flying with colds

[jimmyw]

Am I the only pilot out there who dreads the night b-4 a flight or the day of when I know a cold or similiar is lurking.beside some of the obvious like sudafed or Afrin any good remedies besides cancelling work .Busted ear drums are not fun.

 

[Kiwi]

Man I love that Afrin...

I just ran out and they don't sell it here in NZ,

 

[FL420]

I have lots of good experiences using Cold-Ease at the very first sign of a cold. You know, that yucky feeling in the back of your throat caused by your sinuses starting to drain. Suck on one or two lozenges and 9 times out of 10 the next morning you will have forgotten you might be coming down with a cold.

The magic ingredient is zinc. I have seen reports of independent scientific studies concluding that it really works. If you delay until you are sure you are coming down with a cold it will be too late. Taking Cold-Ease or some other product containing zinc will lessen the severity of the cold once you get it.

To prevent or alleviate ear blocks or sinus blocks due to swollen tissue once airborne, I second the recommendation for Afrin. The Navy flight quacks prescribed it. From personal experience, it works. Again, the sooner you use it the better.

 

[AA717driver]

I always just take a double dose of Ny-Quil and make the other guy fly... TC

 

[Tgaug6300]

Ever had food poisoning the night before a flight, away from home in the hotel. Man, I still can't eat key lime pie!!!

 

[KSUPILOT]

Don't ever fly with any cold or what not. I work for a busy 135 company and had a cold which turned into pnemonia, cause I had no time to go to the doc. On approach into BWI one day I had to give the plane over to the other pilot cause I thought my head was going to burst literally. We got home and a ENT was available to see me. From clearning my ears I created a negative pressure in my ear drum and eustation tube. It caused me to have one of the most horrific surguries in my life. I had to have my ear drum cracked, my eustation tube punctured and it was not fun. Now today I can crank on the pressure in the cabin and not feel a damn thing. My ear drums are like wind tunnels now! WORD OF ADVISE>>>> CALL OF SICK AND GET BETTER!

 

[Gorilla]

Jeez, call in sick. No one wants to fly next to someone sniffling and coughing for 5 hours. That's just rude.

 

[jimmyw]

After posting about flying if you might have a cold me and my other crew member at the very least tested Afrin and chewed 4 pieces of Dentene Arctic chill gum.It's worked much better than nothing.We might be on to something with the gum. Thanks for the input out there.

 

[AA717driver]

Man I love that Afrin...

I just ran out and they don't sell it here in NZ,

You want us to ship you some?

Gorilla--You can't just call in sick a many 91 companies. The staffing isn't geared for it and it means you aren't a "team player". Sad but true.TC

 

[G100driver]

My worst fear is on the road international and I want to get home as well.

I had a terrible cold in southern MX once and just wanted to be home. By the time I got home I truly felt like zhit. Ended up taking the next week off until got over a sinus infection.