# anyone heard of or use this to help shorten Flu sickness??



## carl2591 (Nov 14, 2009)

http://www.oscillo.com/about-oscillo/default.html

"Oscillococcinum has been shown in clinical trials to help reduce the severity and shorten the duration of flu symptoms."

another board I use for carpet cleaning info mentioned it and several have used it will positive results. 

just wondering if any TUGgers had used and how well did it work for them.


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## Redrosesix (Nov 15, 2009)

I can't give you much, but I can tell you they've been talking about it around here.  Especially since finding that the strain of H1N1 that's hitting the east coast of Canada appears to be resistant to Tamiflu.


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## Patri (Nov 15, 2009)

What is it exactly? Pill, liquid?
Shortens symptoms by hours, which flu sufferers have said matters.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada (Nov 15, 2009)

I think it is a homeopathic remedy sold in some pharmacies and health food stores for flu.
Liz


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## Jennie (Nov 16, 2009)

I have used 0scillococcinum for years with excellent results. It is designed to prevent or lessen the flu but I take it for 2 days at the first sign of a cold. So far, it has stopped every one of them from developing. I used to have maybe 3-4 colds a year and they would linger as a cough for up to 2-3 weeks later. Since using 0scillococcinum, I haven't had one cold set in about 8 years. I pay particular attention about 7 days after taking a plane trip because that was the time I was partcularly prone to start developing a cold. 

0scillococcinum is composed of tiny dot like "capsules" that come in tiny vials (6, 12, and 18 per box). You use one vial 3 times a day. Just pour the contents into your mouth and suck on it for a minute or two until the dots dissolve. It tastes like candy. It is dervied from some African root that grows in one particular region and has been used for generations.

There is also a liquid named Umcka. It is a natural remedy that works well for viral infections. It looks and tastes like cough syrup and comes in about 4 flavors, including one that is sugar-free. If you feel like you are coming down with "something" but are not sure whether is the flu or a viral infection, it is fine to take both umcka and 0scillococcinum together for a couple of days. One or the other should knock it out.

I recently came down with what I believe was the flu. I had attended a party the week before and learned that several people who had been there were suffering from a very bad case of the flu. Then I woke up in a sweat feeling very achy all over. My eyes were heavy, my neck glands sore and swollen. I felt extemely lethargic and just wanted to sleep. My temperature was a bit elevated at first but rose to 103 within a few hours, and I had bouts of the chills. The last time I had the flu was in December of 1980 and I remembered how horrible it was so I was bracing for a miserble week.

Well, anyhow, I immediately started taking the Umcka and 0scillococcinum around the clock and within 24 hours I was almost symptom free, except for feeling pyhsically drained. By the middle of day 2 I was completely back to normal. It was like a miracle. 

Through the years I felt the the occ was probably preventing colds from developing but how can one know for sure? Maybe it wasn't really a cold, I would think.

But the miracle that occurred last week proved to me beyond a doubt that there must be effective ingredients in both products. Willner Chemists, one of the oldest and largest vitamin pharmacies in the country, has been selling both products for years and it flies off the shelves. I would stock up on it whenever I would find it in the store. I was pleased to learn that the Vitamin Shoppe and CVS pharmacies are now carrrying both products. It can be ordered on-line at their web sites if it is not available locally. I would guess that other major drug chains like Walgreen's and Rite Aid, etc... may carry it too. 

The Vitamin Shoppe sometimes has a 2 for 1 sale on the occ.. 

I learned of these products from co-workers. Many found it worked well for their children, age 2 and up, as well as for adults.

My advice: give it a try. It works best when you use it at the first sign of a cold or flu.


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## Mosca (Nov 16, 2009)

"Alternative medicine" is an oxymoron. Alternative medicine that works is called "medicine".



