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Original poster

Does anybody else get totally wiped from 'just' a cold

36 replies

User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:00

Had a horrid viral cold last month that lasted over two weeks, recovered for a week then came down with another one of the buggers. Hacking cough, sore throat, blocked streaming nose, fatigue. Neither one was covid I tested negative more than once.

It's the joys of having small children I suppose.

DH seems to shake it off after a day but these things really wipe me out to the point I can't function properly.

Anybody else or am I a total wuss?

It's really not 'just' a cold to some people is it?

OP posts:
Rockbird · 05/06/2021 22:05

Yes, always. I got a cold about three weeks ago, have just started a new job, best behaviour and all that. Ended up being sent home at lunchtime. I was so embarrassed but it really knocks me out.

AGoatsbawhairaway · 05/06/2021 22:06

My DH and DD both wiped out by colds recently. They have felt dreadful for weeks, and just on the mend now

eurochick · 05/06/2021 22:06

Yep. I always feel dreadful and produce mountains of snot. If my daughter or husband get the same thing they rarely seem to suffer as much.

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General health
Pintsizedrudy · 05/06/2021 22:08

Currently suffering… It’s turned into a chest infection now thoughSad

TooTiredForToday · 05/06/2021 22:09

I'm suffering at the moment, same as OP have had a mild cold on and off for a few weeks but I am on day 3 of a shocker - barely able to function but dragging myself through the days to deal with the kids etc. Feeling absolutely awful and can't take much in the way of decongestant etc as I'm pregnant.

Kids have the same bug for all of 24h and then seem fine.

DH is NEVER ill with it. I don't understand! Confused

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:11

Thank god I'm not alone, but I'm sorry you all suffer just as badly.. I feel less pathetic now Grin

I swear my friend must think I'm a hypochondriac. I had to cancel our trip out a few weeks ago and rearranged for next week.. low and behold ill again.

People who shake colds off like nothing really don't know how lucky they are.

OP posts:
MissyB1 · 05/06/2021 22:14

But I don’t understand why some people sail through a cold with hardly any symptoms, and others like me and you OP suffer badly.

What are they doing that we aren’t? It’s not fair!

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:14

Feeling absolutely awful and can't take much in the way of decongestant etc as I'm pregnant.

Me too. I suspect that's why I'm so susceptible at the moment, though I've always struggled to function with viruses even before pregnancy.

I took two cold and flu tablets earlier on only to discover afterwards you're not supposed to during pregnancy, so that'll be the first and last bit of relief I'll get now. I was that desperate it didn't occur.

Honey and lemon in hot water is doing nothing. I can't sleep properly for coughing and being blocked up. Ugh.

OP posts:
Wanttocry · 05/06/2021 22:14

DH and I are both a bit like this, but weirdly we never get floored by the same cold. Typically DD brings it home from nursery and is mildly ill, then one of us will be wiped out by it, and the other will be totally fine/very mildly ill.

Toomuchleopard · 05/06/2021 22:17

When I get a cold I’m usually ill for a day then I’m ok again. However my husband gets completely wiped out by colds that last for ages and often turn into a bad cough or chest infection. They definitely affect people differently

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:17

@MissyB1

But I don’t understand why some people sail through a cold with hardly any symptoms, and others like me and you OP suffer badly.

What are they doing that we aren’t? It’s not fair!

I wish I knew!

Completely unfair I agree Grin

OP posts:
Chanel05 · 05/06/2021 22:19

It actually says on the NHS website to stay at home if you have a cold to rest and recover. Imagine calling in sick at work though to say you were having the day off for a cold. You'd be scoffed at and told they'd see you at 9.

SquishySquirmy · 05/06/2021 22:21

Yes I do, but it has not always been that way - when I was younger I think I was rarely ill. Not sure when exactly I started to be so badly affected by some colds (not all) sometime in my 20s I think? I've even had pneumonia a couple of times (from coughs/cold that others bounced back from quickly).
Me and dh had our first jab yesterday, and i felt awful for most of today! Dh on the other hand has been fine! I feel like such a malingerer, but I genuinely felt so grotty.

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:22

@Chanel05

It actually says on the NHS website to stay at home if you have a cold to rest and recover. Imagine calling in sick at work though to say you were having the day off for a cold. You'd be scoffed at and told they'd see you at 9.
Tell me about it.

