Cold... vicious

[BDF]

I set my self up by destroying myself at the gym in the morning over a week ago. I had a mild ear infection just before that, which got worse afterwards. I have a prescription for it and it's getting better now, but on top of that I got sick with cold.

I thought that perhaps it might be linked to my ear infection. First it was a slightly blocked nose, sneezing. I managed to fight that off with a few meds I had, then it spread to the throat. Nothing's working now. It's an awful feeling, I think most people are familiar with it. I've had it for 3 days now with no improvement at all. Ran outa meds few hours ago.

It's beginning to spread back to the nose, and once that happens, my sinuses will probably catch it too and I'll be fucked then, taking antibiotics, lemon juice, tablets, and lemsip, spending 16 hours a day in bed probably for probably another whole week.

I need to stop it. I've NEVER had a cold so DAMN STUBBORN. wtf is this bird flu or somethin????


Need ideas on how to cope with this. Willing to try almost anything. I read about one... rubbing honey over your face and neck, sprinkling it with garlic. I don't want that kind of stuff.

[BDF]

PLS help. I'd probably swallow a lit matchstick if I knew it'd help.

[Sincerely Yours ♥]

Definitely get some rest. Take it easy & sleep as much as you can. I don't know any secrets to making a cold go away, so I can't help you there. I've always just bought cold medicine to help with symptoms. But keep taking vitamins & such. Meds only help with symptoms, not the actual cold. I do sympathize with you on the ear infection, though. I had a pretty bad one a couple years ago. For that, keep taking the antibiotics as prescribed. Those are the best bet for helping your ear. Sorry I couldn't help more!

[BDF]

Lol... it just gets worse for me when I sleep. I wake up feeling like my mouth just dried up, which makes it even more sore.

I'm literally ODing on meds to keep this under control, but I think I've got it. It's not getting any worse at the moment, although it's spread back to my nose. My sinuses are fine for now.

I'm gonna see a doctor, there's definitely something different about this strain. It usually takes me about 2 to 3 days at most to fight off a cold or a flu virus, without going to extremes. This is still going strong after a whole week.

Caffeine, lots of caffeine, fresh orange juice, warm drinks, meds, maxed out the radiator and 3 jumpers on top of that. And some other stuff. Small doses of alcohol mixed with tea apparently work for some people, although usually they use cognac and I hate that stuff. I know for a fact most bacteria don't respond well to alcohol (aka it kills them), so I think I can mix almost anything. Same with citric acid... hence the orange juice.

[BDF]

Lol... resorted to spraying antiseptic up my nose, then blowing it out straight after and rinsing it. It actually works on decongestion. Stings a bit yea. Charming aren't I?

The antiseptic does state it can come into contact with the mouth and nose... not eyes.

[Dr.Bobby]

A lot of your home remedies sound more delicious than effective! Don't do the lit match, though, sulfur dulls the taste buds.

The ear infection is unlikely to be related to the cold. Ear infections are caused by bacteria (that's why you were prescribed an antibiotic), whereas most colds are caused by a virus. So, you likely have two different nasties at work there. And, viruses are notoriously difficult to treat, antibiotics do not kill them. So, what you want is to alleviate the symptoms, while your body fights the infection (which usually takes about 10 days or so).

Try OTC remedies such as antihistamines, get plenty of rest, drink fluids.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Whatever cold you have I think I've got because I've been sniffling a lot, coughing, raspy voice, headache and my left ear is doing it's own thing (probably acute otitis media and Eustachian tube blockage). Overall, I'm sniffling like a crying widow coughing as though I've been smoking for 40 years and sometimes feel as though someone took a baseball bat to my head. Sinuses aren't yet hit but they're probably will be.

Rubbing honey and garlic on your body probably won't help with the symptoms but it's on the path to getting body shots. Toss a flame and alcohol in, you've got a body shot flambe.

[BDF]

Originally Posted by Dr.Bobby

A lot of your home remedies sound more delicious than effective! Don't do the lit match, though, sulfur dulls the taste buds.

The ear infection is unlikely to be related to the cold. Ear infections are caused by bacteria (that's why you were prescribed an antibiotic), whereas most colds are caused by a virus. So, you likely have two different nasties at work there. And, viruses are notoriously difficult to treat, antibiotics do not kill them. So, what you want is to alleviate the symptoms, while your body fights the infection (which usually takes about 10 days or so).

Try OTC remedies such as antihistamines, get plenty of rest, drink fluids.

I've squeezed 0.5L of lemon juice out of raw lemons and am sipping it slowly, with no sugar. Lol... not delicious, but it stings and feels like its working. The citric acid kicks ass. So far OTC medicine has had little impact, perhaps alleviates my headache or decongests my nose for a few minutes, they just aren't strong enough.

When I catch the flu, I usually hit it heavy the instant I realise I've got it, and takes maybe 3/4 days to pretty much get rid of it.

