Giving Coughin' Henry some competition.....

[poltr1]

The good news is that most of the flu symptoms are gone. The bad news is that I still have a sore throat and a sore chest. My throat is sore from all the coughing, the spitting (into the toilet or a tissue), and postnasal drip. My chest is sore from all the coughing and retching too. Sometimes the coughing fits are so violent I think I'm going to hurl.

I should probably gargle with salt water to soothe the throat, but I'm trying to watch my sodium intake.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for sore throats? I've heard of remedies like lavendar water, slippery elm bark, TIger Balm, Vicks Vapo-Rub, water with honey and lemon. Anything else?

Comments

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

Yes, no-sodium salt is potassium chloride. You can get "light salt" which is about 50/50 sodium and potassium chlorides.

Here are a few recipes for homemade electrolyte-replacement or energy drinks I've collected:

From Forester's "Effective Cycling"
per 0.5 liter -
2 T sugar
1/8 t salt

The drink used by the pilot of the 74-mile pedal-powered Daedalus flight:
per 0.5 liter -
3.5 T glucose (50 g)
1/16 t salt (0.5 g)
used 1 liter/hr

Electrolyte fluid replacement:

1 tsp Lite Salt (mortons, comes in a small lite blue container)
10 tsp sugar
1/3 tsp baking soda
1 qt water

You can use sugar-free drink mixes to flavor any of these as you prefer. I haven't yet tried enough to know what I prefer. The ones that are heavier on sugar are more for sports type situations, while the lower-sugar ones are more for handling dehydration.