I need some sick tips

[Jarom]

Hey guys, theres been this awful cold viras going around town and BA BAM!! I just got it a couple days ago and its left me not being able to sing.......I think I just might explode into a thousand hitlers and kill everyone if I dont get better, Not being able to sing is making me go insane. I need some tips to help my body and more importantly my voice back in shape so I can go back to my rockin out. 

 

here is what ive been doing already

 

drinking water and more water and more and more more more water plus a little extra water to go with my water

 

taking cayenne pepper with food I took it without food once and oh jibbly was that a bad idea

 

gargling a little bit of salt water

 

staying away from sugar

 

staying away from dairy

 

taking garlic

 

nyquil and dayquil

 

sleeping with a humidifier 

 

sleeping although thats kinda hard when everything in your body is screaming I LOVE YOUR PAIN!!!

[ronws]

And patience. The water thing and even the spices are good. The reason that doctors prescribe hydration is not because there is a magical fix. It is because increased fluid intake results in increased metabolism. Basically, you pee the bug out of your system faster than not hydrating. 

 

So, drink water, tea, eat chicken soup (it is easy to metabolize and will keep your electrolytes up,) or drink some gatorade (same reason as chicken soup,) and ride it out.

 

I have found the best way to avoid the common cold is to work as operations manager in a small office where my contact with the rest of humanity and its contagion is limited.

 

Edited add: apple juice also rehydrates you for electrolytes and is sweeter than gatorade or soup and is more flavorful than just water all the time. And keep a clear path to the bathroom. Also, take vitamin C. Either as a supplement or eat oranges.

 

I say eat oranges because you need the roughage to keep you regular.

 

Also, bananas, which contain potassium and zinc, also very helpful.

[MDEW]

      Echinacea, It's an Herb. You can buy it at most drug stores and supermarkets. In the vitamin aisle. 

Some call me crazy (which I am  ) But I have not had a cold or flue that lasted more than a day or 2 since taking it.

     It helps your immune system.  It may not kick the bug quick because you are already weak from it but this will help.

    It helps against allergies too.

[gno]

Elderberry has been clinically proven to be as effective or more effective than Tamaflu.  And it is natural.  It stops a virus from propagating.  You have to go to a health food store - comes in a few varieties - syrup, extract, pills.  I take the extract.  If you start Elderberry at the very onset of a cold you can avert the whole thing.  It's still good even if you've got a full blown cold.  

 

I don't like to take any pharmaceuticals these days, but one that is often used is guafinesin - it is found in Mucinex.  It thins the mucus and is helpful for a singer because it prevents the mucus from getting thick and sticky which causes trouble with the vocal folds.

 

And of course theres the old standby - Zinc - coldeze or Zicam.

 

I would stay away from the the decongestents and antihistamines - they dry up the vocal folds which causes more problems when using your voice.

[Elvis]

Herbal Remedies and cammomille inhalation once or twice a day....and patience

[ronws]

Elderberry

Reminds me of Monty Python's Flying Circus and the Search for the Holy Grail.

 

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries."

 

"What a strange person."

 

"Excuse me but we seek the Holy Grail."

 

"Yes, we've got one, it's very nice."

 

"Are you french?"

 

"Yes, I am french. Where do you theenk I get zees outrageous accent?"

[Khassera]

Water and rest. That's about it. And anything that picks you up. Boobies, for instance.

The more you stress over whether r not you're doing everything in your power to heal (eating all sorts of funny sounding plants) the more you're "sick." I'm not saying the plants make you sick. I'm saying the more you tell yourself you're sick the slower it is to realize when you're healthy enough to sing, since the difference in the physical events (mucus secretion, dry throat) isn't really as big as it feels.

I've been sick for a week now. Again. So I've just rinsed my nose and sung like I normally would. As long as nothing is drying up or my voice isn't behaving abnormally I don't really give it much thought.

[MDEW]

Water and rest. That's about it. And anything that picks you up. Boobies, for instance.

The more you stress over whether r not you're doing everything in your power to heal (eating all sorts of funny sounding plants) the more you're "sick." I'm not saying the plants make you sick. I'm saying the more you tell yourself you're sick the slower it is to realize when you're healthy enough to sing, since the difference in the physical events (mucus secretion, dry throat) isn't really as big as it feels.

I've been sick for a week now. Again. So I've just rinsed my nose and sung like I normally would. As long as nothing is drying up or my voice isn't behaving abnormally I don't really give it much thought.

    Give the funny sounding plant a try.   Echinacea. Especially if you have tried other things and they did not work. Try it by itself for a few days without the other stuff that makes you stuffier, dopier and more sick feeling like over the counter drugs that are supposed to help. Then, tell me it made no difference for you.

 

   Edit: you can apply the boobies as you feel necessary.

[Khassera]

You mean to say "try only echinacea until it works and you will know that it works?"

Or maybe it's just the natural passing of the disease.

[MDEW]

  You know how you feel NOW. Try Echinacea for a few Days. Notice if you feel a difference.I can have a stuffy nose from onset of cold OR allergies, Take 2 Echinacea tablets and by the evening it is gone or significantly lessened.

 

  Not natural passing when everyone around me is getting colds and I am cold free, except for the beginning phase of stuffy nose.

[gno]

I know a guy who takes Echinacea + Vitamin C for colds and swears by it.

[Khassera]

Faith is a hell of a drug. So is meth.

[Elvis]

Faith is a hell of a drug. So is meth.

Khass im with you on this. Alot of times i saw people trying only 1 remedy that doesent even have to work but the cold passes on its own but it gets attributed to the "remedy"...

Altough Echi is a decent plant.

[ronws]

Faith is a hell of a drug. So is meth.

Say my name ....

[Billy Budapest]

Haven't read everyone's replies but man, has anybody else noticed that nobody seems to just get a runny nose anymore but that usually colds now turn into some full-blown lung thing? Most of the singers I know in my area are dealing with this right now. Starts as a nose thing, goes to a throat and lung thing of the worst order. Crazy. I see it each season and have had my share, though this year, not yet (touch wood).

 

At the first sign of a nose thing, I go for the Zicam nasal spray and also Coloidal Silver. USUALLY it knocks it right out before it can go to something bigger. Same with a throat thing. At the first since Zycam throat spray and Coloidal SIlver spray. Netti Pots are good (make sure they're clean), steam is also great cuz it loosens junk in your lungs and on your chords.

 

TONS of water.
 

Purell the crap out of yourself. If you work in an office with other people that just can't seem to keep that crap away from you (we have this one guy [there's always one!] that loves to come into my small office and tell me how sick he is. It's all I can do not to beat the living crap outta him. GET OUTTA HERE!).

Do your best to minimize contact with those that're sick.

 

Oh- and ALWAYS, A-L-W-A-Y-S Use your OWN Mic at gigs. Since I started doing this, my sickness rate has gone way down. There was one popular venue up here and each time I'd play it, using their gear, I'd be sick within days. Finally figured out that their mics are contaminated.