How long do your colds last?

[JennyMominRI]

I've had a cold for 12 days...Just a cough and stuffy nose..No fever fatigue or anything...I went to the doctor last week and he thought it was just a cold..Usually I get over them quicker..I'm just wondering if anyone else has a cold last this long or if my immune system is in the toilet

 

[hlbtimes2]

If you dont have fever or fatigue are you sure its a cold and not allergies?

A regular cold is 9 days- 3 days coming, 3 days of the "worst of it" and 3 days leaving. I heard that some where once, and found it to be pretty accurate.

 

[JennyMominRI]

If you dont have fever or fatigue are you sure its a cold and not allergies?

A regular cold is 9 days- 3 days coming, 3 days of the "worst of it" and 3 days leaving. I heard that some where once, and found it to be pretty accurate.

I've never had allergies in my life so that would surprise me

 

[Crankyshank]

Allergens are really bad this season and I know a lot of people, including DH, that have never had allergies in the past but are experiencing them this year.

You might want to try an antihistamine just in case. My sister has had sniffles and a dry cough for over a week she said, but it's definitely hay fever for her.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Allergens are really bad this season and I know a lot of people, including DH, that have never had allergies in the past but are experiencing them this year.

You might want to try an antihistamine just in case. My sister has had sniffles and a dry cough for over a week she said, but it's definitely hay fever for her.

I do notice my cough and runny nose get worse when my kitties sit with me..Hmmm...I've just never noticed hay fever/allergies before

 

[CathrynRose]

Allergies can come out of no where - truly they can.

Your body make up changes, and youre immunity (and allergies) to stuff can change along with it.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Here is a little chart with symptoms of colds vs allergies. Might be worth taking a look at to see where you fall..... http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/HealthLibrary/allergy/coldall.html

 

[Jpgirl]

Just got over that nasty little virus-3 weeks it took. No fever, a little fatigue, just a pesky cold. It's going around here too. I'll tell you what did freak me out about this particular virus-it's what it did to my heart rate. I'm very very active and do heart rate training with a monitor. The day I came down with this cold I was in an Indoor Cycling class and no matter how hard I worked (and I was pushing it) I couldn't get my heart rate out of the warm up zone. I laughed and told dh I was lazy. So that night this virus hits-because I wasn't feeling bad or running fever I kept training. There were days when I was tired and didn't train as hard but I was working out. So about day 10 of this virus and I go into another cycling class. I'm in the warm up feeling just fine and then I look at my monitor and about died-I was almost red lined (estimated max heart rate for me is 187)-I was at 170-in the warm up!! I've worked at 170 before and it doesn't feel like a warm up. I figured it had to be an anamoly so I take another class the next day-same thing. At that point, I decided something wasn't right and took 4 days off. I go back and an instructor starts talking about this virus and it did the same thing to her-so we decided it was just a virus going around-but we were freaked about the heart rate thing. It took another week to get over the stuffy nose and mild cough and get my heart rate back to normal. Hope you feel better. Still could be allergies for you but I know it wasn't for me as I've had allergies all my life and this wasn't allergies.

 

[JennyMominRI]

Just got over that nasty little virus-3 weeks it took. No fever, a little fatigue, just a pesky cold. It's going around here too. I'll tell you what did freak me out about this particular virus-it's what it did to my heart rate. I'm very very active and do heart rate training with a monitor. The day I came down with this cold I was in an Indoor Cycling class and no matter how hard I worked (and I was pushing it) I couldn't get my heart rate out of the warm up zone. I laughed and told dh I was lazy. So that night this virus hits-because I wasn't feeling bad or running fever I kept training. There were days when I was tired and didn't train as hard but I was working out. So about day 10 of this virus and I go into another cycling class. I'm in the warm up feeling just fine and then I look at my monitor and about died-I was almost red lined (estimated max heart rate for me is 187)-I was at 170-in the warm up!! I've worked at 170 before and it doesn't feel like a warm up. I figured it had to be an anamoly so I take another class the next day-same thing. At that point, I decided something wasn't right and took 4 days off. I go back and an instructor starts talking about this virus and it did the same thing to her-so we decided it was just a virus going around-but we were freaked about the heart rate thing. It took another week to get over the stuffy nose and mild cough and get my heart rate back to normal. Hope you feel better. Still could be allergies for you but I know it wasn't for me as I've had allergies all my life and this wasn't allergies.

Can I ask what part of the country you are in?

 

[golfgal]

My allergies just showed up last year and I am guessing I am your age or older. The way allergies work is that your body builds up a level of histamines over a period of time and you develop allergies if that histamine level get to whatever point. For some people that is the the second time they are exposed to the allergen, some people it is the 2000th time. It is different for everyone. Your symptoms sound exactly like allergies.

I just got off the phone with my sister. She called several days ago asking what I though about her DD's symptoms and they are classic allergy symptoms. She didn't believe me because people with allergies are 'sick all the time", no, but whatever. She had her dd tested and she is severely allergic to dust mites, oak, birch and ragweed (which the pollen levels are off the scale around here now).

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

I'm in Mass. and I've had a cold for a good 2 weeks....it's a cold and not allergies, it definitely had a few days in the middle of it where it was classic cold symptoms (so stuffy, like a "snot factory") and jsut gross. I still haven't completely shaken it...still bothering me a bit. I swear as soon as the kids get in school they bring all the little cold buggers home to me! Hope you feel better!

 

[Jpgirl]

I'm in Houston Texas. I had always believed that living in a warm environment would curb virus spreading b/c in the winter months you wouldn't spend as much time cooped up in a house/school or work with other people. Stupid me-everybody still passes the flu around. I get about one cold a year now but no flu thank goodness (knock on wood). My allergies are actually a bit better but that might be an age thing rather than a change in environment. I'm pretty sure I caught this cold at the gym-a lot of people were hacking and sneezing. Of course I do apologize for spreading it but I always wipe down the machines and indoor cycles that I use which is more than I can say for anyone else. But that's a whole other subject. Maybe I'll have to start wiping the machines down before I use them too. Everyone but my dh got the cold-and I can't believe he didn't get it-he's on an airplane to somewhere every week. Take care

 

[bbangel]

Try taking zinc supplements. Helps boost the immune system. A lot of people are zinc deficient and don't even know it. A sure sign is if you have white spots on your nails.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I'm on week four of what was a cold/sorethroat then moved to cold/cough, now just a hacking cough. Maybe it is allergies (when it first started I thought is was allergies, but then it totally felt like a cold) .... Here's to an early frost, then.