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Original poster

Anyone else completely floored every time they have a cold?

35 replies

gloriousred · 10/09/2019 07:28

It results in me spending a minimum of 3 days solidly in bed because I have no energy and my body aches all over. It is so debilitating. I normally have a day or 2 with a sore throat/sneezing/runny nose and then for a few days afterwards I am completely floored and barely able to get out of bed.

I took a day off work the last time and I feel so pathetic saying I'm too ill to come in because I have the cold Hmm I've explained how bad I get with it and my work did I should see my doctor about it.

The next time I was at the doctors I asked if it was normal for me to be this unwell every time and they said it was normal for me and people react differently.

I'm very lucky that I have my DH around to pick up the slack and look after our children while I wallow in my bed.

Does anyone else suffer badly when hit with, I presume, a common cold?

OP posts:
Woolly17 · 10/09/2019 07:37

Depending on the cold I can be sick for up to a week. I run a temperature (I ache all over and feel shivery) and am bed ridden - also since a sinus infection (which lasted for 6weeks before antibiotics) earlier this year the colds seem to really settle in.
I have always been ridiculously prone to catching a cold (yes I take a multi vit and eat healthily). It is even worse now I'm pregnant, I just can't shift the infection and can't even take any decongestants.
It sucks.

reluctantbrit · 10/09/2019 07:41

Not me but DHand it is not man flu. He goes from zero to hundred in a matter of hours and is off for 2 days at least.

The only good thing is that after that he is fine again immediately while I drag around my cold for a week at least.

reluctantbrit · 10/09/2019 07:41

DH, not DHand

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General health
Original poster
gloriousred · 10/09/2019 07:55

Woolly17 mine have definitely gotten worse since having a sinus infection about 3 years ago. I am now prone to them having never suffered from them before. They really do suck.

OP posts:
Littlechocola · 10/09/2019 07:57

Me! I can’t control my temperature and that floors me.

buttonz · 10/09/2019 07:57

Yes - I dread colds as they make me really ill.

StainlessSteelCat · 10/09/2019 08:00

I had very similar experience when I went to the GP a few years back - colds knocking me flat, draining me for days - GP said pretty much the same. Couple of years later I asked a pharmacist, they recommended antihistamines. I was very dubious, but they did help. Not a magical full cure, but a definite help. They dampen down the inflammation.

isabellerossignol · 10/09/2019 08:01

When I was a teenager and in my 20s colds absolutely floored me. As I have got older (in my 40s now) I find that I rarely catch the cold and if I do, it is a couple of days of sniffling and a sore throat, not the severe symptoms of my younger years. I'm assuming that every virus I've been exposed to over the years has helped to build up my immune system.

I share this to offer some hope to those younger than me!

Reversiblesequinsforadults · 10/09/2019 08:03

Me too. I haven't been able to move off the sofa for 4 days. I'm all shaky and weak. I get post viral wheeze too where I have to have an inhaler. My daughter is like this too. Her temperature sky rockets and we have taken her to a and e several times because of it. Just one of those things.

Kukumbr · 10/09/2019 08:05

Me! I have huge asthma attacks triggered by a cold and end up in hospital more often than not.

TeaStory · 10/09/2019 08:05

Same - I get a fever, vomit, and get so dizzy I can’t stand up without wobbling all over the place. If I try to just carry on as normal I stay ill for weeks on end, if I have a couple of days resting in bed I get over it in a week. I’ve got ME though so that might make a difference.

It really pisses me off when people say a cold is just a sniffle and no need to be in bed!

MashedSpud · 10/09/2019 08:08

I used to have terrible colds but since I ditched booze/smoking started taking multivitamins with minerals, having more protein and exercise two and a half years ago I haven’t had a cold.

I used to get at least three or four a year before that.

lurkingfromhome · 10/09/2019 08:15

Same here and nothing seems to make a difference. I eat incredibly well, plenty of fruit and veg, take a multivitamin supplement anyway, lots of fresh air and exercise, hardly drink and don't smoke.

Still get totally floored by a cold - feel so unwell and have to have at least a day and usually more in bed while the fever settles. I literally can't function while it's at its worst. No appetite, feel quite queasy, dizzy, aching bones, pounding head, the lot. The last one I had was a month or so ago - that was a corker. Was still having to take afternoon naps after a week just to make it through the day.

