What helps you when ill? Need some tips!

Fevers are your body fighting the infection so unless it gets too high you should just let it do it's thing. Keeping the fever will shorten the duration of a mild or moderate illness. If your fever gets up to 102-103f or ~39c take medicine to reduce it, if it hits 105f or 40c then you are in danger of cooking you brain and should go to the ER. Stay well hydrated, getting some electrolytes is a good idea if you are sweating more than usual or vomiting. Eat regularly, your body is using extra calories to fight the infection so even if you activity level is lower you need the same or a little more calories than normal. The more balanced your diet the better. Have something to do. Don't just focus on the illness and lay around getting bored, do some light housework, engage is a light hobby, catch up on some TV or movies, replay an old favorite video game. Anything to keep your mind engaged and to make the time pass faster.

Chicken soup (placebo yes but works for me)

Ibuprofen

Water + rest. Take off work!

Your body is fighting hard

Soup always makes me feel better. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just something hot and healthy and tasty. And a piece of bread to mop up afterwards.

Mostly, I sleep. When I'm not sleeping, I play relaxing video games or watch older TV shows/movies. So it's like Stardew Valley and Better Off Ted/Airplane all day.

And, of course, chicken soup or your regional equivalent sick people food.

I like to cook a spice tea with cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and black pepper (cook it all for 10 minutes), and then add some fresh orange juice and honey. Goes well with deliriously binge-watching a series from my "to do" list.

A hot, spicy, citrus-laden soup loaded down with potatoes, chayote, spinach, onions, cilantro, and a protein source of your choice. Flavor with stock. Broccoli and/or carrots added in late in the cooking to preserve their crunch.

The psychological effects of a hearty meal and the nutritional benefits are great. Make it in a big enough pot and you can keep coming back to it over 2 days, leaving you free from cooking and limiting additional dishes to mess with while sick.

Spend that time practicing self-care instead. The mental boost is considerable and lessens the awful feeling of being sick.

Also, make sure to take in sunlight, but also spend some time cozy in a dark setting. Falling into a hard habit can adversely affect your mood.

Don’t neglect grooming. A hot shower and a clean, head of hair/scalp is something people may take for granted, but I’ve had to go days without a shower sometimes and the feeling of a freshly washed head is revitalizing.

I got people calling it "the undead-turning lamen":

Get some chicken (thighs? breast? whatever, include the bones but take them afterwards). Dice it, season with ginger, red pepper, black pepper, brown sugar. Brown it in a pot large enough to make some soup out of it. Then add wasabi, vinegar, minced garlic, soy sauce and water or chicken stock, fix the seasoning as necessary. (It's fine to add a bit of salt to avoid making it too soy saucy.) Then add sliced cabbage, carrot, onion, leek, whatever you have in your fridge (see note on order), plus instant noodles (no packet seasoning). Let it cook all together and serve it.

It won't cure your cold or flu. But it's comforting, and nutritive. Make it spicy, but not uncomfortably so. If you're struggling to chew it's fine to just sip the liquid itself, as plenty nutrients from the vegs will leak into it.

NOTE: vegs and noodles take different cooking times, so plan accordingly. If using the ones that I've listed I'd probably add the carrots and cabbage, wait a bit, then onion and leek, wait a bit more, then the lamen. I usually go by texture but I guess five minutes between steps is reasonable?

It is important to drink enough. If your nose is swollen and shut, xylometazoline does handle that. Paracetamol (1000 mg for adults) or Ibuprofene (400 mg for adults) will help against pain and fever.

If it's not too hot outside, sunshine. It helps get rid of that icky, germy feeling of being cooped up inside and the vitamin D doesn't hurt either.

Vitamin C , lots of water. Rest and real non processed food such fresh fruit and vegetables. I also avoid carb heavy meals when unwell to give my system a break. I still eat some carbs but just keep it light.

Drink a lot. I personally always like tea brewed with a few thin slices of ginger. It’s refreshing and makes me feel better.

