Doctors - Colds / allergies?

[Aging Baby Boomer]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but here goes.

At work Thursday I developed a "scratchy" throat. Thursday night I was pretty miserable and unable to sleep due to a severe sore throat. Once I got up Friday morning the severe sore throat resolved and "dropped" into my chest.

Today I'm coughing up some nasty sputum and blowing out some bad stuff from my nose - also running a low grade fever. I've had this kind of thing before and it's different than what I think of as a common cold. Initial symptoms are different and, though it usually resolves without medical intervention, it seems to take me longer to shake this than a regular cold.

Anyway, I'm sitting out Sunday School and church today so I don't pass this thing to anybody else.....and I'm wondering.....can this be related to seasonal allergies? Memory tells me that I get this kind of "cold" only in the spring and fall. Or is it a type of rhinovirus that you get from another person, without any relationship to allergies?

[Steelin' Ducks]

West Nile!

[drylok17]

Same exact thing hit me this week. Its allergies, mine are terrible. Go to the Dr. and get a Z-pack and you'll be good to go.

[Aging Baby Boomer]

Don't think the symptoms are right for WNV!

[pee dee]

Same thing wo the fever

[MolliesMaster]

Sinus infection?

[Johnny Reb]

The exact same thing is going around in North GA. I had it 3 weeks ago. So did several friends, neighbors, and coworkers. It took a week to run its course while I was taking over the counter stuff. I have never had any allergy problems. I think it is a weird late summer cold bug.

[surfcock]

I get the same thing in the spring for sure and sometimes in fall. It's post-nasal drip from allergies and develops into a sinus infection and occasionally into bronchitis. Through college I would just try to tough it out which usually took a couple weeks. My senior year I grabbed a Z-pack from a doctor in the family and I was back to 100 percent in 5 days, so that's what I do the first morning I wake up with the yellow phlegm and burning throat. A Z-pack will knock it out much faster, but won't help the symptoms much.

[SOUTHERN WOODS]

Sounds like allergies or sinus problems. I've been dealing with sinus problems for over a month now. Even after strong antibiotics I can't seem to shake it. Zyrtec helps.

[Redleg]

Same exact thing hit me this week. Its allergies, mine are terrible. Go to the Dr. and get a Z-pack and you'll be good to go.

Antibiotics for allergies?


It's no wonder penicillin won't cure gonorrhea anymore...

[murraywader]

Neti pots

[Chessbay]

Neti pots

I am a believer in the Neti Pot..........they are somewhat disgusting, but work like a champ.

[2thDoc]

Antibiotics are a patient's favorite answer.

However, is it five days of the Zpak or just the five days that helps?

You might want to think about that. Any doctor that gets a phone call from a patient that wants antibiotics and actually prescribes them without an exam is doing that patient, and the rest of us, a disservice.

[2thDoc]

as an aside....

my twin boys are 12. one of them was on antibiotics when he was TWO when he went in for a "well" checkup and was unable to get his booster shots due to an ear infection so the MD put him on them so he could come back for his shots. My other boy has NEVER been on antibiotics. If you have kids, ask yourself if you think I am a bad parent.

[DMP]

All 4 of my kids have sinus problems right now. Anytime the weather fluctuates up and down like it has been they get sick...

[Simple Man]

I get the exact same thing (minus the fever) and used to go to the Dr. and he'd put me on a Zpack. Not any more. For the past several bouts with this stuff, I've fought it off with fluids, etc. NO WAY are those antibiotics good for you long-term. I've all but sworn them off and I seem to kick this stuff faster now than I did before.

[Aging Baby Boomer]

I've heard my doctor call it vitamin Z, because it has been overprescribed and isn't very effective these days.

Sunday night my wife brought me some Mucinex D. Great stuff! Still getting rid of the symptoms, but I've been able to breathe, it's productive when I cough and blow my nose, and I haven't missed work. Also made it to an after-work dove hunt yesterday.

[PharmHunter]

Get rid of what is offending you. Mucinex (Guaifenesin) to help get rid of mucus. Neti Pot or other sinus rinse are great imo. Rinse it out, blow it out, cough it up...whatever. Take care of yourself...good diet, fluids, etc.
I'll sell drugs for a living, and I am reflecting what others have said. We grossly overuse antibiotics because everyone wants a quick fix or what they think is a fix right now. Just like everything else in society...people want it right now.
Ill just say this too and leave it alone...there are some bad bugs out there and more getting smarter everyday. We need to get a handle on the abuse of antibiotics.

[803]

Nasty green stuff coming out with cough, if so sounds like a SI.

God provided our bodies with mechanisms to fight infections such as white blood cells and antibodies for a reason.