Coughing Plague

[heifeng]

I couldn't help but notice after I came back to Beijing after Christmas that the whole city seems to be coughing. It's a nice dry cough. I'm sure if you have rode a bus or visited an Internet cafe in the city lately you know what I mean.

Now, as of today, I can tell that I've finally been infected too! But as far as I can tell it's only in the early stages (my friend and one of my teacher's have both been coughing since early NOV!)...so what medicine should I take to hope I can still get rid of it early on?? Otherwise it's really going to be torture each every 纠音class for the next few weeks, and I'm sure it's gonna stick with me until spring if it really starts to build some momentum...whyyyyyyy

Anyway, I brought back plenty of vitamins from the US...but not medicine...drats! Should I just lots of water and knock on wood that I get better soon?

[Rincewind]

There is no medicine that will cure a cold. They only treat the symptoms. Chinese cold medicines seem to be poor. I looked a one of my pupils cold pills the yesterday. The ingredients were paracetamol and caffeine. Would make you feel better but not cure anything. Ideally you want something with Liquorice, Eucalyptus oil and menthol. I've been able to find liquorice pills in the chemists but no Eucalyptus or menthol.

My advice is to keep warm. Wrap a scarf round your neck even when indoors. Go to bed and drink plenty tea. I got some Korean imported tea that has honey and ginger. I add a spot of whisky to that and it does wonders.

[AxelManbow]

I take a Chinese medicine called 抗病毒口服液.

Not expensive, tastes OK, soothing for the throat. It's sold in boxes, each box contains 12 small bottles, one bottle to be taken 3 times per day. Agree with Rincewind, I doubt it cures the infection, but it does ease the symptoms and reduces the duration of the symptoms (once the infection is gone a cough/discomfort may often remain because the throat tissue has been damaged).

I've also seen the paracetamol and caffeine one. I prefer the more traditional combination of coffee (wake up) and beer (sleep).

[heifeng]

Great advice guys, thanks!

[fireball9261]

Definitely eat lots of pear ==> it is the traditional Chinese cure for coughs and throats, and it should also clean your lung. Watercress soup would be good, too. Just put fresh watercress in boiling water and bring it to a boil. Put a bit or salt if you want to, and have it like soup or tea (make sure you eat the watercress) ==> also good for lungs. There are also dried watercress and Cantonese ways to cook it, but I am not sure how it goes. I think fresh watercress would also give you better Vitamin C. You could also have watercress salad.

Another thing you could use is to make some honey and orange peel tea. It is good for the throat and also traditional Chinese medicine for coughing. I also cut lemons in half. Squeeze some juice into water. Put the whole thing (skins and all) into the water to bring to a boil with honey. At the end, squeeze more fresh lemon into the hot liquid, and drink the stuff -- a lot! It is another form of honey with orange peel tea. If I drink enough of it, I would feel better the next day.

[elina]

My 7-year-old son coughed for about 2 months, at the very beginning, it was very severe, so that he could not fall asleep. The doctor said it was 过敏性咳嗽, and it would be very 顽固的/ non-easy to recovery. Besides taking the traditional Chinese medicine from here (for more than 3 weeks, the cough eased, but not healed), I searched a lot on the internet, and found this one:

我同事的孩子生来体虚，一到冬季就感冒咳嗽不止。一日得偏方，给孩子调济着吃，没想到效果非常好，且原料简单、经济，整理出来与大家共享。

萝卜蜂蜜汤

原料：白萝卜1个，蜂蜜100克。

制作：将萝卜洗净掏空中心，放入蜂蜜，置碗内，加水蒸20分钟。

用法：吃萝卜喝汤，每日二次。

功效：润肺、止咳、化痰，适用于小儿肺炎引起的咳嗽或久咳不止。

——山东省荣军总医院六病区王春燕

Personally I think this folk prescription is very good. When my mother coughed, I let her take it too.