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Original poster

How many colds do you get every winter?

56 replies

BikeRunSki · 04/03/2019 21:57

DH has come home and gone to bed with a cold. This is his second cold since Christmas, and his 5th since September. They’ve all put him in bed for 2-3 days. This is fairly typical and I am pretty sure that’ll be the last we see of him pretty much for 2-3 days. He’s director or a medium size company, and deals with HR issues, so basically no one is chasing him. Wherever I hace worked i’m pretty sure this lea e of sick leave would trigger an HR meeting.

I’m keeping a mental note of DJ’s colds because he seems to get so many! I’ve had 1, which only required an early night! At the end of April, he’ll get wiped out with hay fever for 3 months!

DH thinks this is a normal amount of colds, and that missing 10+ days of work every winter is normal? He doesn’t see any reason to see the GP. He doesn’t eat a terrible diet, but very little fruit. Plenty of veg though.

Does this seem like a lot of colds? Every time this happens he becomes incapable of doing anything; go to work, take dc’s to breakfast club, pick them up from school, etc. I’m already mentally rearranging my day tommorow, so that I can take and collect the dc from school, go to work and probably run around after DH.

OP posts:
Original poster
BikeRunSki · 04/03/2019 21:58

Sorry!! Long essay for a short question!

OP posts:
JaneEyre07 · 04/03/2019 22:01

I had cold after cold before being diagnosed as diabetic (T2).

Not had one since my blood sugars have been under control and feel a million times better.

I'd get him to book a GP appointment, as something is obviously not right with his immune system.

cushioncuddle · 04/03/2019 22:02

That is a lot. I get one and it's not bad enough to need to stay home.

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General health
Byebyefriend · 04/03/2019 22:02

I’ve never missed a days work for a cold ever. I often have colds sometimes it feels like I’ve never not got one over the winter but it’s just a cold, take some paracetamol if I get a headache, hot lemon and honey for the cough and sore throat and get on with it.

PoptartPoptart · 04/03/2019 22:02

That does seem slightly excessive op.
I usually get 2/3 a year, but I work in a school so am exposed to lots of germs! DH usually only gets 1.

Byebyefriend · 04/03/2019 22:04

If he really can’t operate and takes to his bed he either needs to see a doctor or man up

Aprilshowersarecomingsoon · 04/03/2019 22:05

I am 47 and never had a cold!!

Meet0nTheledge · 04/03/2019 22:07

I get colds most winters but usually not bad enough for time off work, I'd say I had sick leave for one maybe once every 2-3 years. Some people do seem to get a lot more than me though.

boxlikeamarchhare · 04/03/2019 22:08

It seems like a lot to me. The only time I had colds all through the winter was when I lived in a cold rented draughty house in between a sale and purchase.

I really was constantly ill from October until March.

I also met someone who had moved to a park home a couple of years ago and she was complaining that she was ill again in October after having a cold for most of the previous winter.

I asked her if her home was warm enough and she said it wasn’t actually, freezing all winter because it wasn’t very well insulated underneath.

That’s my theory anyway, ask him if his workplace is warm enough.

Ninkaninus · 04/03/2019 22:08

Last winter I had the worst throat infection (with earache) that lasted over a month. I don’t think I had any actual colds though.

This winter I’ve not had a cold or any illness at all, touch wood.

TheSmallAssassin · 04/03/2019 22:08

I've had three this winter, managed to keep another one at bay with First Defence. It's driving me bonkers. I've been to the doctors and she said it was probably stress related. I take to my bed when I've got a cold too, no point in being a zombie at my desk for the sake of it and spreading my germs to everyone else.

Vegetables are much better for you than fruit, by the way, especially if you have a wide range of colours.

My advice would be give First Defence a go, if he catches the child in time and takes it religiously it really does work.

TheSmallAssassin · 04/03/2019 22:10

cold not child!

SwedishEdith · 04/03/2019 22:11

How old is he? You're supposed to get fewer as you get older. Has he just had a really bad one for quite a while - is it "that virus" which everyone seems to have had this winter?

BlueDotty · 04/03/2019 22:13

That sounds excessive. I get one every few years.

BentNeckLady · 04/03/2019 22:13

Maybe one a year?

When I smoked I got a lot more but nothing too serious since I quit. Does he smoke? I can’t imagine a healthy person getting 5 colds a year tbh.

donajimena · 04/03/2019 22:16

Nink me neither. Its most unusual (although I'm not complaining) this time last year was the last time because I remember that awful snow and feeling utterly miserable with the itchy nose and non stop sneezing. I didn't need to go to bed though.

LikeACowsOpinion · 04/03/2019 22:19

I usually get 4-5 colds a year. I had one for nearly 7 weeks in November, have only just shifted the cough.

Saying that, I get every virus/bug going. My immune system is poor.

Unbelievable18 · 04/03/2019 22:20

None. I haven't for years, I don't know why but I am not complaining!

Original poster
BikeRunSki · 04/03/2019 22:23

Thanks for your replies. Seems like it is quite an excessive amount of illness - I was assuming that I wasn’t relatively remarkably healthy!

He’s 44, doesn’t smoke, works about 50% of his time outside (but so do I). He doesn’t work with children, and the two we have do but bring many bugs home with them.

He suffers badly with psoriasis too. Thus seems to be stress/temperature related, but there is nothing remarkabkybstressful going on for him (that I know of anyway).

OP posts:
Elphame · 04/03/2019 22:24

I get one maybe every 5 years or so. Not complaining - but I do when I get one!

SwimmingKaren · 04/03/2019 22:27

It’s rare I get one to be honest. Certainly not one which puts me in bed for days. Something may be underlying op, might be worth a trip to the gp to make sure all is ok.

RedBerryTea · 04/03/2019 22:27

That seems like a lot of sickness to me. I've managed to not catch any colds this winter (touch wood), despite everyone else in the house coming down with something since November (I was disinfecting every door/drawer handle, loo flush, kettle handle etc. for weeks). Perhaps get some multivitamins for him and extra Vitamin C. DD's boyfriend seems to have a heavy cold every other month - my heart sinks when he turns up snorting and sneezing over everything.

MangoPorridge · 04/03/2019 22:29

I have a lung disorder. Since I started vitamin D I can get through winter without any colds. Effervescent Vitamin C to ward off any signs. Echnichea as a preventative. No harm in going for a blood test.

mynameiscalypso · 04/03/2019 22:30

I found when my psoriasis is bad, my immune system goes totally haywire and I catch everything going. The medication I take for it suppresses my immune system in theory but I hardly ever catch anything now because my immune system is much calmer.

kingfisherblue33 · 04/03/2019 22:30

That’s a lot of colds, and time off. Why doesce have to take 2-3 days off for a cold?! Can’t he just soldier Through?

I also have psoriasis.

I have never had a day off work suck in bed since I had dc, 15 years ago...