The beginnings of a cold

In the past few months, I’ve been faced with constant pressure build up in the ears, which leads to severe discomfort and headaches. I tried without success to identify the cause of it. I reached a point where I even thought it might be caused by the extensive running I was doing. Visits to the doctor were of no help either as the problem persisted.

It was only last Sunday that I realized what the possible cause could be… the Pharmaton multi-vitamin tablets that I have been consuming over the last 5 months. Having remembered that members of my mother’s family became seriously ill after consuming this brand of vitamins, I decided to put my theory to the test.

Miraculously, the day I stopped consuming the capsules I felt much better. It has been 4 days now and I’ve not had a single incident of ear pressure build up and I feel much better throughout the day. I’m glad to have found the root of my problem, but I still have more than half a bottle of this ‘very expensive’ vitamins sitting on my dresser.

The only setback is, I realize that without multi-vitamins I am now more susceptible to falling ill. This has become evident as in just few days I have caught the flu bug from my son, something that I was able to avoid while on the multi vitamins. I am trying desperately to recover quickly by taking in as much vitamin-c as possible and getting plenty of rest (minus the running of course).

I now need to decide on an alternate brand of multi-vitamins to take. Perhaps the pharmacist would be able to show me what options are available. I would also appreciate any advice from fellow runners based on your experiences. The throat is starting to feel really dry, must remember to drink more water today. I think I will do some preventive treatment for the throat with salt water gargling.