Sore throat, cough, nasal congestion, mild diarrhea

I thought I had a basic cold.. it started with a sore throat so ive been sucking on halls and taking some tylenol.. but my ears are itchy, the post nasal drip is unreal, i keep choking at night, dry cough, mild headache.
I just spoke with a pharmacist and they told me Reactin and Benadryl is safe to use during pregnancy. Everyone else (family/friends) are telling me otherwise. I took 1 pill and i am panicking about it now, im going to call my OB in the morning.
I just wanted to know if anyone else has been told they can take anything?

I have been in Japan for 5 days now and am currently sick in Kyoto. My symptoms are cough, sore throat, extreme fatigue and temp swings. I already bought Kaigen but it's not great. The caffeine also doesn't help because it prevents me from being able to rest. Anyone have any recommendations? I notice most medicines I've looked up contain dihydrocodeine but I am worried to take it as I am allergic to codeine. Any advice would be great.

Hi I remember reading a lot here, after going through SSHL, I just want to share my experience maybe someone may find it useful, find something you need to read, or whatever. I don't live in usa, Im unemployed, no medical care or social insurance. public health service? I will be even lucky if i get a general doctor to see me after 8 hours waiting, if not an emergency where I'm wounded and bleeding. no priority. a ENT specialist? those doesn't exist for public health. you have to pay and its expensive. i remember I got strong cold symptoms, without nasal congestion, no throat pain, no coughing, it just felt more like Covid, I already got covid twice before. these symptoms lasted two days. the third day when i felt better at night i woke up midnight, turned on the PC when i started to felt ear fullness in my right ear. never got an ear fullness as hard as that day, it happened before but i could hear, when i went to the beach, but never because of cold, I couldn't hear almost anything in my right ear. First I thought was because I was sick, but no nasal congestion, or respiratory symptoms, I started to worry after a few hours, this ear fullness never lasted long for me, and i noticed i couldn't hear nothing. so i started to search for information if because covid you can lose your hearing, found there was cases, they were rare but they existed, that's when I found about sudden hearing loss, and about the hum test, and about corticosteroids, did the hum test, I could only hear my left hear. first i tried to clean my ears with a hot bath, but same nothing. I talked to my sister she works with my uncle, he is a doctor, he lend an otoscope to her. when she came home she looked at my ear with the otoscope, nothing, clean ear. she had some dexamethasone 8mg/2ml, fuck it. told her to hit me a shot on my cheek, she did, after half an hour i felt totally relaxed, weird sensation, my uncle the general doctor told me to go and see an ENT specialist, but with no money? they told me at least 4 different test, blood test, audiogram, MRI, all of them expensive. I told my sister to keep giving me shots of dexamethasone for one week. each day i felt kinda worse because of the dexamethasone, a lot of hungry, and digestive acid issues, sleep issues, also constipated, daily i test myself with different kind of headsets, couldn't hear anything at the beginning, but after the five day started to see some improvement, i started to hear some notes again mostly the musical notes between C4 and C7, high pitch or high frequency notes nothing yet. but each day after the five the i started to notice a small improvement in my hearing, I remember that i got strong need of eating spicy food, very spicy, so spicy that i could feel it on my ears. after the 7 day I stopped taking shots of dexamethasone, at the eight day I noticed a strong improvement, after 7 shots of dexamethasone 1 daily and after 3 days eating spicy food I don't know why but it felt good in my ears, I started to hear almost all notes from piano, some distorted some low but day one was nothing, also I could start to distinguish conversations again, big improvement if i was 80% hearing loss i got back 50% again, I kept doing shots of dexamethasone one every three days for about a week, after that i stopped the shots of dexamethasone completely. 16 days later i got my most of my hearing back, though still less than my left ear but not by much, and some high frequencies still low, t frequencies above 10k hard to hear if not high volume, now 30 days later, I can say i almost got most of my hearing back 90% right ear vs 100% from my left ear, a bit less but i can hear everything, all notes all kind of noises musical tones as before, I want to share this experience maybe someone find something useful here, there is no reason to lie about this for me. but the first thing I did after realizing I was deaf from one ear was search for information everywhere, I was desperate.

