Coughs & Colds - That time of year again!

Apologies for the pause in postings - I've been suffering from "woman-flu". Personally it has always escaped me why the common cold is often referred to as "man-flu"...I think the gene that enables many women to push on through illness just passed me by: when I'm ill, I'm ill  - and everybody knows it! I freely admit that I'm the worlds worst patient. I detest minor ailments. I like to be up and about and doing stuff with my time, so when I have to pause to blow my nose every thirty seconds it puts me in a foul mood.
In fact, my partner who is always in rude health, has frequently appealed to the gods, "take me, take me instead!" This is partly to avoid the extra demands, fetching and carrying that my convalescence causes, but also because sitting about and doing nothing would not be a source of stress for H, who has frequently argued that the sick role is to be embraced, perhaps even enjoyed.
However, germ-ridden me finds that aside from the intense frustration of being incapacitated by sneezing, headaches and temperature extremes, the frequent nose-blowing causes a big, sore, red, flaky nose where once there was a neat(ish) button number on my face. Also, my eyes (not big to start with) reduce to little puffy, red-rimmed dots in my head. All-in-all the common cold attacks my vanity with a frenzy which compounds my misery no end.
So, clearly I am the population that the multi-million pound cold and flu remedies market is aimed at. I go to the chemist at the first opportunity and fill up my basket with linctus, essential oils, tablets, inhalers, menthol rubs, soft tissues coated in stuff to soothe my nose...then to the grocers for fresh lemon and ginger. Oh, I throw everything at it. Never works. The cold runs its course as always and in a few days I'm back facing the world, but it makes me feel better to think I've tried.
Clearly, I am now embracing my preventative stage, spurred on by the belief that one day I will create an effective immune system. Open my kitchen cupboards and out falls the high strength Vitamin C and Zinc, multivitamins and echinacea, along with lemon and ginger tea bags (can't faff around with fresh stuff every day). The fight against winter colds is on!
However, it's going to be a hard battle: I called at a friend's yesterday and he told me he'd asked some relatives to stay away for a few days because he had a sore throat and swollen glands...clearly that courtesy did not extend to me - where's that antibacterial hand gel...?!