Stragest "cold" I have ever had?

Okay, first let me say that I am a huge hypochondriac (hey, if I admit that, does that mean that I am not? :) ) Anyway, I rarely ever get sick, which I suppose is a good thing, but I have a strange cold that is not going away. It has only been one week (usually I get better after just a few days), but I am having some pretty weird symptoms. Not weird by themselves - I have just not had them all together before.

Okay, to start - my throat started hurting last saturday - not in the "normal place" a throat hurts though. It actually hurt way down close to where my neck meets my chest. It was like this for a day or so with no other symptoms at all except that it "felt" like I couldn't breath as well.

Then a couple days later the pain moved up to the "normal place" in the throat that usually hurts - i.e. behind the tonsils. I did have a very minor cough, just a few dry coughs here and there and what felt like some sinus congestion, but no sneezing an mainly in the morning. I did feel the malaise that one feels when they have a cold at that time. I was not coughing anything up really, but I was able to "hock" some mucous up that was yellowish with a tinge of blood, not much at all though.

The next day I noticed white spots on the "pillars" behind my tonsils, that is those things that move from behind your tonsils to close your throat and they appeared to be fixed and not able to be wiped off. I have a six month old, so I decided to go to the DR just to be sure that it was not strep, even though my tonsils have been fine this whole time. He said that it was just simple pharingitis caused by a virus, but this was just from examination and no tests were done.

The next day my throat did not hurt too bad, but my left sinus hurt pretty bad and I started sneezing a bit. I also did not feel malaise at all anymore. That night, I started coughing a dry cough at about 9:00 when I put my baby to bed. It is caused by a tickly in the back of my throat and was unrelenting - I could not get rid of the tickly no matter what it was that I did. However, and I do not know why I did this in the first place, but if I press lightly into the spot of my throat where it hurt originally (close the the base of my neck) the tickly would subside for just a few minutes (weird I know). This tickly and coughing kept me up quite a while that night.

The next day (after the morning "clearing-of-the-head-and-sinuses: that always seems to come along with a cold, I felt pretty darn good and thought it was over.

Well, that night (which was last night actually) at about the same time, I started having the tickle and dry cough once again and it  lasted much of the night, making for a pretty fitful sleep. Oh, I was was sneezing quite a bit too. Although, I am not sure if this was from the cold or not - it felt like it, but I sometimes have pretty severe hay fever which may have caused this yesterday.

When I woke up this morning, I was pretty deflated because I felt bad again - malaise, tiredness, etc. I was sneezing a bit, but my throat was not what hurt - now the back of my tongue is sore, especially when I swallow. This has happened to me before, but with no other symptoms. It could be from sneezing or coughing - I could have possibly pulled it? (after all, it is a muscle). I have not started coughing like the past few nights as of yet, but the night is still young.

So, my question is, is this simply a cold and I am just being irrational? Has anyone else had these symptoms before? How long should I let this try to run its course before I see the Dr. Again? Thanks.

Mike

[demtlard]

Sounds like a virus.  Do you have a fever at all? What color is your mucus?

[Enoch Choi, MD]

Sounds like post-nasal drip.  That can be from your hayfever or from a virus.  If it's from hayfever, antihistamines, nasal steroids (flonase, nasonex, rhinocort, etc) are helpful.  Those won't help a cold.  

Don't think you've pulled your tongue, it's pretty durable.

I think it's great that you're taking care of your six month old.  You go, dad!

Dr. Enoch Choi, MD
Palo Alto, CA

[shelzmike]

Not to druge up really old posts, but I realized that I hadn't come back to thank the two of you for responding to my novella, I mean post :).

Turns out, it must have one of the two of either post-nasal or a virus. I am better now - I got better about a week and a half after the post. I was just concerned because of the place where my throat was sore and the fact that I have never had it to where my tounge was that sore.

Unfortunately, I try to stay away from as many medicines as possible, and only take a few without caution. (Antibiotics, Aleve, Advil, etc., and my Xanax). I have GAD (generalized anxiety disorder, and used to have panic attacks pretty bad, and got those under control (I hope for good!) and the biggest thing that triggers a panic attack is shakiness and increased heart rate for no reason. If I am doing something that is supposed to increase my heart rate, i.e., exercising, etc., I am fine. I find that taking many of these antihistamines really cause me to get going, and the anxiety that causes me is far worse than the original symptom. Although, my hayfever is getting so bad sometimes that I am tempted. I really wish I did not have the anxiety problem and could bring myself to take the medicine that will help me feel better.

I am hoping that as I get older, my anxiety will subside. I mean, I am only 29 now, but realize that most likely more medicine will be in my future for serious things and will have to take them.

Thanks again for all the help!

[Enoch Choi, MD]

great to hear you're better.

If your hayfever is so bad, it would be a good idea to use nasal steroids which will not affect your anxiety like the sudafed in the combination allergy products would.