All right, which do you feed and which do you starve? I can never remember. Feed a fever and starve a cold, or vice versa? What do you do when you have both? I KNOW I can count on you!!!

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), March 17, 2002

Answers

Feed a cold, starve a fever. Starve a fever because food(calories) generates heat.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), March 17, 2002.

He's correct ! Remember those three things I suggested ? Save the third one till your better. We don't need anyone else sick. LOL,LOL ,LOL ! Sorry, I have a morbid sense of humor. Hope you feel better real soon !!!!

Recipe for health--fill a half pint bottle 1/2 full of rock candy and 1/2 full of moonshine, wait till candy dissolves than drink completely down. Crawl under covers--in the morning you'll either be all better or completely dead !

-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), March 18, 2002.

Feed a cold & starve a fever & take lots of vit. C!!!!! Hope you are better soon!!!

-- Sonda in Ks. (sgbruce@birch.net), March 18, 2002.

I like that JOel,, how about sending me some so I can "keep it for medicinal purposes" ?

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), March 18, 2002.

Don't do either! Eat a normal diet for vitamins and for strength: don't you feel bad enough when you are ill????? Pamper yourself and listen to your body!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 18, 2002.

Thanks! Anti-alliteration...I will now file that into the permanent data banks. I was listening to my body, which said "ugh I feel rotten, give me tea and no food".:)

Joel, I don't have any moonshine. My Mom's cousin up in your area makes apple jack, but that's he only moonshine I've ever tasted. Guess it wore off!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), March 18, 2002.

Drink lots of fluids. Treat the fever w/ some anti-pyretic. Your choice of what works for you or what you feel comfy w/. Tylenol, Ibuprofen (same as Advil or Motrin), or Asprin. Take 'em regularly as directed.

When your feverish, you can lose a surprising amount of H2O w/ respiration and convection loss. That's how the body blows off that extra heat. Sort of a thermostat. Replacing the fluids (clear liquids are best) will keep you from dehydrating any and will help in just generally feeling better.

Mom's FYI- The fluid loss issue is important when the babies have a fever. Be aggressive w/ fever treatment in the little ones.

Doreen, I hope you feel better soon.

-- John in S. IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

The best way to lower a fever almost instantly, is to feed the person or child who has the fever watermellon.And in the middle of winter you can always find a watermellon at most chain food stores.The fever will get high again 4 hours after the mellon is eatin, but if you feed it again the fever will come down again for another 4 hours.

-- SM Steve (unreal@msn.com), March 18, 2002.

Steve, Watermellon? I've never heard of that before. Neat. It would sure make it easier to "make the medicine go down".

-- John in S. IN (jdoofus@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

Has anyone ever thought that maybe our body develops a fever when we are sick for a reason? I opt not to treat a fever unless it gets dangerously high then a tepid bath usually works. Plenty of fluids are important. I really think it is best to listen to your body. Doreen, I pray that you will be better soon. It's no fun being sick. By the way, have you tried any garlic?

-- Barb in Ky (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002.

Thats an old wives tale that has been mostly disproved. Better to eat as normal a diet as possible in either case, just go heavy on vitamin rich foods, liquids and yes, chicken soup. Chicken fat appears to have components that trigger the bodies release of illness fighting enzymes and antibodies. Not all the old wives tales were wrong :>)

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 18, 2002.

Hope you get better soon, Doreen!

My doctor told me the way to tell a bad cold from the flu is that you don't get a fever with a cold.

Drink lots of liquids. Think positive thoughts.

On the other hand, someone (Mark Twain?) said, "A cold, properly treated can be cured in as little as one week; untreated, it can last as long as seven days"

My paraphrase.

Salud!

-- joj (jump@off.c), March 18, 2002.

