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The product looks ridiculous to me. Made by a teacher and some "health professionals" but I've never found any scientific studies on it. Anecdotal reports by fans don't sway me.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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How do you feel about other herbal remedies?
I know many doctors poo-poo them.
I agree that there is not much info on the efficacy of the product, but, by gum, it has worked for me so far.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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There are many things in the world that people use which have never been "studied" and many things in the world which have been studied and accepted as effective, later to be recanted. So much depends on who funds the study, who benefits from the study, and who might later sue.
*shrugs*
Theaca's right, though - you'll only get anecdotal reports as to the effectiveness.
So, anecdotally, I'll add my .02. I use it - I view it as a large dose of vitamins that helps to bolster my immune system. I do NOT take more than two doses in a day for more than 3-4 days.
Why do I take it?
I work in a field that several times a year spends time in ECE classrooms monitoring (effectively, this means we don't "season" up as long-term teachers or ECE staff might who are with the kids daily) - and when those of us that take the stuff stay healthy, and those who do not get colds, etc., during monitoring visits (which last over several days) I tend to think that anecdotally there just may be something to the stuff . . . even if it's just in our pea-pickin' brains. After all - it's about staying healthy, no?
Why no more than two doses a day?
For the same reason I practice moderation in other areas. It's not healthy to take massive doses of anything, ever.
You'll find similar products in health food sections of grocery stores - such as "Emergency-C".
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Shan, I have never taken more than two doses of it. My body gets sort of a gag-me-with-a-spoon effect after two. Usually, I just take one. But, I am a teacher, so perhaps what I am seeing as you mentioned, is the herdening-off effect of being exposed to sickness. Also, since being very ill last year with an immune system-based sickness, I have noticed that I have not gotten as sick. We shall see, as flu season is upon us, how I will weather the storm. What is interesting to me is that "they" did a study on echinacea, and decided it was ineffective. However, the dose they tested was a much lower amount than herbalists would suggest using.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I suppose I am not opposed to herbal remedies. But when you buy a product with many many many ingredients, and they rave about how wonderful it is, it makes me suspicious. Surely they didn't do research and studies on all those ingredients. Surely they do not know which, if any, of those many many ingredients are actually helping. Surely they know nothing about the dosing for each of those ingredients. Oh, but then they say that they have purified ingredients and no other product is as good as theirs. Again, no proofs. All it would take would be one harmful herb in there to make the whole product do more harm than good, too.
And homoepathic remedies, OTOH, no, I don't believe ANY of those help in the least. At least they cause no harm except to the pocketbook.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Theaca, I wish I could get my sister to listen to you on the homeopathics... ever since she got involved with a group called Eckankar, she's stopped taking prescription meds for her asthma and allergies, taking homeos and vitamins instead, and has been trying to foist her belief in these "alternative therapies" on the rest of us. The girl has just gotten strange...
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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OK, Theca, I am starting to get a cold. I can feel it in my neck and shoulders. Airborne taken. If I do not get sick, I believe,a s I have been sleeping with a sick mate for three or four days.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I know Jenni swears by something called Zicam, and it has seemed to work for me as well.
I think it has been studied, and while it doesn't make you immune to colds it DOES shorten the overall length of them by a few days. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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OR, you weren't really about to be sick. That happens to me all the time. It feels like the beginning, all the signs are there... then, it disappears. It must be the fact that I don't take airborne that keeps me healthy. Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I know Jenni swears by something called Zicam, and it has seemed to work for me as well.
I think it has been studied, and while it doesn't make you immune to colds it DOES shorten the overall length of them by a few days.
I use BOTH Airborne and Zicam, when I know I have been exposed to a cold. They are just vitamins, herbs, and minerals, and can't hurt you unless you have an allergy to the ingredients.
My grandson and daughter live with us, and they bring home 'bugs' regularly. My hubby wouldn't take any Airborne or Zicam and he caught their colds, but even though I slept next to him I haven't caught any yet this year. *shrug* Either I was 'lucky' or they work.
Presumably Airborne bolsters the immune system. Zicam has zinc in it and fights the virus by coating the throat with a higher level of zinc, like Cold-eze does. Cold-Eze has had scientific studies done on it and it's effect is verified. My choice is Zicam, since I didn't like the flavor of Cold-eze.
