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

[UndertheCedartree]

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.

For me it was literally a cold. I had a couple of days where it was a bad head cold,my nose was blocked and I had an awful sinus headache! So as colds go it was an unpleasant one, but I've definitely had worse things.
My daughter was completely asymptomatic and my son only had a cough, no other symptoms at all. So totally different in all 3 of us but luckily all only affected mildly

For some it is little more than a cold.
My 80 yr old mum said she’s had much much worse colds.
My 22yr old son said he’s had worse hangovers.
My daughter was floored for two weeks with Delta.

@Madcats

I'm mid 50's. I've definitely had flu twice, both times wiped me out for a week or two. I've had norovirus twice too.

DH and I are similar age and both have mildly annoying autoimmune diseases (controlled by drugs). We've had flu jabs for the past couple of years. We had our AZ jabs as soon as we could book.

We all had Covid after our summer holidays. Luckily it stayed in the upper respiratory tract. We sneezed A LOT. We had streaming noses. Teen lost her sense of smell, but not taste, for a month or two. She had a sore throat and I had a couple of paracetamol to deal with a headache.

Without LFT tests in the house, and activities planned, we would have brushed it off as a weird cold.

It's such a strange illness! I have definitely felt this time it stayed in the upper respiratory tract. Not had the dreadful burning lungs like the first time! I'm definitely on the mend. Still exhausted and not able to stand up as so dizzy. Cough has become productive. Still no taste/smell.

I'm pretty sure we've all got Covid (awaiting test results) but everyones symptoms vary. I started feeling rough on Thur - awful headache and couldn't get warm, then streaming nose and back pain. Very minor intermittent cough started a couple of days later. I'm on day 4 and feeling much much better - my appetite is back. DS just started with it today - he's lethargic and running a fever and a minor cough. It's very similiar to two (non-Covid) viruses we had last year.

Yes, an EXTREMELY mild cold. Had a slightly sore throat for 2 days, slight headache for a day and a runny nose for maybe 4 days. About 6 weeks before catching covid I had a terrible head cold that knocked me out. Took PCRs and lft galore and they were negative so very shocked when this slight sniffle was positive!

My symptoms were those of a nasty cold - I thought it was a bad cold, because I didn’t have a persistent cough, fever or loss of taste/smell - until I woke up one morning (the day of my second jab) with no sense of taste and smell - so I went for a pcr, instead of my jab, and it was positive.

I never felt particularly ill, even when my O2 SATS were dropping towards 90%, u til the night I went into hospital, when I had an episode of faintness, together with O2 SATS of 88%, and 111 sent an ambulance.

Even when I was in hospital, I didn’t feel particularly ill - I was breathless if I came off the O2 to go to the loo, and I was very very tired, but that was all. But the exhaustion and breathlessness are still with me 8+ months on. You don’t need to be seriously ill with covid to get long covid.

Unvaccinated age 24. Currently have covid, I was suppossed to be vaccinated at the start of December but I have either been ill or in isolation due to close contact since then.

Day 1= mild sore throat
Day 2= bad sore throat, phlegmy cough, chills, fever, headache, fatigue
Day 3= stuffy nose, phlegmy cough. Much better than day 2

I would describe it as one of the bad 24 colds tbh.

Thankfully it is nowhere near as bad as the bacterial tonsilitis I had in November. I genuinely thought I was going to die then. I've also had pleurisy in the past and covid for me is nowhere near as bad as that. I also suffer from migraines and luckily didnt get a migraine with covid!

I had it a year ago, so probably Alpha, and pre vaccination.

It started with cold-like symptoms of stuffy nose and a cough, and I have certainly had colds which made me more miserable with streaming nose etc.

However, I have never had anything which made me so tired for so long (two weeks before it even started to improve, another three before I was back to normal.)

Medically speaking, it was (for me) a mild illness - no medical support needed. But I was very much NOT in a position to carry on as normal.

I’m sorry that you’ve had it so bad, and I don’t agree with the “it’s just a cold” brigade. Clearly it’s much worse for some people. Having said that, I tested positive back in October and was completely asymptomatic - if it hadn’t been picked up on a random test, I’d never have known I had it. I know several
people who have experience no symptoms or very mild cold/flu-like symptoms.

The point I was making, @AnyoneForFondue, is that even people with mild symptoms can go on to have long covid - and as a previous poster said, this disease is so unpredictable - it produces symptoms and results running from absolutely nothing to severe respiratory illness resulting in death. And it has killed people younger and fitter than me, whereas despite being vulnerable, I was only mildly ill - though I did end up with long covid.

It’s the unpredictability - and the bad outcomes that can and do happen - that makes this a nastier virus than the common cold.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

The point I was making, *@AnyoneForFondue*, is that even people with mild symptoms can go on to have long covid - and as a previous poster said, this disease is so unpredictable - it produces symptoms and results running from absolutely nothing to severe respiratory illness resulting in death. And it has killed people younger and fitter than me, whereas despite being vulnerable, I was only mildly ill - though I did end up with long covid.

It’s the unpredictability - and the bad outcomes that can and do happen - that makes this a nastier virus than the common cold.

I completely agree. My friend's teenage daughter tested positive for Covid in August and was asymptomatic but she now has long covid and is very weak.

