system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
When we get sick, we take drugs like pseudoephedrine which mask our symptoms.  However symptoms are our bodies' method of eliminating the cold.  Does this slow our healing time?
gpt
It depends on the illness.

In the common cold, the symptoms are due to inflammation from your immune system, causing postnasal drip.  Masking these symptoms shouldn't slow down your healing.

In something like influenza or bronchitis, a cough actually helps to keep the airways clear.  Suppressing a cough in these instances can make you sicker.