A fever is a sign that your body is working HARD. It isn't dangerous unless it gets very high but it can get uncomfortable. Your body shifts into high gear to fight infection. If you are too sick to eat it isn't a problem for a day or two unless you are a child. Sucking on a hard candy may be beneficial if you can tolerate it, and if your stomach is upset soda has electrolytes in it that are better for you than plain water (and I think tea does also). And, yes, you do need more fluids when you have a fever. Or so said my nursing instructor many years ago: I paid particular attention because EVERYONE gets fever and nausea sooner or later. I KNEW that I would be wanting the info: for myself and my family if no one else!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I hope you are feeling better by now and are making yourself comfortable so you can rest.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 18, 2002.

Thanks folks! I am feeling better this morning. I usually don't fret too much if I have a little fever, and I'm one of those people that runs a negative temp unless it gets over 100•. I was at 102, and things get fuzzy at that level for me;).I broke the fever four or five times throughout Sunday, yet it kept coming back. I hadn't eaten in two days and a friend called and told me that I had to eat as it would help the fever break. I tried, but it wasn't very fulfilling, hence the question. Thanks for your help and the prayers!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), March 19, 2002.

Are you eating yet? If not, you may want to sneak in a few calories with soda or hard candies, or with sugar in the tea. IF you are not eating yet, then it will be 3 days which would be weakening for an adult. The stronger you are, the more energy to fight this thing.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 19, 2002.

I am getting breakfast right now!!! :)

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), March 19, 2002.

GREAT!!!!!!!!!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 19, 2002.

I began taking garlic extract for my heart and I haven't been sick a day since. I do daycare and used to catch every virus that came around when at the vulnerable time of the month: not so anymore. Heart and immune system are good now.

-- Crystal (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), March 19, 2002.

the best way to make a fever go down, is to drink lots of liquids as previously stated, but also to get the rest of body warm. I dont know why it works, but it does. At first you will feel overheated, but if you continue to drink cool liquids, like water or Juicy Juice (my personal fav. when sick), it will not raise the body temp. so much as to you feeling over heated. The reson your body gets a fever is because it is fighting an infection or virus. When a bacterium attaks you cells, it like plants its "eggs" in the cell. When the "eggs" are ready to "hatch" you cell will burst open, releasing a lot of heat along with new baterium.

The key is the clear liquid and to make sure the rest of your body stays warm.

-- Erik (RemuSirius@hotmail.com), March 06, 2003.

I'm interested in knowing more about this board. Can somebody give me the home link? I found it while googling. Thanks. Kathy

-- Kathy (kdev@netactive.co.za), May 25, 2003.

“Certainly among the most familiar of proverbs on home remedies, this old saw is by no means a sure cure. In fact, there is even disagreement over what advice is being given. The English lexicographer John Withals observed in ‘A Short Dictionary Most Profitable for Young Beginners’ (1574), ‘Fasting is a great remedie in feuers,’ providing what might seem an early basis for the current saying. But the contrary recommendation appeared soon afterward in Stegano Guazzo’s ‘The Civile Conversation’ (1586): ‘It is better to feede a fever, then weakness.’ Centuries later Edward FitzGerald in ‘Polonius (1852) recorded the current proverb for the first time, as well as a note on what was already a common misconception: ‘In the case of…a Cold – Stuff a cold and starve a fever,’ has been grievously misconstrued, so as to bring on the fever it was meant to prevent.’ In ‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1865). Mark Twain Quoted the exact wording of the current saying, but in 1881 the publication ‘Notes and Queries’ explained, ‘Stuff a cold,’ &c. The expression is elliptical, for (if you) stuff a cold, (you will have to) starve a fever,’ which is to say stuffing yourself while you have a cold will supposedly bring on a fever. Despite the confusion and no little uncertainty as to whether it really is a remedy at all, ‘Feed a cold…’ has been repeated (and misunderstood) up to the present day. It seems the best advice is still that fairly recent prescription, ‘Call your doctor.’” From “Wise Words and Wives’ Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New” by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).

-- Jeffrey Barea (nyukid2@hotmail.com), December 10, 2003.