Shoot me if this is in the wrong forum, wasn't sure where to put it.

I've had a cold for the last 2 weeks that I have been unable to shake! It's so frustrating as I really want to get back into the gym. I Have upped my calories to maintenance and am continuing to eat clean. I haven't been sleeping to well due to waking up coughing radio active slime.

I haven't been taking anything for it (apart from my usual multivitamin) as I would prefer to get my antibodies up on their own and let my body fight it's own fights. I have done that the majority of my life and it has seemed to work fine, with colds usually done and dusted after 5-6 days. I went and bought some Vitamin C tablets yesterday so I'm going to swallow a bunch of those and see how I feel.

any ideas? Should i eat even more than maintenance? I've steered clear of the gym for 2 weeks and I'm itching to get back and continue on my quest for abs.

Thanks
Mark

Having grown up with asthma, and a host of other respiratory problems - I'm familiar with 'radioactive slime'.

Given the timeframe you describe, I'd recommend giving your doc a shout. You may have a respiratory infection as a result of the cold. A mild antibiotic will mop up the slime within 10 days. If it's viral, you're out of luck, but again your doctor should be able to give you something to ease the discomfort.

I don't believe in taking a pill for every little ache and pain either but taking some cold medicine isn't a bad thing. All cold meds do is treat the symtoms so you can rest. Your body can better fight the cold better when your resting.

I had a similar experience with a cold when I was in college. I never got it checked out but when I coughed I could feel the fluid in my lungs gurgling. It was double shots of NYQUIL that got me over the hump on that.

Going to a doctor is never a bad idea either.

Do you have fever?
With a normal immune system, a person should be able to fight off a viral infection in a week to 10 days. Given the length of your illness, and your description of the mucus, it sounds like you have a secondary bacterial infection. I recommend a trip to the clinic. If a round of antibiotics will get you back to working out normally, why not do it? Just be sure to take all the antibiotic prescribed, or you will be setting yourself up for a resistant strain of bug that will make you sicker than before.

Ok, went to the doctor because the day before yesterday woke up at 4AM with the pain like someone sticking a red hot needle in my eye. Went straight to the doctor and had one of the most dissapointing experiences of my life.

She just didn't give a shit. I live in London and moved house recently so I had to find a new doctor. She took one quick look at my eye (turns out I have conjunctivitis, or PINKEYE!!!!!!!), and i explained i have had a really bad cold for the last 2 weeks. She didn't say a word, bashed on her computer, printed out a script and said get out.

She prescribed me eye drops and 3 days worth of Sudafed cold tablets.

She didn't even tell me it was conjunctivitis, I had to look up the medicine on the internet and it is to treat the bacterial kind of pinkeye. So i presume she diagnosed it with this.

why the hell am I so run down? When i was drinking beer every day I never had a cold this long and I have been eating clean for 4 months now! WTF? People at work are having a right laugh because of my lifestyle change they are rubbing it in saying "hah! see, its the healthy living!". First time in my life I have ever had conjunctivitis as well. GRRR! :mad:

I think i'm going to have to find a new doctor. :( 2 weeks away from the gym now, itching to get back and work on getting my 6 pack. i feel way too weak to go back though. :(:(:(

Definitely get a new doctor. She didn't even look in your throat? Crazy. Next time stop the doctor, and say "YOU HAVEN'T ADDRESSED MY THROAT." Rudeness and lack of attention to detail shouldn't be permitted in any profession, let alone medicine.
You know, another option is you could have mono. It's a virus but you get green/yellow slimy mucus, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes in the front and back of your neck, tender spleen and liver (because they are swollen too - don't get hit in them, it can be life threatening), and it lasts a long time. Just something else to think about. It's passed by kissing or drinking after another infected person, so your co-workers can go bugger themselves.