Well products like ZiCam should be called ZiScam. They do nothing to prevent, or reduce the symptoms of a cold. If your cold lasts a few days, it was because it was a mild virus and your body was able to fight it off effectively.

Products like these are not FDA approved, are purely therapeutic only and have no real evidence to back up the claim. If you use ZiCam you are probably flushing the cold virus from your nasal passages which in that case spend a $1.00 and buy some saline nasal spray which you can use as much as you like and as often as you like with ZERO side effects or chance of addiction

Also zinc lozenges are absolutely useless because the virus is not in your throat.

The best defense against a virus is vigorous and repeated handwashing and using a ALCOHOL based hand sanitizer if water and soap is not available. Also the baby butt wipes with alcohol are also really good for getting grime off of hands. Now there is a belief that hand sanitizers can cause germs to build up a resistance, but germs cannot build a resistance to a ALCOHOL based hand sanitizer.

 

Zinc is supposed to be good for fighting off colds. I have met some who swear by it. I have been told that if you start taking zinc with the first signs of a cold that it will help your body to fight it off.

 

I am not one to fall for product marketing claims. What works for one person, may not work for another, or even be healthy for another. You need to know for yourself what you can use, and find what does work. Everyone has their own health considerations. READ the ingredients, and pay attention to the directions. I mentioned just a couple of MY favorite products. What you choose to take is YOUR decision.

As far as Zicam Cold & Flu... :roll: ...I choose it for these active ingredients and I like the soothing hot water beverage method of application;

Acetaminophen (pain reliever/fever reducer): 650.0mg. Chlorpheniramine maleate (antihistamine): 4.0mg.
Dextromethorphan HBr (cough suppressant): 20.0mg. Phenylephrine HCl (nasal decongestant): 10.0mg.

I also like TheraFlu in place of Zicam at times, and I won't explain why any further. I also like to use Afrin, if I have major sinus congestion. I don't always have cold or flu symptoms, as many of us from Northern Michigan have developed sinus problems. Afrin can only be used 2-3 sprays in each nostril no more than once in 12 hrs. and twice in 24 hrs. But you know what... baby it WORKS for ME, and I give a rats ass if it is right for you.
You need to look at the ingredients, and know if you can or cannot use them, in your own particular health considerations.

As far as FDA approval... I'd be just as happy if they outlawed everything not approved by the FDA. Then we'd have just a few simple choices to make. Forget OTC medications. There are 65 million PRESCRIPTIONS handed out by DOCTORS every year not approved by the FDA.

When I am congested... I just happen to like antihistamines. When I am achy or have a fever, and headaches, I like pain relievers. Call me old fashion...but I like drugs like that. It helps me through my recovery. I never claimed anything I do or take will prevent a cold virus from infecting me. Once I am infected, I have to do a lot more than take a pain reliever, or an antihistamine to battle the virus. Those remedies... home remedies or OTC medications will relieve the symptoms and allow me to feel better. That is all they are for. They do not prevent infection, or cure the infection. I already made the widely accepted claim, "there is no cure for the common cold."

 

I transposed this comment and make it TiTs Tips to which Creek pointed out to me that is nipples. Just thought I would give this tid bit when typing be careful.

 

Thought I would post an interesting fact about colds.

There are about 2500 various strains of the cold. Once you get on particular strain you will never get that cold again even if someone has it and you kiss them. The older you get, the less colds you get because you have had most of them already. That's why your parents say, look at me, you don't see me ever getting a cold because you need to take better care of yourself. That's because they have already had 2499 strains of the cold already.

They could make a shot that contained all 2500 variations of the cold but it would kill you.

It takes anywhere from 3 to 7 days from when you have contact with another person before you show symptoms of the cold so don't come into work the next day and blame someone.

You only have to be within 15 feet of someone who sneezed a minute ago and is now gone for you to get the cold. The particles float around in the air for a while.

If every person in the world including babies locked themselves in a room alone for 2 weeks without any contact with another human being, the common cold would be wiped from the face of there earth.

Certain tribes in Africa and other countries never had a single cold until an outsider from the U.S. or another country went and visited them!

You can only get a cold from another person....PERIOD.

You can't catch a cold from being outside without enough clothes on.

Some colds that you get only last a few hours. Some can be so serious that you are incapacitated for days!!!

Elderly people can die easily from colds because they are not strong enough to cough up the mucus in their lungs and it turns deadly. One of the best things you can eat when having a cold is REALLY REALLY hot and spicy food. It breaks up every thing in your lungs and passage ways.

Swallowing gum will stick to your ribs too!!! lol

 

stress can lower your immune system and make it harder to fight a cold. often times the people that don't get sick tend to be the same people that eat right exercise and learn healthy ways to relieve stress.