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Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: laptaper on November 23, 2015, 05:30:06 PM
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Yes, I said it :P
(a-hem)
And I
(ahem)
was wondering if
(cough)
any stealth tapers here had any
(haa-rrrrrrrrUUUUUMPH)
tried and true solutions to fight
(hack! ehHMMHMM!)
post-nasal drip and its associated need to expectorate
(wheeeeeeeeze! cough!)
during shows. ;-)
Many thanks in advance. I got an excellent pull of Jerry Douglas at the Birchmere last night, but there's this A-HOLE ===> me <=== who keeps clearing his throat right in his - I mean, my - mics.
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I stealthed a quiet acoustic show at my favourite venue a few years back, in winter. The place was lit by candles, it was gorgeous - the crowd were suitably hushed and respectful, the singer was great and the recording turned out beautifully except that I had a cold and all I could hear was myself wheezing. Gutted.
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Other than moving mics higher up on your head and cough drops/coughing into your shirt (which help but don't solve the issues) there ain't much you can do...
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yeah, if you figure out a way to cure the common cold, let me know. We'll team up and make billions!!!! :)
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yeah, if you figure out a way to cure the common cold, let me know. We'll team up and make billions!!!! :)
"Wear warm clothes, drink plenty of liquids and get plenty of rest and you'll be over it in seven days. Do none of that and it'll last a week." ;)
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thermos with tea if its a venue that will let you do that
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As other folks have said; there's not much you can do once you have a runny noise. Dayquil hasn't worked very well for me since they changed the formula many years ago.
Exercising more and staying in shape seems to have prevented me from catching many colds, though. I also avoid things like hand sanitizers and disinfectant soap like the plague in order to strengthen my immune system.
Being in better shape also means I can enjoy shows which require endurance to stand in line for hours and maintain a good spot up front :D
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My problem isn't getting sick - it's a chronic condition. I have a cat so that doesn't help. But next time I'll try things to thin out the phlegm, cough drops, lots of water, try to avoid eating wheat or spicy foods before the show (good luck with that).
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Steroid nasal spray?
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When I have a cold, I always use Hall's cough drops. They keep me pretty much cough-free. until they run out. If I was stealthing, I would just keep popping them.
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As someone prone to the drip/cough cycle, I highly recommend trying a neti pot if you haven't yet. It's not magic, but it should help cut down on the amount of gunk in your sinuses, at least, which can reduce the drip. (Running a humidifier can't hurt, either.)
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gotta move to another picnic table. it's worse when the stealth taper has the pnd.
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Aside from the controversy over the years, I regularly take crystallized vitamin c at any onset of a cold. I take roughly 4 grams (1/2 tsp ~ 2 grams mixed with large glass of water). I seldom have colds with this regimen. I purchase a large bottle of the loose crystals from trader joes. Has worked well for me.
Use caution as consuming this amt can cause gi issues for some.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C
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As someone prone to the drip/cough cycle, I highly recommend trying a neti pot if you haven't yet. It's not magic, but it should help cut down on the amount of gunk in your sinuses, at least, which can reduce the drip. (Running a humidifier can't hurt, either.)
Even better than a traditional neti pot, get the NeilMed sinus rinse. You mix a packet with distilled water, microwave for 20 seconds, and gently squeeze the resulting saline solution up there. Do this daily and you will help reduce allergies, infections, etc. It's gross at first but you'll get used to it.
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Clove of garlic a day keeps colds and chicks away ;D
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Cocaine used to work for me.
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Cocaine used to work for me.
Me too but the occasional nosebleed was a PITA :o
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Hmmmm. A nice narcotic-based cough syrup >:D usually seemed to cure all sorts of ailments….
but introduced a myriad of other problems for me worse than a cough... :facepalm:
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Tapers are always talking about drugs....:)
A decongestant like Pseudoephedrine (generic Sudafed) might well dry you up.
An antihistamine/anti-allergy drug like Zyrtec or Claritin might also help. Look at the active ingredients; there are generic equivalents to both probably right next to them on the shelf, like Wal-Zyr and Wal-itin at Walgreens. Try a small sample of each to see if it works for you before buying a whole bottle.
There are also combos like Claritin-D (D for decongestant = pseudoephedrine) but you'd probably pay more for them than for taking two pills. And if pseudoephedrine works by itself, all the better.
Benadryl will make you woozy, as will some other antihistamines and cough syrups. The ones above won't.
All of them are over-the-counter, though you will have to show ID to buy the pseudoephedrine because apparently it is used in meth labs.
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I'd probably stay away from the Sudafed and generics as they seem to cause a rebound worse than the original symptoms once you stop using them.
Which may be an acceptable compromise for getting you through a gig, of course.
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I use strepsils when I think I am going to cough- they do some very strong ones these days!. Drinking fluids constantly helps, also if you cough try waiting until the end of the song. Something I tried recently was when coughing do not open your mouth- did not hear it on the tape!
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There are also combos like Claritin-D (D for decongestant = pseudoephedrine) but you'd probably pay more for them than for taking two pills.
Claritin doesn't work right away, and it's a 24-hour pill, so I feel weird taking a sudafed on it if it doesn't work...
Nettles can help with seasonal allergies.
$5 for 100 capsules (I take two a day while the symptoms persist), and the only side effect i noticed was a green-flavored burp about 20 minutes after taking them.
http://www.naturesway.com/Product-Catalog/Nettle-Herb-100-Caps
I was talking claritin and not loving it, and tried nettles one day - they worked, and I switched over. A few months later, I didn't notice any symptoms so I stopped, and have been pretty good since.
Y M M V ! ! ! ( I AIN'T A DOCTOR! )