What's your first recourse when you feel like you're coming down with something?

My family tradition is ginger ale, Pepto bismal (or neo citran) , and chicken noodle soup. Also bed rest.

@Jeruba If you look at the sidebar, you asked a similar question in 2015! If I’m having symptoms I will take something over the counter like Advil for colds and sinuses or Ibuprofen if I’m achy in addition to the other things you cited above.

Do keep an eye on your temperature and if you have a pulse oximeter, check your oxygenation levels.

I don’t come down with much any more.

I take approx. 2,000mg of vitamin C immediately and have found that that often knocks out whatever was coming. I also try to get in a nap or two. Like Duchess, I rarely get sick anymore.

@janbb, oh, well, so I did. You’re right. Points for consistency, I guess.

It’s five years later, and I tend not to get colds these days, but I do tend toward sinus infections, which I treat the same way..

Garlic noodles or hot and sour soup.

One benefit of living alone is that I rarely get colds. I think I’ve only had one serious respiratory infection in 9 years and that was after I was at at wedding which my Ex attended who had bronchitus!

Knock down some Tylenol and git on with the git along. Unless I really feel like crap, then I git on down the hall to bed,

High doses vitamin C hourly
High dose of Vitamin D once
Zinc

Clean house and stock up on supplies. Take lots of long showers.

Rest and if able to eat ..soup and if required aspirin.

Load up on water, orange juice, a hot soak in the tub, and plenty of sleep.

Learn the difference between a bacterial infection and a viral infection.

Sleep and lots of water.

If that doesn’t work, chocolate. It may have no medical effect, but it makes me feel better.

Taking a nap.

For me, in recent years, I have rarely been actually sick. But being tired and/or caffeine withdrawing sometimes make me feel that way for a bit.

I go to bed and sleep as much as I can, it usually helps a lot.

Hope it will go away, which landed me in a hospital bed a week ago.

And yet, when I had 19, I survived that at home.

Hot chicken broth with all the garlic I have minced in.

Fight it with “Chloraseptic”.
Also never acknowledge or admit that you have a cold. That gives it power.

I never catch colds. And when I do I never admit it. This strategy allows me to recover quickly while I spare people around me (no whining).

Nyquil, extra rest, water, vitamin C and scalding hot tea. No going out in the cold air.
To stop my fall-winter sinus infections I now keep a lavender water mist on constantly as soon as the heat is used.

Move out of the master bedroom away from my husband. Wash my hands before touching anything he might.

Take some iron if I’ve been bad about it (I naturally run low on iron).

Plenty of fluids and an extra baby aspirin since I’m lying around a lot.

There is an old saying you can not treat a cold and it will last seven days or treat a cold and it will last a week. That’s for your regular rhinovirus cold that starts with a sore throat then in two days changes to congestion. Covid and other illnesses are something else.

I remember when I finally got a job with sick leave, I was astonished at how quickly I recovered from a cold when I was able to sleep for a day instead of having to go to work.

First thing I do is start taking more vitamin C. Take 3 or 4 to start with and can then take one every hour or so. Push fluids, most mostly water.

For respiratory type illnesses, the best solution is some Tom Yum, a melding of Eastern wisdom and Jewish mothering.