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Home Remedies

Gryffindorian

Gryffindorian

Vice Admiral
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I've been sick with the common cold for over a week now, and since there's no cure but time itself, I've been taking over-the-counter meds like Sudafed, Coricidin, Dayquil, and antihistamines (though not all at once). These are supposed to help treat the symptoms but not make the disease go away.

The problem I find with OTCs is that sometimes they tend to make the symptoms worse. For instance, when I take decongestants, I notice that I get sinus headaches. So I've been using a saline-based nasal rinse to help clear my sinuses. Also, I'm diabetic and most OTCs are not advised for people with chronic health issues.

For whatever reason, the cold seemed to have hit me, family members, and coworkers pretty hard this year. Last year I was one of a few employees in the office who didn't get sick while others were busy coughing, sneezing, and sniffing, or were simply out sick.

Does anyone use alternative home remedies (e.g., herbal) to treat or cure certain illnesses? I'm not just talking about cold remedies in particular. Do you find them effective? What say you?

And to quote my health care provider, "Live well, be well, and thrive!"

:)
 
I stick with traditional medicine and get annoyed when people tell me about home remedies when I'm ill. This is one of the longest stretches I've gone without getting sick so I'm pretty happy about that. I'm sure once Chicago thaws and things start growing I'll get sick pretty quickly.
 
I can't give you advice on specific remedies, but here are a few important things to bear in mind:

- The only difference between "alternative medicine" and "medicine" is that alternative medicine has either not yet been proved to work, or been proved not to work.
- The only difference between herbal remedies and other remedies is that herbal remedies don't have to legally offer evidence of safety or efficacy. Remember, some 95% of medicines are herbal in origin; with science-based medicine the active ingredient has been separated from the useless and dangerous ingredients, and carefully measured for dosage, whereas herbal remedies have not. Which leads to the next important thing to remember:
- Herbal remedies are unregulated, and when DNA analysis was done on huge range of herbal remedies from different sellers, it was found that most contained many substances other than what was on the label, many were not even the same plant as on the label, and many contained toxic levels of heavy metals. The dosage can also vary by up to 200% between tablets/pills.
- Herbal remedies ARE DRUGS. At least with real medicine it is known how the medication may affect your diabetes. DON'T RISK FUCKING WITH HERBAL STUFF!
- Tradition and anecdote aren't evidence for efficacy: generations of people have sworn by remedies that have turned out to be completely useless and even dangerous, because they were traditional, and because the placebo effect drove their anecdotes.
- There is some mixed evidence that huge doses of vitamin C at the very onset of illness can shorten the duration of a cold by a few hours. The important words in that sentence being: huge doses, very onset, and a few hours.

Just some things to bear in mind before you start taking random health advice on alternative medicine from people on the internet. :p

Personally, I would do the following: rest loads, eat a highly nutritious diet, get some exercise (as long as the symptoms are above the neck) as the increased circulation helps with recovery, and keep your blood sugars under as good control as you can while sick.
 
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Try Vicks Vaporub on your feet and put socks on your rub-covered feet. Something I got from my sister-in-law's mom. Sometimes it works.
 
thestrangequark said:
get some exercise (as long as the symptoms are above the neck)
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I think this is great advice. I've found that a light workout is the best way to get rid of a cold (the problem being of course dragging myself to the gym while suffering the cold). But once there, I find that my symptoms recede, and at the end I am always happy that I did it.
 
Thanks, all. Peach Wookie, I use Vicks Vapor Rub ointment. The menthol and eucalyptus combination helps to open up my nasal passages.

By the way, I wasn't necessarily asking for advice on how to treat a cold, but I thought it would be interesting to see what others had to say about home remedies for certain health issues that may or may not have worked for them.

By the way, I heard that chlorophyll is good for odor removal, e.g., bad breath. ;)
 
I've tried the method I mentioned with occasional success. I've preferred home remedies before going to the doctor, particularly if I think it's viral.
 
