How can you tell the difference between an allergy and a cold? (Please read details)?

Oy – feel better. You need a real MD to answer this. Where are they….?

Is her nasal mucus clear? If so, it’s likely that it is allergy related.

@Zen_Again Sleeping or drunk. It’s a holiday weekend!

@PandoraBoxx It is clear. I have a feeling it is allergies too.

If it’s been going on that long, you may want to consider having her allergy tested to see exactly what it is. Lots of times, it’s dust related.

If it gets better with Benedryl alone, then it might be allergies that then set the stage for a cold or respiratory infection to set in. This site has a useful chart that delineates the differences between the two. Coughing is generally more associated with a cold than an allergy, but coughing can also be a result of an infection that made its way into your child because an allergy set the stage, or it can even be a form of asthma.

If you do have your daughter allergy-tested but don’t see any proof she is allergic, then you might ask your doctor to investigate further. Sometimes a long-standing infection hides away but keeps popping back out. Having to have one’s tonsils out can be an example of this.

In addition, there are other immune system problems that can lead to a child having constant respiratory infections. My daughter was one such. She turned out to have a form of primary immunodeficiency called variously alphaglobulinemia, hypoalphaglobulinemia, or Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). Basically she does not make an antibody called IgA, which is found wherever the body has mucus, and she makes very little IgM. Hence, she tends to get respiratory and intestinal illnesses easily and frequently. The solution for her was prophylactic antibiotics for months at a time when she was little, quick response to the onset of any infection, and the copious use of hand sanitizer and bleach-water treatment of surfaces at home.

This sounds like what’s been happening to my younger brother. The doctor kept telling him it was just a cold. Two days ago he was taken to the emergency room. He had a “cold” again and had trouble breathing. Turns out he has asthma. I would get a second and third opinion if I were you. Colds that keep coming back can be more serious than you think.

When I have an allergy attack it tends to be pretty dramatic. Diarrhea followed by intense itching in my sinuses, sneezing and coughing, then free flow of mucus until the swelling in my sinuses shuts them up completely. If I haven’t taken antihistamines in the intervening minutes I’m doing my best impression of a pufferfish and wheezing/gasping for breath. If I catch it with the meds, within a half hour it’s all over and I’m OK.

Lately I’ve run into periods in the fall where I don’t have attacks so much as continuous low level symptoms like post-nasal drip or bronchial inflammation at night that makes me wheeze.

I recently got over being sick about a week ago. At first i thought it was allergies, then by the next day i knew it was a cold. I never got fever all but this lasted 3 weeks! and 2 visits to my Dr. and to an ENT (but that’s because of a long decision of whether or not i should get my tonsils removed, which they will be this friday :( Anyway, I was just tired and i had a lot of mucus and horrible coughing. Where i live there is a gnarly sinus infection going around, which has probably slowly spread to 70% of people I’m great friends with, and with all of us, it just didn’t go away for a while. It was annoying because i could just blow my nose and the flow of mucus wouldn’t stop! (haha sorry i know it’s gross) i had kleenex everywhere in my car and a whole box of then in m purse with a bottle of hand sanitizer i would just shove in it. Then the coughing kicked in. It got to the point i couldn’t go without 8 seconds without coughing. I would wake up at night with horrible coughing attacks that once i started, i couldn’t stop. So my last Dr. visit i was given oral antibiotics and 2 shots. 1 shot was an antibiotic, and the other was a steroid to have the inflammation in my throat go down so i wouldn’t cough as much. I started feeling better that same day! I was lucky because i never got a fever, but my other friends have. I was just feeling fine (after 3 days home i felt the same as usual, with my energy except very other day i felt like i would get better, feel fine, then wake up the next day as if i just started all over again) Just the constant coughing and stuffed up nose was killing me. I couldn’t work out. then at work it was so embarrassing having to deal with customers, and break into an uncontrollable coughing attack. And apart from the other medications i got, they also gave me 3 different typed of allergy medicine, 2 oral, and one nasal spray (i thought it was weird at first) but they then described it wasn’t for the allergies but they each treated a different symptom that i had. And i was given an inhaler that wasn’t for asthma but for another symptom as well.

Even with a cold virus, the mucus will be clear or light. It typically turns color with a bacterial infection.

Allergic rhinitis tends to have localized symptoms with nasal congestion and post-nasal drip. With a cold virus, there can be achiness and low-grade fever in addition to congestion. Bacterial infection or flu virus symptoms usually spike a higher fever with chills and worse aching and pressure. In addition, the adenoids can be contributing to her symptoms whether cause by allergies or a cold virus (be sure to note if she snores often of breathes through her mouth when awake).

Based on your description, I am leaning towards allergies, too. The post-nasal drip tickles the throat and leads her to cough. The act of coughing irritates and inflames the throat so it tickles even more… it’s a cycle. If it seems worse at night, it may well be dust mites in the bedding.

I hope you find answers and effective treatment soon!

@ItalianPrincess1217 That’s how my son was diagnosed w/asthma too, although w/out having to go to the ER. He had a cold & recovered from it, except that the cough wouldn’t go away.

I think on average the number of times someone has to sneeze (in a short time) is higher with allergies. When I’ve got a cold I might sneeze 2–3 times. I’m allergic to ragweed. On a bad day in August without any antihistamine it can make me sneeze 12 times within 2 minutes.

A doctor will know a lot more about this and I could be wrong.

I am unsure how younger kids are tested for allergies, as our practice only tests adults. You might want to ask for a referral to a pediatric allergist or pediatric ENT.

@all Thank you for the information you have given me. I appreciate it.