So in this article, I will discuss some things you can do to keep your immunity up, so that you can reduce the number of colds and other respiratory diseases you get. Then I will discuss things you can do during the various stages of a cold, as well as information on some possible compounds you could take if you get desperate.

 Are you here just for info on what to do about THE COUGH? Just scroll down to the separate section on "The Cough" below.

By the way, one of the advantages of being an older person is that you can look forward to fewer respiratory diseases. At the age of 79, I find that I get a cold about every 2 - 3 years now. After all, there's only 100-200 cold viruses, and by the time you have reached the age of 50-60 or more, you just about seen 'em all.

Prevention
 A few words on prevention. During the winter months, this is the time to keep your immune system in top shape. For starters, it's well to know where the immune system actually is. It's in the blood, right? You know; all those killer T cells and the like.
 Wrong.
 There are many articles nowadays pointing out that 70% of the immune system is in the gut, and is directly related to gut flora - the "good" bacteria. It is the gut bacteria that prompt certain cells in the intestinal mucosa to create the Killer T's, along with immunoglobin A (IgA), and macrophages. They also counteract "bad" pathogens in other ways. This is the reason that you should not take antibiotics lightly. As you probably know, antibiotics have no effect on viral infections such as the cold and the flu. If you have recently had an course of antibiotics, it is absolutely essential to restore this intestinal flora system, perhaps by taking extra probiotics.
 If all this isn't enough, consider that gut bacteria are responsible for 90% of serotonin! That's right. Serotonin, THE "feel-good" neurotransmitter.
 The mucus membranes in the upper respiratory tract are also an important part of the immune system. It has been pointed out that it is not necessarily cold temperatures in winter that promote colds and the flu. It's the drying effect of indoor heat and closed windows. This dries up the mucus in the protective mucous membranes, and the cilia are not as effective in sweeping viruses out of the respiratory tract. The mucous membranes can even develop cracks, which further exposes your physicality to infection. In some homes it might be necessary to use a vaporizer or humidifier during some of the colder days.
 While we are talking about "Sweeping viruses out of the respiratory tract", here's a useful tip: If you sneeze, something's irritating your nasal passages. Stop what you're doing and go blow your nose! You want to immediately remove that irritant, just in case it might be something you don't want. If nothing else, this will help you stop sneezing.

So if you are tired of the endless colds, consider changing your diet. No, really, this will do it!:
Reduce the sweets. Try going without dessert for some meals. Make meat be the smallest portion of your plate instead of the biggest. Replace white bread with whole grain; replace white rice with brown or wild rice; try whole wheat or whole grain pasta. Substitute some sort of tea for the soft drinks. Eat some more vegetables and friuts. Blueberries are delicious along with breakfast, for example.

Yogurt. Consider taking some yogurt every day to increase your gut flora. Also consider more fiber. This also helps support your gut flora, by giving them something to eat. One easy way to get more fiber is to switch from refined grains to whole grains. Whole wheat or whole grain bread instead of white bread. Whole grain pasta instead of white pasta (you can start by mixing whole wheat pasta in with the white pasta until you get used to it.) Brown or wild rice in place of white rice.

Fish Oil. This will provide the "Omega 3 fatty acids". These will keep your cell walls more pliable and able to pass nutrients in and out of cells. They will also provide raw material with which you can produce your own anti-inflammatories as needed. This vastly reduces muscle soreness and headaches. I cover this also in my article on my article "Eliminating Muscle Pain". A link for this is on my home page.

Vitamin A. This vitamin is key to maintaining your "epithelial tissues". These are the fast-growing cells that are part of your skin and that line your mouth, nose, throat, lungs, and digestive tract. These are the "mucus membranes" mentioned above. In other words, Vitamin A will help you "secure the perimeter." You can increase your Vitamin A intake by eating fruits and vegetables containing lots of Beta Carotene (precursor to Vitamin A) - Broccoli, Cantelope, Carrots, Kale, Red Peppers, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin.