I've got it currently.. I would describe it as a cold. If I was working in the office and this was per covid times I would be going in. I had a booster in November. Definitely would describe it as very mild.

I remember when it first came out and Chris Whitty said ‘for the majority it’s a mild illness like flu’ …. And I can remember thinking ‘flu is horrible! It’s not mild’ .. but of course in medical terms it is. It’s mild if you don’t need to go to hospital.

I have had covid and have described it as a ‘really bad cold’. Which for me it was. Still knocked me out for days (which a really bad cold / flu would). I described it as that because that’s the easiest way to describe it! Certainly not trying to dumb it down. It was certainly the worse ‘cold’ I’ve ever had. Just don’t know how else to describe it really.

For some people it is quite mild, or even involves no symptoms.

My whole family had it very early on. For all but my husband it was a cold, though one daughter lost her sense of taste and smell. For my husband it was a lot worse, but more than that, he said it was "weird". He just felt weird in a way that he could not associate with any illness he'd ever had before.

So yes, for some it's not just a cold, and for more, it is.

the cold I currently have (had pcr, it's just a cold) is far worse than the covid I had in 2020

@PuzzledObserver

I had it a year ago, so probably Alpha, and pre vaccination.

It started with cold-like symptoms of stuffy nose and a cough, and I have certainly had colds which made me more miserable with streaming nose etc.

However, I have never had anything which made me so tired for so long (two weeks before it even started to improve, another three before I was back to normal.)

Medically speaking, it was (for me) a mild illness - no medical support needed. But I was very much NOT in a position to carry on as normal.

The tiredness thing seems to be a fairly common complaint. Though not unheard of with otherwise more milk illness, when I had mono as a teen I was only really ill a sort time, like a flu. But I was tired for over a year and it affected my school and job.

I had it over Xmas, presume Omicron. I’m 7 days out of isolation but still feeling exhausted and have a permanent headache. Vaccinated, and had booster mid October. I’m 59. It’s hard going. Definitely doesn’t feel like a cold. But it’s not anywhere near as scary as pneumonia I had in 2020.

I think I had it March 2020. Was doing a lot of commuting and presume I caught it on a packed train. It floored me for about a week. Like an awful head cold but with fatigue so bad I couldn’t get off the sofa to open the front door.

DS just had what I presume is Omicron. He’s 6. He was a bit warm for a few days, not that her notice as he spent most of his isolation playing football and basketball in the garden and time trials running up and down the stairs! The rest of us were negative.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius

Spot on. This is sometimes what people forget - the unpredictability.

I have CFS and its quite similar to Long Covid in symptoms and demographics. Hope you get better, and find ways to cope whilst you have it.

I feel a bit doomed as DS has just gone back to school. I just don't know what Covid will do to my system but probably nothing good!

Happy to help via Mumsnet inbox if you need anything.

That is so kind of you, @KisstheTeapot14!

Hi all,

Just wondered wondered anyone else has suffered awful upper back and neck pain with Covid?

My son tested positive yesterday after starting with raging cold symptoms on Saturday. We're waiting on PCR results but I have been coughing (not lots, but when I do its enough for me to wretch) and have had the worst upper back and neck pain plus burning sore eyes since Sunday.

The back of my head feels very sore around the hairline too, think this is glands?

Just wondered if anyone else had this?

Thank you and best wishes to all those unwell xx

Sorry, realise I have posted in the wrong thread! Ignore!

When I had it back in March 2020, it felt like the worst flu I had ever experienced, but was over in 24 hours. When I had Omicron in Dec 2021, after having 3 jabs, I didn't have a single symptom and I wouldn't have tested if it wasn't for my friend testing positive. It wasn't even like a cold, I was absolutely fine.

My DH and 2 DD's didn't catch it from me, despite me not isolating away from any of them.

I have Omicron now and yes it does feel like a bad cough which I have not had for a very long time.

I can't comment on the Alpha or Delta being like a cold because I never had it. I known people to have died of Covid so for definitely not just a cold.
When I found out I had Omicron people I knew who were unvaccinated and didn't believe in Covid just told them I am not well with a cold. There's no point saying you have it. I don't think there's any point telling them you have Covid even if you were around them they wouldn't do nothing just say they not afraid of a cold.
Many people react differently to the difference strains.
Delta still worse than Omicron not sure about Alpha.
I have always wondered about people if people noticed a difference when they had Covid before vaccine and after. If they felt delta second time was better because first they were in hospital or being vaccinated did prevent them going hospital.
Covid won't be only illness that may hit in the future. It could be far worse for people to call a cold.

My dd has asthma, had all her covid jabs and tested positive on a lat flow yesterday. Didn’t have the 3 classic symptoms on the gov website. Felt a bit like a cold was starting. Then it went straight to her chest, felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest yesterday. Upped all of her inhalers. Sats are ok. Today she says her chest is a bit better but has moved to her face. Sinuses are painful. She said for her it definitely feels different to a normal cold as it wouldn’t normally hit her chest that hard straightaway. Interesting and 🤞 she’ll not be too ill with it. Her sister who doesn’t seem to have it yet has worse asthma and other issues so am hoping she doesn’t get it too.