And my idea with the ear infection was that I was told by a doctor that you can catch an ear infection by it spreading from the nose/throat when you have a flu, so figured why can't it happen the other way round?

Originally Posted by The Man And XX Master

it's on the path to getting body shots. Toss a flame and alcohol in, you've got a body shot flambe.

Flame and alcohol? I've heard of it being done, but not for flu.

I do feel like it's reached a point now where it is going to start getting better, but I'll only find out in the morning. The good thing actually is that my sleep will be very restless... the problem with me falling into deep sleep (and applies to others too) it that my immune system starts turning itself off.

Lol... everyone's pissed in my corridor because I've pretty much stolen all the toilet paper from the bathroom to blow my nose. They don't know it's me though.



Something else I did... and this was radical, very. I went to have a shower under 10 degree water for about a minute. I've done it before and it worked. Initially, your temperature rockets, to over 40 C, but that means your immune system is doing overtime. It can make some people dizzy, puke and have diarrhoea symptoms though. Also completely flat out tired. I was knocked out on my bed for 6 hours today. I know that's what I had the first time I tried it... and by the next day it was all gone, but it's extremely unpleasant lol. It's a bit like having a sunstroke or heat exhaustion. A lot of people spazz out and start screaming when they're hit with cold water .

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Originally Posted by BDF

And my idea with the ear infection was that I was told by a doctor that you can catch an ear infection by it spreading from the nose/throat when you have a flu, so figured why can't it happen the other way round?

The logic behind it is your middle ear is directly connected to your throat via Eustachian tube and torus tubarius (part of the Eustachian tube). It has several functions, including equalizing pressure to give the well-known "ear-popping" sound. However, when you have an ear infection (i.e. acute otitis media), the Eustachian tube is often occluded creating a mucus build-up within the middle ear, so it cannot easily drain that eventually may lead to sinus blockages/infections if the Eustachian tube is blocked and there is enough mucus build-up. In other words, it could happen the other way around but not easily or likely. It's the reason you can have a sinus infection without having any throat irritation.

Originally Posted by BDF

Lol... everyone's pissed in my corridor because I've pretty much stolen all the toilet paper from the bathroom to blow my nose. They don't know it's me though.

so that's where my toilet paper went! lol

Originally Posted by BDF

Something else I did... and this was radical, very. I went to have a shower under 10 degree water for about a minute. I've done it before and it worked. Initially, your temperature rockets, to over 40 C, but that means your immune system is doing overtime. It can make some people dizzy, puke and have diarrhoea symptoms though. Also completely flat out tired. I was knocked out on my bed for 6 hours today. I know that's what I had the first time I tried it... and by the next day it was all gone, but it's extremely unpleasant lol. It's a bit like having a sunstroke or heat exhaustion. A lot of people spazz out and start screaming when they're hit with cold water .

*people in your corridor hear you screaming bloody murder*
Person 1: Is someone getting tortured here?
Person 2: Nah, it's just BDF taking an ice water shower
Person 1: Dude, that's insane, why does he do that?
Person 2: You don't get it, BDF is screaming not because it's unpleasant. He wants it colder but the water cant get colder and he's already used up our ice boxes, the guy is a fucking real man.

[BDF]

Originally Posted by The Man And XX Master

The logic behind it is your middle ear is directly connected to your throat via Eustachian tube and torus tubarius (part of the Eustachian tube). It has several functions, including equalizing pressure to give the well-known "ear-popping" sound. However, when you have an ear infection (i.e. acute otitis media), the Eustachian tube is often occluded creating a mucus build-up within the middle ear, so it cannot easily drain that eventually may lead to sinus blockages/infections if the Eustachian tube is blocked and there is enough mucus build-up. In other words, it could happen the other way around but not easily or likely. It's the reason you can have a sinus infection without having any throat irritation.



so that's where my toilet paper went! lol



*people in your corridor hear you screaming bloody murder*
Person 1: Is someone getting tortured here?
Person 2: Nah, it's just BDF taking an ice water shower
Person 1: Dude, that's insane, why does he do that?
Person 2: You don't get it, BDF is screaming not because it's unpleasant. He wants it colder but the water cant get colder and he's already used up our ice boxes, the guy is a fucking real man.

Lol make fun but it actually worked you know :P

I've not gotten totally rid of it, but it's definitely a lot better. I might do it again.

[BDF]

It's actually gone. This shit with cold showers works. Got mild cough left over, and dry skin around the nose from blowing it.

lol, took two showers this time though

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

I didn't torture myself with cold water and I no longer have a runny nose but my cough worsened and my throat and chest area feel like someone is rubbing sandpaper in it.

[The Morrigan]

I'm glad to hear that your cold has gone and I hope in future you find a better way of getting rid of it than ice cold showers, they don't sound too pleasant

I'll go ahead and close this thread now but PM me if you'd like it reopening.