Using them worked for me most of last year, BUT they don't work for the Flu. I did eventually catch the flu last year.
Posts: 337 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Silkie, For how long do you take the Airborne? It just says "as needed." But I know that with echinacea, if you take too much, it can actually bring on a cold.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Elizabeth: Silkie, For how long do you take the Airborne? It just says "as needed." But I know that with echinacea, if you take too much, it can actually bring on a cold.
I keep both Airborne and Zicam around. I take a GOOD multiple vitamin every day, and a multiple mineral supplement. I use Melatonin to help me sleep at night. I try my best to eat right and get lots of whole grain cereal, greens and some fruit every day. I wash my hands regularly. Taking care of your health in general is most important.
I take some Airborne and Zicam as a supplement if either my grandson (or daughter, or hubby) comes home sniffling, or if I notice that I am walking through someone else's cough in a public place. When I am exposed to a cold I take them between one time and several times for a couple of days... depending on whether the 'source' is at home or whatever.
In looking at the frequency of my use, I use them maybe two or three times a month at most. That varies of course. I definately wouldn't use them all the time BUT when my daughter and grandson and Hubby were sick I used them for a week or so. If I feel unusually 'dragged out' I take some Airborne, and MAKE time to get some rest, since I think my resistance is down when I feel like that.
Posts: 337 | Registered: Nov 2005
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There's this thing called the placebo effect . . . Elizabeth, I have a strong hunch that's what's going on. I recommend that you keep believing in Airborne. If it does have a bunch of vitamins and stuff in it, it probably can't hurt and can help at least a little, but take a look at the dosages and make sure you're not ODing on Vitamin E.
One thing regarding Echinacea - it can definitely cause mild gastric distress (read: diarrhea) so watch out for that.
Posts: 471 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I am well aware of the placebo effect..it is even a real, measurable effect, which is something most people don't realize.
I don't know if that is what is happening here, but even so if it makes it work for her (as opposed to simply making her FEEL like it does) then who cares.
I know that I tend to get some serious colds during the winter months, and that Zicam shortens the overall amount of time I feel horrible.
I also realize that that does not in and of itself prove anything specific about it's overall effectiveness. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Elizabeth: Heck, does a placebo have to be so darned expensive?
Actually, yeah. The more it costs, the more impressive it seems, the better it works. I think this is why my in-laws swear that the Name Brand Medicine works so much better than the generic.
I've even seen an ad on TV for some patent medicine weight loss pills that emphasizes the great expense of the pills. It is so expensive, they claim, because it is serious medicine for the seriously overweight.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote: Heck, does a placebo have to be so darned expensive?
Of course. If it were cheap, would you believe that it really works as well as it says it does?
Consumers often believe that higher prices mean better quality and most of the time they are right (Lexus vs Honda, z.B.). But not always (Name brand vs generic). It shouldn't strike you as odd that companies know what a reasonably high pice can do for their product.
quote:Originally posted by Samarkand: There's this thing called the placebo effect . . . Elizabeth, I have a strong hunch that's what's going on. I recommend that you keep believing in Airborne. If it does have a bunch of vitamins and stuff in it, it probably can't hurt and can help at least a little, but take a look at the dosages and make sure you're not ODing on Vitamin E.
One thing regarding Echinacea - it can definitely cause mild gastric distress (read: diarrhea) so watch out for that.
If it was the Placebo effect and it worked, so what! You don't get a cold.
Here is a list of studies done on Cold-Eeze, including double-blind studies. Zicam is basicly the same thing.
Darn it! I am no longer a testimonial. I have a cold after taking Airborne. We shall see, though, if it lasts as long as my daughter's did.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I smiled a smile of victory when I read that. I beg forgiveness. Do let us know how long it lasts. How will determine the end of the cold? Mine always seem to gradually fade away.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Theca, it is as if you were waiting up in a tree waiting to POUNCE upon my weakened self.
Well, I do not have the sore throat everyone had. I am not bedridden. A decongestant with Aleve is helping, and I can breathe fully right now, though I am sneezing quite a bit.
So, if I feel much better by Friday, I will still believe!
