Cold, Flu, or Allergy? And how to treat...

[grafix-gnc]

So lets get started, First of all.. how do you know if you have the cold, a flu or allergies? Lets start off with some identifying characteristics:

CHEST INFECTION:
Cold - Common. Mild to moderate.
Flu - Common. Can become severe. Pneumonia is a common complication.
Allergy - Rare.
FEVER:
Cold - Rare (except in young children)
Flu - Usually high (102-104). May last 3-4 days
Allergy - Not present
GENERAL ACHES AND PAINS:
Cold - Mild.
Flu - Usual. Can be severe.
Allergy - Rare
HEADACHE:
Cold - Rare
Flu - Common
Allergy - Rare
SNEEZING/RED, WATERY, ITCHY EYES:
Cold - Usual but more prevalent in allergies
Flu - Rare
Allergies - Usual, especially sneezing. These symptoms come on quickly, without the warning signs of a cold, and can last longer.
SORE THROAT:
Cold - Usual
Flu - Occasional
Allergy - Occasional
STUFFY NOSE:
Cold - Usual
Flu - Occasional
Allergy - Occasional
FATIGUE:
Cold - Mild
Flu - Severe
Allergy - Rare
PRIMARY SEASON:
Cold - late August-April
Flu - Winter
Allergy - March - September
DURATION:
Cold - 7-10 days
Flu - Up to a month
Allergy - As long as the allergen is present

Well, now you know what you have so lets get down to treating them without going to the doctor...

COMMON COLD
The common cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract caused by a virus. Cold weather, despite what your momma told ya, does not cause colds, even though most colds are caught in cold weather. The reason for this is that most cold viruses thrive in colder temperatures when theres less humidity in the atmosphere.

TREATING THE COLD:
-Vitamin C with bioflavonoids - 5,000 - 20,000 mg daily, in divided doses. This fights cold viruses. (For children, use a buffered vitamin c or calcium ascorbate)
-Zinc lozenges - One 15mg lozenge every 3 waking hours for 3 days, then 1 lozenge every 4 hours for 1 week. Don't exceed 100mg a day from all doses. Zinc boosts your immunse system. (Avoid lozenges containing citric acid, sorbitol, or mannitol. THese ingredients inhibit absorption)
-N-acetylcysteine - Take as directed on label. This is a powerful antioxidant.
-Garlic - Take as directed on label. Ussually 2 capsules, 3 times daily. Garlic is a natural antibiotic and immune system inhancer.
-Maitake, Shiitake, or Reishi Mushrooms - Take as directed on label. These mushrooms have immune boosting properties and antiviral properties.
-Cat's Claw - Useful for fighting colds.
-Ephedra - Helps with congestion and coughing.
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ALLERGIES
These suck. I hate the f*cking allergies. But lets get down to it, an allergy in a bad response by the body's immune system to a substance that is not normally harmful. In some people, the immune system wrongly identifies a nontoxic substance as an invader, and white blood cells overreact, creating more damage to the body than the invader.

TREATING YOUR ALLERGIES:
-Methylsulfonylmethan (MSM) - Take 50mg 3 times daily. Most thought it was used just for your arthritis but heres something you might have forgotten or didnt know... it has antiallergic properties equal to or better than those of antihistamines.
-Quercetin - Take 500 mg daily. Quercetin increases immunity and decreases reactions to certain foods, pollens, and oter allergens.
-Bromelain - 100mg twice daily. This enhances the absorbption of or Quercetin and also decreases inflammation.
-L-Lysine - Like i said in the sections above.
-NAC - Like described in the sections above.

[grafix-gnc]

its that time of the year when you notice these symptoms, so bump

[raw lifter]

I just got out of the hospital due to some type of virus (was running a temp, had body aches etc...). I'm currently running a tren/prop/winny cycle and my white blood cell count was 22,000....the doc wanted to admit me an run blood/bacteria tests through the night because he was baffled due to the extremely high count . He said I could possibly have some major infection like meningitis and he pleaded with me to stay saying it was for my own safety....I figured the extremely elevated wbc's were due to the infection I had and the current aas use so I signed a release and left, planing on following up with the family doc tomorrow.....what do you people think???

Also what kind of negative effects can such an elevated wbc count have on me???

[buffdoc]

It's not that the high white count can hurt you, it's what it indicates, which is infection. that's a very high WBC. Viral infections usuallydon't run the WBC up that high. I think checking out AMA was a bad idea. you need to get the work up, just to be sure. An overwhelming infection can be beyoind antibiotics if it gets out of control.
I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[raw lifter]

Just went to my family doc, he ran a cbc stat, I should have the results by the end of the day. I just thought it was odd that my temp went down rather quickly and hasn't gone back up again ..... I signed my self out because I thought the odds of me having a serious infection were slim.....I thought it was just the combo of some sort of infection/aas use.

[raw lifter]

doc called back, wbc is down to 16,000