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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How on earth do people get through the work day with a cold?

179 replies

Forgetaboutit · 27/11/2024 10:58

I don’t know whether I get colds badly or whether I’m just bad at handling them and other people just get on with it!

I was reading a post the other day that was asking how ill you have to be to call in sick and pretty much everyone said they never stay off with a cold. I have a cold right now (although I’m on day 4 now and starting to feel a bit better) and I have felt the same as I always do with a cold. Sore throat, streaming nose, headache, body aches and chills, my eyes hurt so much that it’s hard to look at a screen or have any lights on, I have such intense pressure in my sinuses that my nose and cheeks hurt. Sometimes I can’t even get up. It’s not the flu though, it is definitely a cold. When other people get a cold, do you just get the sniffles, or do you have all these symptoms and just power through somehow?! And if so… WHY?

OP posts:
ladygindiva · 27/11/2024 14:57

Lemsip max. Sorts me right out for a couple hours. And sitting still and restfully whenever possible. Don't do anything that can wait until you're better.

Lordofmyflies · 27/11/2024 14:58

Medication. Regular paracetamol, sinus decongestant spray and lots of hot drinks and power through. Being self-employed and the prospect of not being paid if sick or stressed takes away the option of days off anyway!

ToBeOrNotToBee · 27/11/2024 15:00

Comfortable clothes (baggy, non restrictive and not fussy).
Paracetamol.
Coffee.
Soups for lunch.
And sleep. Lots of sleep.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 27/11/2024 15:01

Lemsip, nose spray, strepsils, warm clothes, plenty of balm tissues. My job is office based, 80% of the time at my desk, so it is fine.

Much worse for optometrists and nurses and teachers - no idea how they get through it.

Oh and tomato cup a soup.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 27/11/2024 15:02

What you are describing, some might call flu. I wouldn't go into work feeling like that. I would go in if I had a sore throat and headache that got a bit better with painkillers.

fivebyfivebuffy · 27/11/2024 15:08

I can't work with tonsillitis or no voice so that's when I call in sick
I'm usually off 1-2 days a month with my period but that's unavoidable currently

lifebyfaith · 27/11/2024 15:10

I'm the same. I get really ill with a cold. Just have to go to bed..I deal with long term conditions so it's not a case of not being able to cope with a bit of illness.

Ireallycantthinkofagoodone · 27/11/2024 15:29

Sinus pain is truly awful. Your whole face throbs. Years ago, I could buy Mucron tablets, which worked really well within 20 minutes. I’ve never found anything else that works for me. I’m open to suggestions though!

I’m retired now, but my opinion is that if you can’t function properly at work, you need to stay home. If you can get by with medication and manage the commute, then just carry on with work.

ByHardyRubyEagle · 27/11/2024 15:31

It just depends on how bad the cold is though right? I have caught yet another one of my 3 year old’s bugs from school but I’m really not too bad, just a sore throat and a bit tired. I can cope at work with something as mild as that, but if I get it bad then I might at least one day off where my nose won’t stop running and I feel like shit, then it’s not at all practical for me to even be at work.

EveryDayisFriday · 27/11/2024 15:35

I have time off to rest and recover. I'm a baby about being ill and refuse to soldier on regardless any more. I need 2 days in bed to sleep through the worst whilst being drugged up then I'm OK to go back.

recipientofraspberries · 27/11/2024 15:39

lovemycbf · 27/11/2024 12:23

I recently went in with a sinus,throat and ear infection with vertigo.
I dosed up on medication and got on with it as statutory sick pay is shit. Some people don't have any other option

That is absolutely horrendous. I had a chest infection followed by a sinus infection and I still have scarring on chest muscles, and inflamed sinuses, several years on. I'm sorry you felt you had no other choice but to go in, but sometimes we can forget how serious the long-term consequences and risks of working through illness can be. I wish I hadn't gone back to work as soon as I did after my illnesses - I've literally never been the same. Please take care.

Threelittleduck · 27/11/2024 15:40

When I was working I nearly always went in with a cold. I worked with young children so job hazard.
Until I got a cold similar to OP I went in but by 12 I was done in. Could barely keep my eyes open or move. Manager wouldn't let me leave and after that I refused to put myself out. So if I felt really awful I didn't go in. Still would if it was mild but not if I felt too rough.
Take the time off you need.

PerditaLaChien · 27/11/2024 15:45

How you feel when you wake up is often not how you feel all day.

I find i wake up with blocked/streaming nose, aching, sore throat, headache etc.

I take paracetamol & ibuprofen. I have a warm drink. If my sinuses are bad i also find pseudoephedrine helps. Then i find getting up and moving helps a lot - the walk to the train station clears my head.

You just get on with it don't you. Medicine makes a huge difference. I can't stand when people suffer on/complain but have not even taken paracetamol.