Vitamin C. While some have made a case for megadoses of Vitamin C, this has been found to be not Useful. However, Vitamin C does have preventative benefits, and many nutritionists today suggest that the RDA of 90 mg (adults) is just not enough. The suggestion is to bump that up to about 200-300 mg. You can do this by eating more Broccoli, Cantelope, Peppers - with increasing amounts in green (45 mg), red, orange, and yellow (290 mg) - and most citrus fruits.

More Prevention: an herbal that acts like an antiviral - Elderberry.

Consider Elderberry. Elderberry juice and syrup have been used for more than 2000 years for colds, flu, and coughs. Elderberry got a lot of press during the Coronavirus times, and indeed, it became somewhat scarce during 2020. It is actually a quite decent anti-viral, since its flavonoids interfere with the viral attachment spikes.  Prevention-wise, it is well to take Elderberry at the start of any cold/flu symptoms. This is in keeping with the ususal requirements of Medicine's big anti-viral guns like Tamiflu, Rapivab, Relenza and similar anti-viral compounds, in that they must be taken withing 48 hours of the initial symptoms.  I describe Elderberry extensively, along with references to various studies that have been conducted on it, in my 2020 article "Don't Just Incubate - Fight Back!" A link to this is on my home page (just select the "Back" button at the top of this page.)

Specific Suggestions for the Stages of the Cold Itself

Antihistamines and the initial runny nose/sneezing
 The cold will probably start with the initial highly runny nose/sneezing and the like. You may notice that the sneezing and/or episodes of "acute" runniness are both associated with a tickling sensation in the nose. You can temporarily stop this tickling with the nasal saline treatments described a few paragraphs below.
 By the way, all these events are caused by your Mast Cells reacting to the virus invaders. Mast Cells are leukocytes that settle in various places in your physical form, particularly in locations that are in contact with the external environment (skin, intestines, and airways). They produce histamines and other pro-inflammatory hormones when reacting to viruses or other toxins.
 This is where some extra Quercetin might help. This is a flavonoid found in onions, shallots, blueberries, strawberries, apples, grapes, and black or green tea. Also consider eating foods high in Vitamin A and C (described above). Vitamin A is supportive of the epithelial cells that contain the Mast cells. Vitamin C is said to assist in the activity of nutrients like Quercetin and Elderberry.

In any case, if you can manage to put up with all this drainage (and not take an OTC antihistamine), you might find that this phase of the cold will last only one or two days. When there is drainage and excessive nasal secretions, this usually means your immune system is expelling potential invaders (viruses) - a positive thing. On the other hand, sometimes the nasal runniness and the sneezing, like some other bodily processes, can get away from you. If the nasal saline treatments do not provide and hour or two of relief, it also might be time to shut it down with an antihistamine, particularly before going to bed.
 The two main OTC antihistamines are chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-Trimeton) and diphenhydramine (Benedryl), which has the significant side effect of making you very drowsy. NOTE: These two antihistamines are "First Generation". They interact with the nervous system to cause drowsiness. The "Second Generation" antihistamines do not have this drowsiness effect, if you prefer - or need - to remain alert. These newer compounds are loratadine (Alavert and Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec), and fexofenadine (Allegra).
 I suspect that it would NOT be well to mix the two types.
 If you do decide to take an OTC antihistamine toward the evening (and maybe one more during the night), be careful the next morning! If you start the morning blowing your nose constantly and/or sneezing, take another antihistamine! This should keep the excessive histamine response shut down.
 And be sure get the 4-hour dose, not the 12-hour extended release! I will explain why in the "Cough" section below.

Other Tips

On Not Interfering
 In general, the author prefers and recommends that the less you do to interfere with bodily processes by using OTC antihistamines and decongestants, the better. Your physicality knows what it is doing, even though you might not feel like it knows what it's doing! So try to content yourself with the saline treatments and herbal remedies, with the exception perhaps of a few doses of the antihistamines discussed above.
 Now you might think "Anything, including Medicine's Big Guns, is fair game on The Cough!!" May I suggest you read my updated section on The Cough below.

