You know you're ill when...

Glad all went well, Jane10! We Grans are obviously made of stern stuff!!

Newquay, we also make elbow sneezes as do the rest of our family. The trouble is that most of the rest of the population do not. The number of times I have sat in a theatre or cinema and heard the dreadful sound of a giant sneeze and knowing that some of the droplets may be heading my way and that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it! Grrr.

I've been taking Hofelfs Garlic Pearls for donkey's years now and hardly ever have a cold. Just one at night with a cold drink
If I feel tickle in my throat I double up on them. Hope you all feel better soon...it's
very unpleasant I know.

Well I can recommend a dose of adrenalin! I felt hellish all day but knew I absolutely had to do my 'turn' at the book event. Have returned walking on air! Will soon slump no doubt but I don't have this worry hanging over me. Phew!

We're night nurse fans here. DH was v sniffly the other night and felt a bit achy. I suggested night nurse and he slept well. Aches had gone but still a bit sniffly.
I admit to being paranoid about hand washing. First thing we all do on entering house.
Taught everyone one to sneeze into elbow not hand.
I'm still needing ceterizine or I would be sneezing madly especially early evening.

Marmight DD seems to catch a virus every time she travels and this has resulted in some nasty sinus infections. DH has been healthier since he retired and is no longer flying two or three times a week.

Think positive Jane, have a good swig of something alcoholic, and go. You cannot miss your debut

Well after a Night Nurse assisted sleep I can't say I'm feeling a whole better. I'm having some strong coffee just now. Hope that gees me up sufficiently to be able to make a rational decision about tonight. It is or would have been my Edinburgh festival fringe debut. A writers event. I just don't know how sensible it would be to go ahead. Och. Drat and double drat! Its not fair etc.

I've had a lack of voice recently and have taken my old favourite Buttercup Syrup, I love the stuff. There's something comforting about it, maybe because I had it as a child but it does warm the throat area and feels like it does me good. I also like to rub Vicks or similar over my throat and chest every now and again, just to help the breathing passages. When I was pregnant, for some reason, I did this every night . I did have a trouble free pregnancy though.

I've been feeling really odd for the last week. Starting with soreness behind the nose then an upper respiratory cough, back to the sinuses (yuck), much snorting and nose blowing, sneezing in multiples of 20 and a temperature for a couple of days. Spent Monday in bed, thought I was better but now have a cracking headache and keep falling asleep in the daytime. I am never ill . What is going on? I blame it on Easyjet........

Legs55. I, too am a sneezer, from late-April through to the end of August. I was practically comotose when a child/teenager due to three doses of Piraton (Chlorphenamine) a day but years ago was prescribed two others: Clarityn (Loratadine) which didn't do much for me and Piriteze (Certirizine), which is brilliant. For me, Certirizine has been a game-changer.

Combined with 2% Sodium Cromoglicate Eye Drops and a nasal spray 50mg Beclometasone - I am a different person, i.e. one with eyes that open and are not swollen shut, one that can breathe normally throughout this period.

I am surprised that your GP won't cooperate; hay fever sounds trivial but it jolly well isn't. Could you try to see another GP at the practice?

Failing the above, tablets can be bought on the internet, reasonably cheaply (9-13p per tablet. Oh, it's one per day.). There are a few puckka firms but be careful of the cowboys. The eye drops and nasal spray are also on general sale, branded and generic so check for the cheapest.

Good luck!

Try gargling with dispersible aspirin in hot water. It helps remove the pain from a sore throat.

Hot water and lemon is also helpful to sip.

I have just read an article about 'First Defence' which is a nasal spray. I was very dubious about the effectiveness of this but one daughter swears that, if taken reasonably quickly, it will help lessen - or even stop - a cold in its tracks. The article concurs and says that it works. If I can remember where I read it, I'll let you know!

I don't understand the logic of this as how can it attack a virus but... I have used it several times and the 'cold' (sore throat/sneezing/blocked nose etc.) has... disappeared. Maybe worth a try if you can find some quickly in the morning...

