To think that colds are worse since Covid?

[AlertCat]

Just that really- I didn’t use to get a cold every year and sometimes they were quite mild. The last few years I have been ill on several occasions each year- ill enough to stay in bed, no question of working through it. Is this just me or do other people feel similar?

I have voted YABU but only because for me they are not worse since Covid. The thing that really made coughs and colds awful for me was glandular fever. And since Covid I’ve had a different symptom pattern for colds almost as though my immune system was reprogrammed by the virus. So I think it’s possible that for some people colds will feel worse post Covid.

I don’t tbf, we don’t have any tests to use. But I hear that covid now is more likely to cause gastro symptoms, that it’s not really like a cold? What I have is classic fizzy, runny nose, cough, sore scratchy throat, runny eyes, but with added aches and pains- joints and head- so I assume bad cold. Maybe I’m wrong?

I think quite a few viruses leave you vulnerable to other viruses for a few months. My son just had whooping cough, and they said he is vulnerable to other stuff for 6 months after. So you could end up in a bit of a run for a while.

I've had a bad cold with a few aches and pains and needing bed, tested and came back positive for covid. It was shorter and not as bad as the first time I had it a couple of years ago. I've had normal colds but this felt a bit more - I didn't need a week in bed though like I do with flu.

I currently have a rotten cold, but it's the first one I've had in a while and it's lingering longer than I hoped it would.

Since having covid, I don't seem to be able to shake colds off as quickly as I could, but then again, I'm older and menopausal so that doesn't help!

Not been my experience although I’m not a fan of the vax. Don’t know if that makes a difference or not. I haven’t had anything resembling a cold for ages and have close contact with primary school kids and a baby that has a permanently runny nose 🤷🏼‍♀️

I've not actually had a cold since covid and I'm immune suppressed and have kids that bring colds home all the time. My DH who is healthy has said the same, we can't remember our last cold.

My friend just had a cold and then tested after a few days as she hadn't shaken it off and yep it was COVID.

I had one really bad cold that went on and on for weeks earlier this year, but other than that all other colds (and I've only caught a few in the last 3 years) have been pretty mild and over and done with quickly. Where as I've had covid twice and both times have been dreadful, particularly the first time. It also took me ages (months) to get over the first bout of covid, but was quicker the second time. I was confined to bed both times with covid but with the colds it's business as usual.

I think a large chunk of these “bad colds” are Covid.

I had Covid a month or so ago and zero gastro symptoms. Much more like a cold.

I don’t think colds have got worse or more frequent since Covid, but there is literally an extra respiratory virus to catch!

Illnesses do tend to weaken the immune system and in the case of measles, the virus itself is usually mild and the most harm is usually caused by the secondary infections that are able to breach the body’s natural defences afterwards. I would not be surprised if the same thing happens for Covid but I think it usually takes a few years for data on that to be gathered and firm conclusions made.

I maintain the sickness registers at our workplace and I have definitely noticed that our staff are taking significantly more sick or carer’s leave since Covid and it hasn’t yet returned down to pre-Covid levels. We had to increase our staff cover budget. Also we still test for Covid when cold like symptoms are present because of our workplace and specific rules. Some of my colleagues have had Covid 5 or 6 times! I have only had it once.

It's not tedious sprigatito, it's sensible and considerate!

My DP still has long Covid from 2020, so I've seen the long-term affects it can have. We also test and would never want to pass this on to anyone.

Agree a lot of the colds will be covid. I had to test because of my mum but most people won’t so we have no way of knowing. It felt like a bad cold and fever.

i was on public transport etc in lockdowns, I don’t know how I avoided it for 4 years. Or why I got it now. I suppose we’ll never know!

Aee you talking about you personally or the general public?
If its the latter most people certainly didn't isolate for anything like 3 years
And i only rarely see people wearing masks since the restrictions were dropped.

Where do people get tests now? I used to get them through work but don’t have that job any more.

You can buy them at pharmacies or in Amazon

I got my tests for a fiver on Amazon. I think there’s 5 in the pack.

I can't remember when I last had a cold. I had covid once. I think my immune system has been introduced to most bugs, having worked for many years in academia, surrounded by lots of sniffing, nose-rubbing students, and so has built up resistance to lots of bugs. I sometimes get a bit of a sore throat but it never develops. (Watch me get a bad cold now).

Unfortunately, tests aren't free any more. I had to buy from the chemist at approx £1.50 per test. This is clearly a barrier to people testing routinely.

My symptoms were very similar to yours. Main ones were sore throat, runny nose, and cough. No gastro symptoms at all. Bear in mind that, like flu, there are many variants out there, so the symptoms may be different for different people.

I've never had so many illness (cold/flu/sore throat type things) as I have had this last year. I was quite ill with covid in 2020 and I feel like that (among other things) has really messed my health up.

"We were isolating and wearing masks for best part of three years"

This is is no way accurate.