Advice on how to cope with colds and asthma

[emptyskies13]

Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing well. I've been dealing with a cold for the last week but yesterday I became super congested. Now my chest is really tight and I can't stop coughing. I hardly sleep because theres just so much mucus in my chest I feel like I'm suffocating. I've had many colds but never with this much chest congestion. Does anyone have any advice on how to cope with this? I would greatly appreciate it!

[Wheezeydarth]

Do you suffer from asthma. Either way you should make an emergency appointment with your gp for antibiotics. Dont want to scare you but 6 years ago that was how my asthma was diagnosed. I started with a cold then progressed to chest infection then hospital for a week. So please go to your gp dont take risks you know your own body you know when things are getting worse getting help is the only way. Hope your on the mend soon.

[emptyskies13 in reply to Wheezeydarth]

Thanks for the reply and yea I've had asthma since I was 12 and I'm 19 now. I hate going to the doctor unless it's an emergency but maybe I'll make an appointment.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Like wheezeydarth said, make an appt with your GP tomorrow to see if you need antibiotics to help clear things up.

For the congestion, have you tried steaming at all? That’s usually quite good at helping to bring stuff up. I’ve also recently discovered mustard baths can help (as my lungs can protest at olbas oil and vicks when I’m ill). If it’s keeping you waking at night, try elevating your head to sleep. Don’t forget to drink lots of water so that it does dry up too much.

If it really triggers off your asthma, before you can see the GP as usual follow protocol and head to hospital! Hope that helps and good luck tomorrow.

[Hidden]

Agreeing totally with what EmmaF91 has said. One other thing I do is to keep a stock or root ginger and some honey in the house. A teaspoon of grated root ginger and a teaspoon of honey in a mug and topped with hot water I’ve found to be a wonderfully soothing drink when I have a cold.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Though, unlike Emma, I do use olbas oil and vicks, but it’s certainly true that some asthmatics can’t cope with either of them.

I usually rub vicks vapour rub onto my chest at night (feels disgusting, but does help me). Putting a few drops on olbas oil onto a hanky and tucking that inside your pillow case can help too.

With any asthmatic it takes a while to get to know their version of the condition - and it can vary hugely from sufferer to sufferer. I know you say you hate going to the doctor, but he/she is there to help you to understand your asthma and to help you deal with any flares you may have. Asthma is a potentially very serious medical condition and if your asthma is playing up you do need to seek medical help. In your position I would certainly do so.

[ClaraC in reply to Hidden]

Add 1/2 lemon juice perfect for colds

[Hidden in reply to ClaraC]

Sadly I have to be very careful with citrus fruits as I have reflux issues. The juice of half a lemon would not be well received by my stomach😢

[Mich0954]

Hi, sorry to hear your feeling poorly, ive also had asthma since september 2013 and my triggers are the cold weather, got a bad cold, congestion, cough, wheezing and tightness in chest, felt awful. Went to the doctor and he immediately put me on antibiotics, new blue inhaler and a 5 day course of prednisone tablets to calm my symptoms down. Still getting chest tightness and breathlessness but not too bad than it was. Really hope you get the help you need.

[Jessiepup]

I take a antioxidant supplement called NAC, it has been trailed on lung patients with success so look it up.

[Hidden]

I drink warm ginger ale, just before I go to bed. I stay warm all night, and stay in my clothes which helps, Isweat the cold out. The next morning I have a shower, and change of clothes and I am fine again but watching my asthma extremely close for about 4 days

[Thomas45]

I had the Common cold thstsysround with very runny nose, headache and sore throat. After a week it had turned into very infected sinuses and lungs. Obtained a same day appointment at the doctors and was prescribed a week's supply of antibiotics and steroids. After I finished taking them I still felt rough but after about 3 days I was back to my normal self.

[Hidden in reply to Thomas45]

I rather suspect that was the one (or something very similar) I’ve just got over. My sinuses started to ache within 12 hours of it starting. However, I had an olbas oil inhalant stick in the house (I usually use it to help keep my Eustachian tubes clear) and I used that. That during the day, with a few drops of olbas oil on my pillow fringe and vicks vapour rub on my chest at night (plus the odd hot honey and ginger drink) has helped to keep my sinuses clear. It’s now five days since it started and I’m feeling pretty good (fingers crossed). Still going to have to cancel my asthma review tomorrow though I suspect. I think they’ll want to be certain there’s nothing to skew any peak flow counts they take.

[444nM]

l used to have colds with bronchitis regularly which also made it difficult to breathe. I was always too cold, my average oral temp was 36°C. l reset my temp in 2014 and have not had a cold or bronchitis since. My average oral temp now is 36.8°C, it has made a huge difference. My peak flow rate was 380 before the reset and a month after the reset it was 550.