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Joyce, If your cold/cough/congestion is really bad, do consult your doctor -- and be sure that he/she understands what meds are contraindicated for someone who has PD (assuming he/she wants to prescribe anything for you). However, it may also be helpful for you to consider taking some non-pharmaceuticals that are fairly safe and which can do a lot toward fighting off a bad cold & various other illnesses: Specifically, I would suggest: (1) Drink ECHINACEA TEA; or (2) take capsules of either ECHINACEA, ECHINACEA & GOLDENSEAL combined, or GOLDENSEAL. These herbal items -- available in healthfood stores & many drugstores --apparently have good antibacterial/antifungal/antiviral properties, and are very mild on the system (unlike many pharmaceuticals that can have strong side effects). Note: Read the labels for these items -- It's generally not advised to take goldenseal for more than a week at a time, for example; (2) Take ANTIOXIDANTS, such as VITAMIN C (Ester C With Bioflavinoids is easy on the stomach and works in more positive ways than would C alone; try 1000-2000mg/day -- but decrease dosage if you get diarrhea, which *may* happen at the higher dosage --it varies from person to person); PYCNOGENOL (which is based on an extract from the Maritime Pine Bark and is available in capsule form from healthfood stores & perhaps some drugstores -- consult the bottle or the store for dosing-advice); (3) Take ZINC tablets (available in healthfood stores & drugstores), perhaps 10mg-50mg per day -- ask the pharmacist for guidance on amount. There are also "branded versions" of Zinc available (some are zinc gluconate, others have a different zinc compound -- it supposedly has to do with how effectively-absorbed the given form of zinc may be. Ask the pharmacist for advice about this.) The above items can, I think, be helpful in warding off your cold, or reducing its severity, or reducing its timespan, etc., fairly safely; I've found these things to work well for me & for some other persons whom I know, and the literature that I've read also attests to these items' general safety -- but let me also state that, as with anything you might ingest (whether pharmaceutical or non-pharmaceutical), you should always be alert to any possible side effects. Generally speaking my sense is that these items will help you. You may want to check the literature too, about these & perhaps other antioxidants and such supplements. There's much on the internet about these kinds of things, at medical and alternative-health websites, some of which are generally objective, and some of which may have good info but are also selling something. I suggest that you go to a good search-engine such as Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) and try a search on keywords such as "antioxidants" and "echinacea" and "goldenseal" and "herbal supplements", etcetera -- perhaps combine some of these words/phrases in a given search -- and you should find a lot of useful info. Good luck. -- SJS 11/5/97