Zicam vs Airborne

[Marseeya]

I'm just wondering how many of you have taken these cold remedy things. I always liked Zicam in the past and it really did shorten my cold and sometimes stop it in its tracks, but then someone on here posted about people losing their sense of smell because of the zinc.

Which one do you like better?

I bought the mouth spray version of Zicam last night because they were out of the nasal swabs (which don't seem to contribute to the loss of smell problem). OMG, it is SOOOO nasty! It sucks all the moisture right out of your mouth and has this weird taste to it, and you can't eat or drink for 15 minutes after you use it. BLEH.

What about Airborne? Is it something you swallow or is it nasty too?

 

[JESW]

I haven't tried Zicam but Airborne has worked very well for me. The other morning I woke up "off" with a scratchy throat, achy body feeling and general blahness...I dropped one airborne tablet in water, let it fizz, and then drank it up. It doesn't have the best taste but it is over with soon and that "cold" never manifested. My dr. says his wife swears by it. I have tried it several times with success.

Jill

 

[Lynn CC]

We use Airborne. I don't think I've been sick in a year and a half since I've been using it whenever I feel something coming on. It's absolutely amazing. I've tried Zicam before I knew about Airborne. It didn't prevent the cold for me.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I haven't tried Zicam but Airborne has worked very well for me. The other morning I woke up "off" with a scratchy throat, achy body feeling and general blahness...I dropped one airborne tablet in water, let it fizz, and then drank it up. It doesn't have the best taste but it is over with soon and that "cold" never manifested. My dr. says his wife swears by it. I have tried it several times with success.

Jill

That is just how I am feeling today. I have spent all week taking DD's to Doc's for ear infections, a trip to the ER over ahead bump with the baby and now my DH is at the Doc right now. I know just where the zicam swabs are. I am going to find them. I know I have airborne around here somewhere too, but not sure. I guess I have to serach. Is there any reason you can't do them both at the same time?

 

[SeaSpray]

That is just how I am feeling today. I have spent all week taking DD's to Doc's for ear infections, a trip to the ER over ahead bump with the baby and now my DH is at the Doc right now. I know just where the zicam swabs are. I am going to find them. I know I have airborne around here somewhere too, but not sure. I guess I have to serach. Is there any reason you can't do them both at the same time?

When I got sick a couple of days before our Disney World trip last month, I called my doctor to see if I could take Airborne AND Alka-Seltzer Cold Medicine at the same time, and he said Yes, you can. The Airborne does not contain drugs, just high doses of Vitamin C and some other vitamins and some herbs. Also, I have high blood pressure (I take 2 medications), and he said the Airborne was fine to take with that too.

I now swear by Airborne! And get the orange flavor, it tastes MUCH better than the lemon-lime.

 

[DisneyPhD]

When I got sick a couple of days before our Disney World trip last month, I called my doctor to see if I could take Airborne AND Alka-Seltzer Cold Medicine at the same time, and he said Yes, you can. The Airborne does not contain drugs, just high doses of Vitamin C and some other vitamins and some herbs. Also, I have high blood pressure (I take 2 medications), and he said the Airborne was fine to take with that too.

I now swear by Airborne! And get the orange flavor, it tastes MUCH better than the lemon-lime.

Man, now I need to find mine. Well DH just went to drop off his Rx for Zithromax so if I can't find it I might tell him to pick up some new when he get the other med.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We like Airborne better. It is a tablet that you put into water and let it dissolve. The orange one doesn't taste too bad and after a while you don't notice it.

 

[Christine]

So can someone tell me what the "theory" is for Airborne working?

I mean, I know why Zicam claims to work. The zinc attaches itself to the receptors in the nasal passages and thereby blocks replication of the cold virus (which is why I will only use the Zicam nasal spray--I don't believe their other formulations will work). Anyway, the Zicam "theory" makes sense to me.

How does Airborne stop a cold in its tracks?

 

[WDWAurora]

You mentioned the loss of smell with Zicam-that is from using the nasal swabs and spray. The other products have not been linked, but both nasal forms of the product have (which is denied by the company).

 

[4nana]

I'll be very curious to know how Airborne works for you if you give it a try. Glad to see many are so satisfied with results. We have been using Zicam a few yrs and swear by it, as it's been ages since we've had a cold, sinus infection or the infamous bronchitis I use to get twice a yr. I also wonder if the flu shot we get helps prevent them. Believe me, we are exposed to a lot of runny noses and can testify Z works great!

 

[Marseeya]

You mentioned the loss of smell with Zicam-that is from using the nasal swabs and spray. The other products have not been linked, but both nasal forms of the product have (which is denied by the company).

I'll see if I can find the article that talked about this (a newspaper), but it was saying that only the nasal spray gel caused the loss of smell because it goes farther up the nasal passage. You're only supposed to put the swabs at the edge of the nostril.

 

[Christine]

In my search to find some reasoning into how Airborne can stop a cold (like the evidence for zinc), I came across this. Looks like using Airborne could cause a problem with Vitamin A.


Does 'Airborne' Really Work?

October 27, 2005

By Herb Weisbaum


Audio : KOMO 1000 NEWS
Those who like it claim it wards off colds; critics say that's a bunch of hooey.

