Despite the great weather, it's cough and cold season.

That can mean a trip to the doctor and a request for an antibiotic, but hold off.

Not only will antibiotics not work for a cold, they could make things worse.

Toni Harders is sneezy, achy, and feels just plain rotten.

"I was the type of person that wanted an antibiotic prescribed or any of those symptoms, especially during those first few days, 'cause nobody wants to be sick," Harders said.

Colds should not be treated with antibiotics.

They are viral infections and antibiotics treat bacterial infections, like pneumonia.

But doctors write prescriptions for antibiotics more than 40 percent of the time when someone comes to them with a cold.

This trend of prescribing antibiotics for colds is unsafe for several reasons.

"The first is resistance. If you take antibiotics when you don't need them, you make it more likely that you're going to get a serious bacterial infection. The second reason is side effects," Dr. Steven Goldberg said.

Even properly prescribed antibiotics can cause resistant bacteria to grow inside you, and increase your odds that any infection will be hard or even impossible to beat.

Instead of antibiotics, Goldberg recommends patients stick with old-fashioned over-the-counter meds for colds.