So Friday I woke up with a blinger of a cold.  I have to admit Thursday night I didn’t feel quite myself and so I popped a Zicam tablet before bed.  By 4am Friday I was wide awake with a pounding headache, body aches and probably a low grade fever.  Popped another Zicam and some Tylenol Cold and went back to bed.  Got up around 8am to force myself into the shower to dress and head to the office.  By noon I was feeling  down right crappy and ate a cup of soup to ward off the chills.  Popped another Zicam.  At 4pm I was useless – called the boss and said I was going home.  Went straight to bed and pretty much slept until about noon time on Saturday.  Got up, popped more Zicam…but now I am at least feeling human and can function enough to do some laundry and tidy up the kitchen.  The point of this story is the Zicam.  I love this stuff.  If you use it diligently and take it every four hours, I promise you it will reduce your downtime dramatically…well, okay I guess I can’t promise…but you know what I mean.  I works for me.  So today (Sunday) I have some head congestion – but no cough to speak of and I feel pretty good.  I’m confident that when Monday morning rolls around I will be able to get up and get myself to work without too much effort. 

Wikpedia says that studies of zinc in the common cold suffered from methodologic flaws; restricting the analysis to well designed studies, the authors concluded that the therapeutic effectiveness of zinc lozenges has yet to be established.  However, the stuff works for me so even though its about $15 for a box of the nasal swabs, I’m willing to make the investment. 

It’s a horrible flu season right now and the hallways at Microsoft seem to be laden with the bug – so it’s hard to escape, especially when so many people (like myself) feel compelled to go to work even when you’re sick.  Try the Zicam – at the start of even an inkling that you might be coming down with something.  Take it every four hours and you will be better before you know it!