Get better soon.

I suffer from Hay Fever & this summer it feels like an everlasting cold. I moved last year & my new GP has virtually refused to prescribe my usual anti-histamine which is prescription only. She gave my another one on prescription only to tell me 2 months ago that I must buy it over the counter, as this doesn't seem to be working I am not willing to pay for something which doesn't work. I am not going to buy it but if I feel the same as I do now with it as when I do without it I'm afraid it will be back to GP. I don't normally suffer with hay fever in the summer as it's tree pollen in the spring & mould spores in the autumn that causes my problem. Any-one I know who normally has hay fever is complaining that this summer it's really bad.

I do think any-one suffering a bad cold should consider that it could be hay fever even if they've never had it before

When I was teaching I had a cold regularly in October. Since I retired, not a one.
Must have been the little b----ters at school Germs I obviously mean

I rarely seem to catch colds. Haven't had one for years despite DH succumbing fairly frequently. I'm a keen hand washer and inveterate user of antibacterial wipes. Maybe that's why I seem to feel extra bad with this one -its been so long I just forgot how it feels!

You know you are really ill when you sneeze (well I am a man !)

My GP told me that you can alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen in 2 hourly cycles, for example 2 paracetamol at 8am, then 2 ibuprofen at 10am, 2 paracetamol at 12.00 etc

I love Victory Vs! And OP,you don't have to have actually been near anyone with a cold to catch one. The cold virus is more often picked up by touching something that someone with a cold has touched,like a stair handrail or a door handle,than by airborne germs. It only takes someone to sneeze into their hand and not wash their hands,then touch something to transfer the germs. I have read somewhere that frequent hand washing is one of the best defences against catching a cold,as the average person touches their face hundreds of times a day,transfering germs to their nose,mouth and eyes. It may be a coincidence but I border on OCD when it comes to hand washing,and I rarely get a cold. I have heard that the average adult catches 3 - 4 colds per year. I get one about every 18 months to 2 years,so someone else must be getting my share!

Agree with Daphne Broon, Boots flu and cold relief tablets are good, when you are feeling better, which I hope is soon, take a Vit C and Zinc tablet combination, they are good for the immune system, and really do help to prevent colds, I havent had a cold for two years, take one tablet a day, you can buy them at Boots, or any other Chemist. Get well soon.

You have my sympathy. I have it too and it's horrible. I am using half a teaspoon of set honey for the cough and that helps a lot. I am sticking Vic almost up my nose, and drinking fizzy vitamin C tablets. I am so glad to be retired because I couldn't work with it and nobody believes you are really ill when you say you have a cold.
Get well soon x.

I just had to mention Night Nurse. It works so well that you have a really good night's sleep.

Ooh Angharad nasty! Hope the dentist can sort it.
I always used to take Echinacea if I felt a cold coming on and that did seem to help. Typically, I've run out and its too late for it to take effect. DD just phoned. Both DGSs have a cold. Mystery of where I caught it solved!

I've been home with raging toothache for 3 days and am counting the hours until my next dose of paracetemol/ibuprofen. Second dental appointment this afternoon-I shall be begging him to pull it out!

Zinc tablets are the only thing that have been proven in double-blind controlled trials to shorten a cold (by one day!) and help prevent secondary bacterial infections. Paracetamol for symptomatic relief and Boots Catarrh pastilles for the sore throat/blocked nose. Good luck!

Try anti-histamines if you're not already taking them. A lot of summer colds are hay fever related.

I had a real stinker of a cold at New Year, the after effects of it lasted around two months! Meantime I tried everything to shift it. Even down to slathering Vicks on both feet and going to bed in cotton socks because I'd read that it would get rid of the cold. No such luck [surprise] but my feet were lovely and soft...

But seriously, they say if you take medication, a cold will last a fortnight, and if you don't medicate, it takes two weeks.