I'm in bed with a cold, first one I've had in a while. I used to get several colds every year, and most would put me out of action for a week or so.

But I see other people just taking over-the-counter cold meds & mostly carrying on as normal.

It's only just occurred to me that maybe people experience colds differently, depending on whether they have other underlying conditions.

@lookitmychicken i get colds as an ear infection first. huge earache that builds and develops over 2 weeks before exploding into massive running nose, coughing, sore throat, that would become me coughing for 6 weeks like my entire lung wants to abandon my body.

i would usually only take sick leave when it exploded. but during covid i was made to take sick leave when my ear started hurting since it was an ARI symptom. and lo and behold, all it took was 2-5 days in bed. not 6 weeks...