It started with a tickle in my throat Sunday evening.
I slept poorly that night and woke up on Monday covered in sweat with a cough, sore throat, and congestion. A shower and some hot tea with honey and lemon helped, but by the afternoon, my exhaustion got the best of me. I napped on the couch, trying to rally because we had tickets to see Lewis Black at the Funny Bone that night with a group of friends, a date night activity I’d been looking forward to for almost two months.
Sadly, I couldn’t muster up enough energy to go, so we stayed home and ate chicken soup in our pajamas.
Fingers crossed this is just a cold and not the flu, which is now widespread in 40 states. (And peak flu season isn’t even until mid-February!) Time to break into the arsenal of products I used to ease my suffering when I battled a particularly nasty two-week cold back in November — especially since I couldn’t take any medicine.
Since there’s no avoiding cold and flu season, here are 10 products that’ll help keep you comfortable (and maybe even shorten the length of your symptoms) if you feel the dreaded throat tickle, too:
- Crane cool mist humidifier
- Puffs Fresh Faces saline wipes
(the grown-up version of Boogie Wipes
) - Honest hand sanitizer
- Rosebud Salve lip balm
- AHAVA Mineral hand cream (a necessity after all that hand washing)
- Mustela Hydra Stick with Cold Cream (steal this from your baby and use it around your nose)
- Naked Green Machine Boosted smoothie (better than orange juice)
- Neti pot
- Coldcalm tablets
(check with your doctor if pregnant) - Neti pot salt
Not pictured: Spicy noodle bowl with chicken from Whole Foods, which, I swear, has medicinal properties.
PS - Baby’s first cold (so sad!)
Adrienne
I have some more suggestions. My husband and I swear by cold-eez (or zicam, or the homeopathic one, oscillococcinum. Helps shorten the duration.
Also, check out Manuka honey – you can get it in most vitamin shops. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/manuka-honey-medicinal-uses
I get a jar here and give H a half a tsp daily and sometimes I take a tsp if I am feeling run down. I started with H after his 3rd major virus of the school year and we have gone good stretches with no colds and runny noses during cold season, it’s been nice not having a snot trail around the house. A lot of my mom friends swear by that honey as well.
I’ve never heard of Manuka honey, but I’m so intrigued! I’m definitely going to look into it.
Cold-eez has worked for me in the past (I swear, it prevented early cold symptoms from becoming a full-on cold before my best friend’s wedding), but I’m wary about taking that kind of stuff when I’m pregnant. Just something else to look forward to after the baby is born!
Adrienne
It’s funny – I was pregnant with H during cold/flu season but I was the healthiest I had ever been in my life. Probably b/c he had me craving fruits and veggies all day long and I was getting ridiculous amounts of nutrients! ha!
Anyway, I stumbled upon Manuka honey about 3 years ago… one of my gerbils had a cold and I was just searching online for something to do for her and someone suggested this honey and sure enough, it kept my furry friend sniffle free. I had forgotten about it until one of my friends said her daughter (2) had never really been sick sick and she gives her the honey every morning. So I started it with H again and besides a major virus that is hard to prevent, he has been pretty good ever since I started giving it to him! This is the brand I buy: http://www.vitaminlife.com/product-exec/PNAME/Raw-Manuka-Honey-/product_id/66337?gclid=CNjs5O7nlrwCFZRr7Aod4EQAtQ
There are brands that are WAY more pricey – like $40 for a jar but as long as the active stuff is 10+ it’s good!! I go to the Vitamin Shoppe b/c it is on my way to work.
S
I always want to like rosebud salve but it makes my lips worse! I found a new favourite – NUXE lipbalm, it is amazing! Hope you feel better!
I hadn’t heard of NUXE lip balm but I’m off to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!