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

[Forgetaboutit]

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?

I'm jealous of anyone who does not get severe sinus pain. For those who never had it. Imagine someone sets fire to a pair of glasses you are wearing then kicks them so hard that they are inside your head. If I can't lift my head with the pain, that's another reason I ring in sick.

Prevention is better. Echinacea, Vitamin D, eating plenty of fruit n veg, ventilation of home. Based on my friends - the fussy eaters seem to get more colds than those who eat loads.

I had a cold starting on Thursday afternoon. I thought on Saturday, waking up with no symptoms - then 30 mins later, back into cold mode.

This works wonders when I have severe sinus pain https://www.amazon.co.uk/CYOUH-Packets-Children-Allergic-Rhinitis/dp/B0CQ1SJH6Z/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=52696550345&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.wzeL7P0c294vUzcdLDUk1oJ4blFMd3KyJHgmA-qKl6M92Ef_Qn5PbugTGFndSNdTdWXYhqZSgGmjfg5NbbDJjdIkFEFaPCyojdIQqArkJFbsQg5iyxsqnkbZ8fCDyEmNLt9JrNIPrMPeV9ODdpm4lMTtCkfCp11iel1q3wRPdutaHJuUG6yxq7YdTRDlxljCYvcjTpbIrqsAHqtITR-hHFWJCzCO0pZ3iODTMPZQnz4XltDGqnfF9xyd_lsqoGBrLqE96hur3wqC6IffAHPiw5NvrvAdohdFd2VW69fYE_Y.c0h06d611RH-3BIDD5WZToxsr2DG_WEboEp670ZkhxM&dib_tag=se&hvadid=259035418545&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9046179&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17144711544013930885&hvtargid=kwd-296251119480&hydadcr=28153_1724856&keywords=saline%2Bnasal%2Brinse&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732733448&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

What medication do you take for it ?

I can't take cold medication as it interacts with other medication I take.
I am rarely off work but if a cold floors me then tough titty, I'm staying at home.

Unless a cold is debilitating, I think you'd be expected to work through it. It's not pleasant, of course. I survive on Lemsip Max All-in-One.
At my work (a school) you get penalised for being off sick, so we try to drag ourselves in.

Just call in sick if you feel bad!

For me, every cold is different. Sometimes you just have the sniffles, other times you have terrible fatigue. When it's bad, don't go in.

You get a lot of sympathy when you lose your voice, but you're usually past the worst by then.

It's not flu. Colds can be crap.

Lots of cold and flu tablets and collapsing into bed at the earliest possible time! I've had a cold for nearly 3 weeks now, I can't afford to be off for that long so no choice but to carry on 🙄

Bugs me this. We have the management coming in with really heavy colds, coughing annd sneezing everywhere, playing the ruddy martyr and seem to set the bar for the rest of us. They are ill and can come in, so can you. They pass it around to all and sundry. I work with vulnerable people (covid days who would have to shield) and they come down a cropper worse than others. A cold bug for them has turned into a bad upper respiratory infection with a fever and requiring a change in asthma medication and antibiotics. Two weeks off work sick as a dog and still unwell on returning. The irony is they get a wellbeing interview on their return to work to see how management could help make things better! Don’t come into work if you are ill!!!

Went in to work yesterday - eyes streaming by the end of the day after a couple of hours screen work - if it had got that bad earlier I'd probably have gone home.

Duvet day today, but that's self employed consultancy rather than taking time off sick - client probably hacked off.

Of your symptoms i say the following are "a cold"

Sore throat,
streaming nose,
headache,

Also
Sneezing
Coughing
High temperature
Green gunk

but when it comes to the following symptoms I'd think that was more serious upper respiratory illness:

body aches
chills,
light sensitivity
Tiredness so you can't get out of bed

Also intense pressure in your sinuses indicates a sinus infection or sinusitis.

This. I use paracetamol extra, it has caffeine in it, which really helps boost the paracetamol action, usual dose of paracetamol 1 gramme no more than 4 doses in 24 hours

I’ve got bronchitis and an ear infection in both ears off the back of flu caught from my 3 year old… and I have an 11 week old baby to care for.

being at work seems like the desirable option right now!

but I am sick of people spreading things instead of staying at home, it’s like Covid never happened

I don't get them very often, but the option to work from home is invaluable. Recognising that is not an option for most people.

I'm the same, I get really floored by colds whereas other people can carry on. It's just my make up / carry-over from other health conditions.

DH rarely takes time off ill-but he WFH and can wake at 9 and hide in joggers all day, drinking soup at his laptop.

I have to leave at 7, scrape ice off my car, drive to work in the dark and then teach 30 small bouncy people all day. There is nowhere to hide! It can be hideous with a cold as you are talking constantly and need to make 100 decisions at once all day, but management are totally unsympathetic and expect you in as they can’t afford cover. You can’t even drink hot drinks all day as then you need someone to come and release you so you can go to the loo which isn’t always possible!

I try to dose up with drugs and leave early on those days. I generally lose my voice these days which makes it really hard to teach and really exhausting (again-management are trying to get rid of anyone expensive, so I don’t want to give them a reason to start on me by taking time off).

The government’s stupid attendance rules have made things much worse-there are bugs and colds going round the class all the time. Parents feel pressured into sending unwell children in who really should be at home dosing under a blanket, which turns your classroom into a giant virusy fug for weeks on end.

And not arsed about infecting your colleagues? …..I always wfh when I have a cold ….I would be livid sitting next to some selfish bastard coughing and sneezing all day at work….they would be asked to go wfh

Normally I work through colds as I am self employed but I have just had one that felt more like Covid. It was awful. I couldn't move at all as I was lightheaded and dizzy and had to have 3 days off (unpaid) so I guess it depends on the cold

Colds come in a range of levels. Some people have barely any symptoms and some people have a temperature and severe symptoms. Sometimes I power on and sometimes I can’t. It also depends on your job. I don’t go to work if I have a temperature as it isn’t fair on others and I can’t do my job properly.

Are you a man? If not - Woman-up. You can do this!! Eye of the tiger and all that jazz.

I say this in good humour.

Although, if you are a man; are you wearing the dressing gown of doom!?

I’ve had to go in with kidney stones/infections and endometriosis period pain, a cold is nothing to me now, sadly.

Sometimes when I have a cold I get constant snot projecting sneezes (sorry TMI!) and luckily was working from work as no way could I possible be an office environment violently sneezing snot every couple of minutes.
I always seem to suffer badly with blocked sinuses too OP which is horrible as the pressure in your head feels unbearable at times.

Not being paid helps!

I’m always floored by them because I get them so infrequently, so when I do get them it’s really shocking! I’ve only had about 3 in the past 15 years, and I’ve definitely taken time off work for at least one of them.