Puff this- I still look like a reindeer!

After being sick for over a week with a nasty cough, sniffles and a really congested head, I have come to appreciate more than ever, a good box of tissue and cough drops.

I believe I have sneezed about 500 times, blown my nose about a 1,000 times and caught my runny nose about 2,500 times. Add that to about 1,000 coughing episodes and I am a highly qualified reviewer of tissues & cough drops.

So, which tissue and cough drops do I recommend during the horrendous days of Chicago winter? (P.S. It was (-1) degrees on my temperature monitor yesterday!) Here goes...

Tissue Options.
I cant say I have tried them all, but I have tried many. (and many boxes). I tried: Kleenex, 2-Ply Kleenex, Puffs, Puff Plus, and Puffs Plus with Aloe Vera. I also got into speciality providers like Trader Joes 100% recycled 3-ply tissues. At the end of the day, PUFFS PLUS won with me. They were soft, thick, and a nice treat for my red nose. You don't realize how great they are until you use a single ply sheet on your pained nose. Oh.... it is awful!

Cough Drops
I think I went through about 300 drops in a week. I tried Halls, Halls Plus, Ricola, CVS Brand, Walgreen's Brand, Ludens, Fishermans Friend, Halls Defense with Vitamin C. As a kid, I recall loving Ludens Cherry-- I think they were more like candy! My mom always tried to get me to use Ricola or "burn your throat" Fisherman's Friend. I liked Ricola.... but Fisherman's Friend was painful. My take-- go for the sweet with a little burn. If you like that style, my top picks are: Halls Defense Vitamin C (citrus flavor) and the CVS Brand in Strawberry flavor.

If you are in a cold climate-- stay warm and healthy. It's brutal out there! If you are in a warm climate, be happy you are there! Really happy. sniffle.