I had to run through some heavy rain to get to my car. I think it was for a total of like, 2 minutes. I come home, take a quick bath, and dried my hair. Now I feel hot, even though I'm in a t-shirt and underwear, and I have a little head ache. Am I sick? Even if I'm not, I want to be sure, because I really really can't get sick tomorrow. What should I do? Should I get as warm as possible (even though I'm already warm as it is) with blankets and stuff?

Is there any way to prevent getting a cold before it happens?

Getting cold doesn't give you the cold or the flu. You don't catch viruses from rain.

I would take a large dose of vitamin C. It seems to boost your immune system very well and I always avoid getting sick whenever I think I might have been exposed to a cold or flu.

You can get vitamin C in pills for a few dollars (euros or whatever) or you can get this fruit drink called C-Boost which has something like 1600% of your daily vitamin C value and tastes pretty spiffy and mango-ey.

I know, but I'm sorta paranoid about getting sick tomorrow.

I feel a bit better after drinking some ginger ale. My house doesn't have any fruit juice anymore (just ran out), and the local grocery store that's 7 minutes away closed down =/

Fucking recession.

What you are suffering from is one of the human bodies many defense responses to temperature change. You got cold so your body removed water from your blood to help maintain your core body temperature. This has also caused some dehydration which is why you have a headache. Getting warm was a good idea, but you did it in water so your hot, and you have no way to perspire, and even less water to do it with.

Getting cold can cause you to get sick, because it undermines your body as a whole. Though taking massive doses of vitamin C will not help. Recalling my health classes that is a water soluble vitamin, and not a fat soluble vitamin. So you cannot get more then a hundred percent of your daily dose. Further more a immune system can only respond to a virus after the infection. It must first develop antibodies to fight the infection.

That all said what you need to do is drink some water, and stay cool. Your problem isn't that you are getting sick. Your problem is that you are overheated and dehydrated.

Thanks! I'll do that now!

It's really cool you can get all that from my brief explanation (me going through the rain, getting cold, taking a hot bath, etc)

It may weaken your immune system though... as far as I know (which granted, isn't very far in this respect).

please 2 minutes in the rain u should be fine in the morning

You know... you actually get wetter if you run to your car when it's raining then you would if you would walk.

Something about the rain covering more surface of your body.

The fact is, cold can make your blood vessels get narrower to the point where leukocytes are unable to reach some parts of your body like your fingers or your nose, thus giving time to viruses naturally present on your body to spread. That's why cold can get you sick.