Preventing a cold while flying....help.
 

I am sitting home with a nasty cold...again... after returning home a few days ago from flying. I usually do not get sick but for some reason I nearly always catch a cold when I fly.

I have tried taking zinc for days as a preventative before flying... did not work ....washing hands, staying away from the airplane pillows...still doesn't work. I am beginning to regret going anywhere because I always get sick.... any hints.

Thanks.

There was a thread like this just recently that had a lot of good suggestions. You might want to try and search for it.

Otherwise, wash your hands often, and use eye drops and nasal spray to keep from drying out preventing the need to rub those areas and introduce germs. I was also just on a flight where all the FAs had those air purifier things that places such as Sharper Image and Brookstone sell. I overheard a passenger ask one how well they worked and the FA said it appeared to dramatically reduce the number of colds he got after flying. (Perhaps this had a placebo effect on this FA. There's a thread now on these things where the concensus is that these couldn't possibly work. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385197 )

My favorite remedy is lots of OJ.

Best tip - learned here on another thread:
Carry your own pen and use it. Ever realize how often you are asked to sign stuff - credit card receipts and car rental agreements, etc.... I'm sure if they tested the pens most are nasty.

My father who had a heart transplant 2 years ago carries antibacterial wet naps with him - individually wrapped.

cejkwj

In addition to all of the above-listed tips, water, water, and more water. Drink lots of water before and during your flight, and avoid diuretics, such as caffeine, sugary drinks, and alcohol. Get a good night's rest before your flight. Take a multivitamin.

If you're not afraid of OTC medicine try Zicam when you fly / travel even just to ward off illnesses. They make a nasal moisturizer and a nasal cold / flu spray. Supposedly it mimics the nasal cell and allows it to bind and plug the virus from attaching and stopping it from replicating and entering your body. Majority of the folks who try it swear by it and I gotta say it does seem to work.

Next step up is an antibiotic prescribed by your doc to take while flying, which I don't advise but have used and it works for me so I do pack them but try not to use them. I don't advise it as you will build up a resistence to the antibiotic over time and it won't work anymore, resulting in that you'll probably get sicker later on in life. But if you get sick and have to fly for your living and have no choice, well then you gotta do what you gotta do.

Stay warm, drink fluids, and pack a lot of hand sanitizers gel's or such....

Get better, stinks being ill during the holidays.

No. Don't take OJ and this will alleviate mucus in your system! Yes you should take lots of Vitamin C... one of the best is apple juice or cranberry mix.

I always take anti-oxidants in capsules form or take lots of anti-oxidants rich food a day or two before I travel. Or at least have a constant diet of anti-oxidant rich foods like carrots, green vegetables, apples.. to name a few. If I take the capsules... I take 1 before the flight, and if it's a long flight, 1 more about halfway through.. and 1 upon landing.

Yes.. carrying individual antibacterial wet-naps will help. I always get strange looks when I board and wipe down the headrests and armrests of my seat (even in F class) before I sit down. But you know what? The wipes always come out BLACKISH.... so you can imagine the kind of germs lingering there before.

I also take homeopathic remedies which help alleviate jet-lag, and other nasties associated with time zone travels. I won't go into it right now.. but I hardly get jet lag. So it works...

Check out with your local health food stores for the above..

Good luck

The only things that cures a cold is sleep and rest. The thing that helps you sleep best with a cold is Nyquil. I always have a bottle in my travel bag. If I catch a hint of a cold, I knock myself out for 8-12 hours and I'm fine after that.

It's also well worth carrying a paracetamol based cold remedy. I find that if I start taking these at the first sign of a sore throat then while I still get the cold the symptoms are not so bad.

Incidentally, a colleague of mine eats oranges like his life depends on it at this time of the year. He very rarely catches a cold and when he does it isn't that bad for him.

nasal moisturizer
 

I've read that keeping the nostril passages moist so that germs don't "stick" there is a good idea. So a moisturizer or ointment or cream or vaseline or ... might be useful.

Sylvia

Wash your hands, wash your hand, and then wash your hands again.

When I am traveling, it is not uncommon at all for me to wash my hands (with soap) 8-10 times a day. I rarely get sick while traveling.

OJ has much toooooooo much sugar.

Go to any health food/vitamin shop and buy a box of Emer'gen-C.

These are packets of powered Vitamin C with many other minerals. I take one packet several times a day throughout the year. You add the powder to any liquid and it fizzes and tastes soooooooooo good. They come in many flavors. These keep your immune system strong.

They are so easy to throw in your suitcase and enjoy throughtout ur holiday.

I swear by liquid echinacea with goldenseal. I know many studies say it doesn't do anything, but for me, when I start to feel a tickle in my throat, a few doses of echinacea every two-three hours seems to do the trick.

FDuvall

seems like someone's got obsessive-compulsive disorder! :D

i think the above suggestions work -- but maybe not for you. try some of the suggestions above and see which ones work, that's the only way i have found out which medications and/or remedies help me. ;)

Actually Consumer Reports Magazine, which is generally fairly skeptical about claims, stated in a recent issue that studies indicate echinacea works just as you are suggesting to reduce the severity of a cold if you take as soon you feel the early symptoms. We are now carrying it with us.

Remember that Zinc won't prevent colds, but may reduce the duration of symptoms:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010215/tips/7.html

I read that the form of zinc is important. I looked around and found that Rite-Aid brand zinc lozenges have zinc acetate.

I'm going to give Echinacea a try as well.

I agree the most with stimpy regarding the benefits of sleep. Stress and the lack of sleep suppress the immune system. I stop reading the newspaper and focus on mindless TV shows in between long periods of sleeping and napping when I have a cold!