I've been telling people this stuff is crap, it's just a fancy and expensive multi-vitamin. The only real protection against illness is a hazmat suit.

I fly every so often for work and I always seem to catch a big when I do. Does anybody have anything that works.

I have to fly out in early May and was planning on picking some of this up. Glad I read this article.

@magnus150: I'm going to have a hard time getting through airport security with one of those on.

I've used Emergen-C for general blahs and hangovers with some success, but at least for me, it doesn't do too much good once I'm actually sick sick. Airborne was like drinking a fizzy hippy sock.

Huh.

My boyfriend's mother shoved some of this at him after he was already sick, and he said it made him feel a little better. It's basically just 1000% of your daily dosage of Vitamin C, isn't it? He drank four glasses in one day... haha.

Airborne... apply directly to the profits. Airborne... apply directly to the profits. Airborne... apply directly to the profits.

@pengie: Sorry, make that 1667%.

Sheesh.

I got an email telling me about the lawsuit, at the email address I use to sign up for online things - and presumably a free Airborne offer at one point. Be aware that Airborne may have had their email list confiscated and/or were required to send out the notice to everyone who had ever signed up for a freebie with them. Not sure what this means for your privacy, but it's notable.

@pengie: I'll vote for the placbo effect

Wait, so what are the benefits for joining this claim? Another free package of Airborn?

I know I'm a lemming, but I always take this stuff when I start getting that weird "about-to-get-sick" feeling. I haven't been sick in a few years. Airborne is the world's most effective placebo.

I used to get a bad cold/influenze about 3 times a year. When I started taking AirBorne in fall of 2005, it worked for me. I would take it every time I felt I was coming down with something, and I didn't get a cold for over 2 years. Then it just stopped working. I suspect they changed their formula! I've switched to taking prenatal vitamins every day, along with an echinecea supplement and making sure I get my vitamin C. I haven't been sick in a long time. I was pretty mad that the Airborne stopped working, though.

@Sherryness: er, I meant influenzA

I would add Zinc to your regimen because it does seem to affect your system just as you are coming down with something. It helps your body to withstand the infection. I've heard lots of people say that ZiCam (sp?) stuff helps but it tastes really bad. Maybe that's the placebo that works for it...medicine is supposed to taste bad. It doesn't hurt for anyone to take a daily multi-vitamin (make it a soft gel capsule because many of the hard tablets do not ever break down in the body and are just expelled with the rest of the garbage) and mineral. Even if you eat a decent food plan - you might not get everything that it has. For instance, broccoli is a great veggie with anti-oxidants...but if it's microwaved or boiled it loses 70% to 90% of it's nutrients. You need to steam it to retain the nutrients.

I don't dispute the apparent shadyness of these "clinical trials," but I've had good experience with Airborne. If I feel like I'm coming down with something I drink a couple glasses and I almost always feel fine the next day. Before Airborne I would take massive doses of Ester-C, but I feel the Airborne is more effective. As with anything, if you take it after you're already sick it's probably not going to help.

wasnt there just a study recently published that stated Vitamin C has no effect in warding off a cold??

Look for Mucinex to be in a lawsuit soon too because it doesn't work either!

@SoCalGNX: What about Musinex doesn't work? It's just guaifenesin, same expectorant as in most other cough medicines. Mucinex DM contains that ples dextromethorphan, the main OTC cough suppressant. I am just getting over the flu and they worked fine for what I used them for (loosening chest congestion and easing coughs, respectively). Of course they didn't work as well as the heavy-duty medicine for gasping asthmatics at death's door that my doctor gave me, but if it worked well enough, the FDA wouldn't approve it for selling OTC, would they?

Even my typing has laryngitis.

Beware the zinc treatments that are inhalers vs a pill/liquid. Apparently the metal can damage your SENSE OF SMELL. That's pretty friggin scary to me. Can't people learn to wash their hands and be careful when traveling??

Where can I find generic Placebo? None of the pharmaceuticals ads I receive in my email offer it.

Or maybe they all do but under other names.

@nrwfos: Don't get the Zicam mouth spray, use the nose gel instead.

@EBounding: I'm right there with you. Admittedly, I get the CVS generic variety.

@levenhopper: Could be. I think taking huge doses of vitamin C can't really be BAD for you, though.

@orielbean: Hmmm, if that's true, then maybe I'll stop being able to tell when the elevator was last used by someone returning from a smoke break.

@jarchie219: I heard once that pharmacies can sell you the sugar pills that make up placebos as a way to help teach your kids how to swallow pills.

I found that it works. If it's placebo then hey, it still works!
There's also Alfa CF and black elderberry extract.

When I start to get a cold, I take Zicam (contains zinc), and it seems to help. I don't know if it's a placebo or not. It "seems" to work for me, and that's enough, I suppose. However, I only use the medicated swabs. I don't think eating it will help. The zinc works to destroy the virus, which resides mainly in your nose (for a rhinovirus-caused cold, anyway, not sure if it helps with the flu). Using the swab to get it directly in your nose is the only way I think it could possibly work, so the tablets, dissolving strips, etc., are a true waste of money; the swabs are only kind of a waste of money :P

And for the reports of folks losing their sense of smell due to Zicam, I have no idea. It's possible you could be allergic to zinc. You can't blame the company if you use something you're allergic to. Test it on your skin, or maybe your cheek or something first if you're worried. However, my guess is those folks already had something wrong with their nose that caused the problem, and using Zicam was coincidental. But again, I don't have any evidence on the matter, other than my wife and I never have any trouble.

