Maybe it’s just me, but the last few colds I’ve had are nothing like the ones I used to get. Back in the day, I’d start with kind of a raw scratchy feeling in the back of the throat. After a day or two the congestion would start in, and I would have a head full of goop for about three days, going through about a box of kleenex a day from the constant nose-blowing, and I’d have to sleep sitting up because I couldn’t breathe while lying down. Once my head started to clear up, I’d have about another three or four days of coughing and runny nose as everything started draining into my throat. The whole thing would take about 7-8 days to run its course.
The last few colds I’ve had seem to go more like this: starts the same way, with the scratchy throat. I’ll have a sore throat and cough for about three or four days, but with little or no congestion. Then the cough goes away and I start to feel better for a few days. Just when I think I’ve dodged a bullet (or think “hey, that wasn’t so bad”) the cough starts coming back, along with congestion – but not the full-blown kind of congestion with the constant nose-blowing. More like I might need to blow my nose every hour or so. And the congestion is never so bad that I can’t breathe when I try to sleep at night (although the coughing might keep me awake). Then after about four days of that, it finally goes away. So the whole thing stretches out over about two and a half weeks. It almost feels like two “mini-colds” with a short pause in between, rather than one long drawn out cold.
Personally, I think I’d rather go back to the old way, where I’m only miserable for a week and then can get on with my life.
About every other year I get a mild sinus infection. It can last for weeks. I’m not miserable, but not too happy. I end up on anti-biotics and it will take about another week to clear up. I just get on with my life. Hate it. Would rather get a bad cold for a week.
I agree it sounds like sinus infection. I used get them 5 or 6 times a year. It got to where I had more sick days than well over the course of a year. I kept a journal, I was looking thru it, I counted over 90 days 45 of them I had written about how sick I was. I went to my doctor and he looked on my record and sent me to ENT doctor. He put me on a regime, I took antibiotics and steroid shots. They instructed me on the use if a nani pot. I had special nosespray. They taught me how to blow my nose properly. After about 6 weeks I was completely clear of infection. That was 7 years ago, I have had one mild sinus infection since then. I get upper respiratory things occasionally but they are short lived usually. I complain and gripe but they are nothing like the SI I used to get. Thank you jesus!
Shoeless, that sounds amazingly similar to what I’ve experienced, though I often do seem to “dodge a bullet” these days - I’ll have a sore throat for a day or two and then feel better and wait for the onslaught of other symptoms, but they frequently never come - I DO get better without experiencing the full range of respiratory nastiness.
I don’t know what could account for this evolution, except that maybe one’s reaction to cold viruses changes with age? Just a WAG, I really have no idea.