Do I Have a Cold or Allergies?

Sorry I haven’t written much over the weekend.  We had a ton of family activities and today I feel like a mack truck hit me.  But now I’m a little confused if I have a cold or allergies.  Or both.  OK all you webMD’s out there.  Here are the facts:

My nose is runny, I’m congested, my body is achy, my throat is sore, I’m tired, and my eyes are itchy.

Relevant factors:

• The weather changed.  It was like 100 degrees and then last week it dropped to the mid 50’s at night.  At first I was excited about this because it gives me a reason to go shopping for sweaters, but now my body is a little confused.
• We went to, not one, but two Halloween parties on Saturday.  (I don’t think I got anything from people at the party.  I was just excited to be invited to two parties and wanted to tell someone about it.)
• Booty camp was held outside yesterday.
• I was surrounded by little people.  No, not midgets.  I volunteered at the Fall Festival at my son’s school helping toddlers and preschoolers paint pumpkins for two hours, and I also volunteered to be the parent helper at my daughter’s Sunday school class.  I seriously don’t know how teachers survive those little germ fests.  There are runny noses everywhere!
• My husband mowed the lawn yesterday.
• Rylee had a little fever last week, but she didn’t have any symptoms beyond the fever and she is fine now.  (Note:  I don’t have a fever.)

Now since I don’t want this post to be all about me (that’s just rude) I’ve included this nifty table from WebMD so you can check your own symptoms if you are in a similar conundrum. 

Difference Between Cold & Allergy Symptoms – WebMD.com

Characteristic	Cold	Allergy
Duration	three-14 days	Days to months — as long as you are exposed to the allergen
Time of Year	Most often in the winter, but possible at any time	Any time of the year — although the appearance of some allergens are seasonal
Onset of symptoms	Symptoms take a few days to appear after infection with the virus.	Symptoms can begin immediately after exposure to the allergen
Symptom	Cold	Allergy
Cough	Often	Sometimes
Aches	Sometimes	Never
Fatigue	Sometimes	Sometimes
Fever	Rarely	Never
Itchy, watery eyes	Rarely	Often
Sore throat	Often	Sometimes
Runny or stuffy nose	Often; usually yellow mucus	Often; usually clear mucus

So what’s your diagnosis?  Are you battling cold and allergies too?

Lisa

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