Old Time Cold Remedies that Used to Work

Macrobius

Macrobius

Megaphoron
Links from a family convo.

The 'drugs that work for you when you are sick' thread. (Common cold etc).

For me, is whatever is in Comtrex formulation in the early 80s (this is time dependent). I'll do a quick few researches below, but basically early 80s cold medicine was analgesic + cough suppressant + antihistamine. All those have per person variations so there is no right answer for everyone.

For the really sick, a 'vaporizer' and 'vicks vaporub' (put camphor gel on your chest) and vick's cough drops + vick's inhaler were standard upon waking up. There are other cough drops that work too (Fishermen's Friend and Halls anything come to mind).

[[ The ample inclusion of 'sugar' in medicines is a problem now esp with our current obese and pre-obese population ]]

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Further discussion: Comtrex in the late 70s early 80s also had a Nasal Decongestant [1] ... but which one?

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decongestant

Comtrex current formulation is acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, and phenylephrine but back in the day it was aspirin (I never take acetaminophen unless I have to and ibuprophen is known to give me a rash so it had to be aspirin back then).

I forgot it also used to have a 'nasal decongestant' and that's what the phenylephrine is. That sounds right, but there's another common variant of it that does absolutely nothing for my body and never has.

Some of the history is in this, for Dimetapp, which used to be prescription and doctors loved to give it to me [[and did damn-all for me in the 70s and 80s]]

> Dimetapp is an American brand of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines that is manufactured by Foundation Consumer Brands. At one point, Dimetapp as a household word referred to a single combination preparation marketed to relieve symptoms of the common cold, containing brompheniramine (an antihistamine) and phenylephrine (decongestant replacing the formerly used pseudoephedrine, which itself replaced phenylpropanolamine).

...

That's the conclusion I'm coming too... I suspect that Dimetapp switched early (and thus sucked) but Comtrex worked and now doesn't... I'll get the 1983 history correct and that's what works on me.

anyway aspirin + dextromethorphan (or guaifenesin if you want coughs 'productive') + correct decongestant TBD + correct antihistimine (probably benadryl or an inhaler) is what works on me. Everyone is different and can weigh in here.

My conclusion:

Phenylpropanolamine - Wikipedia is probably the decongestant that really works. It's no longer available except by prescriptions for pets and in Sweden. :D

Many sympathetic hormones and neurotransmitters are based on the phenethylamine skeleton, and function generally in "fight or flight" type responses, such as increasing heart rate, blood pressure, dilating the pupils, increased energy, drying of mucous membranes, increased sweating, and a significant number of additional effects
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Macrobius

Macrobius

Megaphoron
Dr. Alan James 2.0 said:
A wee little bit of warm whiskey sipped slowly does wonders from my experience.
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A medical doctor friend once told my dad (who was an avid backpacker), that alcohol + aspirin is the best pain reliever in the world if you are in the outback. He also wrote him out a prescription for antibiotics to take with. 'You'll know if you need them'.

The only reason it's not popular is that if you dose it wrong, you don't get to 'Beat the Reaper'. But it's a good fact to have in your toolkit in an emergency.

No, 'don't try this home'. Do your own research and I am not responsible for your death, any kiddies listening in. Whites don't believe what they read on the internet.
 
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Macrobius

Macrobius

Megaphoron
Albus said:
Vicks on the chest, aspirin plus two shots of Rock & Rye before bed. Sleep wrapped up enough to break a sweat. The pre-boomer generation swore by this remedy. I use it and it works.
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Boomers had pre-Boomer mothers and grandmothers and you are not wrong.
 
Macrobius

Macrobius

Megaphoron
Back to the droogs... my conclusions to my family from looking up what brand names have what shit in them:

So this morning I did some researches into pharma from the standpoint of prepping and inventory (what should we have on hand at all times).

The space around nasal decongestants and antihistamines is in fact rather complex but here are my findings on what things to buy because they are *simply* just one thing:

Cetrizine (Zyrtec) for systematic allergies when you don't want to be sleepy.

