A cold is almost never just a cold…

So much to do, so little time. And I wasn’t supposed to get a COUGH again, either.

No, I’m not kidding.

I know where I was infected. To make a very long story short, exactly a week ago I accompanied a friend (who has very little Italian) and her 5-year-old daughter to a pediatric dentist. We had to wait for a couple of hours (the dentist was very busy and behind schedule) in a small, airless waiting room with other adults and their…kids.

Yes, I’m well aware of the danger of my being around potentially ill kids, especially in a situation like that where I couldn’t escape, but my friend needed me to communicate with the dentist. If I hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have understood that her daughter had an abscessed tooth, which, obviously, would not have been good at all. (Incidentally, after a cycle of antibiotics, the little girl is fine…)

Anyway, that was on Thursday afternoon/evening. On Saturday I had a runny nose…okay, Margaret, it’s just a wee cold…

Except, with us myeloma folks, a cold is almost never just a cold.

By Sunday I was feeling funny…not funny funny haha, unfortunately!, but strange funny. I put myself on an antibiotic that evening.

Smart move…

A few hours later, during the night, the dreaded cough began. Oh yeah.

Boy, though, was it QUICK!!! From my nose to my chest in about 12 hours, I’d say. I’ve been on the antibiotic now for five days…and my cough is so MUCH better. In fact, after resting in bed on Monday, watching TV series, napping under the careful watch of devoted feline nurses, I’ve been up and about since Tuesday morning, doing my regular household chores, stopping now and again to cough, but it’s manageable. And with every day that passes, it gets better…I figure I’ll be OK in a couple of days…

But hey, I’m not writing this post just to complain and whine about my cough (although that’s certainly part of it, hehe)… 😉

No, I’m writing because in the past few days I’ve realized a possibly important fact: when I came down with bronchial pneumonia last month, and then with bronchitis last week, I was testing Meriva curcumin.

In other words, I’d been off my usual C3 Complex for a while. I know many of you take Meriva curcumin, so this may just be a coincidence.

But, just to be on the safe side, I’m back on C3 Complex. My Meriva test will have to wait until the spring, when I’m not at such a high risk of being infected…

Hope everyone is happy and well!!! Ciao!!!

5 Comments

  1. Thank you for letting us know about your cold, feel better soon. I switched from C3 complex to Curamed, 750 mg of BCM-95. Anxious to see how it affects my Blood tests. Take care, we need you.

  2. Glad you’re getting better, Margaret.

    I keep logs of all my colds. I have truly found that if I take zinc lozenges like Life Extensions Zinc lozenges (formerly Eby’s Zinc lozenges) at the first sign of a cold, my cold lasts 2-4 days instead of around 20 and I don’t get the severe running nose. In my case, the first sign of a cold is one of the following or both:
    1) Tight nose and throat
    2) Sore throat.

    It’s usually the sore throat that I notice first. If I start taking the zinc lozenges when I first notice the symptoms, the cold never really fully develops – I don’t get much of a runny nose (maybe have to blow nose twice a day), the sore throat goes away quickly.

    If I don’t start taking the zinc at the first sign of a cold, well then severe flooding of the nose begins. If I get to that stage then I take sudafed and Mucinex to keep it flowing so it doesn’t turn into an infection. And then the nose flooding, from moderately severe to severe, lasts for around 20 days.

    I’ve also been experimenting covering my nose and mouth and breathing in heated air of around 135 degrees. Supposedly the Rhino Virus can’t take those kinds of temperatures and die. If nothing else, it opens my nose.

    I just got over a cold last week – I have lots of grandkids which are like little petri dishes for germs. I noticed the cold soon enough and zinc/heat worked. Very happy.

  3. Hello Margaret! My naturopathic oncologist recommended Meriva curcumin. (I have IgG kappa MGUS.) Do you expect to start your Meriva experiment again soon, or have you already? I’d be interested in your experience. Because of your posts, I’ll be asking my naturopathic oncologist about C3 Complex as well.

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