Is There a Man Cold?

I remember getting sick back in the day. I had colds, the flu, stomach bugs and even had mono. Each one carried symptoms of course and some were worse than others.

Colds when I was in my 20’s and even 30’s were runny noses, coughs and maybe a headache. These would last about 3-4 days, seven max. Now, for some reason, I get a cold and it turns into a three-week ordeal. You can have a 24-hour stomach bug that sucks but is over in a day or you can have a three week cold that irritates you the whole time. Pick your poison.

Right around my 46th birthday, I started to feel something come on. Below shows the progression of my Man-Cold. Let me know if you can relate in any way.

The Stages of the Man Cold – Based on my Path

1. Feeling tired when you wake up. Before I can say I had a cold, I knew something was up since I was feeling tired and wanted to go back to bed. This is a sure sign I was about to get into a fight with something. Yes, you can be groggy and somewhat tired whenever you wake up but there is a different feeling for sure.
2. The slight itch in the throat. Although not a full-on sore throat, I could feel a tingle in my throat when I swallowed. It was never rough enough to feel pain. This only lasted a couple of days. Is this good news? NO. This just means I was on to the next step.
3. Headache upon waking up – This stage was one of the hardest since I really couldn’t pull off my normal activities. It was a feeling as with someone with a migraine. One side of my face was shutting down. It was a strange sensation and once again, I wanted to get back in bed. This didn’t last long, mainly in the morning.
4. Chills and can’t really move – Although the headache wanted me to stay in bed the chills started to creep in. It wasn’t like flu chills and aches but it did shut me down enough where I wasn’t really helping out in the morning. This only lasted a day or two. In fact, my money-making was on autopilot since I couldn’t do anything to expand it.
5. By the fifth day, my stomach acted up from food and the medicine I was taking. Advil or whatever else I was putting in my system decided to make its presence felt. This was another symptom of annoyance. On top of everything going on it almost felt like I had a stomach bug as well.
6. Runny nose – About a day after I started feeling better from the previous symptoms the runny nose began. This would continue for days. All night long I was blowing my nose. In turn, I didn’t get much sleep during this phase.
7. Stuffed nose – The days of the runny nose were winding down but in comes the stuffed nose. This is when you have a ton of mucus and crap in your nose but it won’t go away. This stuffed up nose led to the postnasal drip. Or what I like to call, the cough.
8. Cough – The cough crept in around day 7 and was relentless for several days. I mainly had episodes at night while sleeping. I was sleeping with a couple of pillows that elevated me but nothing really worked. I tried some cough remedies but they only gave minor relief. The wife was about to kill me on these nights.
9. Congestion build-up – All this coughing and stuffed nose led to congestion. I was blowing my nose 10 times an hour.
10. At this point, I had to start using a netty pot or what I actually used was the Neilmed Sinus Rinse. This most definitely cleared out the sinuses temporarily but enough to give some relief. I would recommend you get this and add it to your man cold arsenal. I found it easier to use than a netty pot.
11. Day 11 and the nose is the exception.
12. Come on already. I should be feeling better by now. Honestly, I said this out loud.
13. Now into my 13th day of the man cold and although I feel normal my nose is still stuffy with a lot of drainages. It’s amazing how much crap the body produces to fight off the bacteria/virus.
14. I’m officially two weeks into this. As soon as I feel slightly better the nose comes back to say hello. In fact, now I’m starting to feel this congestion go to my chest. In the past, I would go on a Z-Pac to finally clear this up. I really don’t want to go on an antibiotic. There are plenty of reasons for this.
15. Today, I spoke to my Dr. and fortunately for me, I didn’t have to go see him. I explained everything that was going on. I mentioned that Flonase has helped in the past. He suggested I get it so I did. I picked it up from Wegmans and it only cost about $6.00 after insurance. This is pretty cheap considering what you might find in the world of prescriptions. Don’t get me started on that.
16. I started to get some nose relief from the Flonase but the sensation was still building in my chest.
17. We are now into day 17 and my Dr. just sent in another prescription. This time it was for an antibiotic. I feel my chest and lungs start to fill so it’s most likely becoming a respiratory infection(RSV). RSV leads to all kinds of things like bronchitis and pneumonia. The drug prescribed is Azithromycin, AKA the Z-Pack.
18. As I continue into day 19, I feel like I should be feeling 100% but I think the antibiotic is taking it out of me. I also feel like the nose is still not clearing out completely.
19. Day 21 and Day 5 of the antibiotic, I can finally say I’m feeling almost 100%. Well, not fully since my stomach is in full revolt of the antibiotic. The good news is, I took my last pill today so those symptoms should wear off.

What an Ordeal

Unfortunately the man cold is something that will take time to pass. Some people will most likely get more symptoms than others. As for me, I feel like I got the gauntlet. It was a 21-day ordeal and thankfully I’ve moved on from this experience. For some reason each year these viruses are getting tougher to combat. I really hope you stay healthy enough to never have to go through this. One thing to note, I never did have a fever. If you get a fever definitely speak to your Dr. asap. This means something else is going on and it is more than likely not just a man cold.

Man Cold Relief Ideas

I mentioned most of the things I did during this three-week ordeal. Here is the quick synopsis.

1. Sleeping while elevated. Not great on the back but definitely a reliever of coughing at night.
2. NeilMed Sinus spray. You just have to do it. Not the cleanest things but well worth the effort.
3. I’ve been using a steam room and sauna to help produce faster results. If you have access to a Steam Room, you may be in luck.
4. Flonase – No one likes taking a steroid but to get the slight relief it gave was worth it.
5. Extra rest when you can get it.
6. Some essential oil concoctions my wife made me. Helped slightly.
7. Time

Most of these are pretty standard but I’m sharing what I did. If you know some other relieving techniques please share. This will be important since I could face the man cold again in the future.

– Stay Healthy My Friends