What do you do for Colds?

Pilotforhire587

Pilotforhire587

Lycra Man
Day one of a 4 day, you feel a cold coming on, Nothing bad enough to stop up your head and make it hurt to fly but just annoying drainage and a soar throat. What do you do to knock it out before it begins when you are on the road?
 
Buy some Vitamin C at CVS, 500mg or 1000mg capsules. Take a few every day even if you aren't sick. The ingredients in all those off the shelf cold stoppers are almost exclusively Vitamin C.

Once you start to get sick, there isn't much you can do to prevent it, taking more Vitamin C (4 grams or so a day) with food might help but you're still gonna get sick. Prevention is more important.
 
MoMatt said:
Emergen-C and echinacea. And lots of fluid.
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This stuff works for me! I take two a day for a couple days and it speeds up the recovery. It's also a good preventative, I take one any day I get in an airliner.


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- Pardon the brevity, I'm using a handheld.
 
How often are you guys getting these minor cold symptoms annually? The reason I ask is, until this post, I totally forgot about how often I'd get a sore throat at the regionals (4-5 times a year). Haven't run into the same issue at my new job, despite some occasional long days. Must be the chronic fatigue you guys get hit with (if you were like me and got mildly sick frequently).
 
I like the way Dr. Forred put it.

5 to 7 days without treatment. About a week with.

Or something like that, I can't remember! :)
 
C150J said:
How often are you guys getting these minor cold symptoms annually? The reason I ask is, until this post, I totally forgot about how often I'd get a sore throat at the regionals (4-5 times a year). Haven't run into the same issue at my new job, despite some occasional long days. Must be the chronic fatigue you guys get hit with (if you were like me and got mildly sick frequently).
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That depends on how much I'm sleeping, how screwed up my body clock is, how unlucky I am, how often my wife is sick, how often my coworkers fly sick, etc.

During my first year I had 5 full flown sinus infections.

Since coming back I've had two colds.

When I wasn't flying I got sick about once a year.
 
Sinus rinses are helpful, and when you feel that initial sore-throat feeling gargle some salt water (often). It'll really help.
 
C150J said:
How often are you guys getting these minor cold symptoms annually? The reason I ask is, until this post, I totally forgot about how often I'd get a sore throat at the regionals (4-5 times a year). Haven't run into the same issue at my new job, despite some occasional long days. Must be the chronic fatigue you guys get hit with (if you were like me and got mildly sick frequently).
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Keep in mind too, at the regionals you were sharing the air with 50 potentially sick people in the back. Now you've only got a few people to share the air with each leg.

And yes, I'd bet it is related to chronic fatigue as well. I'm actually out sick as I write this. I did a two day that ended yesterday despite having a stuffed up head and some sneezing but called in sick today because it was just getting worse and there is no reason to try to fly like that. It's not fair to me and it's sure as hell not fair to the guy next to me who has to deal with it and worry he is going to catch the cold as well from me sneezing all over the place.
 
BobDDuck said:
Keep in mind too, at the regionals you were sharing the air with 50 potentially sick people in the back. Now you've only got a few people to share the air with each leg.

And yes, I'd bet it is related to chronic fatigue as well. I'm actually out sick as I write this. I did a two day that ended yesterday despite having a stuffed up head and some sneezing but called in sick today because it was just getting worse and there is no reason to try to fly like that. It's not fair to me and it's sure as hell not fair to the guy next to me who has to deal with it and worry he is going to catch the cold as well from me sneezing all over the place.
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It definitely has to do with the number of passengers, you're right. Combine 50 sleep-deprived folks (who have a low immune response from traveling) with a hard schedule and it's a recipe for sickness.
 
I don't think the number of passengers has a whole lot to do with it. Big thing is just watch where you put your hands. Don't go putting your hands on public surfaces and then go mining for gold in your nose, or touch your eyes. Simple things like that can really cut down on your number of colds. Fatigue and sleep schedule I'm sure doesn't help, but I haven't been sick at this job yet (knock on wood), and we do some of the worst schedules of any industry segment.

Oh, and I get a flu shot. :)
 
For cold symptoms:
1 big bowl of bran cereal, 12oz glass of orange juice, 12 oz glass of prune juice, and a Cheesey-Beefy Melt from Taco Bell, with extra green chile sauce.






It won't cure your cold but you won't dare sneeze either
 
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