Colds and Flu

jerry3571

Hello,
I have had this problem for so many years now. If I go and stress my body by running or riding the bike a cold soon follows.
I have used high strength Garlic, Mint Teas, Echinacea, all other stuff but still manage to get too sick in the late winter/spring and found the season is gone even before I begin.
Is the secret is to keep my sessions on the easy side so avoid over stressing my body and keep my Immune System intact. I know a person's Immume System drops by about 70% after a heavy work out. Do I put the gas on when the cold season is over??
Been riding my bike for 21 years now and still have not managed to suss this out.

Any ideas would be good.
Ta!

-Jerry

(I try not to touch door handles if I can too; still get sick though. :? )

rickhotrod

It's the British climate that does it. It's normal to get a cold at least once a year.

jerry3571

Up until a few weeks ago I was getting away with it; no colds etc.
Had a cold for a few weeks now and can't shake it.
One small tip; if you get a bug in your stomach, one thing I have tried over quite a few years now is Saurkraut. I don't know how the German's eat it for pleasure but I've had a lot of succuss in ridding almost all stomach infections with this stuff. Eat about a quarter of a jar and within 24 hours you SHOULD be feeling ok.
I heard a documentary a while back which states that the New Zealand Government did a study and found that if the average outdoor temperature drops below a certain figure the virus' will "kick off", hence the Cold and Flu Season being in winter. I guess this may help the top Pros by riding in the early season in South Africa, Australia and the Middle East (warm weather).
Another experiment I have also tried was to sit on my Turbo Trainer, indoors, with the heating on, whilst with a persistant cold. I put a coat on and thick trousers and woolly hat. I tickled the pedels for half an hour causing me to sweat without too much effort. Any intensity would cause the virus to fire up. The main principle being is to cause a temperature rise in my body to replicate a Fever. A Fever raises the body's temperature to kill the cold/flu virus. Virus' are built to work at your normal body's temperature and by raising your body's temperature the bugs become compromised. I must say that this experiment seemed to work, a little, for a short while, but the virus came back within 12-24 hours. :? I guess a long hot bath once a day would have this same effect but I hate hot Baths.
At the start of a cold some people seem to think that a product such as Otex can lessen the chance of a cold. The Ear Oil must have 5% Hydrogen Peroxide. The thought is that bugs start in the ear and putting your finger in your ear with a Virus on it is a good way to get a cold. As the bug starts to work, the Oil is applied and the Bleach disinfects the virus which results in a non event. Applyiing this Oli must be done as soon as you think you got a virus as the bug will quickly spread. I have tried this but the Jury is still out on tis one.
Now experimenting with Teas from the Mint family (antiviral, bacterial etc)

If anyone has cured the common cold then please post here cos I want t be fit this Summer! Ta.

-Jerry

PS- I know having children is the end of a good Cycling career as kids are mostly full of bugs. The litttle darlin's!!

Tom Butcher

I don't get colds as such but I do occasionally get flu like symptoms - tiredness, background headache, very weak if I try to go out on the bike etc. The thing that makes me wonder if it's not a straightforward virus is that on several occasions it has come on suddenly an hour or so after a hard chain gang as a headache and slightly spaced out feeling which passes in an hour or two but leaves me with the more general flu symptoms for several days.

Seanos

If I use high strength garlic, mint teas, echinacea, homeopathic preparations, multivitamins, reiki, strepsils, vicks vapour rub and reflexology I usually find my cold symptoms are gone in 7 days.

If I don't use anything then they're gone in a week.