I have had a cold for a few days. It has been unpleasant, very unpleasant. Like many, I have traditionally turned to the humble chemist to provide me with a potion that will cure my ills. This time round, I just sat it out without relying on medicine, but it got me thinking of when I had bronchitis a few years back, and I have developed something of an observation.

When I had bronchitis it really knocked me down for three weeks; I was off work, and in a pretty sorry state. Bizarrely, I went to see Chas and Dave while this ill, but that is a story for another time. I went to the doctor a few times, and had a few different doctors advise me on what to do. The first doctor recommended the usual concoctions in the shops; those with colourful labels, well known brands, TV ads etc. I tried a few of them to no avail. They had virtually no impact, and all tasted pretty yucky.

Then, I went to the docs and a new doctor recommended a strange sounding medicine (which I have forgotten the name of), which he assured me would “sort me out”. I went the chemist, ordered it, and they had one solitary bottle of the stuff, covered in dust, just in date. It was a while box with plain black writing on it. The doctor told me to only take one dose a day. Well, I got it home and just taking the cap off nearly made my eyeball pop out of it’s socket – the waft of ultra-chemical ‘orrible-ness nearly knocked me out. Consequently, putting some of the suspect looking substance down my cakehole was not something I was particularly looking forward to. It is by far the most disgusting substance I have ever tasted in my life, bar none.

Lo and behold, within a few hours it really made me feel better. Significantly so. I have no idea what it was, but the moral of this story seems to be that when you want your cold or bronchitis shifting – buy something that looks boring, stinks and tastes vile – that’ll sort you out.