Page 6 | Those who refer to Covid as a 'cold' - have you actually had it?

UndertheCedartree · 2021-12-31T00:16:25+00:00

This is genuinely not goady. I'm just trying to distract myself (spiking fever with Covid). There have been a few people in real life who have referred to Covid like this. One was back in Summer 20 and when I told him I'd been hospitalised with I due to breathlessness he suggested I was just having a panic attack!! Everyone who has referred to it as a cold (to me irl) has not actually had it. It seems a lot on here too refering to it as a cold or 'mild' illness have not actually had it. Mild means you don't need to be hospitalised afaik - not actually mild like a cold. They often seem to believe they have had it with no symptoms (maybe that helps them not be anxious about catching it) - not that that stops you catching it again of course! I have to say it can feel a very lonely place when you see your DC so unwell and you are feeling dreadful yourself and people (who appear to have no experience of actually having the disease) are going on about how mild it is and we put up with colds we should be able to put up with this! However 'mild' someone might have this I would not wish it on anyone.

JaninaDuszejko · 31/12/2021 08:58

DS has asthma and has repeatedly ended up in hospital with what for most people is 'just a cold' (FWIW he had no symptoms when he had covid).

Flu kills up to 500K a year worldwide in a non-pandemic year or 1-2M in a pandemic year but is asymptomatic in 75% of people. There are four coronaviruses that are endemic in humans and cause 'a cold'. The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 will eventually just cause 'a cold' like the other coronaviruses, it's clearly already on its way tothat nowso many of us are vaccinated and/or have had Covid. That doesn't take away from it being a serious illness in a minority of vulnerable people.

mangodreams · 31/12/2021 08:58

Different people react in different ways.

I got it in early December and just had a nose cold for a few days, not even a bad one just a bit stuffy. I carried on working from home throughout. DH spent 3 or 4 days in bed feeling feverish and achey. DC had no symptoms at all.

ComDummings · 31/12/2021 09:00

I’ve had it, it certainly was like a cold for me. A nasty cold but a cold nonetheless

Girlmum89 · 31/12/2021 09:01

I had it before I was vaccinated (Feb 21) and it was just a cold for me. Quite a bad cold but a cold nonetheless. I’m 32 though so realise not everyone would find it so mild so would never dismiss someone who said they had breathing difficulties and suggest it was a panic attack. Sorry you experienced that OP - the breathlessness and the rudeness!

Mummyoflittledragon · 31/12/2021 09:01

I had suspected what would have been alpha just before the first lockdown, March 2020. We had to isolate as a family. Definitely much worse than any cold I’ve ever had. Was on the my lungs are on fire series of threads. Left me with a range of symptoms for months including increased fatigue, breathlessness and frozen shoulder, the latter of which is still present. I have chronic fatigue already.

deydododatdodontdeydo · 31/12/2021 09:01

Forgot to say, we had it in Nov 20, pre vaccine. DH had a temp one evening so got a test (because he was going into the office) which was positive.
By day 2 he was kind of normal but tired and by day 3 he was wfh with no symptoms.
I tested positive at the same time, but no symptoms. I was still sheilding at the time due to asthma.

Lovemusic33 · 31/12/2021 09:02

I have had it and had no symptoms, my dd came down with it, started sneezing a lot, sore throat and head ache, did a LFT which was positive, I took a LFT which was negative, we both went for a PCR and both came back positive. Dd2’s symptoms were similar to a bad cold, lasted 4 days and was then fine…..I had no symptoms at all.

So yes…..for us it wasn’t as bad as some colds we have had.

ReinReinRein · 31/12/2021 09:05

It's not a cold as such as it doesn't always come with the usual cold symptoms. It's becoming a mild virus for most as we are building up our immunity.

DancyNancy · 31/12/2021 09:06

I'm sorry ye are feeling so rough OP.

So far for us....

4 of us positive at the moment.
DH a very mild cough...barely there. 1 day with slight aches and mild fever but grand. Fine since.
Dd age 9 : 1 day with high fever, body aches, feeling really rotten, sore eyes and headache. Next day little bit of headache but full of energy to play.
DS age 5 said he was tired and coughed a few times.
Me 24hrs of fever. Headache 48hrs and some body aches. Little bit of a cough.

I'd definitely have been still going to work in normal times with Parecetemol on board.
Didn't feel as bad as any flu I've had and probably not as bad as cold either once I had Parecetemol taken.

My DD age 5 has tested neg twice although she has cold like symptoms too.

We are still in it as such....day 5-9 so maybe there's more to come?

DH and I both had AZ in summer no booster yet so based on what they say we have zero protection status left from the vaccine.

I felt almost as sick after my first dose of vaccine actually.

Obviously it makes some people very sick and it's such a weird illness that way.

I had a chest infection a few years ago that took two antibiotics and went on for 8 weeks. It took a further 2-3 months for me to not feel very breathless on the stairs and the likes.

