I've heard about Zicam and friends have urged me to try it in the past but I never did. Well on saturday I started feeling an itchy throat while I was working. Got home late so went to bed, woke up 6 am Sunday morning and definitely knew a cold was coming. I hardly get a cold more than once a year but I just had one two months ago so I got out of bed and ran up to CVS and bought the zicam swabs. Applied one right there in my car, went home and went to bed. Been applying them every four hours as directed and I can definitely say that this stuff works. Instead of the cold getting worse, it's going away. Now that I know it really works I'll keep some in the med cabinet so I can hit the cold at that first scratch in the back of my nose. Give it a try but don't expect miracles if you've had a cold for three days. Nail it at the the first signs and you will be pleased with the results.