Is it a cold or allergies?

It has been a crazy sort of week. I've been fighting a cold for about 4 days and this past Sunday night, it hit me. HARD. Of course, if one stays up until 4 am on two consecutive Friday nights, then gets up at 6:30 am to work an All Day Crop or a Unit Meeting for my scrapbooking and stamping business, then stays up for most of the rest of the weeks until 2 am, the cold that's been hovering is going to hit and it will probably hit hard.

Yup, that is mostly what happened. Throw in a late night watching the first two discs of LOST (Season 3), cutting more paper for a workshop, and taking the whole family on a sleepover to our friends' house for more LOST after we put the boys to sleep.

So Monday comes and I wake up with a full-blown sore throat, coughing, and sinus pressure. I supervised school from my prone position on the couch. After school and lunch, I put in both discs of Pride and Prejudice and intermittently slept and watched both discs. I don't think I made dinner that night, I think we ate something my Dearest whipped up.

On Tuesday, I realize I cannot remember the last time I was sick. Two years ago? Three, or was it four? I almost feel like I'm dying. In addition to the sore throat, coughing and sinus pressure, now I have other symptoms. My nose is alternately running and stuffed. Breathing through my mouth is difficult and drying my throat.

My brother told me about grapefruit seed extract pills* and their ability to cut short the duration of a cold. I also read that cod liver oil* or more specifically the vitamin A & D also help with lessening the duration of a cold. I started popping pills to see if this will help.

By Wednesday, I realize that I'm acting like a typical male who is sick. Oh, you know what I'm talking about. I realized the reason I was acting this way was because I don't normally get sick! Usually, everyone else in the family gets sick and I don't.

Could it be my spring allergies are acting up and it's not a cold? We have had very interesting weather here lately - 40 and 60 degree days, then plummeting into the teens, plus lots of rain, sleet, snow, and every so often we had a dry day.

Something else to ponder as I try to breathe through my mouth until my nose clears and not make my sore throat worse.


*I make no claims about the efficiency of either grapefruit seed extract or cod liver oil capsules to lessen the duration of colds. I am not a doctor nor do I have medical training. Contact your family physician or herbalist for more information.