Warmer internal temperature as your ally:
 Likewise with the internal temperature. If you have a slightly elevated termperature, say 99 or 100, this can actually mean that your immune system is active in eliminating viruses. Recent research has shown that certain lymphocytes are more efficient at a slightly elevated temperature. Thus, unless you are in significant discomfort, try to avoid taking aspirin or acetaminophin, since these act to reduce fever. NOTE: we are talking about slightly elevated temps here! Higher temperatures possibly warrant a call to the doc.

Drink lots of warm water as well as various teas.
 All this acts like a natural expectorant, and helps keep the internal temperature up. Drinking lots of cold water tends to make you chilled. Warm water might sound disgusting, but you get used to it. Try not to let it, or the teas, be too hot. The throat is highly irritated and too much heat may irritate it further. Think your drink is "warm", not hot? Try pouring a few drops on your palm, not your fingers - they're too used to heat.

Make your immune system "Locked and Loaded":
 This is the time to arm your immune system with the best foods and drinks you can find. Some folks can't eat much when they're down with a cold, but if you can, make it count. Lots of vegetables. Maybe a little extra powdered Greens mixes. Fix some nourishing soups, generally with clear broth, and yes, chicken soup does seem to help - perhaps even providing a bit of drying/decongesting effect. In any case, this is NOT the time for cokes, other soft drinks, and junk food! Your immune system will then be shooting blanks!

Saline solutions and "snorting salt"
 You can't go wrong by gargling as often as possible with warm saline, and ocasionally "snorting" some to clear out the nose. Just put a bit of salt in your cupped hand, stir a bit, fill it with warm water, and breathe it gently up your nostrils. Then expel it from your nostrils. This may take some getting used to! Your first attempt may make you feel like you did when you were a kid and accidently breathed in some swimming pool water. But once you are used to it, you will find that this procedure is excellent for all stages of a cold, and even for other times when your nose is partially stopped up, as for instance when you have been outside in dusty conditions, or after driving some distance on a busy smoggy freeway. Neti pot salt is fine-grained, as is Hain's large container. Thus it dissolves more easily. But the big container of Morton's Sea Salt works fine too.
 This is a "biggie"! Snorting salt up the nose can act as an antihistamine because it removes the irritating substances from the nose. It can also act as a decongestant and open up the airways. In both cases, the effects can last up to an hour or more, even longer during the latter stages of a cold. I recently managed a 3 day cold using this method (along with the Elderberry).
 Indeed, by the second or the third evening of the cold, you will likely begin to switch from excessive runniness to congestion. Take note of your condition. If you feel congestion, with airways partially closed up, even though there might still be dripping, it might be well to tough it out and just use the nasal saline treatment. Taking an antihistamine when you begin to be congested might make the congestion worse.

Dry room?
 If your room is dry, a portable humidifier/vaporizer significantly helps. Don't have a vaporizer? Then hang a damp towel over a portable clothes rack and place next to your bed.

The Cough
(Complete re-write, 10/23/2024)
 If you're like me, the ending phase of a cold/flu (or even the Coronavirus) might be a protracted cough. Some coughing is productive and allows for the removal of cellular debris and excess mucus. But somewhere toward the end is the dry, utterly useless, unproductive cough. The one for which you don't dare go out to a store without a bottle of water. The one which keeps you from going to sleep for several hours each night.
 I have found over the years that drinking warm water - almost constantly - is the most effective in suppressing the cough without reaching for medicine's Big Guns, which work but invariably leave me feeling queasy and or otherwise awful.

Nonetheless here's a short run-down on Medical Science's best OTC cough suppressant.
 The usual choice is one of the compunds that have dextromethorphan HBR, such as Robitussin This product has Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant) and Guainefenesin (an expectorant). I suggest you buy the "standard" strength with 200 mg of guainefenesin instead of the extra strength with 400 mg of guainefenesin. This should help eliminate the nausea and other queasy effects that are likely due to the guainefenesin. Note that both strengths have 20 mg of the dextromethorphan - the cough suppressant.
 Using this compound for the first time? Try a half dose - 10 ml. Then you won't feel so uncomfortable if the compound goes against you.
 Another similar product is Delsym.

Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide (HBr) vs Destromethorphan Polistirex:
 Dextromethorphan HBr is the standard OTC cough suppressant, and can be quite effective. Note that the "12 hour" Delsym or Robitussin products are Dextromethorphan polistirex. Polistirex is an "edible plastic". It is gradually broken down by digestive enzymes to provide the extended effect. Apparently, polistirex is commonly used to provide an extended release. Nicotine gum, for example, is nicotine polistirex. Thus, dextromethorphan HBr is the actual cough suppressant. THIS is the Dextromethorphan that you want.
 4 hour vs "Time Release" 12-hour:
 The standard Robitussin with the Dextromethorphan HBr is available in 4-hour period doses. For any of these types of compounds, the 4-hour version is MUCH PREFERRED over the extended time release version. This applies to antihistamines as well as cough suppressants. If you find that one dose does not appear to be working, you can freshen it up with another dose after 4 hours (maybe 3 if you really need it.) But if you have taken the 12 hour time release, you're stuck!
 And don't shoot all your big guns until just before you are ready to go to bed for the night! Try to wait until about 30 minutes before retiring to take a dose. You'll be out of ammo otherwise, and have to go to bed defenseless. . .

So here's "Jimmie's tried-and-true method" of dealing with (i.e., surviving) an "extended release" cough episode. (They're ALL extended release!)
 I have found over the years that drinking warm water - almost constantly - is the most effective. You heat some water just more than tepid but not nearly as much as if you were making a tea. You can also drink teas, but warm water seems to be the least irritating. By drinking all this warm water, you convert the cough. By "convert" I mean that you are replacing the cough with just a productive clearing of the throat. Any time you can succeed in this, the cough stops.
 So, in essence, you have to keep the cough "converted". You want to be clearing your throat, perhaps almost constantly. If you haven't had enough warm liquid, the mucus becomes "stuck" in the throat, prompting a cough. Drinking a high amount of warm liquid acts as a mucus -thinning expectorant, even if the mucus seems to remain somewhat thick.
 When you go to bed the first night of a rough cough, you might find that propping yourself to almost a sitting position might be necessary. Otherwise it is well to sleep on your side rather than your back.
 Some throat and cough lozenges will definitely help. I find the Ricola Max "Throat Care" lozenges to be soothing, and their menthol seems to provide a temporary numbing effect. But see the "Useful Cough Drops" section below for some other options.
 No pepper on food. No dry crackers. No chocolate (or drink the warm water with it). Alas, no wine. It is just too irritating. The throat and esophagal area is simply too tender and sensitive. Thus, just about anything irritates this area. Gargling with warm salt water is helpful as well. Snorting some salt up the nose (or using a neti pot) is also helpful; it temporarily reduces any dripping that may be going on, It also relieves congestion and temporarily opens up the airways.
 Do you chew Nicotine gum? Nicotine gum is irritating. I'll have to admit that starting a piece even when I am "normal" often makes me cough just a bit. So reduce the intake. (Ideally it would be better to stop, at least initially.) If you chew two in the morning and two in the afternoon, chew one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Also, chew each piece only briefly, not the usual 30 minutes or so. Try to avoid the after dinner piece. You will likely have a much better time when you go to bed.

So, the drill just before going to bed:
 No wine. If you want something, a beer doesn't seem to bother the throat. No nic. Drink warm water and bring an insulated flask to keep by you during the night. Gargle with warm salt water. Take one of the Ricola. Try propping yourself into an almost sitting position during the first "acute" phase of the cough. Otherwise try sleeping on your side (use 2 pillows).
 During the night. You probably will wake up coughing a couple of times. Let another throat lozenge dissolve in your mouth. Gargle with salt water. Take a slug of the warm water.
 If you cave, and feel you need some assistance from the OTC cough suppressant, try taking half a dose. The Robitussin regular dose is 20 ml - it has a little cup to use. Try 10 ml. If you wake up in a few hours later, take another 10 ml along with possibly another lozenge and some warm water. But, as discussed below, there is a Cepacol combo lozenge that has 5 mg of the dextromethorphan that you might try instead of the Robitussin or Delsym.
 Nonetheless, it is my feeling that you can make it using just the throat lozenge/salt gargle/warm water combo that I have just described.

