I just spent about half of the last month feeling sick. Once with Covid, once with the classic common cold. And, you know what? Being sick sucks. You feel miserable, you can’t do any of your normal things, or if you try to, you do them very poorly. When you’re in the trenches of illness, feeling better when you’re sick is all you can think about.
Now, I’m not a doctor and this isn’t medical advice. Go look up information at the Mayo Clinic if you’re looking for that (or WebMD if you want to find out the worst case scenario rare disease that you probably don’t have). This post is based mainly on vibes. Because, let’s be real, if you’re coming to a random blog post to try to feel better instead of a medical office, you’re probably just looking for vibes anyway.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a commission if you purchase from these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.
Chicken Soup
It’s a bit of a cliche isn’t it? Chicken soup when you’re sick with a cold. But there’s some scientific evidence that suggests that chicken soup might have anti-inflammatory properties. And there’s just something special about the thin, flavorful broth that hits differently than other soup types when you’re sick.
As for the exact recipe my favorite chicken soup that I’ve made is the Chicken Dumpling Soup in the Skinnytaste Meal Prep cookbook. I cook it in a Dutch Oven and it’s fairly easy to make. But when I’m the sickest of sick, effort is something I’m not willing to expend, in which case I’ve hopefully stocked up on some soup from Costco, or I just shell out for delivery. Anything to get that delicious thin broth into my stomach.
Hot Tea
Similar to chicken soup, hot tea is a classic cold soother. Which makes sense, as the hot liquid certainly feels good if you have a sore throat or have been coughing a lot. There’s a variety of different herbal teas that are supposed to be beneficial in some way to your immune system or just help improve symptoms.
I personally have been enjoying the Throat Coat herbal tea mix. I can be picky about herbal teas, but this one has a generally pleasant taste, with no herb too overwhelming. Entirely anecdotal, but I did find that it helped with my rough throat for an hour or two after drinking – perfect to drink before falling asleep, or before I had to talk for a while.
Stay Cozy
I’m not sure about you, but ever since the pandemic, my ability to tolerate uncomfortable clothing has decreased significantly. This is amplified when I’m sick – I seek out comfortable clothing in the hope that it will in turn make me feel better.
Like most good comfortable clothing, a lot of my go-tos are permanently out of stock, or randomly thrifted sweatshirts, so it’s hard to give specific advice for this point, other than to go into your closet and touch every piece of clothing until you find the softest one, and then wear that.
The softest blanket I own, which is perfect for cuddling into a ball and watching reality TV until your brain begins to work again, is this The Big One from Kohl’s. It was gifted to me a few years ago and is my favorite blanket because it’s both lightweight and super soft, and didn’t lose its softness after a trip through the washer and dryer. Also, my cat loves it and will frequently choose to sit on whatever human’s lap who has it.
Nasal Spray
When I’m sick and my nose will not stop running, and the sinus pressure makes my eyes hurt – neti pots seem like an awesome idea. A magical pot that pours fluid that will flow through your face and clear out the miserable gunk that has taken residence in your skull. But then I read about the brain eating amoeba and boiling water and the weird angle you have to put your head at and I decide that neti pots are for people that aren’t myself.
Luckily I’ve found a solution that’s far less scary. The Arm & Hammer nasal mist squirts an already-prepared solution into your nose. You can use it as a rinse (with the head tilting contortions) or just a simple spray.
It feels so nice to use this when my nose is stuffed up and I can’t breathe through my nose. It improves the stuffiness and helps my sinuses to feel clearer. I’m really bad at getting it to actually go through the whole circuit of both nostrils, but even without that, just doing the simple flush helps my nose feel clearer and feel better in general. It’s not a cure, but it definitely helps to relieve my symptoms for a bit.
Cold Medicine that Actually Works?
Okay, I see you. The person who blew by my “this post is vibes only” disclaimer in the intro and is now scoffing at this post. “But where’s the medicine,” you cry, seeing that everything here only vaguely attacks symptoms and talks about feeling better when you’re sick with no actual cure.
Well, uh, one of the main ingredients in over the counter cold medicines was found to not really work at all. Not much different than making decisions based on vibes and feelings.
But, if you must have a recommendation for cold medicine, the Mucinex Fast-Max Cold and Flu was the only thing that even touched the misery of Covid for me. It suppressed the cough, mostly, and turned off the faucet of sinus drippings. Essentially it allowed me to stand up and walk around a bit instead of spending the whole day napping in a ball on the couch.
Why this medicine and not other cold medicines, even though they have all the same ingredients, one of which apparently doesn’t work? No idea. Maybe the bright, unnaturally blue color of the syrup is the source of the magic. Perhaps it’s our own personal placebo effect, but my husband and I swear by this over anything else.
When All Else Fails
So if you’ve gone through this list and you’ve tried all of it and you still feel awful, well I’m sorry. Life is like that some times. Put on some trash television and snuggle up with a cat or dog or stuffed animal and just trust that you’ll get over it soon. And drink plenty of fluids!
If you want more content like this, sign up for the mailing list where you can get new posts directly! Or follow me on Bluesky! If you thought this post was weird, go read my Dagne Dover backpack review, it’s very popular!
