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Cold and chest issue

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lesgunn

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi,

I've had a cold for about 3 weeks and I felt miserable for about a week, with the runs, pain in my ribs and a chesty cough, with tightness on my chest. Add to that my weight loss and the musculoskeletal pains, it's not been fun.

After a real frightening episode last weekend with my chest getting really tight, to the point where I thought I was having a heart attack. I called for an ambulance, they were brilliant and I ended up in A&E getting checked out.

Anyway the upshot is my heart and lungs are fine and my blood is good too. But this cough and tight chest persist and it worries me. My Doc says the cold virus doing the rounds at the moment is a lot worse than normal and lasts longer.

Anyone else have the same kind of thing cos it makes me anxious.

Cheers :confused:
 
Hi Les, very sorry to hear that you're suffering :( It's good that you got checked out though. I don't have any words of wisdom I'm afraid, but infections can take longer to clear when you have diabetes as even slightly elevated blood sugar levels provide an ideal environment for the bugs. One or two of our members have recently reported similar hard to shift coughs and colds so it does seem as though something particularly stubborn is doing the rounds. I hope that it's almost run its course and that you are feeling much better soon 🙂
 
How are your BG numbers?

because my GP told me that running higher numbers could make colds last longer as the high glucose impacted the efficiency of the body's natural defenses thus you would get colds/coughs for longer and more severely.
 
Cheers Northerner, appreciated.

Mark, bloods are averaging 5 so pretty normal. I feel fine apart from my chest and a bit of a blocked nose from time to time.

I was talking with a friend a while ago and he has had the cold since Jan but can't shift the cold and chesty cough/heavy feeling.

😡
 
I have had a cough for weeks that is hard to shift, doc says it is a cold. I find plenty of warm (sugar free) drinks help, and many folks like sugar free orange squash or blackcurrant made with hot water. Is yout throat sore too? That sometimes aggrivates a cough, your pharmacist may be able to reccomend something to ease the throat.

A hot steamy shower helps too, but suggest you don't stay there too long. I hope you feel better soon.
 
Hey Caroline!

Thanks for that, i'll take the advice. I was speaking to another friend today and she hasn't been able to shift it for 3 weeks. It's doing the rounds sadly. My chest still feels heavy, just hope it naffs off soon!!

😉
 
Yes, and I don't seem able to shift it either. I'm down to a bit of a sniffle now but it's still hanging on. I find Karvol capsules help relieve the congestion. Pour the contents of one into a bowl of boiling water and breathe in the fumes under a towel for five minutes. Or put some on your pillow at night.
 
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