I’ve had a stinking cold this week – and I’m longing for good advice | Adrian Chiles

Heavy and light colds tend to pass more quickly than middle-of-the-road ones. But should I stay in bed or continue mixing with others? How to define the cold that’s ruining your day? There’s a hierarchy. We start with the sniffle, the mere runny nose, scratchy throat or just feeling a little off. This is the slight cold. The nose becoming more blocked than runny, and a cough coming into play, entitles you to call it a heavy cold.

Any of the aforementioned symptoms worsening, accompanied by hotness, shiveriness, aching and general misery, gives you the right to call it a stinking cold. There’s also a malady known as man-flu, but I have no truck with such a lazy, gender-specific categorisation. The only good thing about the stinking cold is that you have the green light to do sod all and repair to bed. This was me for three days this week, and it has…