just following my nose

I have caught a bad cold. I wish it was a flu - something more obvious and easier to deal with. The treatment of flu is as plain as the nose in your head: more time in bed, more hot tea with lemon and honey, and some paracetamol to lower the temperature. But with the common cold the thing is not as easy. No fever, perhaps just the temperature increased by some minor quantity, no collapsing in the middle of the room; seemingly, you only have a running nose. But these are just the appearances. When your nose is blocked and you think that your head is about to explode, you're devoid of oxygen and nearly in danger of suffocation (at least that's what a hypohondriac would insist on). The whole world seems to have shrunk to the size of your nostrils, as this is the only subject you can really focus on. All the sane part of humanity is out, walking, bicycling and warming their faces up in the first and long awaited rays of sun - like my husband and kids, for example. But all that fun is not for you; anyway, you see no further than your nose.

follow one's nose - kierować się instynktem
as plain as the nose in your face = completely obious
(common) cold - przeziębienie
collapse - tu: zemdleć, osunąć się na ziemię
shrink-shrank-shrunk - skurczyć się
nostrils - nozdrza
sane - zdrowy (psychicznie)
see no further than one's nose - widzieć tylko czubek własnego nosa