If you can stand it and the temperature isn't life threatening, let the fever go without fever reducers. It may shorten the duration of your convelesece.

I agree with what everyone else is saying. Keep your electrolytes up, eat healthy foods, eggs, liver, if you can. Stay hydrated. Rest. And sleep.

In addition to what people have advised so far, I can't stress enough how important rest, and especially sleep is when you're ill. Whenever I've fallen ill with a cold, flu, cough, etc., I find that if I try to fight it and go about the day as normal, the illness lasts much longer. If I try to sleep it off, I get better a lot faster. If you can, and especially on the first day, don't go to work, don't run errands, and especially don't go to the gym/exercise. Good luck!

I sit on the couch with a comfy blanket, a giant thing of water nearby, and play video games. Usually some Zelda game, but always something gentle where it doesn't matter if I fall asleep while playing.

Also, I have some form of chicken soup (see my other reply for a delicious recipe)

“There’s been a rumor that – you know, a very nice rumor – that you go outside in the sun or you have heat and it does have an effect on other viruses,”

"I'm going to speak to the medical doctors to see if there’s any way that you can apply light and heat to cure, you know, if you could."

Standing in the shower can provide temporary relief.

If you've been ill for just a few days and it's available to you, get a COVID-19 test and seek Paxlovid. The new variants are about so many are sick with it and Paxlovid is effective at reducing illness severity. Same is true of Tamiflu for the flu but it's likely to be COVID-19 at this time.

Spicy food.

This helps circulate the sinuses and keeps them ventilated. Doing so prevents infection and overall makes the experience more bearable.

Last time I was down with the Plague™, I was in bed, chugging jugs of thyme tea (helps a lot with wet cough), and taking ibuprofen/pseudoephedrine for the fever and stuffy nose. Also I watched the entire history of the Earth documentary series while sorting out my mystery embroidery floss. That helped a lot to keep me busy. Sleeping is good but I feel like I lose track of time and that triggers my depression. But I usually recommend it a lot to my patients.

Just as a note, if you're not sure if you have COVID or not, avoid ibuprofen as it can make some COVID symptoms worse

Good luck!

Sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade help me a lot when I can't stomach any food. It gets my blood sugar up makes me feel a lot less crappy.

Depends on your symptoms.

• Paracetamol for a general feeling of malaise
• Ibuprofen for fever and muscle and joint aches
• A decongestant like pseudoephedrine if your nose is clogged up, but not the "alternative" phenylephrine that's often pushed now in over the counter decongestants. It just doesn't work. A xylometazoline spray works too, but I try to avoid it because it can easily lead to rebound congestion.

Make sure you’re well-hydrated

For a cold?

Soup, spicy food, hot drinks, salt water gargle, and sometimes I'll use OTC cold medicine (but be careful because they usually have tylenol in them so you don't want to drink or take other medicines that can fuck up your liver).

Not sure what’s going around - but also super sick during summer!!

I was recommended Oregano Concentrate (a natural anti-viral / bacterial) which really helped reduce the respiratory side of the sickness completely.

Spicy food. It makes your nose run like crazy depending on spice level, but it's not a thick, stuffy feeling. It gets the juices flowing! Hydrates your nostrils so you can blow your nose easier.

Sudafed typically gets me the best results when I have the flu

I swear that high dose vitamin D helps me when I have a viral infection, but only if I start taking it early on. Tylenol for fever, maybe also ibuprofen if there are a lot of aches and pains.

Feel better soon, OP!

I like Lemsip. It’s basically paracetamol like you already use but contains pseudoephidrine as well as an “upper”.

If you're congested, put 12 drops of the spiciest hot sauce you can get in a small cup of water and gargle it and swish it around like mouthwash.

You won't enjoy it, but you will be able to breathe.

Whole chicken broth with tons of legumes. This shit works miracles

Opioids always make me feel better. Methadone is slow onset, long duration, ideal for getting over the worst. Tramadol is cheap and plentiful. They are addictive so don't take them for more than a day or two.