What fucking fresh hell is this?

[Palmsun]

I came down with a headcold 4 weeks ago. By March the 29th it was much more than a headcold but not a flu either. It felt more like a sinus infection and I went to my GP. She said it was a chest infection. Gave me 5 days of antibiotics. I felt reasonably ok-ish with them but still sore and not well.

4 weeks from the onset of all of this and I am still not better. My cough has cleared but my throat is sore again and my ears are sore and I am still nearly deaf. And I am not getting any better.

This is not a normal headcold. Not any more.

It just won't go away.

4 weeks and counting. Does anyone else have the same thing?

@Palmsun your posts suggest health anxiety. You shouldn't start on a nebuliser unless it's advised by a dr.

This thread could be making you worse because you'll think it's going to last months.

I suggest contacting your GP to discuss the depression as that will be exacerbating everything. Good luck

Sleep! I had 2 weeks in bed and tried to sleep as much as possible. Like OP, coughing so much I woul wet myself or be sick! Co-codamol helped to suppress the cough a bit. Also work in the NHS, highly suspect it is a Covid strain and I have also heard it doesn’t always show on tests. It is with us now for life as much as flu. New research for long Covid suggests poor iron levels - take supplements with fresh orange juice to aid absorption. Hope you all feel better soon.

Don't get a nebuliser. It's just a cold that's hard to shift. The weather is getting better, get some fresh air and some decent food in you

GP advised DS to try antihistamine when he was similar and it did work.

Yes I got it New Years day and only really recovered towards end of Feb. Not covid but some other crappie virus I think. 3rd respiratory illness since Sept. Put it down to tiredness and nursery germs.

I don't have health anxiety.

I am sick. It's 4 weeks now with an up and down and on and off. It's not a cold and it's not a flu and it's something in between.

I don't care what it is.

I am desperate to get and to feel better.

Have had this since just after Christmas. They call it the 100 day cold. Comes and goes. Very very gradually beginning to get better.

I thought I was on the mend on Thursday night and even yesterday morning but as the day progressed the cough came back again and more phlegm in my head.

Today my chest is tender and sore and tight but the cough is mild now.

It's all so weird and bizarre.

Oh god, sounds like me....I'm already fed up with this persistent virus after only a coupe of weeks. The cough is awful, and is stopping me from sleeping. Going to buy a nasal spray today, in the hopes it'll alleviate the post-nasal drip - thanks to the person who posted that tip

Have had to buy Sudafed as almost a week of forehead headache which is unbearable when my head is below my knees .... and the thick yellow snot is never ending

I know, the bending down - my head!

I want to go the local pharmacy for a different anti histamine that was recommended here at some point in this thread but I am shattered. The fatigue is unreal.

Just make anyone taking over the counter decongestants aware that if you take for more than a week or so they can actually cause a rebound congestion resulting in your symptoms being worse

For anyone who is still struggling - DM has spent the evening in A&as. Apparently there's a really nasty flu going round this year

Covid. Either current covid infection or previous infection which has shot your immune system. Covid tests are not 100% reliable, particularly with new strains - you need to keep testing, swabbing cheeks, throat and nose. Studies also show testing faeces has better results, hence other countries doing wastewater surveillance. Nasal sprays, nasal irrigation, gargle and CPC mouthwash will help reduce infection. Vit D and probiotics. Plenty of rest. Covid sits in your organs and damages your immune system, making it harder to fight off other bugs. Plenty of UK & global peer reviewed studies - many can be read on BMA.

Yet my mum was told it's probably not Covid and more like a tough flu by a doctor. Not everything is Covid.

Guess that's why my second sentence also stated that previous covid infection damages your immune system and ability to fight off infection as easily as normal. It also impairs your cognitive ability.

DH and I started with head cold - sore head, throat, eyes, sinuses and runny nose, and tickly cough - mid February. DH's progressed to chesty cough and fever for which he got five days of antibiotics. The day after they finished he regressed and started feeling shivery again but told to turn up at 2am if he wanted to see a doctor. He declined the kind offer. He eventually got better, as did I but still feeling washed out after 5 weeks. And I still cough and have a sore throat. It's a horrible infection but at least it's the only one I've had in over five years, apart from Covid which was over in five days.

Today's symptoms for me has been a lot likely hayfever but I don't usually experience havefever. I had a lot of sneezing today and headaches and heavy feelings of needing to sneeze with nothing.

I took an anti histamine this morning (along with my other meds).

Please don't worry about COVID wrecking your immune systems. You will likely feel run down for a bit after any illness and it takes time for the immune system to build back up again. COVID isn't going to be any different.

If COVID is very damaging and it wrecks the immune system permanently, surely there would be talks going on in science and healthcare and governments all around the world.

I have a condition where I am prone to infections (different infections).

I had COVID in 2022.

Since my spell of COVID in 2022, I was able to manage my condition well and with limited flares. So if covid wrecks the immune systems permanently, I would be down a long time ago. I am walking and living proof that the immune system must bounce back after covid.

There are - that's why it's being likened to ME.

I don't think it matters whether it's covid or not - there is definitely a really long lasting lurgy doing the rounds.

But as per my earlier post - do many people test for covid these days? I only did due to vulnerable MIL, and I used an out of date kit which I had hanging around from before. There wasn't much liquid in the test bottle so I did three tests. eventually using two bottles. I had one looking negative, one very faint, and one clearly positive. Did DS with double and he was positive too. So I do think there is a Covid strain doing the rounds and that's what we had which kept getting slightly better then returning with a vengeance, hugely snotty and nasty morning coughs, yuk!!

But whether it's a Covid strain or another nasty bug is not really relevant - there is a long lasting, mucus-heavy lurgy out there and it's horrible.

OP - I hope you feel better soon.

I'm googling anti inflammatory juices and food stuffs and I think I ma going to do an online grocery order with everything anti inflammatory and see how that goes.

I started on cherry juice tonight. I dont know if it will help or not. Its supposed to be anti inflammatory.

Regards pain on coughing, I found I wasn't expanding my lings properly and tried taking 10 deep breathes whenever I remembered and felt OK. It did seem to help eventually. But pain on coughing can be a symptom of nasty so don't ignore it if it doesn't resolve.

There are talks going on! Go into Google scholar and look up studies that have examined the ongoing impact of covid on the immune system. (Or, if you are interested, the ongoing impact on the brain, heart or other major organs). It’s not a fun read.