Sounds exciting!

Make sure you take lots of good notes. I may be visiting Berlin in October.

WillTravel - You don't say what you <i>did</i> give her. Is she getting better all by herself? ((F))

I never said it cured a cold, I said you take it when you first feel a cold feeling coming on. From your reference article: &quot;What Airborne does is it helps your body build a healthy immune system. When you have a healthy immune system, then it allows your body, on its own, to fight off germs.&quot;

It soothes a scratchy throat too. Try it next time and see if it works for you. I have taken the zinc stuff and it makes me sick in the stomach.

&quot;...never been and will never will be any scientific evidence...&quot;

You can predict the future? Will you go to Las Vegas with me?

We had very good luck with Airborne--my husband failed to get a cold for the first time in many trips.

Great news that she's feeling better and that she scored some great clothes! Hope the remainder of your trip goes smoothly for both of you~

People with highblood pressure should
not take Ginseng. I think this would
probably include this ColdX.

I have found that if I load myself up with over the counter meds I can kick a cold in about two weeks, otherwise it runs its course in about 14 days.

robjame - too funny!

I am very interested in this thread. I've only been on 2 major trips. Both times, I came down with a cold the day before I was set to leave for the trip.

I'm going to Scotland in about a month so I definitely want to check out Cold FX and Airborne. I can't go through that again lol!

WillTravel - I'm glad your daughter is feeling better!

I'm one who swears overmedicating to suppress the symptoms makes it last longer.

Tons and tons of fruit juice and water works for me (not fast, just a bit better than nothing) but avoid acidic juices if there's a sore throat.

I have used Airborne and that seems to work, although I note that Airborne contains mainly a big dose of vitamin C, and vitamin C seems to help, too.

Keep in mind that you aren't killing the virus. However, you don't have to. The symptoms of a cold are caused by your immune response to the presence of the virus, and not by the virus itself. So anything that suppresses the immune response will make the symptoms go away, even though the virus itself will probably still require the usual seven days before your body kills it off.

Zicam is a miracle drug. I haven't had a cold in more than 30 years, but I've started to come down with one two or three times in the past few years. A couple of treatments with Zicam and it just goes away. Amazing.

There's a French medicine that's equivalent to it, but with a lot of eucalyptus thrown in.

This thread is a year old -- i'm sure Will's daughter is feeling better!

Let's hope she is, michelle ;-)

Lol, I knew that when I posted, but thought the information would interesting/useful for others too!!

oh... duh. I should have noticed that lol.

True, there's never a shortage of cures that people can share!

I got a cold for the first time on a trip, last time I went to Paris. Totally unprepared, save for some Emergen-C and Airborne--this was a doozy of a cold.

I went to the pharmacy, pointed to &quot;I have a cold&quot; in my phrase book, and they gave me some over-the-counter pills (never seen these in the US), a nasal spray, and chewable Vitamin C. I'll be darned if I wasn't feeling MUCH better in 24 hours. Gotta love the European drugs!

Thanks for your well wishes, even the late ones. On our most recent August 2007 trip, my daughter was on antibiotics for a few days just shortly before we departed. She had a strep infection with a rash - apparently a version of scarlet fever. That made me quite nervous leading up to the trip. But at least during this year's trip, she felt fine all the way through.

Sambucol aged elderberry extract.

I have used it for years and it will knock out a cold if taken at the first sign of a cold. Taken later, it will reduce the duration of the cold.

Only sambucol has been proven to be effective - other elderberry syrups are not as effective.

It is produced in Isreal, so I would imagine it is also available in Europe.

Nobody has mentioned Buckley's Mixture...
The rule is if you cough again you have to take another swig. Works every time!

I came down with a cold on the last day of our trip to Ireland this past February. Luckily it didn't develop until that evening. The next day I awoke, took a couple of Dayquil (I always bring small doses of medicines with me when I travel) and felt relatively fine at the airport and during the flight. However, as our plane started to decend I felt pressure in my ears like I could not believe, and the pain was almost unbearable. Long story short, I ended up with a double ear infection because of my little cold, and my doctor told me to take Sudafed every single time I fly when I have a cold or even feel one coming on....something I will mostly certainly do!

