Cold Home > Allergies vs Cold Symptoms
It's important to know whether you're dealing with allergies or cold symptoms. Which one you have will determine how you treat your symptoms. When weighing allergies vs cold symptoms, one of the most important things to consider is how long you've had the symptoms. Cold symptoms usually last a few days to a week, while allergy symptoms last much longer. The following article contains charts to help you consider allergies vs cold symptoms.
Each year, millions of school and work days are missed because of colds and flu. How you can best treat your condition depends on what is ailing you. Since these diseases share many of the same symptoms, they're sometimes hard to tell apart (see Cold and Flu Symptoms).
Complicating the problem, the allergy and cold seasons often occur at the same time. Many people get bad seasonal allergies in the fall, when ragweed pollen is at its peak in many areas, and winter can bring its own allergies as people spend more time indoors around pet dander and house dust mites.
When the sniffles, stuffy nose, and coughing begin, the following charts can help you identify the cause of your symptoms, as well as which common cold treatment -- or allergy treatment -- to use. Additional charts list a few allergy and common cold prevention methods, as well as complications of the common cold and allergies.
| Symptoms | Airborne Allergy | Cold |
| Fever | Never | Rare |
| Headache | Rare | Rare |
| General Aches, Pains | Never | Slight |
| Fatigue, Weakness | Sometimes | Sometimes |
| Extreme Exhaustion | Never | Never |
| Stuffy, Runny Nose | Common | Common |
| Sneezing | Common | Common |
| Sore Throat | Sometimes | Common |
| Cough | Sometimes | Common, hacking |
| Chest Discomfort | Rare | Mild to moderate |