BTW, it's possible the swabs work simply because I'm swabbing out my nose, and the zinc isn't doing anything. Next time I get a cold, I'll just swab out my nose with a regular Q-tip and let you know if it works as well as Zicam ;)

@rolla: There's also published studies which show arsenic is good for headaches and studies which say surgery is best for ulcers, but I don't think I'll be taking their advice.

Zinc and lots of Vitamin C have always helped me during colds. I've never OD'd on Vitamin C, I've been told that once your Vitamin C levels reach critical mass your body just disposes of the excess. I've never found a cold remedy that wasn't some mixture of alcohol &/or decongestants, Zinc, and Vitamin C.

@jarchie219: I keep threatening to give my sister bottles M&Ms with made up "medicinal" names.

Phakanix
Licam
Falsex

"Ooh! The red ones are the best!"

My sister's father-in-law dropped off a pallet worth of boxes filled with Airborne (I didn't ask nor would I want to know how he came upon them) at her house, so the last time I started feeling a cold coming on I hit up the stockpile, and sure enough it seemed to have helped. All I ever got was a very mild sore throat, and a few sneezes over the course of four days, instead of the normal "Oh My God, this cold is going to kill me" feeling. I'm still waiting 'till when I get sick again I can try it out again, and then when I get sick a third time I'll not take Airborne to see if my cold is worse. Ha ha! The Scientific Method.

Either way, I guess I couldn't take advantage of the Class Action settlement since I didn't pay for the Airborne in the first place. Shady father-in-law merchandise, FTW!

@Dead Wrestlers Society: The only real way to avoid the flu is to get your flu shots. Not a guarantee but it helps. If you're on a plane the best way to stay healthy is to keep hydrated. Planes are very dry environments and that can stress your body especially adding to the fact your legs are probably going numb from all that leg room. :P Other than that washing your hands also helps.

CVS/Walgreens brand "airborne" (wal-borne) are just as (in)effective and twice as tasty. The Orange flavored one could almost pass for a mimosa. For 1/4 the price of real airborne, it's worth taking if you're "at-risk", even if it's only slightly better than not taking it at all. It's awfully hard to prove that a preventative medicine DOESN'T work. After all - if you DON'T get sick, does that mean it worked, or does it mean you just avoided getting sick altogether? ha!

Zinc has gotten me to come out of a few bad spells. Unfortunately, the zinc remedies that I've taken taste horrible.

@Dead Wrestlers Society:
Zicam! I use the nasal swabs.

@pengie: It is if you have kidney problems, or are pregnant. Actually, some of us know that vitamin C can be a preventive measure and sometimes cure for that other kind of cold that only women get ;)

@pengie:
"basically just 1000% of your daily dosage of Vitamin C, isn't it?"

If it is, it's a complete waste. Your body can only absorb so much vitamin C, sick or not. Being water soluable it just comes out in your urine.

Now - I could be wrong but I do recall that the doctor who came up with the theory about vitamin C preventing/curing the cold never had his results duplicated.

The most annoying thing about this product are the claims all over the box that it was "created by a Grade 2 school teacher", because she didn't want to catch anything from the kiddies.

What kind of credential is that? Is she also a licensed naturopath? A pharmacologist moonlighting as a teacher? Or, are we supposed to believe in her formulations because she can teach kids to add 1+1? I actually do use some supplements, including herbals, but I'd prefer to use products made by people who've made knowing about these things their profession. And yes, such people do exist (they are called naturopathic doctors and go to college full time for 8 years) and are professionally licensed in many states.

@SuburbanSocialite, @SomeoneGNU: Thanks to both of you. I really didn't know any of that. :)

Who actually remembers when they bought their Airborne? I have no way of remembering from almost a year ago and I certainly didn't keep the receipts. How am I supposed to fill out my claim form without lying?

I'm a firm believer in Airborne's effectiveness. Aren't placebos considered effective in their own right? I like the fizzy goodness too.

Don't know if they still have it going on, but there was a promotion on their boxes that if you buy 6, you get a tube free. In order to do that, you had to save the UPC's and receipts from all the purchases. This'll really bite them in the ass when a lot of people filing claims have physical proof of all of their purchases.

Ya know...I am not sure this stuff is just all crap, I have taken it several times and it always seems to work for me.

I am just getting over a chest cold also. Mucinex did nothing!
@speedwell:

One time, I felt like I was getting sick, and then I drank my own urine and I haven't been sick since.

I'd be happy to bottle and sell it to any of you gullible fools who actually think Airborne works. I make no claims as to its scientific validity as a cold-prevention device because who needs science when you have feelings and circumstantial evidence?

Would a buy 6 get 1 free offer sweeten the deal for anyone?

@speedwell:
The FDA also approved Viox and quite a few other things that later proved problematic. I think they draw things out of a hat to see what they will approve next.

@nycaviation: Word. If you're already sick, it's too little too late.

It works for me, who cares if it's useless to some? Not all cold medicines are effective for everybody, yet people aren't suing the NyQil folks.

ceejeemcbeegee... I agree. All medicines affect people in different ways. Your body will even even adapt to medicines you've taken for a while and basically become ineffective. I can't tell you how many prescription drugs I've gone through in my life simply because they work for awhile, then suddenly have no affect. I've used Airborne in the past because I traveled weekly on planes and it always worked for me. Think about the germs on those arm rests...eeeks! It got to the point where I wouldn't touch my face with my open hands/fingers for fear of transmitting germs directly into my body. Maybe I should've picked my nose and wiped it on the arm rest to help contribute! :)

I've always laughed at people who use this product, including my close relatives. It says rig