The Zicam (R) Diaries

I threaten my students with minus 200 points if they get me sick. It never works. I always get a cold. It happened again on Thursday. I woke up around 4 or 5 am with a tell-tale scratch in my throat. I tried to pretend it was nothing (didn't even look at the clock), but when the alarm went off at 5:30, I knew what it was.

Five-thirty am isn't a great time to get a sub, so I sucked it up and got ready for school. On the way out the door at 7am, I took a Zicam tablet left over from the previous cold. I survived the day with Zicam and Ricola (I had a stash in my desk at work, too).

That evening, I hunkered down with some left-over ice cream and called it good.

Friday was another dilemma. I could certifiably take a sick day -- but then I'd miss Multicultural Day. I had (vocally) been looking forward to Multicultural Day for two weeks. It's an extended lunch (80 minutes) and the school groups come out and sell food. I was all ready for an enchilada plate, and tacos, and tamales, and lumpia. So, I kept up the Zicam routine, suffered through my prep, faked it through 4th, ate my way through lunch, and told the kids to not make me mad during 6th or I'd really let them have it when I got better. Fortunately, it's a small class, and they're essentially good kids, so we made it through the day.

By Saturday, the sore throat had turned to full-on cold, or had it? The sore throat was gone. My head was starting to feel fuzzy. I was definitely feeling some ick. So, I sat on the couch with tea and Zicam (every three hours), and a book, and my true love, HBO. At night, just to be on the safe side, I had a little of grandma's cold remedy -- for the late-night cough.

On Sunday, I started off with the Zicam. The cold seemed to be moving to my sinuses -- finally. Maybe? Three weeks worth of laundry later, and I didn't need any of the Puffs Plus I'd purchased just for this cold.

Today, I was even smiling at school. You're supposed to take Zicam for 48 hours longer than you have symptoms. I'm not sure if that means today is my 48 hours, or tomorrow. I'm going to go with tomorrow just to be safe. But seriously, people -- a four day cold? That does not happen, and it certainly doesn't happen to me. When I get a cold, I get a cold. I get a 4-week death rattle. I get sinus infections. I get months of snot running out of nose.

And I'm going to buy a case of this stuff. I've tried most (if not all) of the magical cold remedies. This one actually works. (But you do have to take it immediately and consistently, or nothing doing.)