Useful cough drops.  The Ricola throat Care lozenges were priceless in helping me endure the cough episode without using medicine's Big Guns. They have a liquid center containing a burst of menthol and honey/lemon. The menthol has a partial numbing effect. Cepacol and Chloraseptic I discovered these three on the right while writing this article. I have not tried them but "in theory" they should be remarkably effective, since they all contain benzocaine - a local anesthetic - in addition to menthol. The product on the right is even more intriguing because it also has dextromethorphan HBR, by itself (no guainefenesin).  These cough lozenges might be online only. I found none in the stores in my area. So buy in advance.

The Final Stages

Towards the end, you have the toxin-clearing time. The lungs are being purged. There may be a return to a "productive" cough as the the final toxins are expelled. Also, these toxin clearing times might be associated with temporarily more powerful dripping, more dry cough, and the like. There may be more discomfort, more soreness; you might awake with a headache. All this is caused by the toxins and cellular debris being moved about for disposal. This is another time for drinking lots of liquids, to help in the expulsion of the toxins.

When you awake, the throat may be dry. Drink enough warm water to cause expectoration, to "convert" the cough. Also you might need to do this if you wake up during the night. Also gargle with salt water when you wake up during the night. Sometimes it's not easy when you in the midst of coughing, but try to gargle anyway. The cough suppressants may not be as useful for this cough.

And don't get discouraged if you feel fine (or relatively fine) during the day, only to find that it goes all to heck in the evening. This is normal; inflammation peaks toward the end of the day. There may even be a sudden short episode (at any time of the day) of drippiness, sneezing, and other experiences that are exactly like those when the cold started! These, too, are normal and will pass.

All this business about the apparent rebound of the toxins has an interesting parallel. People who start the "Elimination Diet" (eliminating all six common food sensitivity groups - dairy, eggs, nuts, etc) sometimes experience a worsening of their symptoms somewhere beteeen the second to the seventh day of this diet. One author describes it thus: "As you clear your physical form of the toxins, they flare up." So there may be some of that paradox going on.

Oh, and finally, what is perhaps the most common scenario of all is overconfidence after an "instant cure" recovery! You may - especially if you follow a very good diet - have a very good immune response and find yourself feeling great on the first or second day after the initial episodes. So you take that long hike with your visiting kids or you work on a home project and chewed your regular amount of nicotine gum (not noticing that you coughed all the while chewing it).
 Then BAM! That evening or the next day you "relapsed" and had a coughing fit when you tried to go to bed.
 You MUST avoid all irritants while you are nearing the end of the cough gauntlet. When I took that hike I had forgotten that it had been a dry period during the early fall, and there was lots of pollen in the air. Somewhere in the past, I visited a doctor about a persistent cold, and she asked me "You don't by chance to have a cat that sleeps on your bed, do you?" From this I inferred that when the immune system is down, allergens can more easily keep the cold symptoms under way.

One additional note: If you have indeed broken down and have been using one of the cough suppressants, don't just stop suddenly, but taper off the extra compounds.
 Why? Because your physicality has temporarily learned to depend on them! If you stop supplementation abruptly, there's a bit of a risk of a rebound. So for example, if you have been taking three of the Zinc/Elderberry lozenges a day, take 2 lozenges for a couple of days, then 1 lozenge for a couple more.

And one more note: If the nasal mucus seems unusually thick, you might be tempted to think you might have a sinus infection. If so, try some "Garlinase 5000" or similar concentrated garlic (as "insurance, just in case"). Take with meals three times daily for 2 or 3 days. Taper off to twice a day and then once a day. Garlic is a potent antibacterial. In my view, this would be "preferred" to going to get a prescription for an antibiotic, since it won't rob you of all your gut bacteria and leave you with somewhat compromised immunity.
 Treat this as a suggestion only. Don't hesitate to obtain a prescription antibiotic, particularly if your sinuses hurt. You certainly are the best judge of your propensity to get sinus infections.