When you feel a cold coming on, or you've just been exposed, what steps do you take?

Pepto Bismal , ginger ale and chicken noodle soup. Also a warm bed.

I take mega doses of vitamin C and drink lots of water. It works for me. Like @Jeruba, it could be the placebo effect, but it really works. I get very few colds now. And when I do get one, it doesn’t last very long. Before I started this with the vitamin C, I would 3 or 4 a year and they would last 7 to 10 days.

I take Emergen-C, drink gallons of tea, eat homemade soup, (and Hot and Sour soup from our Chinese takeout if it needs a bigger punch), squirt saline up my nose, gargle with hot salt water, put an ounce of whiskey with honey in my before-bed tea, and, if it’s come in hard, an OTC decongestant so I can breathe normally while I sleep.
It all works very well, even if the virus has tried to set.

@canidmajor, does the sinus rinse really help?

Sambucol if I’ve thought to have some handy.
I really believe it helps.

@Jeruba: Yes, for me it really does! Although it’s pretty lightweight saline, I think the rinsing aspect and the mild salt factor help to discourage the virus.
I have heard that a Neti pot is even more effective, but I couldn’t get the hang of it and just made a mess.

(I used to yell obscenities, but that wasn’t as effective.)

I swear by gargling with warm water and vinegar mixed 50:50 or equal parts of each. Yeah it tastes like crap but I have not had a cold or flu take root since I started doing this 10 years ago. I would watch my wife and kids suffer needlessly with this colds all he while urging them to do this regimen. FINALLY my wife gave in and did it and viola she did not get any sicker. Then my kids started doing it at the first sign of a sniffle or sore throat and no one is getting full blown colds anymore.

Gargle deeply and vigorously 3 times in a row twice a day until all signs of the cold is gone. Usually a day and a half. Also don’t swallow or drink for 10–15 mins. What I believe is the vinegar changes the PH in your throat where cold viruses love to multiply to an environment that is detrimental to further virus growth. I use white or apple cider vinegar.

Just read something about OTC decongestants (other than Sudafed) not working at all. There’s no evidence to support the claims and I know they’ve never worked for me. Sudafed is still your best bet, you just have to ask for it – at least where I live.

@Cruiser Hm, interesting. I’ve heard a lot about acv in general. You can clean with it, so in a way that really wouldn’t surprise me. Only drawback to gargling with it that I can think of is that it’s not good for your teeth because of how acidic it is.

I don’t do much when I start getting sick, because I feel like it’s already too late. If I get really stuffed up, I buy some Afrin because the last cold I got taught me that I had never previously known what being stuffed up felt like. It’s horrible for you if you use it too often, so it’s really a last resort for me and I will not use it more than recommended. I also gargle with salt water if my throat hurts or there’s post-nasal drip since the salt dries it all up. But it’s important to use nothing but sea salt because regular table salt is much too powerful and can actually keep you sicker longer because of what it does to your throat tissue.

Come winter, before I even get sick, I start eating a lot of oranges and tangerines. They’re like my go to dessert every day. Cuties are my favorite and I can eat them like candy.

I don’t even usually get a cold once a year, so I feel like I do something right.

Edit: Sorry for the typos. Answered from my phone.

I do nothing and get tingles of colds about once a month which don’t develop and a full cold about once a year.

I whine incessantly and tremble at the thought of my impending death. I assemble the family and forgive them individually for the many sleights they have inflicted upon me in their selfish lives. They bravely roll their eyes in an effort to disguise the torment and grief gripping them at the prospect of my demise. The exhaustion involved with fighting off death usually overcomes me at this point and I pass out in front of the t v to dreams of being waited on hand and foot should I miraculously escape the clutch of “dusty death”.

I don’t do anything. I rest and load up on fluids when I actually am ill. Very often, those small pre-colds go away on their own. I’m lucky, I guess.

I take garlic and horseradish pills.

I also start having a hot toddie before bed. Tea, whisky or rum, lemon and honey. If nothing else it helps me sleep. I like to imagine it ramps up my immune system, and gives it a boost to fight the cold germs.

I have developed a routine that works for me often completely fending them off; otherwise, lessening their severity and duration.

I take Emergen-C. I also take echinachea, which has supposedly been debunked, but it works great for stopping sneezing and lessening mucus.

Country Life “Well-Max” if the bug has definitely landed.
Otherwise, salt-water nasal irrigation (get a ‘neti pot’) as a preventive measure.

I wrap myself in warm, cozy blankets, and I sleep for as long as possible.

As the old saying goes, the best offense is a good defense. If I give my body a fair chance to fight the virus, it usually wins.

I try to get in a little aerobic exercise. I might turn on the TV and do jumping jacks to get my heart rate up and requiring me to breathe deeply. I figure the anerobic bacteria are killed by the fresh air I am drawing in.