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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My father swears by these things. He travels a lot for work and he is more than a little paranoid about being trapped in a plane with who knows how many germs and bugs circulating through the venatlation system. So far it seems to work, as I have rarely known him to get sick.
Personaly, I don't like the taste that much, nor the orange coating the stuff leaves on the glass once you are finished.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Jan 2006
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My in-laws use it and I really haven't seen much difference in the frequency they get sick now than before they used it. But then, that may be colored by the fact that it looks absolutely ridiculous to me, too.
Now, I know they have a study now that says that echinacea is not effective, but my husband still finds it dramatically cuts the duration of his colds if he takes the good stuff (from TJ's) and takes it only when he starts to feel sickish.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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From what I've heard, it is not that Airborne has not been tested.
It's that all the testing was sponsored by them . . . and they discontinued studies that looked like they were not going to show a link. And incomplete studies generally don't get published.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I was at the pharmacy today and they had some competitor's brand of Airborne look-alike on display. The display touted that it was "Better than Airborne!" because, apparently, Airborne claims to fight off airborne germs, but this stuff claimed to fight of airborne germs AND those spread by hand-to-hand contact. "Science", the display informed us, "has determined that hand-to-hand contact plays a major role in the spread of germs."
I loved that -- our claims are better than their claims!
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Errr...how could a substance you swallow protect better against contact germs than some other substance you swallow? It's not as though airborne is some sort of respiratory filter. It's supposed to boost the immune system, right?
I don't take any supplements at all, and I don't get sick all that often. Hmmmm...how can I cash in on this?
"That's right, Nothing works for me*. Send me one easy payment of $1.99 and you too can learn about the Nothing system for staying well."
*Claims not verified by the FDA. Consult a doctor before trying Nothing. This post is intended to mock ridiculous claims and commercials only, not those who take supplements or have had success with them.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by pH: IS there a Cold-eze type cold remedy that's been proven to work like Cold-eze that doesn't have the zinc?
Zinc makes me sick to my tummy.
-pH
Zicam works for me. I just don't like the taste of Cold-eze, though the new flavors are better tasting. Zicam comes in several dosing types, and I use the spray.
As mentioned above, some people think it is the Placebo effect, and some people (me) swear by these herbal remedies.
My philosophy remains:
If it was 'just' the Placebo effect and it worked, so what ... As long as I don't get their cold!
posted
No worries, Theca. I have to concentrate so hard on not wetting my pants when I sneeze, there is no way I could risk aiming it up into the tree.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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pH, I wish there was! I had to suffer through several colds without it because I was nursing the Princess and she has a skin reaction to zinc, so I was told it was not a good idea for me to be taking extra zinc.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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If it's the zinc that makes it work, um, is there any way that taking some kind of zinc pill would be easier on my stomach?
I hate getting everyone's colds at school. Especially if they turn into sinus infections, and I have to go to the university clinic quack, and he won't prescribe me diflucan with my antibiotics.
kq, if she has a skin reaction to zinc, does that mean she won't be able to take multivitamins with zinc? Or is it only a skin thing?
posted
I honestly don't know. And she may grow out of it, many babies do grow out of sensitivities. I was taking a multivitamin supplement while nursing her that contained (small amounts of) zinc, and it didn't seem to make things much worse, but that may have been the problem behind some of her excema and/or rashes in the first place. Who knows?
In any case, she eats a balanced enough diet that she currently does not take a multivitamin/mineral supplement, and probably won't unless something changes.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by pH: [QB] If it's the zinc that makes it work, um, is there any way that taking some kind of zinc pill would be easier on my stomach?
The theory is that Cold-eze and Zicam work because the zinc is deposited on the mucous membranes in the throat and nasal passages, inhibiting the growth of the cold virus. According to what I have read, Zinc supplements don't have the same effect, though both put zinc in the body.
Posts: 337 | Registered: Nov 2005
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If it does have a bunch of vitamins and stuff in it, it probably can't hurt and can help at least a little, but take a look at the dosages and make sure you're not ODing on Vitamin E.![[Hail]](graemlins/hail.gif)
Do let us know how long it lasts. How will determine the end of the cold? Mine always seem to gradually fade away.
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