They'd soon have a shock though if one of us lot rocked up to the office. I look and feel like a zombie. Zero chance of me being remotely productive infact it was an ordeal just doing the washing up, sorting the kids and cooking tea.

I had a bit of a cry to DH when he got home as I just wanted to crawl into bed.

There needs to be more understanding as far as 'colds' go.

OP posts:
SheepPixie · 05/06/2021 22:23

It depends.
If I’m eating and sleeping well then I can push through a cold. But if I’m burnt out with stress or depression then a cold can lay me low like flu can.

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:24

I feel like such a malingerer, but I genuinely felt so grotty.

Me too.

I'll never take breathing out of my nose for granted again or not pissing myself at least once a day because I'm coughing that violently

OP posts:
Notlostjustexploring · 05/06/2021 22:25

Another one here!! And I am no wuss (migraine in soft play for example), but how do people function with a cold?? I just feel so utterly miserable and sorry for myself. I really struggle, and if I do push through, I almost always end up with some sort of secondary infection (tonsillitis being common).

I think there is supposed to be a split in types of people? Either you really suffer when you get a cold, or really suffer when you get a d&v type bug?

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:26

@SheepPixie

It depends. If I’m eating and sleeping well then I can push through a cold. But if I’m burnt out with stress or depression then a cold can lay me low like flu can.
That's pause for thought.

I have been considerably stressed recently, probably a bit depressed aswell if I'm honest with myself. My eldest is disabled and is extremely hard work so I'm on high alert much of the time.

OP posts:
Harvey3 · 05/06/2021 22:27

I could have written this! Have had a cold for the past month and just can't shake it off. My DH was ill for a day. My immune system is terrible - have been told to take vitamin D... so will see if that helps!

Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:28

@Notlostjustexploring

Another one here!! And I am no wuss (migraine in soft play for example), but how do people function with a cold?? I just feel so utterly miserable and sorry for myself. I really struggle, and if I do push through, I almost always end up with some sort of secondary infection (tonsillitis being common).

I think there is supposed to be a split in types of people? Either you really suffer when you get a cold, or really suffer when you get a d&v type bug?

I'm definitely in camp 1, I haven't actually had D&V in what seems like forever. Certainly not in adulthood that I can remember.

I suppose I have all that to come once the DC are in primary Envy

OP posts:
Original poster
User4072837736 · 05/06/2021 22:29

@Harvey3

I could have written this! Have had a cold for the past month and just can't shake it off. My DH was ill for a day. My immune system is terrible - have been told to take vitamin D... so will see if that helps!
I'm taking vitamin D too, most days. Hopefully it starts to make a difference but hasn't yet.

So sorry you and others are feeling like crap too. I hope you all feel better soon Flowers

OP posts:
TooTiredForToday · 05/06/2021 22:31

I took Friday afternoon off work! I did my urgent stuff in the morning, with a croaky voice, stuffed up nose and an extra layer of blusher to try to look alive. Then I told my boss I was going to lie in bed feeling sorry for myself for the rest of the day because I had the cold! He was very understanding thankfully (probably had enough of my sniffing)

Intercity225 · 05/06/2021 22:31

ITA OP! I get colds really badly - I am either non stop sneezing or might as well sit with a box of tissues under my nose for 48 hours! A head like cotton wool....Talking about work during a cold is a joke - I’ve looked at my work afterwards, and it was like I was drunk! Luckily, I work for DH and he knows how bad my colds are!

Then, it’s weeks of sinus infection, Eustachian tube disorder (I went deaf in one ear for 3 months once), tracheitis (sp?), chest infections, laryngitis..An ENT history longer than my arm!

It runs in my family, so there must be something genetic to it!

opmamatrist · 05/06/2021 22:32

I currently have a cold too, caught it off my little one who has had about 2/3 colds in the space of 5 weeks! And he doesn't even go to nursery! I started having symptoms last Wednesday and still feel absolutely rubbish and so bunged up! I don't think I've ever had a cold this long!

irregularegular · 05/06/2021 22:32

No. I don't really get colds beyond a bit of a sniffy nose. I've never in my 50 years been close to unwell enough to not do whatever work/social/whatever I was supposed to be doing that day. Or, as an adult, unwell enough to be in bed before 10pm. As a child the only time I ever had off school was for chicken pox and even then I wasn't ill - just spotty! I've absolutely no idea why.