The cold that lasts weeks

[Justkeepswiimming]

I've heard a few people who have had a horrid cold that has gone on and lead to chest infections or ear infections etc. I managed to dodge it for a while, but then got a hideous cold at the start of March. Although it has eased to a degree, I'm still getting stinking headaches that I can't shift, and still have a cough and sinus pain. Has anyone else had this cold that seems to linger forever?

I have been on a long running thread or two, I was ill for 5 weeks, almost taken in to hospital. I do have an underlying medical condition. I still have a little fatigue. Apart from two visits to the Doctors I didn’t leave the house for 3 weeks and was on total rest. It’s the second most ill I have ever been apart from first wave covid. Even DH and DS had time off work which is unheard of, obviously my underlying health issues are the problem hence worse illness.

No idea what you home set up is but you really need to rest as much as possible. Get well soon.

Several people I know have had this and only managed to stop it with the aid of antibiotics and steroids. Time for a trip to the GP

If it's the same thing my GP said it was flu (real flu) and not a horrid cold. I am now at week 6 and still have some residual cough, tiredness etc. I am told it can take several more weeks to fully recover and I shouldn't push it as doing that can cause complications still.

Not sure if this is what I’ve got but I’ve had a night time cough for a couple of weeks, with an ear infection last week that required antibiotics. My ear needed to ‘pop’ but wouldn’t - it’s been a week now and it still won’t! And the cough is now worse and not just at night time. Back to the doctors this morning because whilst my ear isn’t in pain, it’s extremely uncomfortable and not normal at all to have a congested ear for over a week!

I am on about week 4 still have a cough, but my sinuses have started to improve over the last couple of days and I am starting to get my senses of smell and taste back a little - still exhausted though - I think it will
take a while to get back to normal though

@loz12345 I'm glad you're starting to feel better. I think I'm on week 4 ish and over that last day or so have started to feel a bit worse again. The cough has got worse, and the headaches are more difficult to shift and if they do go with paracetamol, they are generally soon back.

I'm on week 4 with one of those spasm coughs where you can't get a breath in. Awful. Cracked yesterday and went to our local out of hours after calling 111.
Got 7 days steriods and antibiotics.
Hoping I start to feel a bit better soon as it's dragging me down. I can feel ok middle of the day and potter about then back to feeling crap again.
I have asthma as well which hasn't helped.

Right here with you. Started same sort of time as you too. It’s horrible, and never had one like it.

Feels like a lead weight in my lungs, energy is gone and the hacking cough.

The way is goes and comes back is so strange.

same - the exhaustion is unreal as well. I'm in bed by 7pm just can't function after that time. Seem to be better for around 6 hours in the day but nighttime and mornings are dreadful

We've all had it since half term so 5+ weeks. DH has just spent 8 days in hospital on oxygen and double dose IV antibiotics with awful sats, racing heart, fever etc as his developed into secondary double pneumonia. Both DC developed ear infections.

We are usually healthy.

The hospital tested dh and stated that everybody they're seeing with the same thing is negative for influenza. There's no such thing as "Real Flu", it's a spectrum virus like any other but where I am, it isn't flu anyway.

There's no such thing as "Real Flu"

Fortunately, neither science nor the PCR test that my doctor performed agrees with you - there is such a thing as "real flu". There are 4 types of flu virus, and all of them are quite "real". As I said, if it is the same thing I had, then it is "real flu" and I was told by several medical professionals that there has been a very bad season for flu this year. Randomly selecting one statistic, on 1st February 2024, the NHS reported an average of 2,226 patients with flu in hospital each day last week – up 70% in a month (1,312 the week ending Dec 31) and three-quarters higher than the same week last January (1,290). Those hospitalised with flu are the thin edge of the wedge. And I am fairly sure that the NHS, despite all its challenges, knows that flu is real. Just becaiuse you didn't have it doesn't mean that others don't, nor that there has not been an increased number of people with "real flu".

You've misunderstood me.

When people (not necessarily you) say "real flu", they're usually talking about severity of symptoms eg "oh I had Proper Flu, couldn't get out of bed to pick up £20 Flu, not the sniffle other people refer to as flu". Flu is a virus and falls on a spectrum and 75% of people are asymptomatic ie don't know they even have it and many more have mild symptoms.

I know flu exists. Of course it does. I've had it. I was merely pointing out that all flu is Real.

And the really virulent virus we have going round my little bit of England and the thing half of DH's bay had in hospital was not flu. Doesn't really matter tbh as whatever virus it is and it will likely be a few different ones, it's a humdinger for many people.

@ShowOfHands Ah right....I was saying "real flu" to differentiate between everyone who says they have flu (half the people I work with, at the first sign of a sniffle) and those who demonstrably have flu. But apparently there has been a bad winter this year for it. It's my second time ever - got swine flu back in the day - and the worst, and given I had the flu vaccine God knows what it would have been like had I not.

The perversity of it was though, that it hit me days after returning from Egypt where I appeared to be the only Brit not dropped by something! And was feeling so smug about that!