The 'Primatene Mist inhaler' (we have one) delivers pure Epinephrine ... this is what you want if someone is going into anaphylactic shock for sure. Pumps the adrenaline.

For coughing, either Guaifenesin (expectorant -- helps coughs be productive) or Dextromethorphan 'DXM'... to suppress altogether.

Sudafed (pseudoephedrine HCl) is probably the purest and most effective for what it does. There used to be more effective things (PPA), but they are no longer available on the US market.

That's 5 drugs to stock (Zyrtec, Inhaler, Guaifenesin, Dextromethorphan, Sudafed) which we probably mostly have on hand anyway.

In the thread, I'll give the 'runners up' which have combinations or uncertain combos.
 
Macrobius

Macrobius

Megaphoron
But of course this thread would not be complete without the backstory to Rock and Rye @Albus

Everything You Need to Know About Rock and Rye

Once sold as medicine, the whiskey-based liqueur can be enjoyed as a cocktail straight from the bottle—or by making your own.
whiskyadvocate.com whiskyadvocate.com

Things the FDR Admin and Neo-Liberal Security State don't want you to know... Rock Candy Mountain lore of our people...

tl;dr -- it's more or less a mint julep but Bourbon County not involved and mint optional. Montani semper liberi drink.

----

Rock and rye is every bit as peculiar as its name portends—a blend of citrus and rye whiskey sweetened with crystallized sugar, sometimes known as rock candy. But what's even more unlikely is the sudden surge of interest in this whiskey liqueur with 19th-century roots. Spawned by the introduction of Hochstadter's Slow & Low in 2013, more rock and rye revivals are joining the ranks of the few remaining holdouts, like Leroux, Mr. Boston, and Jacquin's.

Oddly enough, rock and rye's first role was as medicine. By the late 1870s, virtually every pharmacy in the nation was stocking their shelves with some proprietary recipe, often promoted as a sort of cough syrup. As a medicine, rock and rye was taxed at a lower rate than liquor, adding to the potential profit. In 1883, the drink was finally reclassified as a distilled spirit. According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau definition, rock and rye has a minimum 25.5% alcohol by volume, must be made with rye, straight rye, or whiskey distilled from a rye mash, and contain either rock candy or sugar syrup. The addition of fruit, fruit juices, or other natural flavoring is allowed, but optional.

rest at the link

- 30 -

Required reading and I'll update with a pdf for downloading to your Sail Phone...

Code: 
https://www.amazon.com/Dicks-Encyclopedia-Practical-Receipts-Processes/dp/030810157X

NOTE: link converts to amazon media type that fails, in XF2.

Required prepper knowledge from the 1870s.

UPDATE: pdf downloadable from the Wayback machine: https://archive.org/details/dicksencyclopedi0000dick [[ I see IA dot org has backed off PDF availability. I'll fix that and report back ]]

Owning hardcopy is good too ;)
 
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R Crowley the White

R Crowley the White

Megaphoron
I have tricks for not catching colds but remedies after the fact, never had any, but I used to drink hot toddies with colds because they went down easier. It wasn't that I drank the brandy as a medicine, it was that I was always drinking something, but with colds drank toddies. Hot toddy for me is defined as brandy and hot water. So far as not catching winter diseases, don't eat out, avoid public places, live like a hermit. When young that is hard and probably not worth doing. When older it is not so hard. So I rarely get sick. PS I am talking about sore throats, the kind of disease where alcohol causes your throat glands to swell uncomfortably. Hot toddies would get around that.
 
Albus

Albus

Possible NPC
Macrobius said:
But of course this thread would not be complete without the backstory to Rock and Rye @Albus

Everything You Need to Know About Rock and Rye

Once sold as medicine, the whiskey-based liqueur can be enjoyed as a cocktail straight from the bottle—or by making your own.
whiskyadvocate.com whiskyadvocate.com

Things the FDR Admin and Neo-Liberal Security State don't want you to know... Rock Candy Mountain lore of our people...

tl;dr -- it's more or less a mint julep but Bourbon County not involved and mint optional. Montani semper liberi drink.