New here, I’m 36 and have had allergy like symptoms since early 20s like congestion, ears popping, occasional sore throat and spit out phlegm from back of throat. had nasal polyps diagnosed in 2012 Was just told to take Flonase and manage it, so I never thought too much into it other than post nasal drip. Over The past 6 months I have developed and slight wet cough after eating large meals and having to clear throat from time to time. I never had traditional heartburn or indigestion that I can recall. Going in for a endoscopy in the coming weeks to check the damage, will visit ENT also for throat and sinus exam. It’s very stressful and I’m hoping everything checks out ok. If anyone has similar symptoms, you’re not alone.

I have dust and mold allergies. I was taking generic Zyrtec (Cetitrizine) for a while. Dust allergy seems to cause a lot of phlegm in the back of my throat, which contributed to runny nose when outdoors. I never have nasal congestion. I get dry cough randomly. Sometimes I'm able to bring the phlegm up. I recently switched to Allegra (Fexofenadine). I am now sneezing, woke up to achy body, and still have phlegm. These seem to not resolve the problem. Should I ask my allergist for prescription allergy medicine? If so, what prescribed medication is an effective treatment? What about immunotherapy? Does immunotherapy for dust allergies cause fibromyalgia to flare up badly?

I wondering if I could get help figure out if I have a cold or it’s just allergies. On Sunday, my throat felt a little funny and by Monday morning I woke up with a sore throat no other symptoms. Monday night I took 50mg Benadryl and ibuprofen 600mg. Tuesday morning my sore throat was gone but I began to have nasal irritation. Today, I still have the nasal irritation and I’ve been sneezing and coughing more, my eyes little are swollen. I don’t feel fatigued nor do I have muscle aches. I took a Covid and strep throat test on Monday both came back negative. I took another Covid test today it’s negative. Does this sound like allergies?

did anyone experience a swollen lymph node in your jawline after wisdom teeth surgery?
mine is small and moveable, between my lower cheek and jawline. I just noticed it today (day 15) because I was massaging my jaw.
it’s on the left side which was the most painful side after surgery for me (top and bottom were impacted). my gums are still kinda sore on that side. I also had cold symptoms after surgery (sore throat, cough etc).
like a lot of people on this sub I have health anxiety so just wondering if this happened to anyone else before freaking out lol!

