh lemon and honey and trying to kid myself that it's a Lemsip. Other than that I don't know but it does suck!

Hope you feel better soon and that it passes x

Boots sell their version of old fashioned lemsip - ie the only active ingredient is paracetemol but with added benefits of hot lemon.

Olbas oil vapourisers are good. They're a few quid from boots and fill the air with the olbas smell.

Chocolate is always a winner too I've found.

X x

Paracetamol is the best thing for a cold anyway. Hot lemon and honey would help, too.

My GP friend of mine swears by menthol crystals in a bowl of hot water to steam yourself over. She reckons it's far better than lemsips. You get menthol crystals in most pharmacies.

The Vicks inhaler things- look like a lipsalve. You stick it up your nose and inhale the vapors (it's not a spray)

It's just menthol but works like a charm and v portable.

pickle i took your advice on the chocolate and it has made me feel much better!

right sending dh out to get menthol crystals

although dh just gave me one of his cinnamon sweets and it has cleared my nose and ears and also helped my throat!

See, chocolate cures everything!! Or at least distracts momentarily from the pain!

I always say the same thing on these threads, and everyone always ignores me.

NETI POT!!

You can get one from your local chemist. Swoosh through your sinuses with (blue) salt water and feel much better. OR don't. Just ignore me, like everyone always does.

What's blue salt water?

When our mums and grandmas were pregnant could they take medication? Or is this a modern thing as why we should not take medication when we have colds. If we did what would happen? My sister has to kids. When she was pregnant and had a cold she took children?s flu and cold medication. It is safe to take anti malaria tablets when pregnant. I really do not see what harm cold and flu medication can to your baby. We are also able to drink alcohol. I would rather take flu medication than have a glass of wine. I think alcohol is far more harmful.

But without wanting to start a big debate streatmama, we know a lot more about the affect of medications whilst pregnant than when our parents were. For starters, thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women for morning sickness and look what happened with that.

And I guess there's probably a lot more over-the-counter medication these days as well.

Obviously it's also partly down to being much more cautious than we were in our parents days. I doubt any medication is tested on pregnant women, therefore it's safest to say that none are suitable for use during pregnancy. Paracetemol has been around for years so has inadvertendly been "tested" on pregnant women, hence it being deemed "suitable".

Without having a medical degree, I'm not sure that any of us can say "I really do not see what harm cold and flu medication can to your baby" because we just don't know and surely it's best to avoid and look for alternatives if possible?

I DO have a medical degree and would advise women to avoid taking any medication as much as possible during pregnancy, precisely because we don't know what harm cold and flu medication can do to your baby.

As for colds, they can make you feel miserable so I can understand wanting to feel better. You can take paracetamol (we always recommend taking it regularly for best effect for a few days), lemon, honey, hot juice (I can't stand the taste of Lemsip anyway), menthol, steaming your face, being looked after, daytime television, a good film, a big bubble bath...

Clearly for more serious conditions, we need to balance out the bad a medication might do with the good that it will do, which is why we still recommend antimalarials in pregnant women going to high risk areas. Another example: I've taken antisickness medication during this pregnancy so I can keep something, anything, down, but we wouldn't recommend tablets for 'normal' mild morning sickness.