COLD OR ALLERGIES? How to deal with either

You wake up feeling lousy. Your throat is scratchy. Your nose is runny. You’re sniffling or sneezing. Is it just a cold or is it seasonal allergies? Should you stay home in bed or head out into the world?

Because colds and allergies share many of the same symptoms, it is often hard to tell the difference. Knowing specifically what is affecting your health influences your treatment options and can have you feeling better sooner.

“If you know what you have, you won’t take medications that you don’t need, that aren’t effective, or that might even make your symptoms worse,” said Dr. Teresa Hauguel, an expert on infectious diseases with the National Institutes of Health.

“Because the symptoms can be similar, it can sometimes be difficult to tell, especially with sneezing, a runny nose and coughing. If in doubt, I recommend that people see a doctor to help them make a diagnosis,” said Dr. Joseph Ladapo, associate professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles.

“One major difference is that seasonal allergies tend to be chronic and the symptoms stick around for a longer period of time and even persist, as long as the person is exposed to the allergen. Colds usually don’t have this kind of time course. Usually they get bad very quickly with pretty pronounced symptoms and then improve, usually gradually or pretty rapidly,” Ladapo said. “Spring pollen season seems to start earliest in the Southeast with tree pollen as early as January and latest in the Northeast in April, and that dies down in most parts of the United States by June. After that, pollen from grass and weeds can linger until September.”

You can catch a cold at any time of year, but they are most common in winter or during rainy seasons.

The difference in their pattern is probably the biggest distinction.

“There are other tests that can be done by a doctor, including allergy skin testing. However, it is really a clinical diagnosis, meaning that a doctor doesn’t need to do additional testing in most cases,” Ladapo said.

Cold and allergy both affect the respiratory system, which can make it hard to breathe. A cold is caused by a virus while allergies are not. There are over 200 known viruses that can cause a cold, said Dr. Paul Coletta, an internal medicine specialist at University Hospitals Suburban Health Center in South Euclid, Ohio.

Allergies, on the other hand, are your body’s immune system reacting to a trigger, or allergen, which is something you’re allergic to, Hauguel said. Some common triggers include pollen from trees, grass and weeds, mold spores and pet dander.

When a person who’s allergic breathes in an allergen, the nose’s airways overreact and respiratory tissues swell, resulting in a stuffed up or runny nose.

Not usually dangerous, a cold is more of a nuisance and people usually recover on their own without medical care. Common colds are the main reason that children miss school and adults miss work, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“A cold is usually pretty harmless, and most people fight it off in a few days,” Coletta said.

“The best you can do when you catch a cold is to manage the symptoms the best you can and wait it out,” Coletta said.

Allergies can be treated with antihistamines or decongestants.

If you’re in doubt whether it’s a cold or allergies, “see your doctor,” Ladapo said.