Surely, it should be either tea with lemon, or tea with honey, to soothe the raging swollen throat? Am I entirely in the wrong adding both?
I’ve got this damned throat inflammation, I might add, by way of Spider-Man. We sat in the second row from the front on Saturday night, directly adjacent a leaky ceiling tile and a puddle of standing water. I know! Legionnaire’s! Cholera! The Blacke Humores! Who knows. Wouldn’t you know it, I had a sore throat not 20 minutes after leaving. So did Stuart, Beth and Josh, but their sore throats have all receded into regular throats.
I’m a staunch critic of the “get cold, catch a cold” school of oldwivery but it was also incredibly cold and maybe a little damp (thanks to leaky ceilings!) in the theatre. I had the previous week kicked a cold I’d earned alongside my Red Cross certification, that one being more of an achy/stuffy cold varietal.
So maybe there is something to all this take your vitamins nonsense – I’m betting my immune system was much weaker than everyone else’s when the recycling damp air threw some nasty little virus at us? Anyone else picturing that scene in Outbreak? Who knows. The science here gets wonky. Alls I know is, 20 minutes out of the movies, I had a scratchy throat, and now my glands feel like golfballs. Such are my lymphatic adventures.
Anyone got an opinion about the tea/lemon vs. tea/honey question? Or their own sore throat remedies? Mine so far has involved a lot of saltwater gargling and vats of tea. And back-to-back episodes of Jeeves and Wooster.
[Good thing there was a lot of this on Saturday before the Cursed Movie Theatre of Damp Illness. Nothing like spring in New York, right?]
notes from a sickbed
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I just had a similar 2-week-long “episode.” This sounds crazy, but I tried gargling with hot water with salt, cayenne pepper, and ginger. I found it on some home remedy sites for sore throats, and it did relieve the soreness for at least a few hours at a time …
Oh my god May, CAYENNE? Seriously? That’s sounds terrifying. Did you do hot water, or just warm?
Personally I’d go for the honey. More soothing and yummy.
My tried and true (and delicious!) recipe: heat up a little lemon juice and whiskey/bourbon, then stir in honey so it all dissolves, and add tea. The lemon helps clear you up, the honey helps soothe the throat, the tea does its thing, and the whiskey helps you fall asleep/numbs you. I grew up on this and it never fails! (plus it tastes good!)
I have a sort throat right now too, and I found that a Slurpee really helped. At least while I was slurping it. I’m all for trying anything with whisky though…
And just to confuse you more, I add grated fresh ginger to my tea of lemon and honey. Does the trick (as does gallons of apple juice during the day).
I make hot lemonade (feel free to leave out the sugar if you like) and drink it at night before bed. It seems to make it feel better. But….back to back eps of Jeeves and Wooster can cure almost anything!
I hope you feel better soon.
My mom used to always make me tea with lemon and honey. It was very sweet and very lemony. I don’t remember if it made me feel better, but it sure tasted good.
my singing teacher gave me this one, and it is really gross but works:
warm water
salt
baking soda
honey or corn syrup
mix together and gargle. this will help you get your voice back if it’s gone (if you have to teach or whatever). i don’t know the exact proportions, but start with a glass of water and add about a spoonful of each thing, making sure it disolves.
as i say, it’s gross, but it works really well because the salt and baking soda kill bacteria, while the honey/corn syrup coat your throat and make it feel better.
I drink it with honey b/c I hate lemon. I find that Advil is really the only thing that helps my sore throat feel better, though.
Jeeves and Wooster!! I own all three box sets. They and warm salt water will do wonders.
For a really bad sore throat, I bypass the tea all together. I get fresh grated ginger and simmer it and some anise with water. (Sometimes, I leave out the anise) Then I add some honey and, if I have it and/ or feel like like it, lemon, too. Sorta like Panethalder.
I find liquid codeine really does the trick.
Hope you are feeling better and thanks for the card baby!
Try steeping raw ginger in boiling water for five minutes. Add lemon and honey.
Worked for me during a year long bout with tonsillitis. Feel better!!!
I’ve heard some pretty wacky remedies from my Czech friends here in Prague… There’s the national remedy (a shot of slivovice – disgusting, plum-distilled vodka) which can be taken alone or in tea. Though, to be fair, I’ve tried it at the first sign of sniffles and the stuff works. Then there’s the onion juice and honey method. (Ew.) As in, I was told to mix up the juice of an onion with honey and drink it. Rum and milk. And, my personal favorite… otter fat. My brain shut down in defense after being told, “My family used to keep a jar of otter fat in the cellar, and whenever we got sick…”
Sorry you’re unwell – hope you feel better soon. My solution in the past has been to avoid caffeine – and create a concoction with some water with ginger boiled in it for 10 minutes, adding some lemon & honey. you can always boil the ginger in decaf tea, now that I think about it. but ginger REALLY helps me. The other trick that I got from my Russian grandmother – is to eat a TON of garlic while you are sick – while you might be smelly, garlic seems to help chase the cold away. Feel better!!