They all taste the same!

November 4, 2011 11:20 AM

I'm going to a wine tasting, but I have a low-level cold that's probably going to be around until then. Will medication save me?

I've found tasting wine with the reduced sense of smell that comes with a cold to be a fairly pointless experience, so I'd like to make sure I don't waste the opportunity that is coming up.

I'm a little stumped what to do/expect since I don't normally medicate for these minor annoyance infections. Is there anything that will get my sense of taste/smell up to par for the occasion, and do you have suggestions on how to apply it?

posted by themel to health & fitness (4 answers total)

Be careful with it, but oxymetazoline, the drug in Afrin, is actually ridiculously effective in the short term. It's a topical nasal decongestant you spray up your nose. It's actually kind of problematic in managing symptoms over anything more than a day or two, because it's chemically addictive, and you'll wind up making yourself more congested if you stay on it too long. But a single dose will clear you right the hell up for the hour or three you'll be at the wine tasting. Just take it before you head over.

IANAD.
posted by valkyryn at 11:26 AM on November 4, 2011

I like Afrin too, just follow the dosage which is something like one or two spray every 12 hours. If it's still early in your cold, I swear by Cold-Eeze zinc lozenges. It always stops my colds in their tracks but it should be taken at the beginning of a cold. And don't use a lozenge close to tasting because it will distort the taste.

Don't mix antihistamines/decongestants with alcohol if you're going to swallow the wine. For me at least, I'd fall asleep standing up.
posted by shoesietart at 11:53 AM on November 4, 2011

Well, you didn't hear it from me, but at bedtime the night before, have a Nightdriver. That's a little plastic cup full of Nyquil, mixed with this. Magical!
posted by thinkpiece at 12:39 PM on November 4, 2011

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone... I tried a nose spray based on xylometazoline hydrochloride, which the friendly pharmacist gave to me after I asked for oxymetazoline. While it helped greatly with the swelling, it did, alas, NOT restore my sense of smell very much, so the tasting experience was fairly unsatisfactory. I'm currently debating myself over trying thinkpiece's approach and going for another try (wine expo lasts for the rest of this week, maybe there'll be another followup post).
posted by themel at 8:00 AM on November 16, 2011