The Gaming Den

A few quick medical questions here that aren't "If you give the wrong advice, someone dies".

I have a minor cold/throat infection/thing. You know. A thing. It's already getting better, it seems, and waiting in a clinic, sharing diseases with others, just to be told "Yeah don't worry about it." doesn't seem like a good time.

So just some questions:
1. Is it true that sugary foods are really great for feeding bacteria and so on, and that if I went "Ooh, Coke, that will make my throat feel better!" (it totally does), then it could last longer/flare up?

2. Green tea does in fact cure everything up to and including eye cancer, right?

3. Is it Lupus? I'm not taking even ibuprofen for this because the pain doesn't register on the same scale as my back sometimes decides to do, but as for medication stuff, is that iodine-based throat gargle effective for this kind of situation?

Do you have a dry cough or a wet cough? And do you feel cold or hot?

If you have a wet cough and a fever, I suggest some nice dry green tea like jasmine, possibly with mint. If you're feeling dry, orange juice (if you feel hot and it won't destroy your throat) or green tea with honey (if you're feeling cold) are good. Hibiscus herbal tea with honey and lemon (if the lemon doesn't destroy your throat) is good in general. I have no idea if they'll cure you, but they'll probably make you feel better.

Also, at least in American it is possible to 'be fucked waiting in a clinic', although you can't normally do it right in the waiting room.

Yes, bacteria feed on sugar, so raising your blood sugar can be bad. But most colds are viral, and most infections are not blood infections. However, if concerned, just drink sparkling water. It's both acidic, bubbly, and feels good.

I have no idea what you meant with the rest.

-Crissa

1) No. Not a bit of truth to any of that.

2) No. But it tastes good, and hot beverages are awesome, especially if you have a sore throat. So go for it.

3) Whatever. People gargle all kinds of strange things. I personally think you're generally fine with warm salt water. Just do the obvious thing and minimize swallowing of any medicated rinses.

I've always had some luck in taking the edge off a sore throat with mouthwash like Scope or Listerine. Something with a burn to it. It's uncomfortable while you do it, but it can take the sore throat to 'burning sandpaper in my throat' to 'mild discomfort' when you swallow

Koumei wrote: 3. Is it Lupus?

It's never Lupus.

Wait, you're concern is time and infection, not out-of-pocket cost? You should move the hell out of that crappy third-world backwater and into a real country.
:usa: :usa: :usa:

Out of all the things I've gargled with to ease a sore throat, only hot (not scalding) salt water seems like it does anything. It will make you start to cough up nasty shit, but that's good, it means you're getting the shit out of your system. Do that morning and night.

I also like hot tea with lemon and honey when I'm sick. It's a nasty combo (tea with lemon is awesome and tea with honey is awesome, but the two together is kind of gross), but it's been used to ease symptoms of respiratory crud for generations in the mountains here. YMMV of course.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Out of all the things I've gargled with to ease a sore throat, only hot (not scalding) salt water seems like it does anything. It will make you start to cough up nasty shit, but that's good, it means you're getting the shit out of your system. Do that morning and night.

I also like hot tea with lemon and honey when I'm sick. It's a nasty combo (tea with lemon is awesome and tea with honey is awesome, but the two together is kind of gross), but it's been used to ease symptoms of respiratory crud for generations in the mountains here. YMMV of course.

I second both of those, though I just ditch the tea in the second one and drink lemon juice with honey in it. Works fantabulously.

Gargling with salt water is pretty effective.

Yes, bacteria bloom when you have a mouth full of sugars. No, this isn't always what you think. Milk, for example, is full of sugar (lactose is a sugar). If you drink a lot of it, you can end up with a thick grainy film on your tongue. Coke is full of sugar too, so is bread.

The very things that are bad for your teeth are bad for a bacterial infection anywhere else in your mouth. Just listerine or salt water gargle it away.

-Username17

Thank you all for the advice. I'll try the salt water gargle. Also, there is no cough during the day, though I'm producing a fair amount of phlegm at night, and beginning to sneeze a fair bit now.

If you have phlegm and are coughing at night and not during the day, you likely have post nasal drip. Mucous made in your nasal passages flowing down hill, drying in your throat, and becoming itchy as hell.

Washing your sinuses out with salt water is painful. But it does help.

-Username17

Speaking of Listerine, is brushing your teeth with Listerine a good idea?

Here's basically my routine every morning and evening:

Eat breakfast or dinner first. Head over to the bathroom. Floss teeth. Brush teeth with regular toothpaste for exactly 120 seconds (I have a timer). Rise toothbrush, brush for a bit. Swig a bit of Listerine, gargle for about 20 seconds in my head. Spit that out, swig a new mouthful. Swish it between my teeth while brushing with toothbrush for 90 seconds. Spit that out, rinse with tap water.