> The preparation is derived from duck liver and heart, diluted to 200C—a ratio of one part duck offal to 100^200 parts water.[2] This is such a high dilution that the final product contains not even one molecule of the original liver. Homeopaths claim that the molecules leave an imprint in the dilution that causes a healing effect on the body, although available evidence does not support efficacy beyond placebo.[3][4][5]
> 
> There is little to no scientific evidence that Oscillococcinum has any effect beyond placebo. None of its active ingredient is present in a dose of the final product, and, although homeopaths claim the diluted molecules leave an "imprint" in the remedy, there is no known mechanism for how the diluted remedy could have a medicinal effect in this way.[12][7] Homeopathy as a whole is considered pseudoscience.[13]
> 
> ...


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## e.bram (Nov 16, 2009)

Die. works 100% of the time.


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## Patri (Nov 16, 2009)

By chance, my son woke up sick yesterday. When we got home from church he had a fever, said he handn't been able to sleep and then got the chills. By afternoon he still had a fever so I ran to Rite Aid to look for O. They had some, $15 for six capsules. He took two yesterday and one this morning. His fever disappeared. He is eating. Plans to go to school tomorrow.
Who knows what he had? But I'm up for anything to reduce symptoms and get going again. We'll see what the morn brings.


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## Courts (Nov 16, 2009)

I have been troubled by colds, flu, sore throat my entire life. 

 I use *Zicam* oral spray at the first sign of a sore throat and although it causes slight numbness of the taste buds if you get too much on your tongue, I no longer have sore throats or colds more than a couple days.

.


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## Glynda (Nov 17, 2009)

*Zicam*

I haven't heard of it but several in my family have experienced Zicam helping reduce and halt the progress of a cold.


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## Jennie (Nov 17, 2009)

Through the years I took large doses of Vitamin C whenever I felt a cold coming on. I also used echinacea and goldenseal. Others swore by it so I believed it would ward off colds, or at least lessen the symptoms. I wanted it to work but it really didn't. So when my co-workers started raving about occ and umcka, I was a total non-believer. I took a look at the ingredients and figured it was a slick marketing scam. 

The first time I used occ it was at the urging of a co-worker friend who went to a drug store on her morning coffee break to buy it for me, her "treat". I had told her I was feeling achy and thought I might be coming down with a flu even though there was no word of one circulating at the time. My friend was a very frugal person so I was surprised to see her spend so much on an "alternative" product. Heck this gal wouldn't even take a daily vitamin--too expensive, she said, and anyhow she didn't "believe" in them.  

I took the occ to "humor her" and by the end of the day, a Friday, I felt 100% back to normal. I continued to use it over the weekend "just in case." On Monday, several people called in sick with flu-like symptoms. By the end of the seek, over 100 employees were home with the flu. My supervisor, who had never taken a sick day in over 20 years, was absent for two weeks.  I never developed any symptoms. 

I'm a very skeptical person and am not usually  susceptible to the power of suggestion. But whatever is in this product, especially when combined with umcka, has been working well for me for several years. And a lot of people I know have come to the same conclusion independently, even my very cynical internist.


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## carl2591 (Nov 18, 2009)

Jennie said:


> Through the years I took large doses of Vitamin C whenever I felt a cold coming on. I also used echinacea and goldenseal. Others swore by it so I believed it would ward off colds, or at least lessen the symptoms. I wanted it to work but it really didn't. So when my co-workers started raving about occ and umcka, I was a total non-believer. I took a look at the ingredients and figured it was a slick marketing scam.
> 
> The first time I used occ it was at the urging of a co-worker friend who went to a drug store on her morning coffee break to buy it for me, her "treat". I had told her I was feeling achy and thought I might be coming down with a flu even though there was no word of one circulating at the time. My friend was a very frugal person so I was surprised to see her spend so much on an "alternative" product. Heck this gal wouldn't even take a daily vitamin--too expensive, she said, and anyhow she didn't "believe" in them.
> 
> ...



that is a good testimonial to the power of non medical medicine.  I have not heard of the umcka stuff and in doing a quick search see it quite popular..

I will be heading out to have some on hand for the upcoming flu season.

very kool stuff..  :whoopie:


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