colds can last for weeks. With CFS you get fewer symptoms but are more tired and might feel fluey. That's my experience. Compensate by resting more and eating well, Listen to your body. You are more likely to feel extra post-viral after the cold too. Get good quality sleep if you can and don't panic.

Yeah, I agree with Lupin1 that colds can last longer if you have CFS. I take Airborne, which helps some, but I still have colds hang on for quite a long time. If it goes on too long, you may want to check to make sure that it didn't settle in your chest and turn to bronchitis or pneumonia. I've had simple colds do that in the past. I can usually tell when it's time to go back to the doctor and have it checked out again. I pray you recover soon. Blessings on you.

I concur. I get less days with bad symptoms but the weariness and such can last a month or more.

Yep! They last longer for us. We heal slower or something!! I dunno....we are just broken in odd ways. I always get extra rest once the nose starts running (oh and that happens at this particular season change....going into fall) and up the fluids!!

I don't push physically, and I just know that I'm going to be weaker than usual for about seven to ten days. I have yet to have a cold turn into something more serious, but if I started running a fever, a trip to the doctor would be in order. We don't need to fight off a bronchial infection as well.

Thanks. You guys are wonderful. I guess I will have to endure the extra tiredness and not feeling well in general for a while longer. I rested all day today and my body responded well.
I am in a long distance relationship and my gf is coming tomorrow. She was the one who gave me this cold. She developed bronchitis. She is better now. Her cough is almost gone and her fever is gone. She is taking antibiotics. Although her bronchitis seems to be over I am worried that it is not and that I might get it. A few days ago when she told me she was coming on Sunday to see me (tomorrow) I asked her about her bronchitis. She got really upset. She said I did not want to see her. She said that she would not be able to come see me again until mid October. I explained to her that my cfs made my immune system very fragile and that catching anything could mean weeks of suffering for me. She eventually talked to me again. But she insists that her bronchitis is gone and that I have nothing to worry about. So she is coming. I should have told her not to come. And if she thought I was being insensitive or whatever, then maybe she is not the person for me. If she cant understand my vulnerability and take care of me then she is not a good companion for me. Her visit will also require energy that I dont have right now. I think I made a mistake. I should have let her get upset and protect my health. Oh well. I hope I dont get that bronchitis and that she lets me rest during her visit. Having a relationship while having cfs is complicated. It is difficult to make them understand how fragile we are. And how much we suffer when we are unwell. Part of the problem is that she met me at a time when I have been relatively well. In fact I have been doing very well. So she has not seen be very sick. I told her how I was bedridden for two years until March 2012. But I dont think she gets it.

CFS causes your body to take about 3 times longer to heal from anything, including a cold.

I catch colds very easily and they usually hit me hard. They last a minimum of 2 weeks and usually another 1 -2 weeks until it's gone completely. There have been times when my symptoms aren't as bad and the cold lingers. At the beginning of my illness, I barely caught a cold but it was probably because I hardly went anywhere. When I'm out and someone sneezes, I cover my mouth/nose, hold my breath and walk in a different direction, lol.

as long as she's on antibiotics for 24hours, she is not contagious.

If she had an infectious non-viral type of bronchitis then antibiotics will have helped. If she had a virus, it should have stopped shedding after a week or so (differs with each virus) as long as she doesn't have a runny nose, etc. In the past, I've had bronchitis for months and hubby never got it.
It couldn't hurt to take some extra vit c or whatever your choice of immune helper is.
Also if you are willing to try some herbals in the future we've found that lomatium root tincture, 1 dropperful twice a day in a little juce, really helps to keep our lungs stronger and fight chest colds. We still get nasal type colds but they don't travel to our lungs anywhere near as often. It tastes vile so the juice is important - my hubby jokingly calls it "witches brew" due to the taste and as a nod to my being a wiccan.

I stopped feeling tired yesterday just before my girlfriend arrived. We had sex and I felt good. But today we had sex again and I could not perform. Later we went for a walk and I felt extremely tired. I feel really sick now. Could this be the cold making me weaker? My cold started 12 days ago. I have no symptoms except that I was feeling tired. As I said, I stopped feeling tired yesterday. But now I feel worse than any of the previous days. If its just the cold making me weaker then its ok. I am worried that my cfs is getting worse, after several months of feeling better. Im worried. And sad. I thought my health was getting better. I dont know why having sex and going for a walk should make me feel this terrible.

It's probably just the post-viral from the cold. You won't have as much energy. Your CFS shouldn't get worse unless you push yourself now. It takes a while for the energy reserves to come back. You can't just launch in to previous activity levels. Be gentle with yourself and try to explain to your girlfriend you are still ill and need to not exert yourself too much. Don't worry, just look after yourself and let your body recover. Sex is equivalent to going for a run so it is very tiring. If you are patient with your body then you can recover from this dip.

What is the post viral?

I mean, when you've had a viral infection, like a cold, and after it has gone your body is drained. Well people experience this but if you have CFS then the post-viral period usually lasts longer. My experience of it is that even if you feel okay often you'll crash again if you try to do too much. So you have to allow time not just to get over the cold but also to get over the effects of the cold on your energy. I've also found that if I push myself straight after an illness, that is when bad CFS relapses happen, so it's good to take extra care of yourself at these times.

Hope you feel better soon :-)

Thanks Lupin1. This helps a lot. What you tell me makes me feel more at peace with what is happening to me. I felt really terrible yesterday. I could not understand what was happening to me. And tonight I am starting to feel bad again. I guess sex was too much for me. Now I am paying for it. I cant believe something as trivial as a cold can make me feel so weak and horrible after the actual cold is gone. My gf was not very supportive yesterday when I felt terrible. She left today. Now I can rest.

I find CFS makes the body extremely sensitive, to colds and any other stressors, emotional or physical. Sorry that your girlfriend wasn't very understanding. It's horrid when someone doesn't get it. It can feel very alien to people. Hope she comes to understand about it better,