Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group can't cope with a simple cold!

Everyone round here has cold bugs at the moment. I often manage to avoid them, but not this time, and I really can't cope. I have sjogrens which gives me a lovely dry nose at the best of times, and oddly the drippiness just makes it even more raw and sore. My lips are cracked and sore, and I have another rash of mouth ulcers. I'm starting to cough and sneeze, and my ribs hurt like h**l. Feels like it is really hard to get enough air into my lungs. Just checked my peak flows and from a normal of 350-370 (on the monitor I use) I'm down to 250. Ventolin inhalers don't do anything for me, but the docs here don't like giving me steroid inhalers without a big argument, and thats what usually ends up relieving it. I feel such a wimp. I'm tired, sore and crotchety, just like a young kid.

Big gentle HUGS to you !! Hope you feel better soon

Sherri

Oh you poor thing. I wish I could bring over a pot of chicken soup. I wonder if it would get to you if I poured some down my modem connection.

I know how awful you must be feeling. There's not much you can do except just rest and drink lots of fluids. Some honey with lemon might help the cough, especially if you add a splash of rum to it. That's what my grandma always did when we got colds.

you're definitely not a wimp! at least not as much as i am! as you know today i'm feeling the same way for different reasons. it sucks being sick and hurting all over.

not sure if any of this will help, but here's a suggestion or two.

when my nose gets raw and sore, putting plain chapstick on it is the only thing that helps it. everything else that might help stings too badly that i've tried; that would include blistex, aloe, handcreams. plain shea butter might also do the trick. well, i know that helps on the outside and sometimes i stick it up into my nose as well. don't know if it could help you.

when my lips get all cracked, the only thing that seems to heal that is blistex, the original white creamy stuff in the little tube.

mouth ulcers, right now i seem to be having a terrible time with tongue Papillae inflammation right now. all i've discovered is when i have them, drinking a lot water seems helpful and anything acidic is out. if you find anything that really helps, let me know; i've tried a few OTC things but none are really that great.

as for the whole ribs and breathing thing, maybe be insistent on the steroid inhaler if that really is the only thing that works.

feel better soon

Colds just plain suck, no matter how you slice it. I hope you're feeling better really soon!

Hugs,

So sorry you are feeling rotten! Are you a guy? Guys always feel worse during a cold...you know... Just kidding, I was hoping to lift your spirits!

Keep an eye on your peak flows and get to the ER if you get too low. You know how fast o2 sats can drop. Do you have a nebulizer? If not you can borrow mine...

I hope you feel better soon!

LOL lillibelle! If you heard me on the phone you'd think I was a guy at the moment - my voice is so croaky it has gone really rough and deep. Peak flows not desperately low, but not good. No nebuliser, but do resort to sticking my head over a basin of steamy water sometimes and that relieves. We have a walk-in clinic here on a Saturday morning, so depending on how I feel then I might go see what the doc says. My feeling is to start on the steroid inhalers again, but I don't think he'll go for that.