At the first hint of a cold ie tickly throat, sneezing, I use a nasal spray containing 'Luffa' available from Health Food shops etc; I also take Koloba (Health Food shops) drops in hot water, along with Sure Cure, available by post from Abbots of Leigh, their own invention, and often by morning, the cold is gone. Sure Cure also helps with the resulting cough and phlegm if you don't catch it in time.
Koloba and Sure Cure are both available in 2 sizes, the small size will more than deal with one cold, and convince you you should have got the bigger size to see you through the winter.
Luffa is similar to one that Vick used to make, which gave me a headache, but they have some new ones out now as well.
None of them is particularly cheap, but much better than the alternative!
There is a sugar-free cough treatment, I think it's called Robitussin (sp?) available from large chemists.
