Do I Have a Common Cold? Or the Flu?

The flu and common cold share similar symptoms, knowing the difference between the two can speed your recovery time.

Flu? Cold? Flu? Cold?...

So, you have a stuffed up nose, a headache, and a sore throat. Do you have the flu? Or a cold? It can be tough to tell; but no fear, we are here to help!

Ryan Bender, our Rio Hometown pharmacist, was nice enough to give me some advice regarding our current "illness climate":

“This time of year; winter, January – February, lots of people are sick with lots of different symptoms. Knowing the difference between a cold and the flu is important. Usually sore throats, runny noses, and coughing are associated with the flu.”

He also provided me with this handy table to help distinguish between illnesses:

Is it a Cold, Influenza, or Pneumonia?

How to distinguish the differences among a common cold, influenza, and pneumonia

Symptoms	Cold	Influenza	Pneumonia
Fever	Rare	Characteristically high (100.4 – 104F); sudden onset; lasts 3 to 4 days	May or may not be high
Headache	Occasional	Prominent	Occasional
General Aches and Pains	Slight	Usual; often quite severe	Occasionally quite severe
Fatigue and Weakness	Quite mild	Extreme; can last up to a month	May occur depending on type
Exhaustion	Never	May occur early and prominently	May occur depending on type
Runny, Stuffy Nose	Common	Sometimes	Not Characteristic
Sneezing	Usual	Sometimes	Not Characteristic
Sore Throat	Common	Sometimes	Not Characteristic
Chest Discomfort, Cough	Mild to moderate; hacking cough	Can be severe	Frequent and may be severe
Complications	Sinus and ear infections	Bronchitis, pneumonia; can be life-threatening	Widespread infections of other organs; can be life-threatening, especially in elderly & debilitated patients

  

I was also able to pull the two following snippets, on the differences between a cold and the flu, from gokicker.com’s article, entitled: The No-Nonsense, Non-Alarmist, Essential Guide to the Flu:

Fever equals flu. You might get a slight temperature from a cold, but if you’re really heating up, it’s probably the flu.

Colds are mild and long lasting. Colds usually start with a sore throat, then progress to symptoms like a runny nose and congestion, followed by a cough that won’t go away. And they don’t usually cause fevers. Sometimes it can take up to 3 weeks to get rid of a cold entirely. The flu, though, tends to come on quickly all at once and be more intense, but it doesn’t linger. If you’re running a fever and your body aches and you can’t get out of bed and don’t feel like eating anything, it’s flu time.

Still Having Trouble Determining? 

As you can see from the table above, the common cold and the flu share similar symptoms, and it can, at times, be tough to tell the difference between the two. If you are still having trouble determining which illness you are suffering from, it is ALWAYS advisable to see your doctor, these are simply guidelines to help you better understand what you are dealing with. Once you know what you are dealing with you can take the correct course of action!

Your local Hometown Pharmacy has a multitude of medications to battle whatever ails you!