It's probably too late now, but I find that quickly taking zinc gluconate will stop most of my colds in their tracks so that they last only a few hours, or at worst a few days with mild symptoms. You should do this at the very first suspicion of a cold (for me always a slightly sore throat). It's much less effective if you wait a few hours or a day.

I don't know if this medicine is available to you. Here it's a homeopathic medicine available over the counter in drugstores and grocery stores. It's sold as losenge called "Cold Eeze" and also something called "Zicam" that's a swab or spray. I have more experience using the losenge.

Cold Eeze was introduced to us by our choir director in 1998 and I've suffered only a few mild colds since then. Before that, I USED to get lots of colds, and lose my speaking voice for a week and my singing voice for a month. Now this isn't much of a problem any more.

The zinc works best if you take it immediately, before the cold has a chance to settle in. I keep some handy all the time, so I don't have to take the time to go out and buy it. Taking it even now might still do some good to make your current cold shorter, though.

I also take it for what the duration of a cold would be - otherwise the cold sometimes breaks through. And even if I've nipped all the symptoms in the bud, I still consider myself contagious for 3 days to a week and stay away from the elderly and immunocompromised people.

Linda