Bad Cold

I cannot remember the last time I had the flu. Luckily for me, I'm fairly healthy (knocks on wood). However, in the last couple of years I've noticed that I develop head colds during times of seasonal change, so about 3-4 times colds per year. The colds usually last anywhere from 3 days to a week or a little longer. Thus, on a whole I'm healthy and energetic for most of the year, save about 2-3 weeks when I suffer the effects of a cold. Often head-colds are just a mere annoyance, but in the last year they’ve been particularly virulent, at least the snot part.

It's almost always the same: I’ll start to feel every so slightly run-down. I often wake up the next day with a severe sore throat and a slight runny nose. After about 12-15 hours the sore throat dissipates and that’s when the snot starts flowing like the mighty Mississippi. I usually feel more or less okay—no fever, no chills, no headache, decent energy level—but my nose runs so much that I literally can’t do anything but blow it. I have to blow my nose on average once every 30 seconds. If you think I exaggerate, consider this: Since yesterday morning, I’ve gone through 2 and 1/3 boxes of Kleenex. Naturally it is difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

The good news is that I usually feel alright, despite the runny nose. I’ve also find that medicines, like Nyquil and other drugs that are supposed to dry up the snot, don’t seem to do much yet I take them anyway.

Update:

I'm on my fourth box of Kleenex and the snot is still flowing. I look like Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (sp?).