This cold has fooled me….

   Well I thought for sure that my cold had left, only to be fooled into over confidence.  Each night I have had my throat start to fill clogged and my nose start to plug back up.  No fever, so apparently no infections.  I have had a tickle in my throat that hangs on day after day.  So, coughing off and on during the day, thick throat and plugged nose at night.

   Then in the morning, it’s wake up with cotton mouth, as I was not breathing through my nose.  My mouth feels like a desert through which the camels have been dragging their tails.  I suspect that my breath represents the passage of beasts as well.  Then is up for work, shower, cough, dry off, cough, shave, cough, dress and give a cough for good luck.

   About this time, I start to feel half way normal again and head in to work.  Their I spend my day feeling, not to bad, but having to pop the occasional cough drop, in order to qualm the throat tickle that keeps re-occurring throughout the day.

   I get home at night and the cycle begins anew.  I am beginning to think that perhaps getting the flu might have been better.  At least with the flu, I’ve always felt back to normal in about 3 or 4 days!

The end of my Cold has arrived.

   Well, it has been seven days today since my cold set in.  As of this morning I finally felt back to 100% normal.   Monday and Tuesday, I was still waking up with a plugged nostril, but a handful of kleenex was lasting the whole day.  Yesterday was much better, though I did have a piercing head pain that would not go away.  By head pain, I do not mean a head-ache.  This was a pain, starting on the left upper side of my head, which drove like a nail right into dead center between the ears.  Not sure what a migraine is supposed to feel like, but maybe I now do?

   Today, one full week from last Thursday, I felt very much back to normal, with the exception of a minor head-ache that seemed to come and go throughout the day. 

   So, how long does a cold last?  Well, this one was bad for four and better for three days.  But regardless, this cold was still better than coming down with a flu bug.

   May yours be non-existant.

People keep wondering, “How long does a cold last”?

  Seems like the number of people wondering about how long a cold lasts is increasing each week.  I suppose that with Winter approaching, cold season will soon be upon us.  According to some hospital staff I know, the typical cold will last anywhere from 3 to 5 days.  If it lasts longer than this and you start having shortness of breath, or continued low grade fevers (99-101), you likely have contracted a respiratory infection, compliments of your neighborhood “Cold”. 

   The next question is usually, “how do you avoid getting a cold”?  The best answer is “Wash your hands”.  The next best  answer is “Wash your hands”!  If you see a trend, I think you are catching on.  Aside from staying far away from people with colds, washing your hands is the best way to reduce your exposure to common germs.  A side benefit of washing you hands is that you will reduce your odds of catching a flu virus at the same time. 

   If you do catch a cold, get some rest, if at all possible.  This may only mean only being able to head to bed early.  Like many of you, I really need the money, and as such do not like to miss too much work.  Do drink lots of fluids (water is great).  Take some of your favorite pain & fever reliever to stay comfortable and try not to overexert if you can.  Most bosses will understand you moving a little slower if you say you’ve caught a cold, but feel well enough to work.  But, if all else fails, head home and crawl into bed and make up for all those hours of sleep you’ve been missing all week.  Hope you feel better soon.