To find ill people who "don't do medicine" irritating?

[DryWhiteplease]

My collegue has a stinking cold and horrendous cough. She's been I'll for a couple of weeks. I keep telling her to go to the Dr or go to Boots and get some cold and cough stuff. She says she's "fine" and "doesn't do medicine"!
I'm finding it hard to be sympathetic to her moaning and a bit annoyed that Shes spreading her germs all round work.
I just don't get why some people won't just take something to make them feel better.

For a 'cold' that hasnt shifted after a few weeks, I'd go to the doctor. But all those over the counter remedies dont work for me. Waste of money.

" . 3 times off in a month and you had a disciplinary!"

That is a lot of sick though. Presumably the work still needs to be done

SANTA, interesting that sudafed makes you hallucinate, it makes me high. I can't drive after taking it.

Bum, pseudoephadrine (sp?) is the main ingredient in methamphetamine as well as sudafed.

Well at least in old sudafed. I believe the recipe has been changed, but I'm still not going to take it.

It depends. Cold remedies aren't all that effective, to be honest. I don't take them because I don't want the indignity and discomfort of explosive diarrhoea on top of my cold.

I don't understand this either. I've had a cold recently and there is no doubt that as dose of paracetamol and a mild decongestant helps with cold symptoms for me which gets me through the day a bit better.

The other thing I have taken to using religiously when I start to get cold symptoms is this stuff [http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Cold-Defence-Nasal-Spray-20ml_1224268/]. I use this for DS as well. This tends to work a bot better but is only for adults www.askdrvicks.com.au/first-defence.htm

It is expensive but sometimes it stops the cold in it's tracks, particularly if you use it early enough and enough times during the day. More usually, it just makes a cold last for less time and be milder. I know this because colds always used to last around 10 days or more for me and generally turned into that long dragged out cough for weeks afterwards. I haven't had a very bad cold for at least 3 years since I started using this stuff. The one I had last week only lasted about 5-6 days, with only 2-3 days of me feeling quite bad. I am fine now.

I am a convert to this stuff

Agreed to an extent. I don't agree with taking painkillers willy nilly for any slight ache or pain, our bodies have natural coping mechanisms and it's completely against nature and unnecessary to pop pills all of the time. I think your body can grow immune to their effects if you take them too often.

However if you are genuinely in agony, to a point where the pain is all you can focus on and you can't get on with day to day life, then yes of course you should be resorting to pain relief! Anyone who doesn't and sits there complaining about it is just a martyr.

*Cold medicines are useless IMO. Lemsip is a big fucking con. Just have hot water, lemon and honey and pop a couple of 20p paracetamol, same thing and doesn't cost ££££££. So I'm with her for not bothering with them.

YANBU,op. I can't stand people who complain about feeling ill but won't take medicine to treat their symptoms. Cold and cough remedies don't cure anything but definitely help relieve the worst of the illness. OTC medicines are safe so I don't understand why people won't take them.

At the very least your work colleague could cough into a hanky rather than spreading her germs around. Totally selfish behaviour.

People that say that annoy me too.

Them 'my head really hurts...I feel awful'

Me 'Have you taken anything?'

Them 'No I dont like taking tablets'

So they like feeling like crap? weird.

Neurofen cold and flu tablets [or boots version] do make you feel better, it still has to run its course, but if you take something like that your head won't hurt and you won't feel as achey.

I will take paracetamol or occasionally ibuprofen for pain and fever relief.

Other than that I find most of the over the counter remedies simply don't work for me, so I might as well throw money in the bin.

Colds will run their course and should generally be improving after four or five days. If this colleague is still coughing uncontrollably after a fortnight then she should visit a doctor as it may well be a secondary infection in her chest.

Cough medicines are useless. Honey and lemon for me, or better still (if not needing to drive) a dram of neat whisky.

The way I would feel is that if a person is not willing to do something to make themselves feel better then they can't complain about feeling terrible. My mil has done this for years. says how terrible her synuses are. holds her head in both hands and moans. over the years we have suggested everything from herbal remedies to gp to the saline sinys cleaner thing. she will do nothing. hasn't tried any of the alternative stuff but says it doesn't work (how does she know?) and refuses the courses of antibiotics recommended by gp as "I'm not one of these people who likes to rely on tablets" (I have to take tablets every day and she knows it).

Our solution in recent years is to simply not acknowledge the sinus problem. We change the subject if she starts complaining. we ignore any head holding with accompanying groans. my sympathy stopped when she won't do anything about it. I would treat this person in work the exact same way.

whoops! that turned into a rant about my mil - sorry but it does feel good to let it out!

The only cold remedy that works for me is day and night nurse - hopefully by spluttering and sneezing less I spread less germs at work.

Whiskey is the only thing I bother taking if I have a cold. Tell her to get a hip flask and swig steadily throughout the day.

I can't imagine any problems arising.

lol sqoosh...and even if problems arise she'll not care by that stage!

DH is like that. Has a headache then won't take tablets. So pulls these pained, frowned expressions instead.

Drives me mad. I get frustrated and he calls me unsympathetic.

He's a terrible patient really.