Hi for the past 8 days Ive had cold symptoms, but mostly coughing up mucus, phlegm, and also have had an on and off fever and chills and also runny, bloked nose, painful glands and joints, and fatigue. I did have pain breathing in at the start of the cold as well, but now its not as painful. My main symptoms now though is coughing all through the night, and also the headaches with coughing. When i cough sometimes I get to the stage where i think im going to throw up, and when I breath sometimes I can feel the phlegm move in my chest. Most of the time though my chest only has clear mucus. I did have mild asthma that I grew out of before but Im wondering if thats whats causing my symptoms now. The thing is, somtimes the phlegm is thick and I feel like my chest has alot of fluid in it when I breath and it makes me have a coughing fit, but other times my chest feels quite clear, but with slight mucus. After 8 days of coughing should I make an appointment to see a doctor or should I wait to see if it clears? Also I'm taking cough medicinecavonia or something, and panadol for the temperature, and im also drinking fruit tea with honey to help. Should my cold last this long?

Thanks fr any replies or oppinion!

Cat

I have always been told, by my own doctor and our children's pediatrician, that anytime a cold lasts for more than a week in a adult and ten days in a child, it has progessed to an upper respiratroy infection and needs antibiotics.
It sounds to me (of course I am no doctor) like you might have something like bronchitis. If that is the case you definately need some antibiotics. I would call the doctor first thing Monday morning.

Nancy

Thanks very much for the replie! Last night I had a very bad headache and glands, but through the night I didnt cough much at all, so I thought it might have started to go, but again after I got up this morning I started coughing again. I did cough a little bit of green phlegm, and mostly clear mucus. This is lasting ages! If it doesnt go by tomorrow then I might make an appointment! Its got to the stage now though where I dont know if theres an infection or not, because most of what i cough up ahs changed from green to clear stuff. Hmm...I will have a think and see how it goes whether i need to see a doctor!

thanks again for your advice!
Cat

Hi, can any of you give me a responce please,.........throughout the day I dont seem to be coughing that mcuh any more, but its gone from that to pain when I breath in across my chest in the back. Does that sound like asthma pain or could it be something else? Its like I cant take a full breath because my chest feels tight in the back, and painful to breath! I'm not wheezzing, and at the moment not coughing, and when I cough nothings coming up!

Any ideas?should I see a doctor?

Thanks
cat

Yep, I think you should see or at least call the doctor and ask about this. It does sound like you have some type of infection rather than a simple cold.

Hope you feel better soon!

Nancy

You definitely need to see a doctor. If you are having pain now that you weren't having before, and nothing coming up anymore - you may have progressed to early pneumonia. Not to scare you....the pain could simply be your muscles from coughing, and you could be getting better, but only the doc can tell you what's up. Please check just to be safe!:)

A normal cold, from what I have been told, is just that a cold and runs its course in up to 14 days. Its runny nose, head congestion and coughing and feeling just plain ole blah. If you're running a fever and experience chest pain though I would be seeing the doctor immediately. You may well have pneumonia and need to be treated right away. My son, who is 16, woke up one morning and could not breathe. He had had what we assumed was a cold but his coughing was really bad and he was told by the emergency room people that he merely "bruised" his chest by the fits of coughing. The meds they put him on made him throw up and I immediately called his doctor and took him in right away and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. The doctor said he could hear all sorts of garbage rattling around in there. He put him on a 3-day regimen medication, which I can't remember what, but it cleared him up.