Hey everyone -
Thank you in advance for any help / suggestions you might be able to offer. I’ve been struggling with some annoying symptoms the past few months and I’m hoping that someone might be able to provide some insight / reassurance.
So, basics: 31 y/o white male, exercise 7-10 hours a week (cycling primarily), 145 lbs, 5’9, I eat a balanced diet, lots of fruits, vegetables, limited red meat, lean protein, etc. Mediterranean diet essentially. No drinking, no smoking. I am generally rather healthy - I typically get one, maybe two, colds a year. I’m a teacher, so I’m exposed to quite a bit of germs / viruses, but I generally take care of myself enough to avoid most of it. I sleep probably about 7 hours a night on average - could definitely bump that up, but never less than 6 hours and typically 7.5+. I got the Pfizer vaccine back in 2021, booster in early 2022. Admittedly, I haven’t had a booster since, nor do I usually get a flu shot. I plan on rectifying both of those this year.
This year, I have just gotten absolutely decimated with sicknesses and it is really starting to wear on my mental health. It has kept me from exercising as much as I’d like, which, in turn, has made me more and more depressed and frustrated.
Rough timeline: Mid-December 2023: Mild cold which lasted for about 5 days. Usual stuff, congestion, sore throat, general malaise and stuffiness. Cleared pretty quickly, took 4 days off from exercise, biked on the 5th day and felt fine. Energy bounced back within a few days.
Late January 2024: Similar cold symptoms come on, I take 2 days off from exercise, thought I felt better, exercised on the 3rd and 4th day, probably overdid it and ended up relapsing pretty hard. Had to take another 6 days completely off, was able to exercise again on the 7th day but felt pretty weak. Took it easy for 3 days before I started feeling strong again.
Late February 2024: Went to Peru for a friend’s wedding - at the airport on the way home I started feeling chills all over and my stomach was just absolutely killing me. The flight home was miserable, as you could imagine. Went to urgent care, they prescribed some stuff for the stomach pain, which seemed to work. I only took 1 day off from exercise, resumed exercise the following day and actually felt completely normal strength / energy wise. Only strange lingering thing was that after this bout of whatever, I would frequently get goosebumps every time I changed clothes, regardless of how cold it really was. Felt fine otherwise, no chills, just weird goosebumps which would go away within a minute or so of changing.
Early April 2024: Came down with symptoms again - same as usual: sore throat, head cold / congestion, general malaise, low energy. Symptoms came on a Sunday night, felt pretty terrible Monday morning. I had an important cycling race that following Saturday, so I tried to recover for that. Slept a bunch, drank a bunch of water, DayQuil during the day which seemed to help. I tried going for easy rides twice that week - once on Tuesday, once on Thursday. Both times, I felt ok with regards to my breathing / congestion, but my muscles felt really weak. Legs just had no power. I felt relatively ok on Friday driving down to the race, felt absolutely terrible during the race on Satuday and ended up dropping out. Took Sunday completely off, took a COVID test to be safe, came back negative, starting riding again that next Monday and felt surprisingly ok - figured I was out of the woods. Rode that whole week, felt good, not great. That Sunday, I start feeling off again, symptoms come back on Monday. I take 2 days completely off, try riding again and I just have no energy whatsoever. Muscles feel so weak and achey. I take 4 more days completely off, start riding again next week and take it really, really easy to work my way back into it. I contact my doctor and the PA that works for him thinks it is allergies - he says to take a double-dose of antihistamines daily and that he thinks that is what is causing the symptoms + the fatigue. I try this for a week with little improvement to my energy levels / muscle strength. Still feeling congested at this point. I go back to him a week later, he orders some blood tests - everything comes back in the normal range. Only thing outside the normal range is WBC count which is at 3.9 where the low level of normal is 4.0, so pretty close to normal. Symptoms persist, so I go back, now he thinks it might be a sinus infection - he does inspect my sinuses and says they look inflamed. He prescribes antibiotics (amox) which I have taken for a week now. Congestion / sore throat is improved, but I still have absolutely no energy and my muscles, especially my calf muscles, are just constantly achey / sore / weak. He said if I don’t see improvement in another week, he’ll order more tests, but I’m getting really frustrated and disheartened at this point. I’m able to ride, but I just feel so weak when I’m doing it and I don’t think I’m actually benefiting at all from the training, although I do enjoy just being outside.
I have never gotten this sick, this often. I feel like I cannot do the things that make me happy, which, in turn, makes my mental health worse, which probably is also wearing on my physical health. What else could this possibly be?

Hi, I currently have a random assortment of symptoms and can’t figure out what it is… I have congestion that is milder than a typical cold, an incessantly sore throat, a constant headache, body aches, one day of fever, sleeping no less than 14 hours a day, very mild shortness of breath. This has lasted over a week now. It feels like a lite-version of combined cold, flu, and covid.

Hi, I currently have a random assortment of symptoms and can’t figure out what it is… I have congestion that is milder than a typical cold, an incessantly sore throat, a constant headache, body aches, one day of fever, sleeping no less than 14 hours a day, very mild shortness of breath. Oh yeah and my mucus is pretty green. This has lasted over a week now. It feels like a lite-version of combined cold, flu, and covid.

More information from her:
"looking for someone familiar with a specific strain of bacteria or parasite.
Ok started with sore throat Thursday then headache body ache 101.4-102.4 fever Saturday night. SUnday began diarrhea and same range of fever all day.
Monday same symptoms but range of fever was 101.4-102.8. Cramps in upper stomach and vomiting began. Fever came down to 99.9 at midnight on Tuesday but then at 6 am temperature dropped to 95.5 and vomiting and diarrhea became more frequent. 20 minutes later at hospital temp increased rapidly to 103.3 and heart rate to 130. Diarrhea became bright green and VERY frequent. Fluids administered, doctors determined it's not sepsis, Covid, flu, or strep. So far have no concrete answers. She is 5 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding.

I am a non-smoker, wisdom teeth extracted. No history of cavities.
For 3-4 weeks I have had localized pain by my bottom right back molar, on the inside. The inside gum is swollen. I could feel something sharp for many days when pressing my tongue in the area and then a few days ago, a small sliver of what only could be a tooth came out.
This temporarily relieved the pain. The pain is specific to just that one spot. A few days later, I once again felt a sharp piece of what I assume is tooth in the same spot. I also started experiencing a mild sore throat on the same side.
Today, my tongue cannot feel the sharp tooth at all. I can still feel a pinpoint hole, but maybe it's closing? The pain when pressing on the spot is also less today.
Any ideas? I'll go to a dentist but I do not have dental insurance so trying to prepare myself for a potentially large bill.

