With a cold – You may be tired and weak, but this feeling is typically mild and never turns into extreme exhaustion. With the flu – It's extremely common to feel tired and weak for two weeks or longer. You may also have extreme exhaustion that comes on suddenly.
During sickness, cells are under stress, and organisms experience sleepiness to promote sleep and recover from the cellular stress.
Symptoms such as congestion and fatigue typically peak 2–3 days after infection and wane after 7–10 days.
Extra rest can help with recovery from illness, whether you have a cold, the flu, or another virus. Here's how sleep helps your immune system bounce back when you're sick. No matter the specific virus, nearly every sickness has one recommended treatment in common: lots of rest.
Getting plenty of fluids thins your mucus and breaks up congestion. It also prevents the headaches and fatigue that dehydration causes. Keep a glass or reusable bottle on hand, and refill it with water. Skip caffeinated sodas, coffee, and alcohol, which can dry you out.
The stages of a cold include the incubation period, appearance of symptoms, remission, and recovery. The common cold is a mild upper respiratory infection caused by viruses.
Doctor's Response. Cold symptoms will go away on their own over time and rest is one of the best ways to help your body heal, so in a sense, you can sleep off a cold. Sleep helps boost the immune system and can help you recover from a cold more quickly.
The bottom line. If you have a cold but aren't sure if you should continue exercising, let your symptoms guide you. Generally, mild to moderate exercise is usually okay if your symptoms are above the neck. But, symptoms below the neck may mean that you need to rest.
You Aren't Getting Enough Rest
Sleep helps keep your immune system working like it should. Once you have a cold, you need to catch enough Zzz's to help your body fight off the virus. Take it extra easy during the first 3 days. Too little shut-eye can also make you more likely to get a cold.
Although not fully proven, large doses of vitamin C may help reduce how long a cold lasts. They do not protect against getting a cold. Vitamin C may also be helpful for those exposed to brief periods of severe or extreme physical activity. The likelihood of success may vary from person to person.
Cold and flu symptoms such as a blocked nose or cough usually subside after 7-10 days and the absence of these things is quite an obvious indication that you are on the mend.
DAY 4 to 7:
In the peak stage of a cold, your symptoms may reach their maximum intensity, resulting in effects such as a runny nose, cough, sinus/nasal congestion, body aches, headache and fatigue. In some, cases, this may also lead to a fever.
Rest : This is the time to recharge your body's immune system. Rest and sleep are the best ways to do that. Make sure you're sleeping between eight to 10 hours at night. This is also a great chance to take a break from strenuous exercise for two to three days.
Even though the research on the efficacy of zinc as a cold remedy has had conflicting results, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that, “overall zinc appears to be beneficial under certain circumstances.” In fact, several studies have shown that zinc may reduce the number of days you're sick by inhibiting ...
Smolensky says that this immune system activity and the inflammation it produces is not constant, but instead is “highly circadian rhythmic.” As a result, “you tend to experience symptoms as most severe when your immune system kicks into highest gear, which is normally at night during sleep.”
Get Some Fresh Air
In fact, getting fresh air is good for you when you're feeling under the weather. When you're cooped up inside, you're sharing the same air with those around you. So every time someone coughs or sneezes inside, those infected droplets are still in the air.
The body uses a lot of energy to fight off infection — when we sleep while we're sick, it can focus more energy on getting better instead of diverting resources to move your body and get you through your typical daily tasks.
Best: Walking
“If your sinuses are plugged up, walking will stimulate you to take deep breaths and can help open up those passages,” says Besser. (Of course, if you discover that walking – or any type of physical exertion – makes you feel worse, rather than better, stop and focus on getting rest, instead.)
In adults and older children, they usually last about 7 to 10 days, but can last longer. A cough in particular can last for two or three weeks. Colds tend to last longer in younger children who are under five, typically lasting around 10 to 14 days. Read more about colds in children.
If symptoms get worse instead of better after 3 days or so, the problem could be strep throat, sinusitis, pneumonia, or bronchitis, especially if your child smokes.
Stage 2 of a cold is days four through seven. Many people find that their symptoms get worse and peak during this time. It is not uncommon for your sore throat to disappear quickly after it starts. You may develop a fever, but this is more common in children than adults.