Try Echinacae. It boosts your immune system and it is over the counter from Walmart or the grocery store.

I have chronic bronchitis, COPD, and all those awful things that happen to people who smoke.
Last December, I was going down for the count again, and I went and bought ZICAM ...
The swabs are good for opening your sinuses, and they have quick melt tablets that so helped that night time coughing that is irritating and costs us sleep.
ZICAM also has cough drops that I haven't tried, since I can't stand cherry, but maybe next time <g> ...
It is now February, and I should be going down again, and I still might, but I am loaded up with ZICAM ... someone told me that it is zinc and calcium ... ZINC is absolutely a cold buster. <wave>

no cold for 2 years. took the seasonal flu shot in October and have had very bads colds in December, January and now February. No flu shot next year!!

Please be careful with Zicam. There is a lawsuit out because of it. My sister lost her sense of smell from using it & taste for some things because of Ziacam. Doctor told her that is what caused it. Just a word of warning.

If you go to Snopes.com, you will see that the lawsuit is a small part of the ZICAM story. As I noted, there are more than just nasal swabs as forms of getting the minerals and vitamins into your system. I happen to be one that can use the swabs, and since recommending this to many people, none of them have had a bad reaction. As far as losing sense of smell and taste because of ZICAM, the article at Snopes.com points out that many people lose those senses as a side effect of having a cold.
At one point, ZICAM pulled their swabs, but they are now back on the market, so the "lawsuit" has no merit, or the company was able to disprove the point. <wave>

I have had a cold for the past couple of days I find that Suphedrine PE (sinus & allergy) has been a great help.

Hope you feel better soon

speaking of which! SInce I developed asthma about fifteen years ago, and an allergy to PINE pollen (pretty sad for a girl born and raised in the Pacific Northwest) ... I wonder how many "colds" are really allergies? ... I thought at the time that you had to be born with asthma to have the problem, but apparently not! And, I shouldn't have been surprised that I would develop allergies later in life, when I had a brother born with allergies and my mother had suffered from allergies off and on all her life ... did I miss my point?
That sometimes, our "colds" are not colds, but allergies, and when we don't move to stop the histamines from building up, then we get infections ... (not a DR, but I play one from time to time <g> ... but, just sort of thinking ... food for thought)

I have had a cold for the last two weeks and it's finally going away.

The Neti pots, squeeze bottle and saline solution are all part of the same thing. This process works wonders! You fill up the Neti pot or the squeeze bottle with warm water, put in the granulated saline and pour/squeeze into one nostril letting it fall out the other. It is amazing how much "stuff" you get out by doing this process. My doctor says you can use it as many times as you want to.

Seems this is the winter for colds! Hope everyone is feeling better soon. :D

You poor little thing, so sorry you are feeling bad. I know lots of people feeling the same way. My dad being one of them. It must be a bad cold virus this year. My sister swears by rubbing Vick's Vapor Rub on the bottom of your feet. It is supposed to really help your symptoms. Wear socks though!!! If you try it let us know if it helps you and I sure hope it does. Don't forget the chicken soup and lots of rest. Lots of hugs from Tennessee.

A few years ago, they said that the reason the chicken soup helps so much is because of the garlic in it. Not only that, but the soup, with its salt and broth are great system builders, while being mild on the digestive process. I didn't read the recipe back at the first of this thread, but if it has ginger, a bit of horseradish, and I saw some Indian food ingredients ... all perfectly natural things that will help your immune system, no doubt! And, did anyone mention that honey is an antiseptic for your throat, which is why a couple spoonfuls of honey, followed by lemon juice does such wonders for helping someone with a sore throat. I think the lemon cuts the phlegm that so often comes with colds.
I think it is just wonderful the way everyone has come forward with all these natural, simple aids to help you heal up from your cold.
Another thing my hubby taught me when we were first married is: Get a bottle of Eucalyptus (sp?) oil. Put a few drops on a handkerchief, and hold it over your nose, it helps promote drainage and clears airwaves - - interestingly enough -- the oil is a primary ingredient in Vicks. *** edit: it doesn't clear the airwaves (not even Vicks will tame Howard Stern!) but it will clear your AIR PASSAGES. <g>
Mother also used melted Vicks on a cotton swab for the earaches we developed during the mumps. INSTANT relief!
I have decided that the reason you want to stay really covered up when you are using Vicks is because it opens up all your pores, which is good for allowing the bad stuff out of our systems, but not so good for allowing our systems to be susceptible to cold weather.
Didn't the Indians use a sweat bath to get rid of toxins in their systems when they were sick? I think the Vicks is a different method of the same issue ...
And, lots of fluids ... clear (if nothing else <g> you can DROWN the bad germs! LOL) <wave>