the latest in cold prevention?

[JeffOYB]

any thoughts on cutting edge cold prevention? yeah, i mean coughing, sniffles... years ago i asked the US head coach and he said "don't touch your face and take zicam and zinc as soon as you feel you're coming down." ...that was before zicam/zinc were commonly known. so he was ahead on that. glad i learned it from him tho i'm bad at it. i remember "don't share water bottles" in the mid-80's. so obvious now... i figure XC skiers would be on to the latest ideas in this, so...?

i listened to the Sadie J interview on "Nordic Nation" where they discuss hand washing, sanitizer. And I also watched the US Nat'ls CX where everyone was saying "congrats but i won't try to shake your hand or high five you. i know you're headed back to europe and don't want any glitches..."

i really screwed up a few wks ago just after getting healthy. on a long hard outing some dudes shared a beer and i joined in. doh! like the next day, wham.

ppl say incubation and such but for those who work out hard every day in the cold there might be other considerations.

for one thing, i don't just get a cold. my colds are terrible and knock me out for a couple days and making sleeping terrible.

i've kinda noticed that flu vaccines maybe reduce my cold severity that season.

oddly also when i did daily sub teaching i didn't get sick. same with swing dance lessons in recent weeks -- dancing w like a dozen ppl in an evening. my hunch is that immune might be REALLY suppressed during and right after hard ski outings. just a notion.

[Neuro]

Don't touch your face is surely as good advice as any, especially after a hard workout or outing.

Me I always come down at least once each winter - and hard like you - but this season not so far (knock on wood). The new thing has been to take paracetamol and C-vitamin pills as soon as I feel funny in order to help the immune system fight it off and prevent the body heating up which just makes it worse (the body is just stupid sometimes), and it seems to have worked.

There was a study among World Cup athletes which proved the most risky time was air travel straight after competition so now they rather stay over one more night, and that seems to be working. Before this important Olympic season, most have even dropped christmas with families as well which is typical another thing that mess them up.

[LewLasher]

The new thing has been to take paracetamol and C-vitamin pills

Paracetamol is called acetaminophen in the U.S., and is even better known by the brand name Tylenol.

[dcpattie]

Perhaps re-think getting the influenza vaccine: https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/63/1/21/1745238

Note that the 2014-15 flu season is very similar to this season where the prevalent circulating strain is H3N2.

[Neuro]

The new thing has been to take paracetamol and C-vitamin pills

Paracetamol is called acetaminophen in the U.S., and is even better known by the brand name Tylenol.

Yes thanks, here in Norway it's the most common painkilling/fever reducing medicine. What would be the US equivalent? Aspirin?

My grandfather swears to taking a shot of brandy as soon as he feels something, and he's rarely sick. I also know that top athletes like Ole-Einar Bjørndalen and others will gurgle whiskey as a preventive in order to kill things in the throat (where a lot is at).

About flu vaccines, I am skeptical to these after so many got narcolepsy during the swine flu scare in 2010 (provably so, they were compensated), especially after my pregnant wife was SO close to taking it at the time and who knows what might have happened as it mostly affected small children.

[jt10000]

The new thing has been to take paracetamol and C-vitamin pills

Paracetamol is called acetaminophen in the U.S., and is even better known by the brand name Tylenol.

Yes thanks, here in Norway it's the most common painkilling/fever reducing medicine. What would be the US equivalent? Aspirin?

Acetaminophen. Not aspirin.

[Neuro]

So you're saying acetaminophen/Tylenol is the most common painkilling/fever reducing medicine in USA?

[JeffOYB]

So to fit the topic of cutting edge info I just found some new google hits on research showing that keeping the body warm reduces and prevents colds. And chills really do cause and worsen colds.

[Neuro]

Was worried about side effects of taking too much of the acetaminophen pills (not that I took much, just a handful over the winter), so I dropped it last time when I felt something coming on as it didn't feel serious, and boom, 1 week of hard cold, some of the best ski time lost (tracks are superb now)..

I will try good old-fashioned brandy from now instead, see how that works.

[Neuro]

I will try good old-fashioned brandy from now instead, see how that works.

Knock on wood, but can report this has worked well. Both me and the wife have staved off what felt like something brewing on several occasions. I guess doctors in the old days having a flask of brandy in their bag was for a good reason. I know some athletes just gurgle the stuff (whiskey I've heard), but we swallowed just a tiny sip and another before bed and the alcohol seems to have zapped the viruses.

[Glacier Glide]

If I feel the least bit of inkling of getting a cold I will down some Emergen-C and pop some ZiCam every couple of hours before I go to bed. It seems to work.
Jeff

[Gorf]

Emergen-C is good for me as a preventative. My grandparents drank a little brandy which helped, and I've had success with a bit of Cider.

Vitamin C is important in preventing colds and Zinc is great at reducing their impact and lessening their duration. Cold-Eeez is a great product for this.

As for painkiller here most medicine cabinets will have Aspirin, which is also recommended for daily use as a heart attack preventative, Acetaminophen, and Ibuprofen. Also Advil or Sodium Naproxen. Then there's Excedrin Migraine for example, which combines Aspirin, Acetaminophen and Caffeine! They also add sleep aids to many of these...!!!

There's also a huge epidemic of prescription narcotics being over prescribed here for any pain, often resulting in addiction, which is a serious societal problem, but not one I have experience with other than second hand stories or news reports.