Flu And Cold

Two nasty Virus-es.

once you have kids you get extra paranoid about getting sick, because (a) they're always passing along stuff, and (b) you're already sleep- and time-deprived.

Flu (The Flu):

• if you have kids, get them a Flu Vaccine/Flu Shot
• get yourself (and spouse) a Flu Vaccine
• there are other prescription drugs (neuraminidase inhibitors) for preventing or shortening the flu - you typically try to get these if someone in your family gets the flu, or in the first 2 days of having symptoms yourself
  • http://www.flumist.com
  • Relenza http://www.medinfo.co.uk/topics/relenza.html
  • Tamiflu http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginfo/tamiflu.htm

Colds (Common Cold, URI) (sometimes hard to distinguish from a Sinus Infection):

• Guaifenex loosens mucus, helping you unclog your throat. If you take normal multi-ingredient cough syrup, you get around 200mg of this. If you take the max dose of guaifenex-only cough syrup, you get around 400mg. If you take 2 capsules, you get 1200mg.
  • but it sounds rather scary
  • over-the-counter Mucinex
• real Sudafed (pseudoephedrine, not "PE" phenylephrine) - which these days requires getting it from behind the pharmacy counter
  • Jan'2011 - and might end up prescription-only?!?!? (War On Drugs)
• Gatorade, baby.
• see http://tantek.pbwiki.com/HowToKickColds - HowToKickColds