Have i just got a cold?

[what..the?]

It started last night when I was cleaning out my indoor guinea pigs and rabbits there was a lot of wood shavings involved and one of the rabbits are moulting so there is fluff everywhere, I started to sneeze really bad the really painfull sneezes where it feels like your heads going to blow off, I would sneeze like five times in a row cover and over all night. Then the nose got a bit wet into the evening but nothing to bad and again wet this morning, a couple of sneezing fits this morning.

But this afternoon my throat starts to feel sore, and has been getting worse all day. It is not like a normal sore throat though its really almost effecting the upper throat / nasal area, I cannot swallow and it feels like the passage between the nasal cavity and the throat is like blocked with something which doent feel like snot, it feels very acid burn like in the nose itself like the skins burning. I breathed in some bad cleaning product which had bleach and clorine in it last week which made my nose and chest bad that night but not struggled since.

Are this the early signs of the cold, an alergy, or something else and what can I do when I get home to improve my symptoms.

Thanks in advance.

[daniela31]

I always have a pack of piriton, or similar anti-histamines in the house.
It could be an allergy. If you take a piriton, and the symptoms go away within 15 minutes, you know it's an allergy.
If the symptoms don't abate, then it's something else.

[tigerlily11]

This sounds like what I have right now. It's ben coming on for the past few days and I'm laid up with it now.
Theres something going round that feels like it should be a cold but isn't. I have no runny nose but it feels blocked. I feel like I swolloed barbed wire and I feel hot.
But I have been coughing today so hopefully it is coming to an end.
Go to bed with some honey and lemon (in a cup) :-) and sleep.
Hopefully that will help.
Take care and heres a hug to be going on with.
((((((((((((((((xx))))))))))))))

[what..the?]

ahhh thanks xxx

Im off home early to get in bed i think it is the best place for me, I actually felt dizzy earlier from memory, forgot about that.

I will take some piriton as I have some, and maybe some cold and flu later in evening if still bad.

Thanks for the responses.

[saxy_jag]

You can be quite comfortable with your animals for ages, and then have an allergy show up at lightning speed. Cruelly, fur allergies always seem to show up in animal lovers. It could just be the fur, or something finer, like the dander.

If it turns out that you are allergic to your animals, have a word with your GP. He or she should be able to refer you to a specialist and there is a chance you could get a more effective treatment via a hospital - long lasting injections or similar.

With over-the-counter remedies, if the first one you try doesn't work, try others. A pharmacist can advise. Different anithistamine brands use different active ingredients and they don't all work for everyone. That can change over time too. I used to take Sudafed for my hay fever, but it makes me worse now and I've had to switch to Piriton this summer.

[what..the?]

Thanks for that infomation re the allergy problems you have had and possible solutions. At the moment I am still suffering with the symptoms and trying cold and flu tablets. If it turns out to be an allergy I will try and work my way through the differnt types of anti allergy treatments, if it doesn't improve I will go to the doctors but currently I am not registered with a doctor.

I could never give the animals up, I love them soo much, i'd rather suffer lol

[what..the?]

For reference if was a cold/flu I was really ill friday through to Sunday it was as bad as the flu but lasted just those 3 days after suffering a few days before with worsening symptoms so not really as long as flu should be I would guess.

Thank you for peoples help. I still have a few symptoms and my neck in twice the size in should be on one side but Im ok and back working.

cheers