I Am Going to Kick This Cold

Good news: my swollen finger joint is better.

Bad news: After over a week, my on-again/off-again cold has dug in to stay. I have a small colony of frogs living at the base of my throat and they get really active at night. I am determined to kick this thing to the curb. I’m going to throw so much $h1t at it that it will have to bow down.

I am still in pajamas and convinced my 9yo to make his own lunch (his dad helped) and my husband worked from home today, and took the kids to the bus stop so I didn’t have to. I don’t plan on leaving the house for the foreseeable future. Laundry and cleaning can damn well wait till I’m solidly better. Like, next week, maybe. Also the Tournament of Books started today, so I better get reading.

I used to chew a raw clove of garlic, but the last time I tried it I vomited it right back up (it’s that gross), so, lesson learned, no more of that. I may make myself grape Jello water instead.

I have finished all my Cold Calm, which is really just homeopathic sugar pills and makes my husband G. Grod crazy that I buy them, but aren’t placebos supposed to be effective, too? I’m taking a packet of EmergenC, 1000 iu of Vitamin D, a multivitamin, fish oil, some herbal sinus pill (Sinus Take Care; what a terrible name), Yogi’s Cold Care tea, honey, Sambucol, and a new twist on my favorite cold tonic:

Moxie’s Cold Cure-all, from Bon Appetit January 2013
A warming drink with echinacea, plus a kick of ginger and cayenne to clear the sinuses? We’re in.

Makes 1. Recipe by Moxie Rx in Portland, OR.

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey or light agave syrup (nectar)*
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger**
1/4 teaspoon super echinacea extract***
Pinch of cayenne pepper

*Screw agave. It’s a fad. Sugar is sugar, except when it’s local honey, which is better for you. Use local honey.
**Use your Microplane grater. If you do not have one, fix that.
***Super echinacea extract can be found at natural foods stores.

Combine all ingredients in a mug with 1 cup boiling water, stirring until honey is dissolved. Let sit for 1 minute before serving.

5 Responses to “I Am Going to Kick This Cold”

  1. Susan Says:

    Chop your raw garlic until you have enough for a spoonful. Wash it down with a glass of water without chewing. You get the health benefits without the nastiness.

    Hope you get to feeling better soon. I had a weird joint inflammation thing back in November and it was awful.

  2. girldetective Says:

    Susan, will try that. Always assumed that chomping it before swallowing was part of the process–to scare the virus right out of my body by how horrible it was.

  3. Amy Says:

    I have been chugging a lovely honey-ginger tea I got at the Mad Hatter Tea Room in Anoka for days now. I know you do not drink, but perhaps sometime you should try it and then if hubby gets a cold, pour a little bourbon in his for a toddy. Very comforting.

  4. Janet Says:

    Do you ever take zinc? I swear by the Zicam spray, but you have to use it when you first feel the frogs in your throat. It really seems to work.

    Also loved your comment on agave! It cracked me up. Honey all the way (said the granddaughter, daughter and sister of beekeepers)!!

    Can’t even remember how I found your blog, but love all the book titles. Always looking for something to read. I’m on page 967 of Les Miserables and it just may kill me in the end. I was amazed to see you read it too. ☺

  5. girldetective Says:

    Janet, glad you found me! And it’s funny, I’ve found some of my favorite sites the same way–not quite sure how, but once I did, I didn’t leave.

    I used to take zinc, but stopped after I saw some differing evidence on colds. Took it recently after I got stitches, since it’s supposed to help with healing. If you saw my small but ugly scar, I’m not convincing evidence on that, though.

    My favorite radio DJ also swears by Zicam. I used to swear by Boiron’s Cold Calm, but I feel bad, because I feel like I should “know better” than to believe in homeopathy (apologies to its fans, but the double blind studies just aren’t there.) Rest and fluids.

    Re: Les Mis, can’t emphasize enough: skip or skim the boring bits. And if you read HHhH, there’s a bit in there where the author says something like “I should be like Hugo and give you a long description of the town where the character lived, but I don’t want to, and I don’t know that much about it, so I’m not going to.” Yay, I thought!