----

Rock and rye is every bit as peculiar as its name portends—a blend of citrus and rye whiskey sweetened with crystallized sugar, sometimes known as rock candy. But what's even more unlikely is the sudden surge of interest in this whiskey liqueur with 19th-century roots. Spawned by the introduction of Hochstadter's Slow & Low in 2013, more rock and rye revivals are joining the ranks of the few remaining holdouts, like Leroux, Mr. Boston, and Jacquin's.

Oddly enough, rock and rye's first role was as medicine. By the late 1870s, virtually every pharmacy in the nation was stocking their shelves with some proprietary recipe, often promoted as a sort of cough syrup. As a medicine, rock and rye was taxed at a lower rate than liquor, adding to the potential profit. In 1883, the drink was finally reclassified as a distilled spirit. According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau definition, rock and rye has a minimum 25.5% alcohol by volume, must be made with rye, straight rye, or whiskey distilled from a rye mash, and contain either rock candy or sugar syrup. The addition of fruit, fruit juices, or other natural flavoring is allowed, but optional.

rest at the link

- 30 -

Required reading and I'll update with a pdf for downloading to your Sail Phone...

Code: 
https://www.amazon.com/Dicks-Encyclopedia-Practical-Receipts-Processes/dp/030810157X

NOTE: link converts to amazon media type that fails, in XF2.

Required prepper knowledge from the 1870s.

UPDATE: pdf downloadable from the Wayback machine: https://archive.org/details/dicksencyclopedi0000dick [[ I see IA dot org has backed off PDF availability. I'll fix that and report back ]]

Owning hardcopy is good too ;)
Click to expand...

Macrobius said:
But of course this thread would not be complete without the backstory to Rock and Rye @Albus

Everything You Need to Know About Rock and Rye

Once sold as medicine, the whiskey-based liqueur can be enjoyed as a cocktail straight from the bottle—or by making your own.
whiskyadvocate.com whiskyadvocate.com

Things the FDR Admin and Neo-Liberal Security State don't want you to know... Rock Candy Mountain lore of our people...

tl;dr -- it's more or less a mint julep but Bourbon County not involved and mint optional. Montani semper liberi drink.

----

Rock and rye is every bit as peculiar as its name portends—a blend of citrus and rye whiskey sweetened with crystallized sugar, sometimes known as rock candy. But what's even more unlikely is the sudden surge of interest in this whiskey liqueur with 19th-century roots. Spawned by the introduction of Hochstadter's Slow & Low in 2013, more rock and rye revivals are joining the ranks of the few remaining holdouts, like Leroux, Mr. Boston, and Jacquin's.

Oddly enough, rock and rye's first role was as medicine. By the late 1870s, virtually every pharmacy in the nation was stocking their shelves with some proprietary recipe, often promoted as a sort of cough syrup. As a medicine, rock and rye was taxed at a lower rate than liquor, adding to the potential profit. In 1883, the drink was finally reclassified as a distilled spirit. According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau definition, rock and rye has a minimum 25.5% alcohol by volume, must be made with rye, straight rye, or whiskey distilled from a rye mash, and contain either rock candy or sugar syrup. The addition of fruit, fruit juices, or other natural flavoring is allowed, but optional.

rest at the link

- 30 -

Required reading and I'll update with a pdf for downloading to your Sail Phone...

Code: 
https://www.amazon.com/Dicks-Encyclopedia-Practical-Receipts-Processes/dp/030810157X

NOTE: link converts to amazon media type that fails, in XF2.

Required prepper knowledge from the 1870s.

UPDATE: pdf downloadable from the Wayback machine: https://archive.org/details/dicksencyclopedi0000dick [[ I see IA dot org has backed off PDF availability. I'll fix that and report back ]]

Owning hardcopy is good too ;)
Click to expand...
We had a bottle of Leroux under the kitchen sink for decades. Also useful on a cotton swab this time with a St Josephs chewable for kids toothache.
 

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