Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Trying to ward off a cold

I woke up around 4 a.m. on Sunday morning with that yucky feeling of a cold coming on -- scratchy, raw throat, headache, congestion, my chest hurt. Usually, when I start coming down with a cold, I'm a wimp. I give in and wallow in my misery. But, this time, I really need to be done with it already. This week, I have an overnight field trip with my son and his 5th grade class. We're going to our state capitol and then Shaker Village and Old Fort Harrod State Park. As soon as we return, I'm then taking a 2-day trip with my husband to Baltimore (he's working, I'm going along with him for company and to provide free labor as his assistant). So, I cannot be sick right now. Sunday morning, I immediately started using these Zicam nasal gel swabs. They are supposed to shorten the duration and lessen the severity of a cold, if used at the first sign of symptoms. I can't decide if they are working or not. I think maybe they are. I'm still feeling cruddy, but, not as bad as I usually feel with this kind of cold. What about you? Do you have any tried and true cold remedies?

On another note, over the weekend, my daughter and I went with some friends to downtown Louisville for a walking ghost tour. It wasn't scary at all, but, it was interesting to hear the local "ghost stories" about some of our famous Louisville landmarks. We made a day of it, visiting a popular local arts fair, touring a beautiful historic home, and having an early dinner at a fun downtown hotspot. I have photos, but, I'm too tired to post them right now. I will try to share them later.

~K

4 comments:

Daniela said...

oh no..You got my horrible cold. As you already know when I'm sick I halt everything. Thank goodness I was sick on the weekend. I totally whine and cry about it til I'm better. My son Aaron was in Louisville Saturday for a college cross country meet. Maybe you saw him and he waved at ya..haha. I hope you feel better soon. If not, it's totally ok to whine and cry about it.

Pina said...

Oh, I hope you will get better soon.

I usually drink lots of herbal tea (this year the mixture includes Echinacea purpurea) with lemon and some honey. When it is really bad I eat bread with butter and finely chopped garlic. In such case I just lie in bed and I don't move around - the good germs inside our body need this to fight the bad ones.

In case it gets really serious, I go to the doctor - it is the only wise thing to do.

Lisa said...

The Zicam seems to work really well on my kids, and I also think using VICKS on them at night makes them less congested in the morning, but overall...I HATE COLDS! They are the worst.

I've always wanted to do a ghost tour, sounds like fun!

Jill said...

I'm a total believer in Zicam... I've never used the swabs but I use the lozenges and they seem to work. However, I only use them at night because the zinc makes me woozie. Hope you have a good time on your trips!