Colds

For the second time in the last three months, I've had a cold. Not a big deal really, but both colds have really put me on my arse, I've done little today except sleep. This is weird cos normally a cold is never pleasant, but normally I am well enough to work, but the last two times it really has knocked me for six. I am sitting here with a hellish fever, sore throat, blocked nose and sinuses, and am just generally a mess.

Just thought I'd share that one with ya's :inferno:

 

Paul, I don't know if Bub can offer any medical secrets, but I reckon colds and flus have been getting worse since I was a kid.

I didn't know what flu was until my late 20's, now it seems to do the rounds every year.

 

Same here - in the final 3 months of last year, I had three colds and the last one ended up being flu. I normally go into work and shake the thing off in a few days. Last time, I ended up off work for two days and felt crap for at least a week. Had a nasty cough with it too.

Before that, I used to get the odd couple of colds a year, but I'm sure these nasties are getting worse in strength. Heat/Vent systems in offices can't be helping much - to top things off, we had a dead rat in our system today. Lovely!

 

Yeah they definitely do seem to be getting worse, at least for me anyway. When I was younger, a cold would rarely phase me at all, but this time, as well as the last time (which was possibly even worse than this time), its really hammered me. I think you may be on to something with the air conditioning in offices, its been rumoured a lot that ours does spread germs around.

Dead rat eh Nsherin? NICE!

 

Flu is serious stuff. http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/

You don't know you're born...

Paul

 

The correct treatment for a cold is a bottle of whiskey and a bowler hat.

Carefully position the hat on the end of the bed, climb in and drink the whiskey until you see two bowlers.

Flu is very different and mercifully rare, although this may soon change.

 

Sounds like the sort of advice the England cricket team have taken on occasions!

Colds are not fun, think I'm going down with another one, hope not. The worst thing about them is really bad ones totally screw up your hearing for a few days. Certainly not ideal, if you need to be off sick for a few days, it'd be nice to hear the music properly right?

 

I've never really been ill in my life (excluding hangovers), never been to a doctor (except when i broke my penis once) and never had a day off work or school (except twice when it snowed so much i couldn't get there).

I was watching Unbreakable on telly the other night and thought i might be a superhero, but i doubt i could bench 350lbs. My kryptonite is cookies.

TBH, my family is riddled with critical illness, death and disease though, so i imagine i won't last long.

 

Yep, I noticed this, my right ear was crackling like I got bad reception on FM which is strange.

I've had the flu just once, but that really was bad, I was bed ridden for about 2 weeks and felt like crap for a further 2 weeks - not nice

 

I've NEVER (touch wood) had flu - even managed to miss it during the late-1990 epidemic that got 2/3 of our school off - d'oh!

I have year-round minor colds - I just live with it.

I've also had Bronchitis twice - not fun at all.

Other than that, been fairly lucky, though I seem to have a habit of having cuts go "bad" and start oozing green puss - it's happened loads of times

Don't forget that as you get older, your immune system becomes weaker. Plus, people these days are too hygenic and wussy (due to cleaning obsessions and central heating) so this is why people are ill more often. Because I'm grim, I eat food I drop on the floor etc, and the only times I've been really badly caught out are during that vomiting virus that did the South East last year, and, err, last week - dunno what caused that one (probaby my own cooking!).

Oh - I've only ever broken one bone - my little toe Cracked my head open once too, but didn't get KO'd

 

Not true, at least when it comes to colds. The common cold is caused by countless different viruses, which is why it's so difficult to find a cure. But for each of these viruses you get, your body manufacturers relevant antibodies, which then stick around for the rest of your days. Young children can catch up to a dozen colds in a year because they haven't the antibodies to fight them off, but it's good for them in the long term as it's giving their immune systems a good work out. Older people actually catch far fewer colds because they have built up a store of antibodies, and any new cold they get (maybe one or two a year) is a new virus. Which, admittedly, usually hits them for six.

General tips for avoiding colds: stop smoking, cut down on the booze, eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg (a balanced diet, boys!), drink lots of water (up to two litres a day), pop a vit C and zinc supplement, glug a herbal remedy such as echinacea, get a good's night's sleep, try to keep stress to minimum, wash your hands frequently, and try not to stick your fingers in your eyes or up your nose too often. Also, snot is the body's way of flushing out the virus (a raised temperature its way of killing the little bleeders), and you can speed things up a little by having a sauna and then eating a curry or two to get the flow going.

Flu is a completely different matter.

 

After that lot, a cold would be a blessing!

 

I remember that one - I spent 2 weeks in bed and lost 2 stone in weight. Never want to go through that again

 

Nasty stuff!

Really hit me hard when I had that a while back.

 

Never had flu, but i have had glandular fever, not life threatening, but it makes you feel like crap. I for one can never seem to shake colds, they seem to be constant with me. I should probably get it checked out.

 

Have you ever thought you might have allergies? I have perrenial rhinitis, which is basically an allergy to dust and what have you, which means I am constantly affected by it, add to that I get hayfever really bad in the summer.

However, I take some Beconase nasal spray daily on a permanent basis, and it has rid me of the symptoms. Perhaps you may want to give it a try, its harmless at the end of the day, and it'll either work or not. Might be worht a stab.

 

I had penumonia when I was a little boy and that wasn't fun at all.

Colds do seem worse nowadays compared to say 10+ years ago.

The thing I notice most is that it takes so much longer to shift them.

 

I think i have mild hayfever, but thats it, i know i'm not allergic to anything. It's just one of those things i've got used to, same as the fact i get bad headaches all the time (due to overheating/dehydrating/both).

 

Ditto. Ibuprofen is my friend

 

I suffer terribly from rhinitus at times. The worst was out in Hong Kong, due to excessive levels of pollution.

Headaches - normally self-inflicted :beer: