How does one recover from a cold?

Drink a looooooottttttt of water and get even more sleep.

There are two possibilities: you can rest, drink juice, take cold remedies, and it will be gone within about 7 days, or you can ignore it, and it will take about a week.

Cold are caused by viruses, and you pretty much have to treat the symptoms that are bothering you the most and wait for your immune system to develop a response to the virus. As @pdworkin said, it usually takes 1–2 weeks.

Take zinc and Emergen-C. Also, echinnachea does shorten the duration of colds for me.

I’ve had good luck with the Zicam quick dissolve tablets. They tasted disgusting but they treat the symptoms really quickly.

@zephyr826 @Marina: Thank you! I will try both of your suggestions!

@KatawaGrey Don’t take Zicam. It can destroy your sense of smell.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm167065.htm

Ahh, the healing power of placebo!

Plenty of rest and plenty of fluids. And it doesn’t hurt if some of those fluids are full of nutrition and vitamins like vegetable soup, chicken soup, and orange juice.

@sampson, The stuff I was recommending is not the nasal spray or swabs. I am also familiar with that study. The tablets, which are what I swear by, dissolve on your tongue and have no effect on smell as far as I’m aware.

Sudafed, it be gone in a day or 2. Well it does for me! Nothing else works for me.

Thanks guys, I know this is a very silly question and I thank the all mighty fluther mods for not taking it down but I am desperate.

Also, quite sleep deprived which is probably how the cold was able to take hold anyway…

@KatawaGrey
In my experience, nothing is more important to alleviate the symptoms of a cold than sleep.

Chicken soup.

@SeventhSense: you are absolutely right but it’s finals week and as such, no sleep for me!

Also, secondary question: Are there any good vegetarian alternatives to chicken soup? My mother suggested hot tea.

I am just getting over pneumonia after two weeks of hell. i have never had a cold. i take a large amount of Vit.C everyday and i assume this is why i never have a cold. once you have it, it sucks. pardon my language, but i have watched my wife goes through the miseries of a cold. NyQuil helped her. at least the alcohol in NyQuil helped her to rest. buy the nightime formula only. and, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. spreading it is not going to help the rest of us. good luck. john

@KatawaGrey
Sure just find a tofu substitute.

Just sit back, stop worrying and let your immune system do the work. It is proven that cold pills and vitamins really don’t do anything for you. You can take as many as you want but nothing is more effective than your body’s natural immune system.

@HumourMe
Actually they make your symptoms more tolerable and help you sleep which speeds up your recovery time.

@SeventhSense they might help you sleep if it is a drowsy medication and might make you feel a bit better possibly but it doesn’t shorten the length of the cold or accelerate the healing process.

Carrying on stoically without listening to your body is not the best course because if you don’t get adequate rest and allow the body the ability to recuperate you will prolong the duration and possibly exacerbate the condition. Your stuffed nasal passages can become sinusitis, this can travel to your chest, then your lungs, you can develop bronchitis, ignore that it can become pleurisy, pneumonia, ignore that and you can die.

You’re right but you don’t need cold pills to do that. You can rest and allow your body to recuperate without the need for medication and vitamins that’s all.

@HumourMe
Humor me. They help you do that.

Maybe they do for you but it’s not scientifically proven.

DOH!
Have you seen these commercials? That guy is sleeping right?

Why not take a sleeping tablet then if sleeping helps you get rid of your cold so well? It’s not scientifically proven that vitamins speed up your recovery either.

I really can’t be bothered justifying myself anymore. I think people are getting bored of our little conversation anyway.

Final Word.
Well many other active ingredients have been shown to be beneficial as well. Eucalyptus oils and menthol promote the movement of mucus. The stagnation of mucus can provide a breeding place for infection. Decongestants act to thin secretions and expectorants also act to expel harmful build up of mucus. The elderly frequently succumb to pneumonia because of simple solutions such as these. Aspirins thin the blood helping to ease pain and speed the transfer of fluids. Fluids help the blood fight infection and rid the body of toxic pathogens.

Wait 3 weeks and you will be all better.

When I was young it seemed as if a cold took 3 days coming, 3 days with it and 3 days going.

Now as an antique, it seems as if it takes a week for each step.

Didn’t mean to insinuate that you @KatawaGrey were an antique such as I, but that is the outside calculation.

Cold pills, nasal spray and aspirin are what I use, nothing magic unfortunately. But did you hear that if you are coughing badly, put Vicks on your feet and the coughing will stop!

There is no magic formula for recovering from a cold. The only natural way to recover is to help your body with the basic nutrients, and rest until the immune system does it’s job. Get plenty of rest, and drink liquids.