When my husband gets a cold, he sneezes for a few days, feels a bit miserable and has an early night on Day 1, then it's pretty much business as usual. How I would love colds to be like that ...

Original poster
gloriousred · 10/09/2019 10:10

I'm sorry you all suffer too but it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one!

I might try the antihistamines. Worth a shot anyway. I started taking multivitamins and a tonic after the last time but I'm not sure if it made much difference...

OP posts:
Seeline · 10/09/2019 10:19

I know people always laugh about man flu, but in our family DD and I really suffer with colds -just streaming eyes and nose, constant nose blowing, sore throats, headaches, I am also often sick, and we both end up with coughs for days after the other symptoms have gone. We both look awful, and it is embarrassing to go out when your nose is raw and can hardly open your eyes!
DH and DS have the occasional nose blow and that's about it. You wouldn't really know they had a cold if they didn't mention it.
And this can be the same cold that has gone round the whole family, not different ones caught in different places.

TimeIhadaNameChange · 10/09/2019 10:23

Yes, and it's rare that I'm totally clear of one. I've had bosses tell me not to come in the next day (not because of infection risk, but because they can tell I'm suffering).

Like pp it's me (female) who suffers, and DP who really doesn't at all. The odd time he's stayed at home with a cold he's ended up gardening or similar as he's bored. If I stay at home I'll be in bed, asleep.

theoriginalmadambee · 10/09/2019 11:32

Can I suggest something that has worked for me? I don't have any connection to the company/product. But Coldzyme has so far worked for me and my family. It you take it as prescribed when you feel a cold coming, it can stop it, and if you have one already, it shortens it.

Don't know what it is or why it works, but it has.

Only downside it is very expensive.

SquirrelShit · 10/09/2019 11:36

Me too, OP. I eat well and exercise lots (when I'm not ill), and have never smoked. But it's getting to the stage where I don't bother making arrangements for anything outside work at this time of year because the chances are I'll be ill. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

jenthelibrarian · 10/09/2019 11:41

Vick's First Defence might be worth a try.

I suspect that with age I've developed an immunity to most varieties of common cold that do the rounds locally but I'm almost superstitious about the Vick's stuff.

I think there are cheaper 'own brand' versions around in Boots and the big supermarkets, too.

panticus · 10/09/2019 11:48

I'm the same OP. I don't get many colds but when I do they are absolutely horrible and I seem to show much stronger symptoms than other people (particularly when it comes to how blocked up I get). The first couple of days are absolutely horrible with aches etc and it takes me a good week to get over them completely.

It is strange because I am generally such a healthy person - I almost never go to the doctor, eat well, exercise 6 days a week (including running half marathons at a decent pace), never smoked, not overweight etc.

The only thing that helps is Pseudoephedrine but that still doesn't unblock me (plus it buggers up your sleep).

QuestionableMouse · 10/09/2019 11:52

I'm like this. I wasn't so bad until I had the flu a few years ago that almost landed me in hospital. Now any bug wipes me out for ages.

SRK16 · 10/09/2019 11:52

Yes, I’m the same, no energy, weak, dizzy. It’s been worse over the past 10 years as my sinuses get so bad, it’s so painful I just can’t do anything. My husband can get a cold and just be a bit sniffly, he gives it to me and I’m properly unwell for a week! Not fair.

Steviestamborine · 10/09/2019 11:53

I don’t get them often but when I do they really can be bad. I get really pissed off with ‘it’s just a cold’ for me it’s more than a sneeze and sniffle, it’s high temperature, pounding head, watery eyes, disgusting amounts of snot, sore throat and often a really bad chest. I guess what some people call a ‘fluey cold’ meaning A really bad one. I do sometimes get mild ones I can shake off quickly though.

amusedbush · 10/09/2019 12:50

Vick's First Defence might be worth a try.

Yes, I have a cold at the moment and thanks to Vicks First Defence I'm at work and just feeling a bit stuffy and snotty. Usually a cold knocks me on my back and I'm off work with toothache/sinus infection/blocked ears/pain all over my body.

MountainDweller · 10/09/2019 13:58

Yes me too, my temp goes up and I get hot and dizzy if I try to stand up. Takes more than a week to get over it. I don't get loads of sneezing or snot though, normally just very sore throat and slightly runny nose. My DH is the opposite - buckets of snot but apart from that he can keep functioning. Usually it's him that brings them home so it's the same bug but we react differently.

I hate the threads where everyone is incredulous about taking even a day off for a cold.