Sick on Holidays
This happens to me often actually. I look forward to the holidays, but when they come, I am all coughs and spend days in bed. The worst thing is that I start losing my voice and can’t answer the phone or explain what I need at the pharmacy.
My mom brought me flowers 2 days ago (so sweet) and suggested I try garlic… actually eating the whole peace of it. I guess that’s how they’ve cured cold back in her days in Russia. Sure, I’d try that, if I didn’t plan on kissing anyone for the next decade or so… She also suggested drinking hot milk with honey. Hmm… Is that before or after chewing garlic? Not sure I want to add puking to coughing, sneezing and headache, that I already have.
My brother suggested his usual – “Drink a glass of vodka and go to bed. You’ll wake up a new person.” I would try this one, if I had a bottle of vodka at home right now.
I wonder how people would look at me at LCBO, if I went to get one now – red nose, constantly coughing, rusty voice and clenching a bottle of vodka at the registry. Ha ha… I can almost hear someone’s saying “You should try real medicine, instead of alcohol”.
My Italian friend said he drinks hot grappa (a grape-based brandy), then takes very hot shower, then drinks hot tea and goes to bed dressed warm. He swears it helps him every time.
What I find helps me the most is the honey. I drink a lot of tea with honey or just eat it from a jar. In 5 days, that I’ve been sick, I almost finished the whole jar of honey (500g). Interestingly, there is no calorie information, that you can find on the label. I’ve got the answer on WolframAlpha – 500g of honey equals 1520 calories. Wow, that’s a lot!
The cough medicine that I actually like is dark chocolate. “A Study Finds that Theobromine, a Substance in Chocolate, May Be the Safest and Most Effective Cough Suppressant”. Hope this study is true, as I am consuming a considerate amount of dark chocolate right now.
What are your tried and true remedies for the cold? What have you tried in the past?
Update: Tried the vodka thing. It didn’t work. My brother is still convinced. He thinks I just didn’t drink enough. Ha ha…
