I’ve got a very very bad cold at the moment, but, at the same time, I don’t wont to take any medicine unless absolutely necessary, so here’s my ancient fast remedy for a bad cold:
2 slices of bread
1 entire garlic
butter or margarine
freshly ground pepper
fresh parsley.
Peel and crush the garlic. Put a THICK slice of margarine or butter on both slices of bread, to the very edge of the slice. Cover both slices with ground pepper, then coat both slides with thinly chopped parsley. Put the crushed garlic on one slice, over it with the other slice.
Have a glass of your favorite cold drink on standby. An extremely fizzy lemonade will work miracles. Make sure there’s plenty of room for you to move around in, do not eat it sitting down. Take the first bite, as soon as you feel the hit, eat the rest of the sandwich as quickly as possible. Run around a bit if you must, but don’t give up, eat it all. Once eaten, rinse with your favorite drink.
Once your mouth, nose, eyes and ears have settled down, have a hot drink, and you’ll notice that you feel 100% better all ready. Repeat the next day if necessary, however, normally, it only needs one course.
There are some issues with this home-style medicine though: Do not take it 1 hour before going to the opera, the movies, or, for that matter, out. If at all possible, sleep in the furthest room in your place, or perhaps the balcony, the first night. By the end of the second day, the garlic smell will stop permeating through your skin and you’ll become socially acceptable again.
Some explanations: The parsley helps take the sting out of the garlic. The thick layer of butter/margarine helps protect your mouth from the garlic. The pepper helps in clearing the airways.
And yes, before I forget, get used to the “I can smell garlic” comments everytime someone comes near you 
. Before, I could hardly see, both eyes very sore while we wont mention the nose at all.
