It was pretty quick for me last year. Felt bad on Monday night, was over it by Friday morning. The only problem was it left an itchy feeling in my throat for a couple of weeks that caused the urge to cough. I was in my best friend's wedding the next weekend and that urge came during the ceremony. I held my breath as much as I could and did everything I could think of to not cough. I was about to die by the time it wrapped up. As soon as we went out the door of the church I broke into a 50 year smoker cough. Never felt so good to cough.