I can't afford dental insurance for the time being, so this has been my routine for quite awhile now. Is there anything I can do to improve on the process short of bringing a toothbrush + toothpaste to class?

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Out of all the things I've gargled with to ease a sore throat, only hot (not scalding) salt water seems like it does anything. It will make you start to cough up nasty shit, but that's good, it means you're getting the shit out of your system. Do that morning and night.

OTC expectorants do this as well. I'll try salt water next time, but the expectorants get me hacking up fabulous quantities of the thick stuff.

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:I also like hot tea with lemon and honey when I'm sick. It's a nasty combo (tea with lemon is awesome and tea with honey is awesome, but the two together is kind of gross), but it's been used to ease symptoms of respiratory crud for generations in the mountains here. YMMV of course.

Maj wrote:I second both of those, though I just ditch the tea in the second one and drink lemon juice with honey in it. Works fantabulously.

...and I do all the above, with a bunch of cayenne. Momma told me.

Maj wrote:

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:Out of all the things I've gargled with to ease a sore throat, only hot (not scalding) salt water seems like it does anything. It will make you start to cough up nasty shit, but that's good, it means you're getting the shit out of your system. Do that morning and night.

I also like hot tea with lemon and honey when I'm sick. It's a nasty combo (tea with lemon is awesome and tea with honey is awesome, but the two together is kind of gross), but it's been used to ease symptoms of respiratory crud for generations in the mountains here. YMMV of course.

I second both of those, though I just ditch the tea in the second one and drink lemon juice with honey in it. Works fantabulously.

My buddy swears by the lemon juice + honey combo, though he substitutes a shot of whiskey for the tea.

He says he always feels much better after 3 of those.

mean liar wrote:with a bunch of cayenne.

Spicy foods are de rigueur around here when someone has a cold. Most common of them is my simplified version of Tom Kha Gai.

vitm wrote:My buddy swears by the lemon juice + honey combo, though he substitutes a shot of whiskey for the tea.

Yeah. My mom's version was tea, hard liquor, lemon juice, and honey. But I actually like the taste of lemon juice and honey without the other two, so I ditched them.

vitm wrote:He says he always feels much better after 3 of those.

Well, that's why Nyquil is so great, right? Who cares about the medicine (it just makes you pass out so you don't remember you're sick )? KO yourself on the alcohol.

Tonight, because my son caught a cold, my mom mentioned to me that licorice [tea] is awesome for this kind of thing, too. Supposedly, it has some anti-viral properties as well as being good for the respiratory system (soothes mucus membranes and helps coughs).

She has a recipe that she makes when people are sick that my siblings and I call "death tea" (because it tastes like death) - comfrey, chamomile, licorice, and mint, with a squeeze of citrus.

FrankTrollman wrote:If you have phlegm and are coughing at night and not during the day, you likely have post nasal drip. Mucous made in your nasal passages flowing down hill, drying in your throat, and becoming itchy as hell.

First-generation antihistamines (not the non-drowsy ones) might also be helpful here, too. While they will almost inevitably result in dry mouth on their own, they also reduce the amount of stuff draining down into the throat in the first place. Should help with the sneezing as well. Combine with a decongestant to keep the nasal passages open and prevent whatever inevitably dries up in there from getting stuck. (The combination also has an A-rated evidence grade for prevention of cough due to post-nasal drip).

Disclaimer here about avoiding any drugs you're allergic to or that interact negatively with any existing medications or health conditions, of course. Ask your pharmacist.

Nyquil is pretty terrible, if you ask me, but that's because I'm heavily biased against combination cold remedy products that contain acetaminophen (paracetamol, for those on the other side of the pond) in addition to antihistamines/decongestants/expectorants. Accidental acetaminophen overdose is way too common. Thankfully, I believe the FDA is planning to revise the acetaminophen warnings on OTC products--again.

A few weeks ago I may have suffered a minor paracetamol overdose. I can't be sure - I had taken only 4 tablets that day (half the daily maximum) and hadn't taken any for quite a while before that day, but had taken the doses pretty close together and... the cramping pains in the liver-region were incredible. And the sweating, pale clammy skin... In the end I induced vomiting and was fine after a bit. But yeah, it's possible that evil stuff caused it. I dunno.

Condition is improving, although (due to sinuses I suppose) I do sort of have the feeling that I've been punched in the face. A general ache to the nose and the cheeks along the sinus passages.

Update: don't let the dog watch you applying the nasal spray, he'll want to know what's happened to your nose and will try to investigate and then give kisses. And I have wild theories about dog saliva and germs.

I've found jalapeños help when I have a sore throat. A shot of tabasco sause also works and can help clear your sinuses.