Sore throat season

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Aleks

Same. I was a little sick before going to Ireland at the end of august, came back here and instantly just brutal congestion, mucous, sore throat, no voice in the AM. Clears up a bit in the afternoon but by morning its just brutal again. Had to take multiple sick days and still not better despite anything I've been doing (teas, vinegar, nasal flushes, etc).

Describes exactly what i have. Had just a but of a sore throat end of august. A week later thought it had gone away then Bam, it hit hard. Talking in the morning is impossible. Tea didn’t work. Just halls for the cough somewhat worked.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Pre and probiotics. Almost your whole immune system is in your gut. It might take a minute to figure out what works best for you. But you won't get sick once you do.

how does fiber, lactobacillus and yeast (or other pre- and pro-biotics) affect your immune system so that you don't get bacterial and viral infections?

[Southside]

Try some Kerrs scotch drops black licorice. In the candy section. I find they work and they're tasty too.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

how does fiber, lactobacillus and yeast (or other pre- and pro-biotics) affect your immune system so that you don't get bacterial and viral infections?

In reality, the expense of buying these products puts you in a "pot committed" frame of mind to favour the placebo response


It is true that probiotics play a role in overall functioning of the immune system (it is far to simple to say "strengthening an immune system" in something this complex). There's a whole burgeoning field of study on this. There are between 500 and 1000 species of bacteria in the gut and all kinds of different factors change which strains of each species exist where and the size of the populations. There's on average anywhere between two and six pounds of bacteria in and on you. There's more bacteria than you have cells that make up your body. They fluctuate mostly based on the food you eat, but so many other things affect it, it becomes virtually impossible to predict. Also, saying "probiotics are healthy" is akin to saying "drugs are good for you": some are healthy, some are unhealthy, and most do nothing. They don't all affect the same things the same way. Long story short, most of what you buy especially in an expensive health food store is just good marketing. The studies, if any, are largely done by the manufacturer of the product and published in a predatory journal


We know changes in your gut biome can affect skin, mood, immunity, and other systems. We do not know how to change it. This is where the marketing comes in. Does taking a certain strain of one species positively affect any one system? Generally, we don't know. There are some studies showing some specific benefits with certain strains, but they aren't likely transferable to other strains and the studies small and of poor methodology.

[stampsx2]

There’s also a strong link between gut bacteria and autism ( tons of scholarly articles on the link ). So there’s a lot we still don’t know about how the gut microbiome works.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

how does fiber, lactobacillus and yeast (or other pre- and pro-biotics) affect your immune system so that you don't get bacterial and viral infections?

The hell would I know? I made it all up. Ya happy now?

[FireFly]

Zinc lozenges instead of things like Halls. The sugar in regular lozenges is actually bad for sore throats whereas zinc lozenges will help your healing.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I've been down with a flu for over a week. It started as a sore throat, exploded into massive sinus pain and a hacking cough. Then my voice cracked and broke.


I'm starting to feel human again but nowhere near great.

This tore through me last weekend. No bueno. Now I’ve got what feels like a plugged ear. Anybody got an remedies for a plugged ear? It’s been about 24hrs now and it’s annoying as hell

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by surferguy

This tore through me last weekend. No bueno. Now I’ve got what feels like a plugged ear. Anybody got an remedies for a plugged ear? It’s been about 24hrs now and it’s annoying as hell

Hot shower followed by a saline sinus rinse. Usually help for me anyway.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by surferguy

This tore through me last weekend. No bueno. Now I’ve got what feels like a plugged ear. Anybody got an remedies for a plugged ear? It’s been about 24hrs now and it’s annoying as hell

Hot tea and some Vick’s Vaporub or an antihistamine could help relieve that.

[Robo]

I second antihistamine with daily sinus rinse I had to do that for about a month straight my doctor told me i had a sinus infection but it was due to an allergy not bacterial which is why no one could figure out why it lasted so long for me but i feel better now. Although I have a deviated septum ( runs in the family) so pretty much anytime i get a cold i also get a mild throat infection which makes colds that much more annoying

[BrolyTheUnholy]

I'm glad I'm not the only one going through this. I haven't been this (repeatedly) sick in years. First it was bronchitis, then it was followed by that awful fluey-type thing that went around in the summer, now it's the sore throat, major sinus congestion and awful gross-tasting cough. I'm over it. Let's move on body, shall we? By that I don't mean PASS on. You know.

[Aleks]

I have found that antihistamines have helped the most out of anything at the moment. They're doing ring road construction near me and I think the stuff thats getting kicked into the air is causing alot of my problems... I still have a cough, and I'm still definitely more mucousy than I'd ever been, but I guess it won't be perfect.

[Timbo]

Jagermeister, Bourbon and Beer, works for me... for some of you lightweights maybe not so much.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Pre and probiotics. Almost your whole immune system is in your gut. It might take a minute to figure out what works best for you. But you won't get sick once you do.

95% of sore throats,colds..etc. come from bacteria or a virus getting into your sinus and working it's way down to the throat, biotics will help fight the infection but doesn't prevent it.

It can be a little gross but a sinus rinse every 2 days in the hot shower does the trick for me (make sure you "sniff" it to the back of your throat a few times) I use the squirt bottle type, my recipe is 1/3 baking soda-2/3 sea salt. a teaspoons worth for about 6 ounces of warm water.

I literally haven't had a bad cold,sore throat or the flu for almost 10 years since doing this.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

95% of sore throats,colds..etc. come from bacteria or a virus getting into your sinus and working it's way down to the throat, biotics will help fight the infection but doesn't prevent it.

What's a biotic?

[Sainters7]

Yeah, I was abroad for almost a month, come back last week and just two days later I've already got it. So annoying.

[Timbo]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Yeah, I was abroad for almost a month, come back last week and just two days later I've already got it. So annoying.

It’s the airplane. A flying Petri dish of germs IMO. The gym is the same and I hope there is a special place in Hell for people who go there when sick.

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Timbo

It’s the airplane. A flying Petri dish of germs IMO. The gym is the same and I hope there is a special place in Hell for people who go there when sick.

If you’re talking about the air in airplanes it is actually very clean. There are filters under the floor that manufacturers say are hospital grade. The cabin air gets fully recirculated every three minutes. It’s the seats, tables and seatbelts that never get cleaned and are teaming with bacteria.