(I know colds are caused by a virus.)

Exercise but not too much. In the last five years I have had one cold and it was during a period of high stress. I had also let my vitamin D get low, someday I believe it will be confirmed that this matters. In general it’s all about prevention. Limit sugar, wash hands, exercise, keep properly hydrated and keep your vitamin D level in the normal range. Staying the hell away from other sick people helps too.

When I feel a cold coming on, I make myself a cup of tea and take a vitamin C tablet.

I take Halls with vitamin C, zinc, and echinacea. If it really works, I’m not sure, but there have been times when someone else in the house had a cold and I took them and I never caught it. Could be a coincidence, could be placebo…doesn’t really matter to me, it seems to work.

I tend not to catch colds. I can’t recall ever having one as a child; the first I remember hit in my mid-20s, and sat in my chest for weeks. It was horrible.

I make no special effort to avoid them, but if I feel symptoms, I’ll drink more hot tea than coffee, perhaps with a bit of honey instead of just black. I also make a tincture of cloves, which acts as a natural expectorant. It’s cheaper than Mucinex.

@Seek How do you make the clove tincture?

Yep, mega doses of “C”,lots of fluids, hot bath, early bed, but…once you feel something “coming on” it is too late, so really, whatever you do is just to make yourself feel better in the moment, ultimately it matters not because you are already in the grip and the grip will only tighten. lol

Load up on vitamins and take a long, deep, totally immersed soak in a tub of hot water.

I basically think it’s too late if I feel it coming on.

What I do is take iron, make sure I have my decongestant and antihistamine if I want to take them, and try to get as much sleep as possible.

The iron is because I tend to be anemic and when my iron is low I tend to catch things more easily. The cold is a reminder I haven’t been taking my iron.

About 25 cloves in a cup of water, bring it to a boil, let it sit for an hour, then strain. I take a little straight, or mixed with honey and lemon (and whiskey if I have it).

@Seek Great, thank you. I’m going to write that down and use it next time I get sick.

@Jeruba , I do the same thing with the vitamin C. I also make my own cold medicine every winter. I just go a batch made today. I take lemon rinds and boil them till the water looks thicker and then boil some ginger root and add it to the lemon. Then I add sugar and continue to boil it till it is thicker. Of course Honey would be better but it gets really thick and since it has to be refrigerated it becomes too thick to pour out of the bottle. Then I have 2 tablespoons of the mixture every 4 hours if I’m sick already. It’s great for a cough and great at opening your airways a bit.

As soon as I feel an itchy or slightly sore throat I spry it repeatedly with Chloraseptic® spray. It works very well for me. Also I never announce to the world that, “I feel a cold coming on”. That gives the cold power in that it’s an negative thing to say. Also when you have a cold never admit it or whine about it. Wallow in the misery of the cold and it will linger. Think positive and strong and you will be over the cold quickly.

Good health!

Vitamin C is my first step. Take it to bowel tolerance. Lots of liquids and plenty of rest.

What a great collection of ideas! I especially like the home remedies.

That’s something like what I do, @gondwanalon. In addition to (or despite) the avoidance tactics I listed, I also do what I call brazening it out: acting as if I didn’t have it. This is probably nothing but magical thinking on my part, but denial is a powerful force.

Thank you @Seek I will definitely try that.

My mom just told me yesterday what she does when she feels a cold coming on and I thought I would share it.

My mom takes vitamin C and Cloricidin (antihystamine). I usually don’t take something for congestion until I feel really uncomfortable, but when I thought about it more, it makes sense to me to take it right away, especially if the cold is going to move to your chest. The less mucous falling into your lungs, the less of it you have to cough up, and the cough is usually what lags behind for a couple of weeks.

Not all colds go into the chest, but the last three winters there seems to be some doozies going around that do. No matter what, the drug will help you not feel so sick in general assuming you personally don’t have a specific reason why you shouldn’t take it. Always read the warnings.

This.

We are just talking about a cold. Most adults don’t go to the doctor for a cold.

I hope.

I just thought of something else I do. My “nesting” reflex kicks in and I start doing things around the house to get ready. Laundry, clean up, mail, bills, move wood, ... and I brush my teeth and gargle with H2O2 often.

@LuckyGuy I nest and organize too. I didn’t think of that. I get ready for two days of doing very little.

@JLeslie When I do it I say to myself, “This is the best I’m going to feel for a while. It will never be easier…. Just do it!” And I do !

On day 4 I strip the bed and wash and clean, assuming I’m not contagious anymore, and by then I have a little energy back.

I didn’t mention that as I feel it come on I move out of my bedroom onto a sofa or into a guest bedroom.