My kids have had several other viruses since September and most have been worse. My DS ended up in A&E with low oxygen and shortness of breath and wheezing which I was convinced would be covid........nope.....it was rhino enterovirus. He has no history like that before.

I'm extremely vigilant re isolating and testing my kids have missed approx 15 days of school since Sept .........None of it was covid.......

At the moment we are suffering mentally more than anything. The stress of isolation in a tiny house and the fear I felt when we were positive, the smaller 2 upset about repeated tests etc.
Not being allowed out for a walk in a rural area masked up is cruel

It's a strange one. I don't know what to think anymore but given vaccine doesn't stop you getting it or transmission I'm not running out the door for a booster or for vaccinating my children yet.
We have a few months to think about it more anyway now we're all positive. Right now I'm on the fence.

daisymade · 31/12/2021 09:08

Yeah, I'm positive. I have allergies anyway so I'm conscious I'm more used to the constant sneezing and snuffling but it's absolutely not been any worse than a common cold for me. My DH (also positive) has had nightsweats and muscle ache but again, nothing deliberating.

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 31/12/2021 09:09

I had it before the new variant (about 60 with an autoimmune condition and vaccinated). 2 years ago I would have called what I had 'an ordinary seasonal infection' and ignored it. No cough, no fever. I followed all the advise and regulations put in place, but flu was much much worse and I was 10 years younger when I had that.
DH had it before vaccinations were even thought of and discovered he must have had it because of a test he had to take before an operation - he did not notice anything.

VaguelyInteresting · 31/12/2021 09:09

I had it in April 2020, as did DS.

I was.q unwell but kept working (from home) as we were in crisis mode. I shouldn’t have though as I was quite poorly.

I did end up with long covid - but tbh, I’d had a cold the year before that became an ear infection which then led to a perforated ear drum- and that also continues to plague me, 3 years on.

Similarly DS had bronchiolitis as a baby - another standard viral illness- and has needed inhalers ever since.

So I’d say... for us it’s been like any nasty viral illness; a couple of weeks of being unwell with the potential for long lasting side effects.

sausagepastapot · 31/12/2021 09:10

Yes, it was like a very very mild cold. Same for everyone I know.

Nomoreporridge872 · 31/12/2021 09:10

I’ve had both delta and omicron. Both times I didn’t even test for a few days as I thought I was just a bit run down from running round after the children and eating badly. Only realised I had it when DH unwell too so we both had it. If I had to choose between having a bad cough/cold again or the covid I had I’d choose covid any time. Was so mild both times, particularly omicron. I appreciate not everyone has the same experience.

RollneckJumper · 31/12/2021 09:11

I've not had it, but my 64 year old triple-jabbed aunt has. She said she's had worse colds.

HansChristianAnderfuck · 31/12/2021 09:11

It’s a strange virus, multi systemic, affects people so differently.

Mine was like a very mild short lived flu, pre vaccines March 2020 caught at work (NHS), muscle aches and mild fever for a day, then felt mildly short of breath on exertion a week later. When I had flu I thought I was going to die and so this was much much milder.

My mum died from Covid (she wasn’t old or unwell), I’ve had 2 close colleagues die (neither old or unwell), a couple of colleagues left with long term complications. I think we had 10 staff members die so far, all pre vaccine. Obviously we’ve treated hundreds of patients, there is a very broad spectrum of illness and until you catch it you don’t know which camp you’ll fall into. I would say that the overwhelming majority of hospitalised patients are now unvaccinated. All in our ITU are unvaccinated bar a couple of patients with severe immune suppression.

WutheringHeights66 · 31/12/2021 09:13

I never refer to it as a cold, it killed my dad last January.

I have however had Covid myself last winter before vaccinations were available and I’ve had loads of worse colds.

The worst impact was loss of smell and taste for six months but I’m grateful it was temporary and I wasn’t ill.

Everyone has a different reaction, who knows why? Immunity, viral load, which strain you got 🤷‍♀️

SoupDragon · 31/12/2021 09:15

DS had it just before Christmas and it wasn't even like a cold, it was a mild sore throat for a couple of days and he worked all the way through his isolation (from home, obviously!) DD had a couple of days of a flu type cold earlier in the year.

It really does have a huge range in the way it affects people, especially when you include all the people who have no symptoms at all.

GoodPrincessWenceslas · 31/12/2021 09:15

When I had it, it was relatively mild. It was last December when testing was really slow, so it was 5 days before it was even confirmed, and although I isolated I carried on working as normal. I mostly felt a bit dizzy and disoriented, was easily tired, and had very little appetite.

However, DSis hss just had it, starting with cold type symptoms. She felt lousy for around 10 days with a headache, sinus congestion, cough, no taste or smell, and pleurisy, and still feels tired. So for us, Omicron was definitely worse than previous variants.

Nomoreporridge872 · 31/12/2021 09:17

@DancyNancy