Tracy

melissahi - was it Humex? I just got over a cold in Paris and Humex was a HUGE help after I ran through my meager stock of TheraFlu.

I'm another Airborne believer, btw (but only if it's taken at the onset of symptoms). I believe it contains echinacea, which my sister and I swore by when my father had cancer and we needed to be virus-free when we were around him. I was happy to see that study recently that confirmed the herb's (herb?) effectiveness.

I'm bookmarking this for the ideas. I had a doozie of a cold on my May trip to Normandy - I'm sure I caught on the plane (not the first time that has happened). It didn't stop me from much, but I sure needed LOTS of kleenex!
I also bought some cold remedies from the pharmacist, which helped with the runny nose, but the cold last almost the whole 2 weeks I was there.

I'm beginning to think a mask on the trip over might be the best bet! I have heard that some people wear them on flights from the Far East.

You know, I'm not sure. It was a box with pills--I had to take a designated pill in the morning, at lunch, and at dinner, then a smaller round one when I went to sleep. Humex sounds vaguely familiar.....

I use an old treatment (not a remedy) I learned in the service.

2 shots of whisky
1 hot shower
put on clean clothes -- everything but your shoes
crawl into bed for 12 hours
sleep

That's what Humex was like, only the pills weren't different sizes (just colors). Three pills during the day and one fantastic pill at night.

They don't seem to have the same pseudoephedrine concerns that we do in the states. I hate having a pharmacist say to me, &quot;You can either have the Sudafed OR the Claritin, but not both.&quot; I'm sorry... do you understand that those medications do different things? So I can either be prepared for a cold on my trip OR I can combat allergies. Great... wonderful to be living in a free country.

I think it is because certain cold medicines are made into meth so some OTC drugs such as nyquil changed their ingredients so they would not be regulated to the pharmacy section.

I think water is used to make meth, too. Maybe purchases of that should be restricted as well.

I was on a business trip to Australia for two weeks and midway through I had a terrible sore throat and was feverish.

I did what I do at home. Go to the local drugstore and ask the pharmacist what he/she recommends. Works every time along with a day of rest. If I'm not feeling better after two days, its probably time for a doctor.

I have not tried it yet, but a radio doctor that I respect has been touting 'Blockade' which is supposed to prevent a virus from entering the cell. It is also based on elderberry - like the Sambucol I recommened earlier

I used to swear by coldeze but the last time I used it I lost my sense of taste for one day. Then I saw on the news that zinc nasal sprays had caused permanent sensory loss of taste....Im not going to take it anymore....

I had an extreme reaction to Afrin, a nasal spray, a few years ago and absolutely refuse to take anything that goes up my nose because of it. That was horrible!

Tracy

I tried Cold FX twice when I felt a cold coming on.
It worked for me. I was a skeptic but what can I say.

I think the best thing to do is to sleep and rest and maybe take baths, read, watch TV, have soup. Most important: relax. I got sick while traveling to Rome years ago and was so, so sad. It was my first trip there and we had only three days before getting a flight to Athens. I think it was allergies and fatigue and then feeling sick to my stomach from allergy meds. I only began to feel better when I allowed myself to be sick without getting upset at myself :), to relax, to sleep, to miss out on seeing Rome, and to relax. It wasn't the end of the world to get sick. Since then, I've been to Rome many more times, even stayed for two months a few years ago.

Sorry, is this an old post?

Saira

Yes,this is an old post, but still relevatnt.

I'm going to Paris and Barcelona in three days and I feel a cold coming on. Boo hoo.

Mine always start with a sore throat, and that's what I'm feeling - tickly thing in the throat. Tried Zican once or twice (losenges) and thought it made the virus last longer!!

Am determined to go. Have to give a seminar at a conference in Paris and then to Barcelona for fun (supposedly).

Don't want to be sick, that's for sure.

Lots of chicken soup and gargles with salt water and please allow yourself to rest and relax. Stress always makes it worse for me. : ) Best wishes!

Anyone know how long a virus - like the cold - remains on surfaces? (So that it's contagious if you touch it.)

Just last night (at home) I woke up at about 3AM with a scratchy throat, all the symptoms of a cold coming on. I got up and took an Airborne tablet and an Airborne throat gel and woke up perfectly fine this morning. It really does work if you take it at the first sign of something awry.