How quickly can you get over a cold

1. 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. One study found that people who got less than 7 hours of sleep a night were nearly three times more likely to get sick than people who slept for 8 hours or more.

2. You’re Low on Fluids

When you’re sick, it’s easy to get dehydrated. A sore throat can make it less than fun to swallow.

A fever draws moisture out of your body. Plus, you lose fluid as your body makes mucus and it drains away. And that over-the-counter cold medicine you’re taking to dry up your head? It can dry the rest of you out, too.

So drink plenty of water, juice, or soup. A side benefit: All that liquid helps loosen up the mucus in your nose and head. Stay away from booze, coffee, and caffeine when you’re looking for things to sip though. 

3. You’re Stressed

When you’re freaked out about life, work, or whatever, it takes a toll on your immune system. You can’t fight off viruses as well as you should. That makes you more likely to get a cold, and once that happens, your symptoms are going to be worse.

Ongoing stress makes your body less able to respond to cortisol, a hormone that controls your body’s response to threats like the virus that causes the common cold.

4. You’re Treating the Wrong Illness

It's easy to confuse a cold with other ailments. You might treat a supposed cold for a few weeks, only to realize that the reason you aren’t getting better is because you’re under the weather with something else, like allergies.

Here’s how to tell them apart:

Cold symptoms usually take a few days to fully show up. Allergies can come on quickly, and they last for as long as you come in contact with the allergen. Both cause a cough, runny nose, and sneezing, but a cold is more likely to give you aches and pains or a fever.

Or you could have a sinus infection. Both that and a cold cause pain around your eyes and nose, as well as icky, yellowish mucus. The difference: These symptoms usually happen within the first few days of a cold. But a sinus infection typically shows up after the normal time it takes for a cold to run its course.

5. You’re Taking the Wrong Things for It

We’ve all heard about some of the more popular herbal remedies: Drink this and you’ll never get sick again. Take that and your cold symptoms will be shortened by 3 days. Many of these claims don’t hold water, and it’s important to remember that just because the bottle says "herbal" doesn’t mean it can’t harm you.

Echinacea is one of the first natural treatments people suggest when you have a cold, but most studies show it just doesn’t work.

Many people down vitamin C like candy thinking it’ll speed up the cold process. But there’s little evidence that it helps shorten a cold once you have it. And the only folks it really seems to work for are extreme athletes who take it to prevent getting a cold.

Zinc also gets called out for helping end your cold, but again the evidence is weak. And some people who used a nasal spray with zinc lost their sense of smell. So your best bet is to leave it on the shelf.

It isn’t just natural treatments that don’t work for colds. Antibiotics won’t help either, because a virus causes these illnesses. The best way to treat your cold is to manage the symptoms. Save the antibiotics for strep throat or a sinus infection.

6. You Can’t Quit Your Workout

It’s OK to be active if your cold symptoms are all above your neck, like a runny nose, stuffy head, sneezing or sore throat. Consider ramping down from a run to a walk, though.

But if you have symptoms below the neck, like chest congestion, a hacking cough, an upset tummy, fever, muscle aches or fatigue, give yourself permission to sit it out. Rest is what gives your immune system time to recharge.

One day you’re fine. The next you have a scratchy throat, watery eyes, and a runny nose. There’s a tickle in the back of your throat, and your normal high energy is nowhere to be found.

Yes, these are early signs that you’re coming down with something. But don’t grab your tissue box and hop into bed just yet -- there are ways to nip that cold in the bud.

Rest and Cut Your Stress

There’s a deep "mind-body" link at play when it comes to fighting off a cold, Estores says. If you feel tired, overworked, sad, or angry, those emotions can sink your mood. That can slow your immune system just when you need it running at full power to fight the cold virus.

Listen to your body when you feel a cold coming on. Get all the sleep you can. Get a handle on your stress -- it can quickly send a cold into high gear. "When you’re stressed out, you’re more likely to get a cold," Estores says.

Usually when you feel a cold coming on, your immune system jumps in and fights the virus. But too much stress cuts the number of cells that make up the front lines of defense. Stress also pumps up the level of cortisol in your body. This hormone zaps your immune system, and that makes you a prime target for a cold.

To give your immune system a charge, do something that relaxes you: Listen to music, meditate, or do a light workout. And don’t forget to rest, Estores says. Your body needs that, too.

Drink Up

It’s no fun to have to blow your nose or walk around with a head full of thick gunk. If this sounds like you, fluids are your friend. They’ll help unclog your nose and thin any mucus so you can cough or blow it out, says Jean Carstensen, MD, who teaches medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Keep a full glass close by. Any fluid -- besides alcohol -- will count toward keeping you hydrated. But plain water is best, Carstensen says.

If you feel feverish, it’s time to give your elbow a workout. A fever drains even more body fluids through sweat or through your lungs (as you breathe) than you would normally, Carstensen says.

Sip Hot Tea and Honey

Mom had it right after all, Carstensen says. Drinking warm liquids helps to open up your stuffy nose and soothe a sore throat. Hot tea with a dollop of honey can help quiet a cough. But don’t give honey to children under a year old. It can make them very sick.

Act Fast

If you can’t hold off a cold, it’ll take for 5-7 days for your symptoms to improve, Carstensen says.

Getting an early jump on them on can help you manage them until you're well, she says. Start with over-the-counter medications like antihistamines with decongestants. You can take pain medicine like ibuprofen and acetaminophen for aches and pains.