When you have the sniffles...

I currently have a cold. 

This is how I looked yesterday. Not even joking.

I'm sure that I'm like most people and hate being sick and want to do everything in their power to speed the process along. 

My go to products: Kleenex with Aloe, Vicks vapor rub, Chamomile and Echinacea Tea, DayQuil and NyQuil, and a heat pad. These products usually do the trick and it gets out of my system within 3-4 days. But sometimes there are some things that you can't live with during. Like yesterday, my nose was so stuffed my voice was sounding annoyingly identical to Fran Dresser. I tried blowing my nose but nothing came out. 

What to do, what to do. At one point I started to get dizzy because one ear was popped and the other wasn't. I was desperate. So I did some research. I found a few answers and there was surprisingly not a lot of answers out there. 

Even then I like to have all my facts in one place. Much like my 130 uses for Vinegar and 43 uses for Baking Powder post. So I'm going to make a tips and tricks for when you're sick post. If you don't use it, I will always have it for me to look back on. 

First off, THE MUSTS:

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I will most likely put it under every symptom.

2. Rest. Take it easy! Make the hubby, wife, kids, brother, sis, etc help you out with a blanket and a remote.

3. Sleep. Take a Nyquil or Melotonin to help you go to sleep and stay that way.

4. Do I really have to say this one? No alcohol, smoking, drugs, partying or just plain craziness. 

5. If this lasts longer than a week to two weeks, GO SEE A DOCTOR!!!

Aches

-Heat pad
-Hot bath
-Massage from your lovely, lovely significant other.
-Tylenol, Advil.
-Laying down with your legs propped up

Chills/Sweats

-Cold compresses around legs and forehead.

-There's not much out there. What I do is when I'm uncontrollably hot I take a cold shower or stand outside in winter for a few seconds. When I'm cold I have my heat pad and warm dog and husband that I cuddle up with.

Coughing

-Hydrate

-Drink lots of warm fluids. Tea's, warm milk, soup, broth

-Hot Showers and steam. I like to lean my head back and just let the hot water pour on my throat. This helps with soreness as well. 

-Humidifiers. BE CAREFUL! If left uncleaned, they become reservoirs for pumping out fungus and mold. ICK.
-Decongestants. Dayquil and Nyquil, guys. Every 6 hours until bed then Nyquil for undisturbed sleep.
-Vicks Vapor rub. Rub it on your throat, chest and arch of neck

Ear Congestion

-Chewing Gum

-Swallowing Hard
-Nasal Decongestants
-Yawn Wide

-Suck a mint or in your sick case, a couch drop. Let it slowly dissolve in your mouth.

-Plug your nose, inhale through your mouth and hold your breath. This should push some air through your ears

-In a warm shower, bend down and attempt to touch your toes and alternate popping your ears and trying to suck air down your throat. Suck the mucus down your throat? I guess like hawking a lugee. Ears should pop!
-Heat up a sock with some uncooked rice in it. Lay down with the sock against you year for a few minutes. Pour peroxide in ear. After a few minutes, clean ear with q-tips.

Sneezing

-There isn't much on how to stop sneezing either. Sneezing for me means that I'm healing. The day before I'm  ok again I have fits of sneezing and the need to sneeze all day long. Even if I take allergy pills, it won't go away.

Sore/Scratchy throat

-Gargle salt water

-Gargle Listerine

-Heat one cup to a boil and squeeze half a lemon and a tbsp of honey into your mug. Sip slowly. 

-Ginger Tea. Licorice root or tea

-Cough suppressant 

-Inhaling steam through your mouth. 

-Boil 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of turmeric for 3-4 minutes. Drink before bed

-Drinking Pineapple juice

-Apple Cider Vinegar. Take 1 part to 2 part ratio with water. (I hear it works wonders, but it also tastes horrible, I've tried.)

-Chicken Soup

-Rest. Sometimes I just don't talk when my throat feels like this. It helps a lot. 

-Hydrate

Stuffed Nose

-Blowing your nose with tissue with lotion of aloe. Or apply vicks vapor rub on your nose after blowing to prevent chapping.
-Make steam (Run the shower, boil some water, humidifier) and try to slowly inhale the steam.
-Use Nasal Sprays like Vicks Sinex or salt water solutions.
-Nasal Adhesive Strips.
-Vapor Rub. This is my bff when I'm sick. Rub some on the tip of you nose to help breathe AND for a chapped nose. Rub some on your chest/throat for a cough suppressant and to help reduce stuffiness in your nose. If you do not have any vapor rub, you can also use peppermint oil.
-Chewing mint. I have not tried this, but apparently it works and if it doesn't at least you have good breath!
-Take Decongestants
-Put a warm compress over your nose. Soak a warm (as hot as you can stand) hand towel, lay down and place on your nose. This to me took forever to do and kept making me get up and reheat it for it to work and didn't last as long.
-Elevating your head. Laying down will worsen your stuffy nose. Try to recline instead.
-Eating spicy food. I don't know how accurate this one is but if all else fails at least you can't taste it much due to the stuffiness.
-Hydrate. You should do this last one all the time in normal life, but especially when you're sick.

Vomiting/Diarrhea 

-Eating crackers help with feeling like you have to vomit or anything carb-y. My theory is that it 'soaks' up whatever bug is in there.
-Charcoal tablets. These are a must in my house. They help with any kind of stomach problem. They are fast acting and there isn't any *mmhmm* 'leftover' diarrhea. 

If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them and post them!

Sources:

WikiHow
Home Remedies
eHow

Buzzle

WebMD