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SEATTLE - Have you heard about Airborne? It's a dietary supplement created by a school teacher who, according to the ads, "was sick of catching colds in class."

Seems like everyone I know is taking this stuff or talking about it. Airborne is flying off store shelves. According to the New York Times, this new cold treatment racked up $17 million in sales last year, making it the country's 10th largest-selling multi-vitamin.

Each Airborne effervescent tablet contains herbs, antioxidants, electrolytes, amino acids, and vitamins, including vitamin A and C. The product never claims to treat a cold; that would require FDA approval. The ads just tell you to take it "at the first sign of a cold symptom, or before entering crowded environments, like airplanes, offices and schools."

"For the life of me I can't see any reason why it would work and it may be dangerous," says Dr. John Swartzberg, who heads the editorial board at the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. "There is absolutely no science that shows that it helps, and the amount of vitamin A you get with it can be dangerous."

Here’s why: An adult should have no more than 10,000 units of vitamin A in a day. Each dose of Airborne has 5,000 units, and the package says to down a dose every 3 hours. As Dr. Swartzberg points out, that could easily lead to taking too much.

An overdose of vitamin A can cause serious health problems. The National Institutes of Health says, "Signs of acute toxicity include nausea and vomiting, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, and muscular un-coordination."

By the way, Airborne also contains Echinacea. There's been a lot of research done on Echinacea recently, and there it has not shown that Echinacea can treat or prevent colds.

The Airborne package says: "clinical trial data is available" at the company's Web site. But when we looked, we couldn't find any test data there.

I realize that some people swear by this stuff. I asked Dr. Swartzberg about that and he explained why you can’t base a decision on taking a medical product based on testimonials.

“We do double-blind controlled studies, because anecdotally things can sound wonderful but when you look at it compared to a placebo it has no affect at all. The natural history of a cold could be that you’ll be sick for 1, 2, 3 days or you’ll be sick for 7 or 10 days. So how do you know if you started taking Airborne, for example, and you get well in two or three days, that it worked? You have no idea.”

 

[SeaSpray]

Airborne is an immunity booster, so basically it helps your body to better fight off colds, sore throat, etc.

I am usually very skeptical of things like this, but it was out of desperation that I tried Airborne last month. Didn't want to be sick to fly and see Mickey. lol I was amazed that 2 days before the trip I was sick in bed with a sore throat, fatigue, swollen glands, nasal congestion, sinus pain, and ear pressure. On the day of the trip I woke up feeling like a new person!

DH and I have been taking (drinking) Airborne all this week because we both felt like we might be coming down with something. So far, it's working!

 

[Marseeya]

“We do double-blind controlled studies, because anecdotally things can sound wonderful but when you look at it compared to a placebo it has no affect at all. The natural history of a cold could be that you’ll be sick for 1, 2, 3 days or you’ll be sick for 7 or 10 days. So how do you know if you started taking Airborne, for example, and you get well in two or three days, that it worked? You have no idea.”

See, with this part of the quote I disagree personally. My own history is that when I get a cold, I'm down sick for well over a week, and I'm down hard. The first time I ever took Zicam, my cold lasted less than a week. Then when I started using it, my colds would never really materialize at all, or would be really shortened and mild. So the Zicam is doing something for me.

On the other hand, the article is talking about Airborne isn't it? I've seen the same kind of disputes about Zicam too, though.

 

[Christine]

See, with this part of the quote I disagree personally. My own history is that when I get a cold, I'm down sick for well over a week, and I'm down hard. The first time I ever took Zicam, my cold lasted less than a week. Then when I started using it, my colds would never really materialize at all, or would be really shortened and mild. So the Zicam is doing something for me.

On the other hand, the article is talking about Airborne isn't it? I've seen the same kind of disputes about Zicam too, though.

Yes, the article is about Airborne only. I think they have done "double-blind" studies on zinc in the nose and have proven that it is effective as long as you are dealing with a true cold virus and not some other type of upper respiratory infection. I don't have the ability to use the technical jargon, but apparently zinc has been proven to attach itself to areas in the nose and stop or slow down the rhinovirus from further replicating. This appears to be a totally different mechanism than Airborne claims. Airborne is just claiming to give the immune systems a "super boost" and fight off the cold.

 

[mckryan]

Well, I swear by Airborne. I had swollen glands starting and that familiar tickle in my throat, and I took some Airborne. The next morning I was better, and by the end of the day I felt normal.

DH came home from work on Monday, sneezing and coughing, talking about how everyone in the office was getting sick. I threw some Airborne at him and told him to drink it up. He had to leave in the morning to go to FL, and the last thing he needed to be was sick. He took 2 doses and was much better in the morning. I sent my tube with him so he could take more if he needed it.

DD came home not feeling good the other night, and I did the same thing to her. Gave her 2 doses, and by morning she was much better. This is HUGE because we have been battling sinus infections the past couple of years because of her allergies and asthma. She has been going from infection to infection, and we'll try anything to put a stop to it.

The box says not to exceed 4 doses in 24 hours, but that information was not on the tube I had. I can see where there could be a vitamin overload problem.

There are several sites that have info about Zicam and the loss of smell and/or taste.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/040104/oak_20040401008.shtml
http://web.redding.com/newsarchive/20040323cu029.shtml
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/2825169/detail.html
http://www.drweil.com/u/QA/QA350157/