Category: Health

My Story: Cough and Cold Love Me!

Cough and cold are the illnesses I very frequently have to withstand since I was little. I think I have a weak lungs and/or immune system.

It always starts off with a bad cold, which always leads to bad cough that causes so much pain in the chest because the phlegm is dry. I can’t remember any instance when I didn’t have a cough after a cold. Now that I’m older I think it’s caused by my postnasal drip (PND). The mucus in my nasal track is full of bacteria (cold virus), and thanks to PND My PND is caused by nasal allergy. I live in a neighborhood with air so polluted by vehicles, cigarettes and hardware stores.

Having been a student staying inside the classroom the entire day, it’s always been embarrassing having the two mentioned illnesses especially the cough. I can recall how my itchy throat attacks me while in class, it’s extremely embarrassing because it’s not simply “noise” that I make – it’s “gross noise” as you will know judging by the sound that there’s thick phlegm stuck in my throat. Sorry I’m grossing you out. lol. So, I always had to suppress the coughing, covering my mouth with towel, praying that the attack would settle down very soon. If the teacher is nearby and not busy then I’m lucky because I can ask for permission to go out (yep we were required to do so in my high school).

There was a project presentation during college when I had to keep out of the room for most of the period because of a cough attack. For many seconds I stood there in front of everyone, coughing, so I excused myself from the presentation. When the coughing calmed down, the presentation was almost over. Sounds kinda pathetic, I know.

I also experienced this once or twice in an office, when I was an intern, but it was mostly nasal allergy gone bad since morning. I kept sneezing, sneezing, and sneezing. There was pain around my eyes, my head, and in my nasal track. There was also pain caused by embarrassment from office mates, who might have been so scared of being infected by my virus. BUT I thought that I actually had no virus since it was only a nasal allergy attack. My supervisor allowed me to go home early. When I was in the train on my way home, a technical problem arose. The train had stopped, and the air conditioner was off. Everyone was drenched in sweat, except ME. That’s when I confirmed I had fever. My illness that time turned out to be flu.

Now that there’s no more school, and I work from home (lucky me!), there are no more cough-attack-in-the-classroom-slash-office nightmares. This doesn’t mean life is nightmare-free now. I am currently recovering from bad cough and cold, silently complaining about the pain my chest as I type.

Tips for faster recovery from cough and cold

I am not a doctor, but I’m giving advise which based on my own experience, help me recover faster from bad cough and cold.

Get as much rest as you can

When we are sick, the body fights off the illness. Let’s help our body do so by letting it rest as much as we can. I took two days off from my online work and was asleep most of the time, and it felt good. Try not to work out or do heavy exercise if you have bad cough or cold.

Drink a lot of water

Water helps our body cleanse itself. It will also help thin mucus caused by cough and cold.

Nasal irrigation for nasal congestion

I have a neti pot which I use to rinse my nasal passage with. Read more info on Neti Pots. It’s very effective for flushing out the bacteria in the nasal passage and for clearing congestion.

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