Here are a couple tidbits:
Most colds are viruses. Antibiotics are useless against them.
In general, alcohol decreases the body's immune response, prolonging a cold. Small amounts (like in Niquil) are no big deal.
Cold Eaze, like Zicam, is really just a delivery system for ions (zinc gluconate happens to be a convenient and non-lethal form) that are opposite in their charge to the attachment sites on viruses (the sites the viruses use to attach onto your cells). So, you swallow the ionic zinc, which "collects" cold viruses, and you swallow them, preventing the virus from infecting your upper respiratory system.
Zinc tastes disgusting by itself and up until the mid 90's (I think), no one was able to come up with a method of making it palatable without negating its ionic charge (i.e., sweeteners). The makers of Cold Eaze finally did that and had a patent on their formula for some time. They tested it and it worked and they published their results in a scientific journal. For a while there, while Cold Eaze still had their patent, everybody and their brother came out with "Zinc Losenges" that were completely ineffective because it wasn't ionic zinc. Cold Eaze's patent has since run out and you can now buy generic Cold Eaze.
The only problem with Cold Eaze is that you have to take it VERY early in a cold for it to be effective... like at the first signs of a sore throat. Once the viruses multiply and take over, taking Cold Eaze is like shooting at a swarm of bees with a .22.
The best thing to do at that point is to eat healthy, drink lots of fluids, treat the symptoms, and get lots of rest. I know it's cliche, but the first person to find an actual cure for the common cold will be a rich man (or woman!).