I am going on holiday in 3 days and of course my body decided a couple days ago to catch a cold…right before my long awaited holiday!!
Any tips on how to get rid of it asap? Speed up the recovery somehow?
I have flu/cold medicine with paracetamol, caffeine and phenylephrine hydrochloride, however I have stopped taking it after 2 doses (of two capsules each) so I can allow my body to do what it needs with no obstruction before I go away…
I am resting (sleeping until I feel rested. I have free days before the holiday so can sleep as much as I need), eating light meals, plenty of drinks and soothers for the dry/sore throat
Does taking medicine to relieve symptoms prolong the actual healing process? Or am I suffering for no reason right now?
Please, any help is appreciated, I’m desperate here 🙏🙏
Your body is also trying to kill the infection by finding the virus “cells” and consuming them. The fever’s helpful just in case your body can’t get a handle on things. That was useful back in the days before evidence-based medicine, but not so much now. There’s no good reason not to treat the fever.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/treating-fever-in-adults#:~:text=Fever is one of the,such as viruses or bacteria.
This is the largest study published, 700 people randomly assigned to receive acetaminophen or not. They found no difference in the number of ICU days:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26436473/
A. Lowering a fever is not the same as no fever B. the study concluded taking Tylenol did not affect number of ICU days. It did not conclude that fevers are not an important part of the immune system.
C. This is also on an ICU setting, with (presumably) significant treatment protocols in effect. You shouldn’t assume it applies to other situations.