is it more than just a cold?

Question: About 4 days ago, I started to feel really achy and chilled. The next day, I had a headache and the usual stuffy head feeling. The third day, I was blowing my nose and my ears and throat began to hurt. On day 5, it started to move into my upper chest and my throat hurt even worse- really hard to talk, eat, swallow. Today, I feel like it is all in my chest, I feel really short of breath, am having some pain in my upper back on the right side, a deep cough that hurts, low grade fever, chills, my heart is beating really hard and fast, my head hurts, my joints ache... I feel miserable. Is this still just a cold or could it be something more? I don't remember a cold making me feel this bad before...

Answers:
It sounds a whole lot more like flu than a cold. It's a bit early for flu season, but a number of people I know have already come down with it this year. The big clues are the fever and the aching joints, which are characteristic of flu. There is nothing you can do at this point except rest and drink plenty of fluids. It takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to really get back on your feet when you have a bad case of the flu. If you try to do too much too soon, it just makes the healing process take longer. This is a miserable disease, as you are experiencing. You may not feel like eating much, but it is important to drink as much as you can. Warm fluids like broth or tea with honey may be soothing to your throat. If the shortness of breath continues, you may want to see your doctor, because you can sometimes develop secondary infections like pneumonia or bronchitis. My best advice: stop trying to fight it and accept that you are really sick and you have no choice but to rest until you are better. That's the best way to beat the flu.

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it could be bronchitis. or the beginning of pneumonia. if you still feel bad after 7-10 days (or feel much worse in the next few days) go to a doctor!

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