Gryffindorian said:
By the way, I wasn't necessarily asking for advice on how to treat a cold, but I thought it would be interesting to see what others had to say about home remedies for certain health issues that may or may not have worked for them.
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I get it...it just set off some alarm bells for me when you asked about herbal remedies after having mentioned concern over the effects of drugs on your diabetes. I think a lot of people don't realize that if it has a physiological effect, it's a drug, whether or not people call it "herbal." I guess I may have jumped the gun a bit, but that's because I don't think people take quack medicine anywhere near serious enough, and the whole idea of this thread is sort of based around a really serious and potentially dangerous notion: that anecdote is worthy evidence.

Sorry if I was too soap-boxy...it's from years of people telling me "what worked for them" when it came to diabetes, or how they "heard about this study", or "knew this guy", or saw this raw food documentary, or ate a spoonful of cinnamon every day...
 
If there's one thing I've learned of late, it's that home itself is a remedy. Resting and being in the company of loved ones and family who care about you does wonders for one’s mental health. In my case, I also needed time to reflect and reorganise my lifestyle, to see what could be improved, and to work out how to do so. As long as there aren't too many stressors at home, of course! :p In hindsight, though, I was probably very fortunate. And, for all their faults and any past transgressions, I am grateful for my family being there.
 
What? You don't like cinnamon? :D

I see more and more "health and wellness" posts on Facebook lately - how a tropical fruit called soursop can help prevent cancer, or a pitcher full of water and sliced berries and oranges can make one look and stay younger. I don't know where people get these factoids, or whether any research has been done to support these claims.
 
Gryffindorian said:
What? You don't like cinnamon? :D
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I LOVE cinnamon! Just not when people who don't know there's more than one type of diabetes, let alone the difference between type 1 and 2, tell me I can be cured by downing spoonfuls of it.
I see more and more "health and wellness" posts on Facebook lately - how a tropical fruit called soursop can help prevent cancer, or a pitcher full of water and sliced berries and oranges can make one look and stay younger. I don't know where people get these factoids,
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Usually out of thin air.
or whether any research has been done to support these claims.
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That's why you gotta look at the research! That's how I came to know a lot of this stuff. I used to see those infographics on Facebook, and I was intrigued, so I researched them. It didn't take long for me to realize that they're pretty much all utter garbage. Most of the claims you see flying around FB like that are unsubstantiated, many are completely disproven, and some are massive misunderstandings of actual research by people who don't understand actual research. The thing that makes me angry, and why I take it seriously, is that this kind of thing can be dangerous. I knew a girl who nearly killed herself with coffee enemas, and another who died of breast cancer because someone convinced her a raw food diet would cure it and she didn't need chemotherapy or surgery. There was a woman who died a horrible, slow, agonizing death of colon cancer in Australia because she visited a homeopath instead of a real doctor. There were hundreds of women who died of cervical cancer because the traditional Chinese herb they used for centuries to treat childbirth pain was a carcinogen.

It all seems so benign and wholesome on the surface, and sure, most of the time, for most people, it's harmless. But underneath it's all about an inability to understand reality and a total lack of critical thinking, which do result in real tragedies.
 
I have never taken something like sudafed. Why burden your body with that crap when it has a simple virus to fight.

The best home remedy is extra sleep, eating well. You know what makes you feel better, just eat it.
 
Oh man, there are times I can't breathe without sudafed. That stuff is a godsend for me.
 
Gryffindorian said:
a tropical fruit called soursop
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I recently went to a Spanish festival and had a soursop smoothie and it was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. Because I love tropical fruit and it embodied all the special tropical fruit qualities.

BUT there is no such thing as a superfood. IF I treated soursop that way the placebo effect would be what made it magically make me feel better.
 
Gryffindorian said:
I see more and more "health and wellness" posts on Facebook lately...
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Yes, the miracle foods have overtaken the cats!

teacake said:
I have never taken something like sudafed. Why burden your body with that crap when it has a simple virus to fight.
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Why? Because going sleepless night after night because you can breath only if you're sitting upright is a burden on your body, too. In recent years, my URI's haven't been as severe as they used to be, and I can get by with just running a vaporizer in my bedroom when I'm sick.
 
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