I'm curious to know if readers of this news group think that Zicam nose
spray is effective for shortening the common cold, as the manufacturer
claims. [Warning: Long posing ahead] I've been using it off and on for a
couple years, and am not sure if it works. However, my wife and others I
know swear by it. I'm a skeptic when it comes to medical treatments and
wonder drugs that haven't been validated through a scientific study. In the
past, I've used the nose spray at the onset of a cold, and three days later
the cold was gone. Was it the Zicam or was it one of hundreds of cold
viruses that just happened to last shorter than most colds? Other times I've
used Zicamand it didn't seem to have any effect, and the cold has gone on
for a week or more.

A month or so ago, I had a cold, treated it for about 3 days with Zicam, it
seemed almost gone, so I quit taking it after three days. The next day the
cold got worse and gave me bad sinus congestion and headache.

This past week, I got a cold and took Zicam from the start. With this
particular cold, the I'd sneeze many times right after taking the nose
spray. The sneeze attacks were kind of miserable, especially since I'd try
not to sneeze out the Zicam and I'd try to sneeze out of my mouth instead.

The cold seemed to be worse than most, even after taking Zicam for 4 days.
Again, I was confused as to whether the Zicam was really working, and
because of the miserable sneeze attacks that happened whenever I took the
Zicam (every 4 hours), I was wondering if it was really worth it to take the
Zicam.

I set out on the Internet again to see if any new studies had been done,
besides the small one conducted by the Zicam manufacturer many years ago. I
didn't find any new studies pertaining to Zicam, but I did find all kinds of
negative information written up about Zicam and its competitor Cold-eeze
(which I understand has also come out with a new zinc nose spray). For
instance, at http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/msg.gsp?msgid=19433037
the Web site claims that a lead researcher for Zicam and the CEO of the
company that manufacturers it, received his seemingly prestigious degrees
through a diploma mill. Follow the links from that page, including the
article at http://www.fool.com/Rogue/1997/Rogue970131.htm , and you'll see
how there have been many doubts about the vailidity of one of the company's
zinc studies, and how both companies that manufacturer zinc remedies to
treat colds have a shakey background and/or company execs with questionable
backgrounds and qualifications.

After reading all this, I decided that Zicam may indeed be snake oil, and I
quit taking it. Twelve hours later, my cold got really, really bad with a
runny nose and congestion ... worse than the cold had been in the previous
four days. My wife who was suffering through the same cold that she got
about the same day as me and had been taking Zicam all the way through w/o
quitting, didn't experience tghe bad symptoms that I did ... so I did
another complete 180 degree change-of-mind and decided to restart Zicam.

Anyway, as you can tell, I'm still confused if Zicam works, and was
wondering what everyone else's experience is with these Zinc remedies for
the common cold. Has anyone did their own unofficial test, i.e., gone off
Zicam half way through their cold, or tested how long a cold lasted when
members of the same family had what seemed to be the same cold, and treating
one with Zicam to see if it shortened the duration? If these products
worked, why wouldn't they do more extensive studies that can't be refuted?
Or maybe did they commission these studies, had bad results and didn't
publicize them?

Your opinion on this topic is very much welcomed!