If I'm finding my computer screen bright i simply turn the brightness down to reduce glare. I don't find the temperature yoyos in our office at all, i do make sure ive a cardigan i can remove if needed.

If you are having very severe symptoms have you thought about getting to tests to see if you have anything like an underlying condition or vitamin deficiency that could be contributing?

coffeesaveslives · 27/11/2024 15:48

How you feel when you wake up is often not how you feel all day.

That's so true. I also find that laying in bed makes me feel worse as I can't breathe properly and just keep coughing, sniffing and spluttering. Getting up, having a hot shower (to clear the mucus), taking tablets and having a hot drink really does make the world of difference, even if it's the last thing you feel like doing..

PerditaLaChien · 27/11/2024 15:54

Ireallycantthinkofagoodone

Mucron is the same as things like sinu tab eg pseudophedrine & paracetamol. Widely available just ask at the pharmacy counter. Just don't get the stuff on shop shelves which is phenylephrine which doesn't work.

PerditaLaChien · 27/11/2024 15:57

Maybe I'm just weak but I've had 3 fucking weeks of coughing all night, plus high temps, aching and shivering and exhaustion and he's coughed about twice and got over it.

Are you fully vaccinated? Have you taken regular doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen?

Check weight based dosing too. I think a lot of overweight people don't take the right dose for it to work effectively.

bryceQ · 27/11/2024 17:08

There are definately levels to colds!

Sometimes you can get by you just feel grumpy, other times you feel absolutely vile.

Same as covid. People have different responses!

EdgyDreamer · 27/11/2024 17:13

PerditaLaChien · 27/11/2024 15:57

Maybe I'm just weak but I've had 3 fucking weeks of coughing all night, plus high temps, aching and shivering and exhaustion and he's coughed about twice and got over it.

Are you fully vaccinated? Have you taken regular doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen?

Check weight based dosing too. I think a lot of overweight people don't take the right dose for it to work effectively.

If you can get a GP appointment may well be worth doing after 3 weeks - I had that when kids were young and it was usually a chest infection.

It got to point I dreaded winter as it seem endless really bad cold and chest infections or even flu - only improved when they finally diagnosed with me as asthmatic.

MrDarlingtonsPie · 27/11/2024 17:15

It’s really just a tough few days and some early nights when I’ve been in this position. Do what needs to be done and then rest as much as possible.

troppibambini6 · 27/11/2024 17:16

Definitely agree with others that there are different levels of cold.

I haven't had a proper cold for a few years until last week. I managed to carry on as normal for a couple of days and then on day 3 I had to get in bed and sleep. I couldn't believe how crap I felt!

Realistictargets · 27/11/2024 17:21

Well my dd (15) school would say that anyone struggling with illness just lacks resilience! Apparently this is why they are so harsh on pupils now so that when they are older and in work they don’t take days off for colds!
We got told yesterday that she HAD to come in despite having a high fever (39) because it would go down with medication and then she had to be in school . Madness

smallsilvercloud · 27/11/2024 17:21

I used to suffer terribly with colds, all through my childhood and 20's, I would need to take off a day or two at least, with a very runny nose which would be red from all the blowing and generally felt very run down with no energy. The after effects would last up to two weeks! The amount of snot that came out my nose was unreal.
I heard that one you've had a 100 you are immune, maybe there is something in it, I'm 40's now and rarely if ever get colds, if I do then it's not as bad and can carry on my day.

tillyandmilly · 27/11/2024 17:28

You should not be going into work with a cold - you will infect other staff - not fair on others - work from home if your job allows

Wimberry · 27/11/2024 17:37

Some people are more susceptible to colds than others. Most times that I get a cold I have a week of feeling really rough, often with one day off work and a day or two working shortened days at home, and then I'm still noticeably rough for another ten days with a sore throat/headcold, turning into a chesty cough. I have asthma and I'm putting to sinus infections.
Boyfriend will get ill around the same time and he's fine - has a sore throat and sniffles for a day and that's it.

It's not necessarily a health thing, I run and workout, eat well, healthy weight. I use the available remedies. I'm just susceptible to them, though fortunate that I don't tend to have other common issues, it's just with colds!

I tend to say to work that I've got a virus rather than a cold because I also feel like it seems a crap excuse, though even when I've had time off and go back in people will say I sound rough - I try not to do face to face work when I have a cold but I can't take 3 weeks off every time, I'd be off most of the winter!

Natsku · 27/11/2024 18:43

How you feel when you wake up is often not how you feel all day

Well that's true. I woke up feeling alright on Monday and thought I was over my cold. Set off for work, got as far as dropping DS off at school and had to turn around and go home because I suddenly got so much worse, sending a message that I wouldn't be in. Spent the rest of the day on the sofa unable to do anything.