Are You Coming Down With Something?

Not everything that appears to be an early symptom of a cold, flu, or upper respiratory infection is really what it appears, and colds, flu, and sinusitis can also masquerade as other illnesses. Here are some symptoms of contagious conditions of winter you probably do not expect.

 

• Acne. Pimples that have bulging centers filled with yellow or straw-colored fluid really aren't acne. They are most commonly impetigo caused by staph bacteria. Little children transfer the bacteria to each other by touching each other on the face, but adults usually get staph infections on the face about the same time they get staph infections of the sinuses.
• Facial pain that increases when bending down is a sign of sinus infection.
• Headache is much more common with influenza than with a cold. Many people can identify the exact time they came down by the flu by noting the time they started having a severe headache.
• Muscle pain, especially when it starts at the back of the neck, is a sign of influenza rather than a cold.
• Nasal dryness. The very first symptom of a cold (when you should take zinc or vitamin C) usually is dryness or tingling of the nasal passages, followed by runny nose, sneezing, and fever. If you don't have the sensation of dryness in your nasal passages before you start to sneeze, you may be suffering an allergy rather than a cold. After several days, an allergy will continue to generate thin, clear mucus, but a cold will generate thick yellow or thick green mucus.
• Postnasal drip, nasal congestion, a feeling of fullness in the ears, and tooth pain are signs of a bacterial infection of the sinuses. Only your doctor will know for sure, but if the doctor confirms that the infection is due to bacteria rather than viruses, antibiotic treatment may help. Antibiotics do not help resolve viral infections.
• Redness of the nose, cheeks, and eyelids is often a sign of sinusitis.
• Sore throat is usually a sign of infection with the flu or with an adenovirus or enterovirus. It usually is not caused by a rhinovirus, the most frequent infectious agent causing common cold. If you get a sore throat, you have a condition that is more serious than a common cold.

READ Difference and connection between FLU and COLD?

• Vomiting is often a sign of a cold in babies. Even before baby's nose stops up, difficulty breathing can interfere with swallowing so that the infant throws up food.
• Wheezing is an early sign of a cold or flu in people who have asthma. In addition to treating asthma as directed, it is also important to take measures against the infection.

Contrary to commonly held belief, talking, coughing, kissing, and even drooling usually do not transmit colds and flu viruses. Getting caught in someone's sneeze, however, or picking up used kerchiefs or tissues, or contact with droplets from a sneeze on public surface, transmit the virus about 50% of the time.
 

What to Do About Early Symptoms of Winter Infections

Prompt action greatly reduces the severity of common winter infections. A study at the University of Helsinki in Finland found that taking zinc can reduce the amount of time needed to recover from a cold by an average of 42%. A study at Justus-Liebig University in Germany found that elderberry extract kills both influenza A and influenza B as well as the staph and strep bacteria that can cause sinusitis. Using a humidifier and drinking more fluids help relieve symptoms of all the common upper respiratory illnesses.
  There are right ways and wrong ways, however, of using common wintertime colds and flu remedies.

• Zinc only helps stop a cold if it is mixed with saliva.

Sucking on a zinc lozenge will help relieve a cold, but swallowing a zinc supplement will not. The mixture of saliva and zinc reaches the back of the mouth and is wicked into the nose, where it coats the linings of the nasal passages so that the virus cannot continue infecting healthy cells. More zinc is not necessary better. Taking 75 mg of zinc acetate or less does more to relieve colds symptoms than taking 75 mg or more. Molecules of complex carbohydrates in elderberry have the same configuration as the part of the flu virus that attaches to the outer membrane of a cell. They in essence lock it out of the cell. Elderberry is effective against type A, type B, and H1N1 strains of influenza. It's best to start taking elderberry extract every day as soon as weather begins to cool and to continue taking it every day until weather stays warm. H1N1 is transmitted at the beginning and end of winter when temperatures are too warm to transmit other strains of the flu.

• HealthCanada (the Canadian Ministry of Health) officially recommends vitamin C for treating colds.

Taking a maintenance dose of just 200 mg of vitamin C a day results in half as many colds during the long Canadian winter. Taking a single dose of 8,000 grams of vitamin C at the first notice of symptoms usually helps people get over colds in just one day. Canadian scientists note, however, that people who live in warmer climates make get different results.

• Echinacea does not prevent colds, but it helps people get over them faster.

It's important to use products made with Echinacea purpurea, not Echinacea angustifolia, and the flowers and leaves are better than the stems and roots. (This will be noted on the label of the product.) If you have never taken echinacea before, take the smallest dose possible (usually a 500 mg tablet or 1/4 teaspoon/1 ml of extract), just to make sure you are not allergic to the plant. Then take 2000 to 3000 mg of pills or capsules of 3 teaspoons/15 ml of extract every day until you are well. Echinacea usually cuts the time to recovery in half.

READ Is It a Cold, or Is It Flu? When Are You Too Sick to Work Out?

And what about that favorite colds remedy, chicken soup? Scientists at the University of Nebraska found that slowly simmering herbs in chicken stock makes unique compounds that reduce the amount of inflammation generated by white blood cells known as neutrophils. Chicken soup makes you feel better by modulating your immune system, but only slowly simmered chicken soup has this effect.

If you prefer a vegan alternative, miso with shallots will also open up your nose and sinuses and relieve pressure. Just be prepared to blow your nose before you drink the miso soup.