TLDR: should I eat triggering foods before colonoscopy or stay low fodmap?
So I’ve never had gut issues my whole life. Except last year I developed a sensitivity to chillies and jalapeños and everything in that family. Which was a huge disappointment as my ethnicity eats chilli like its candy. But anyway, what can you do. That was fine until in November I got sick with flu, fever, sore throat and diarrhea (maybe Covid? Idk). The issue is, the diarrhea never went away. Saw a doctor in January. He first thought my gut is sensitive from an infection. Ordered blood tests and stool test. Everything was fine. Calprotectin was 274. Which he thought isn’t high enough to rush for a colonoscopy. He said wait to see if symptoms get better. They sort of kind of did. Very gradually though. Still had persistent diarrhea but i knew what time it would happen in the day. I was scared of the colonoscopy so kept praying it just goes away on its own.
Then idk what happened. I woke up one day in April with no diarrhea. No symptoms. Nothing. I was so surprised. I was fine for about 5-6 weeks from then on. Idk how. I thought it was a miracle because I was eating spicy food full almost every day when I got better. I was SO happy. Then end of last month one day I had the most horrible painful watery diarrhea. Even though I hadn’t eaten spicy food or anything different for at least 5 days before this episode. The diarrhea didn’t go away till about two days ago. Saw the doctor again. He prescribed an anti spasm which I’ve been taking for the last two weeks. So pain is down 70%. I’ve also been on a strict fodmap for the last two weeks. It didn’t seem to help in the beginning but since the last two days I’ve been feeling good. No diarrhea after so long. No painful cramps, no bloating or gas. My life feels pretty boring on low fodmap but my bowel movements since the last two days have been good.
But anyway, i have a colonoscopy scheduled after two weeks. My question is, should I continue eating low fodmap or should I eat everything so that during the colonoscopy my insides are at their worst to show a fuller picture? Idk what would be better diagnosis wise

My surgery is the day after tomorrow. I payed full price and done all the tests. And last week I was feeling healthy like 10/10. This week I have a feeling the universe is against me. I‘ve got a pretty stressful work week with a lot of meetings and taking, and now I have sore throat and mild flu symptoms. I test negative for Covid. Today my period started, I feel low on energy and like my immune system is collapsing. I‘ve got lip herpes after a long time not having it… And my 3 year old daughter got stomach flu today. I was wiping her vomit the whole day long. After such activities I usually get what she has 1-2 days later… Two days later is the day of surgery. Will they perform the surgery on me if I have stomach flu?

Everyday since 2013 I’ve been congested. I started feeling tightness in my throat back in February 2023, and palpitations. I recently saw a pulmonologist who had me do this breathing test (I forgot the name) and said my lung capacity appeared fine. Some times I catch myself mouth breathing, feeling fatigued from light movement, and a feeling like my heart is pounding especially when playing basketball g(which has been going on for almost 1.5 years) I’ve had many cardio tests, accept for a chest ct angiogram. The cardiologist told me that sometimes restricted breathing a cause palpitations. I figured that sounds about right considering I’ve played sports with chronic nasal congestion for a decade and I’ve must’ve been overworking myself without known it all this time so now light activity often makes my heart pump harder. Hopefully a diet change and these nasal sprays make it better.

So I’ve had a sore throat for about 9 months now, it started like this: last July every few days I would have a small sore throat for a day then it would go away. A few weeks later it turned into a daily sore throat and just wouldn’t go away.
It’s not like normal sore throats I sometimes get when I’m sick where I can barely speak because of how much it hurts and can’t really drink or eat anything but soup and juice because of the pain. It’s much more of an annoyance type pain, it’s not pleasant to talk because it irritates my throat but it’s not as bad as strep. And what’s weird is when I eat or drink water, the pain actually goes away and I don’t even feel it while I’m eating/drinking. I’ve gone to an ENT but unfortunately he didn’t do any sort of testing and was condescending saying I should go see a gastroenterologist instead because it’s not his expertise.
Things I’ve tried: antibiotics (at the beginning when I thought it was an infection), Flonase, omeprazole, Pepcid, nasal spray, tums, Claritin, and one or two other stuff I’m forgetting. None made any difference, also I’ve tried not eating hours before going to sleep and it didn’t make any difference whether or not I ate before going to sleep.
As for the pain, it’s usually worse in the mornings, sometimes it gets a little better as the day goes on but never completely, and some days it stays the same all day.
Anyone have similar issues with this? I’m just so lost as to what I need to do to get rid of this sore throat.

