My husband caught a mild-to-moderate cold. He gave it to me, but it is a “man I’m so fucking sick” kind of cold for me. It’s been 5 days now and I don’t feel much better (though I’m taking some symptom meds now and my congestion isn’t quite as bad).
I’ve been working the whole time. Could that have anything to do with how long it takes me to start feeling better? Are my efforts to keep up at work actually impairing my ability to get well faster?
I don’t have anything other than anecdotal evidence, but it seems to me that when I get sick, if I take a day or two off work right away and catch up on sleep/chicken soup/general relaxation, the sickness goes away pretty quickly.
The plague that my 3yo “Butlerette” gave me a couple of weeks ago is just finally ending. It was a solid week of chest congestion.
I did work (and camp) through it, as I felt fine, except for a cough, and chest congestion.
Each cold virus is a little different, as is each person’s reaction to it, so this is truely a case of YMMV as to the progress of your recovery.
Also: Can you re-infect yourself? Or once you are over a cold, are you immune to that strain?
From what my doctors have told me, a cold will pretty much take as long as it takes to run it’s course.
You are correct in that the medications only address the symptoms, and not the cold (virus) itself.
I suppose if you were to starve yourself, or in another way weaken your body, it might impact your body’s ability to fight the cold. But I think working wouldn’t prolong a cold. However, if you work with other people, you may be infecting them with your bug.
I’m on day 9 of my late spring cold. The worst days were this past weekend. I’m now at the annoying cough stage.
I hate the cough stage worse than all the others.
I have got a cold caught probably last weekend. The symptoms showed up Monday night. I worked on Tuesday but by 6pm had literally No. Voice. left at all.
Woke up Wednesday feeling like shit. Took Wed and Thurs off. I don’t start today (Fri) till 3:30 so am holding off judgement till later, but I still feel so tired. I literally spent all day Wed and Thurs in bed, got up to deal with kids after school then went to bed with them early each night, and I’m still tired.
What I don’t understand is both kids have scratch throats and snotty noses but they are not actually sick and have been going to school, albeit crabbily…
Nope…I’m a home worker. My boss is out of town and another workerbee was laid up, so I didn’t really have a choice. But it worked out.
I’m in the cough stage and still stuffy, so I’m pretty much exhausted. 
I find that if I go to work as usual, a respiratory virus lasts about a week. If I stay home and coddle myself, I’m over it in seven days or so. Therefore, I go to work when I am sick, and reward myself with a few days off once I am healthy and can enjoy it. 
I tend to agree generally it doesn’t matter what you do if you got a cold. Of course if you’re coughing you could irritate yourself worse if you have a pre-existing condition like asthma.
I do think rest helps. I can’t think of any time I ever just “felt better” after having a cold. Seems like I feel lousy till I go to bed then when I wake up I feel better.
Maybe that’s just a perception though
Its an incessant raspy, dry cough accompanied by a giant green head booger. Really digusting. I want to be well again…and I want it NOW.
Once you catch a certain cold virus strain (Rhinovirus) and defeat it, you are immune from that strain. Unfortunately, viruses mutate like crazy and your immunity ain’t worth much. “Chest Colds”, I believe, are not the rhinovirus that causes the common cold (stuffy nose, sore throat, etc).
Every morning (circa 1958) Mother would dollop each one of us 7 or 8 then with a big spoonful of cod liver oil. She would sometimes have to pull a few noses to get us to open up for that putrid oil. Then she would make another round with a tonic of some kind,(wish I new what it was). We would be like little birds waiting for the the tonic, as it cut the nasty cod liver oil taste.
We never had colds and missing school was unheard of.
Some years ago I decided to try CLO again as I would get a very bad cold during hunting season seemed like every year.
Taking the CLO in gel caps is much more pleasant than off the spoon and I don’t get the cold anymore. It sure works for me. I just don’t take it all year round like I should.
Anyone have any idea about what tonic that might have been? the bottle looked just like the CLO bottle.
Next time, I 'd say take Zicam (zinc nasal Gel) it really does work!
I don’t know about Australia but considering the cross Tasman traffic flow and the fact that New Zealand has a REAL doozy of a cold this year, FAR worse then usual. I suspect your cold really IS worse then usual.
I know many people who usually dismiss a cold as ‘nothing’, who are really suffering this year. I had 4 days of work and I have never had time off for a cold in my life. This cold made me feel like death warmed up!