After a year and a half of not getting sick, I've finally come down with a nasty flu. 12 years of living in Asia has put me off Western cold and flu medicine, so I'm taking some herbal Chinese stuff and making my usual Chinese chicken soup. Recipe:
- fill a pot full of water.
- chop up a big chunk of ginger and throw it in
- peel a head of garlic and throw most of it in
- cut up a big leek and throw it in
- throw in a bunch of chicken wings and/or a few chicken legs
- boil on low until the chicken starts to disintegrate
Somebody once told me about a home flu remedy of beer, pears, and ginger all boiled together, though I've never tried it. Would anybody else out there like to share their home remedies?
Too late now but, for prevention rather than cure, Vitamin C and Zinc all through winter. Works for me...
Posted by: Richard | March 19, 2005 at 02:01 PM
Here's a cup of chicken soup sympathy for you. I've got it too. SXSW foo? I add some hot pepper to the soup for the sinuses, plus some herbal remedies. I find them far more effective than western cold meds, which usually give me horrible bounce back effects.
Oh, and hot steamy showers for the head stuffiness and three pillows to sleep.
Posted by: Nancy White | March 19, 2005 at 04:38 PM
Sounds like the chinese remedy has something in common with...chicken soup. And how can that be wrong?
Really, there's not much you can do about a cold; you can treat the symptoms and make yourself more comfortable. Soup seems like a good start.
Myself I like a nice soupcon of Sudafed, an excuse to have as many cough drops as I like, and lying down on the couch watching old movies.
For some reason it always makes me feel more sick to hang around in my pajamas (bad, bad blogger! Pajamas good!). A hot shower and fresh clothes give an even more dramatic uplift than usual when I'm sick.
Posted by: Lisa Williams | March 19, 2005 at 10:27 PM
Funny, I noticed I'm coming down with something today. I do the serious 姜汤 treatment myself, with as much ginger as I can stand, offset by liberal amounts of brown sugar. That's for Day 1, when I feel symptoms coming on. 板蓝根 still seems to have some efficacy at that stage. I've licked the last four rhinoviral assaults that way. After that I break out with the chicken soup, 鸡蛋羹, and symtom-suppressants like Contac or 感冒热冲击. Many folks I know swear by raw garlic, but I have my dignity to think about.
Posted by: Kaiser | March 20, 2005 at 06:14 AM
Just get well soon, Rebecca. By any measure, the flu sucks.
Posted by: Kevin Hayden | March 20, 2005 at 07:15 AM
Equal parts Lapsang Souchong tea and whiskey, usually bourbon. I have no idea if it makes my cold go away any faster, but I certainly enjoy being sick more.
Posted by: Ethan | March 20, 2005 at 06:08 PM
So far, the Chocolate Cure wins the prize... I just ate 2 large chocolate cookies and suddenly my head cleared and I started getting work done for the first time all weekend!
Posted by: Rebecca MacKinnon | March 20, 2005 at 06:13 PM
There's a particular Chinese tea that we call "magic tea" in this household -- it comes in little paper-wrapped bricks, each the right size for a pot of tea -- and drinking a whole pot of it is usually helpful. Alas, because I've lost what little Chinese I once had, I can't read the label, so I don't know what's in it. Black tea, ginger, ginseng, and about a dozen other things? Well, anyway, drink lots of tea, because regardless of what's in it, the hot fluids can only help.
Posted by: Rachel | March 21, 2005 at 12:03 PM
I had a nasty flu earlier this month and went to the acupuncture university clinic near my house - I was amazed at how quickly I recovered with their help! After the interns treated me with needles, the doctor came in and squeezed my head a few places to eliminate congestion, then pinched my thumb and pinkie and I felt the pain in my throat subside right on the spot! If you can duck out and see an acupuncturist, I'd recommend it over any other remedy - and no side effects! Feel better soon!
Posted by: Mandy | March 22, 2005 at 01:32 PM
Halls Defense Multi-Blend Vitamin C, Echinacea, Zinc Supplement Drops AND
Celestial Seasonings Echinacea Complete Care Tea.
Sorry, both are "Western." But they work for me like magic. I either do not get a cold or a flu OR the duration and symptoms of one are such that they are entirely tolerable.
The key seems to be the combination of echinacea with zinc, perhaps also with vitamin c.
Posted by: Guns and Butter | March 25, 2005 at 07:14 PM