My Cure for the Common Cold?

Popular wisdom insists that there is no cure for the common cold. I disagree. In the last ten years, I have not had a head cold that lasted for more than a day, and if I act fast enough when I feel a cold coming on, I can often prevent it altogether. Even the nastier kinds of colds, so-called "chest colds" seem to be shortened by my treatment -- three days instead of two weeks.

Does it work for anybody but me? Well, I haven't done "clinical trials", but it works for my wife, and it worked for my father. Unfortunately people are so brainwashed by the no-cure-for-the-common-cold propaganda that it's hard to get anyone to take my treatment seriously. You might want to try it; your body may respond the same way as mine (and my above-mentioned relatives'.) The pills you need are fairly cheap and easy to find, and the method is not all that demanding, if you are determined to get rid of your cold fast!

There are three material elements to my cold cure method, listed here from most to least important, as ranked by my experience:
(a) suck zinc lozenges. I take one every two hours
(b) keep very warm. I wear four layers of clothes, and get under a blanket.
(c) take Vitamin C. I take 500 mg four times a day.

The fourth element is this: be very diligent! -- if you go at this half-heartedly, you will get mediocre results, or none. I've noticed that keeping warm is the rule that seems the hardest to remember or take seriously -- taking pills is easy! I will discuss the three elements in a bit of detail below (so you will know what I am advising you to be diligent about.)

What about echinacea? I have never found echinacea to be of help in treating or avoiding colds. That's not to say it might not help some people. It's just not part of my method. I have heard that echinacea is only helpful to people with certain blood types. I have no idea if this is true, and I don't remember which blood types -- I'm sure you can find out on the web.

What about anti-histamines? I expect you already know that anti-histamines do not contribute to curing your cold; they simply suppress the symptoms. But, let's face it, the symptoms can be very annoying. Why not quash the stuffy or runny nose and sneezing while waiting for the cure to take effect. This is, in fact, what I do if the symptoms are bothering me a lot. Perhaps the only disadvantage is that it will be less easy to know just when your cold is actually retreating. So I recommend taking only as much anti-histamine as you really need to be moderately comfortable. In any case, as the cure takes hold, your symptoms will decrease quite quickly.

Zinc lozenges. Let's be very clear what we're talking about here. These are large grey lozenges of zinc gluconate that you suck slowly, not chew. You are not aiming to get the zinc into your stomach; it does you no good there. You are trying to coat the walls of your throat, and keep them coated for as long as possible. So do not suck the lozenge if you are going to be eating or drinking soon. I take one about every two hours, subject to the eating/drinking restriction. Zinc lozenges are readily available in pharmacies.

The theory behind the effectiveness of zinc lozenges is, I believe, roughly as follows. (Remember I am not a scientist, and I am only telling you this to give you a mental model for understanding how they might actually do what I say they do for me.) The cold virus multiplies and thrives in the tissues of the throat. The zinc gluconate interferes with the virus' ability to do this (something about breaking down the walls of the virus cell.)

Keeping warm You've probably heard that your mother was wrong when she warned you against getting chilled because you would catch a cold. Actually she was mostly right. Now granted, getting chilled by itself is not enough; you need the cold virus to be present too. But just how rare do you think it is? Your body is fighting it off much of the time. When you get chilled two things happen: the virus multiplies faster, and your body's defences are weakened. Getting chilled can indeed be the cause of you getting a cold.

The reverse is also true. The cold virus prefers a cold environment. Thus, if you raise your body temperature significantly, the virus does not thrive. I like to stay home with a cold, put on four layers of clothing and then get under a blanket, And believe it or not, I do not feel too hot. My body seems to understand that being very warm is what it needs, and it does not complain. When I do start to feel hot, then I know I am getting better.

Obviously this method works best if you can stay home from work or school or shopping, etc. because you can rest as well as keep super-warm. This may be inconvenient but remember that you will get better faster, maybe in one day, and it may be worth it. If you have to go out, dress as warmly as you possibly can; lots of layers. And spend as little time as possible in cold, cool or drafty places.

Vitamin C It has been the conventional wisdom of many decades now that taking vitamin C helps prevent or shorten a cold. My experience has confirmed this. In fact, I used to fight head colds, rather successfully, just using vitamin C alone. In my mental model, I picture vitamin C "cleaning up" the blood stream.

I take four 500 mg tablets of vitamin C spread over the day. I like chewable tablets the best, but I have found that just about any form of the vitamin works fine.

Getting better You may feel much better quite quickly. Do not, however, cease the treatment too soon. I myself have several times been overly optimistic, stopped treatment, and had the cold return. Cut back gradually. Keep sucking those lozenges, but not so often. Continue to dress rather warmly. Give it at least a day after your symptoms seem to be mostly gone before you let up entirely on the treatment. It is very discouraging to beat a cold in record time only to have a relapse a day or two later.

Disclaimer: Often, above, you will find me speaking as if I was promising you the same results as I get. Of course you know I can't make that promise. People are different and I do not have access to thousands of subjects to test my method statistically. The only thing I can guarantee you is that I am not lying about, or exaggerating my own experience.