Started coughing last Sunday night but did not think too much of it as I was still recovering from a cold. On monday morning, my son started to get a high fever (40°C, don‘t know how much that is in °F) so we took him to the hospital where he tested positive for Influenza A. When we got home, my wife and I were also knocked out by high fever (39°C+). We are on day 3 and the fever seems to be gone for now. Of course there are still symptoms like coughing and sore throat but overall we are much better. Could this actually be? I always thought that influenza will knock you out for at least a week.

I’m 26 (F) and had unprotected sex with a male (30). A few weeks afterwards I started having really strange bowel movements. I would either have diarrhea or loose stool, and still to this day cannot form solid stool. I also am extremely gassy and stomach is constantly gurgling. Sometimes will have the sudden urge to go to the bathroom immediately after eating. A month later I started to experience a sore throat and dry cough. Then I noticed these bumps on the back of my tounge. Really nervous it’s an STD but my partner said he was tested right before we slept together and I was also tested before and was negative for everything. Seems strange that these symptoms started after I slept with him. I never had any digestive problems prior. Ordered an at home STD test and went to the doctor to provide bloodwork and stool samples. Help because I’m freaking out and can’t sleep it’s all I can think about.

[30F, 56 kg, 173cm]. Taking Ritalin (prescribed); took some designer benzos a couple of times during the last month to fall asleep (obviously, self-prescribed, half a pill before going to sleep. Yes, I know it's bad, not doing it anymore). Don't smoke, drink wine pretty regularly (never get drunk though), and a lot of caffeine. Have a full-time job at the computer and am a full-time student. Don't do sports, but walk around quite a lot. Have a stressful life in general, but at the moment it's more or less ok. No chronic issues that I know of.
Recently, had a pretty bad cold with a sore throat, cough, stuffed nose, and a fever. Usually, I never have colds or anything like that. It seems that I recovered from it, or almost recovered.
Now about the issue why I'm posting: a little more than a week ago I started waking up in the middle of the night from REALLY SEVERE headaches. They're always at the same spot - the top left part of my head, sometimes radiating to the left cheekbone, the left eyebrow, and the left temple. For the first time, it was so bad that I was afraid I was having a stroke or something, but no other symptoms of anything of that kind were present. I took a paracetamol+aspirin+caffeine pill and the pain subsided in an hour or so. The exact same episode repeated 4 more times since then, and last night, the painkiller didn't help. Even though I managed to fall asleep, I woke up with the same unbearable pain. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but after I took my regular dose of Ritalin, the pain disappeared almost instantly. Also, don't know if it's relevant, but I'm also on my period at the moment.
I'm going to go to the doctor soon-ish anyway, but right now, a comment from a professional on my situation could really help alleviate my worries (or prompt me to do something about the problem immediately, idk). Thank you in advance.

It’s day 2 of zero vaping or nicotine, and I feel horrendous.
Sore throat, headaches, dizziness, coughing up unholy things, body aches… even my hair is sore. I can’t tell if I’m actually sick, or I’m just fiending for nicotine so badly it feels worse than having covid did for me.

hey guys. i had an encounter march the 18th. it was protected vaginal and oral and i’ve been stressing ever since :(. she told me that she was clean and when i asked her for records of that she got annoyed at me and told me not to text her again. like i said, it was protected so i shouldn’t be too worried right? i have a white tongue rn and i’m afraid it could be oral thrush, i had some headaches and muscle pains but this was ab a month ago and hasn’t happened since. it was all very mild. the thing scaring me now is this white tongue. my throat isn’t sore and i haven’t had a sore throat since the encounter. i’m scared i have something like HIV and i feel like my life is just spiralling out of control. i need some advice thank u guys