I'm still having hacking fits occassionally but feel a lot better. Fever broke that same night and I got some good rest. Next day the breathing wasn't nearly as strenuous and it's been slowly improving. Still have the symptoms but they are comparatively mild now.
I must of unconsciously done the right thing when I realized it wasn't just allergies. I took a double dose of high potency multiple vitamin and minerals (it has lots of zinc in the compound) that first day and have consumed 2 qts of orange juice per day to the point that my skin is starting to look a little orange.
Hoping that by Monday I'll be well enough to start swimming again.
I think Soz was right too. The cigarette smoke just irritated my lungs very badly and the combination of cold and irritation did me in. Ever since I had the bacterial lung infection my lungs feel ultra sensitive. I have trouble breathing in the winter time too when people are continually burning a lot of wood in their fireplaces and the overcast sky holds the smoke close to the ground.
How are you other ladies doing? Hope you too are on the mend.