Have you had "mild" Covid? No big deal, no worse than a cold? Just curious.

[Ting Tang]

If we should get Covid, is there a chance it might be nothing worse than a bad cold?  Or is it likely to be more flu like?  I just wonder if more people feel like it's a bad cold or if more feel like it is a bad flu?

[almondbutterandjelly]

My dh and I had omicron in January, and it was just a bad cold.  Dh had a different strain a year before that, and his only symptom was random chest pain (monitored at the ER and then sent home).

We are up to date on vaccinations.

[Jaybee]

For the three of us who got it, it was like a nasty cold. Pretty miserable with congestion, feverish, etc., for 3-4 days, then a lingering cough and fatigue for 2-3 weeks. So not a mild cold, but not quite as bad as flu.

ETA: We, too, were caught up on vaccinations, but I can't remember now how many that was at the time. I think at least one booster. This was in February of this year.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Jaybee

[gardenmom5]

four of us had it last summer.  yes, it was a cold.  I got the paxlovid, just because I have autoimmune issues and was paranoid about how I would respond.  (red hot jelly candies help with the horrible taste of paxlovid mouth/tongue.)

[HomeAgain]

Three of our house got it.

Dh's was most like a cold.  No real issues.  He took the next 14 days after testing negative to do mild exercise (i.e., instead of biking 35 miles taking a leisurely 2 mile walk).  No long term effects.

Oldest ds had some miserable days, more like the flu.  He rested as well, but ended up pushing himself more strenuously while sick and took longer to recover.

Youngest ds had 10 days of flu-like symptoms, elevated heart rate and mental difficulties after along with exhaustion.  He took a few months.

 

The only one who doesn't have much vaccine protection is youngest ds.  I'm worried about him getting sick again this winter.

[kokotg]

My oldest had it in January and described it as "the most mild cold I've ever had." He wouldn't have known he had it if he hadn't been testing regularly because he was in a study abroad program (of course, he was also only 20, so that helped I'm sure). Anecdotally, a lot of people I know who had it back then had very mild cases, whereas most people I know who've gotten the later (summer and fall) variants have had a rougher go of it. 

[TexasProud]

It was like a cold, though I felt more fatigue with it. Worst of it lasted 2 days. But within a week, nearly normal.  Nothing like the flu when we had it. The flue was much worse. I couldn't move from the couch for 4 or 5 days.  If I had been home and not stuck in a hotel, I likely would have been doing some of my normal stuff with Covid. I mean, when I get a cold I do stuff, then rest or take a nap, then do stuff, then rest, then do stuff. Probably would have done that with Covid.  But we were stuck in a hotel room, so slept and watched tv for 5 days.  Neither of us has had any long term effects. 

[TheReader]

three of the five of us had it at Christmas time last year (we got our boosters between being exposed and showing symptoms); the initial symptoms felt like booster side effects.  DS mostly was "bad cold/nothing major" with his. I was somewhere between "bad cold" and "mild flu" with mine. DH was "bad flu"-ish with his, mainly in the fact that for him, the exhaustion/tiredness lasted a few weeks (2-ish or so). But, that follows his trend with illnesses -- he doesn't get sick often, at all, but when he does, stuff hits him a little harder than it hits the rest of us. 

None of us had troublesome symptoms, it was just the ability to be out of bed or not that I'm basing the differences on. 

[Heartstrings]

It wasn’t bad for me.  Pretty much like a bad cold, not as bad as the flu.  My husband was worse off until I got his fever down, then it was like a bad cold, not as bad as a flu.  
 

I have had more lingering issues, like a cough that hung on forever.  

[Clemsondana]

I routinely feel worse with allergies, although there was some lingering fatigue, on par with when I have had sinus infections.  I lost smell/taste for a few weeks, which was a bizarre sensation.  For the teen, it was just a few days with no smell but no other symptoms - I've known a couple of teens like that.  Spouse was more flu-like, but not as bad as when we had the actual flu.  Our tween had more like a 24 hour virus - feverish and tired on a Th night, sluggish on Friday, playing in the snow on Saturday.  My parents both had it a few weeks ago and said  for one is was a bad cold with a cough, mostly fine in 4 days, and for the other it was 48 hrs of low fever followed by fatigue.  The worst was that one parent had sores in their mouth so they couldn't eat well, which likely slowed their recovery.  Both said that they were much sicker when they had the flu a few years ago.   Spouse had it a second time (none of us got it) and never would have tested if the person that they sat beside hadn't texted to say that they had it.  It was just allergy symptoms.  My sibling had it during the delta wave and theirs was much more like a bad flu, but for all of us who have had it in the past year it was mild enough that we wouldn't have remembered being sick a year later - it was on par with a sinus infection or cold.  

[Lady Florida.]

Dh and I had omicron in March and it was mild. Not even like a bad cold, just a mild one. Ds tested positive but was asymptomatic.

In summer 2021 dss had what was likely delta and was miserable. He also lost his sense of taste and smell, neither of which came back until about a week after he finally tested negative. 

 

[Clarita]

Me: Mild cold but with pregnancy fatigue for 1.5 days.

DS: Asymptomatic

DD: Mild cold, but of course she's 4 and hadn't been even remotely sick for 2 years so she was DRAMATIC about it. Also she refused to blow her nose so the symptoms lasted longer for her 4-5 days.

DH: Mild cold tired and "felt warm" for 2 days.

No fever for the whole family.

 

[Pawz4me]

My oldest son had it a couple of months ago and said it was no worse than a mild head cold. From onset of symptoms until he felt completely normal was less than five days. He said if he'd had the same thing in the Before Times he wouldn't have given a second thought about going on with his normal life while he had it.

[vonfirmath]

56 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

If we should get Covid, is there a chance it might be nothing worse than a bad cold?  Or is it likely to be more flu like?  I just wonder if more people feel like it's a bad cold or if more feel like it is a bad flu?

We had two people come up positive for Covid this past summer with no symptoms at all -- I would not normally have even considered it a cold-- we had  tested due to exposure with known person with Covid. Neither were vaccinated.  One was age 10. The other age 45 with diabetes. We have all been taking regular D3 since 2020.

Edited November 8, 2022 by vonfirmath

[forty-two]

I got it in July (had original two shots, but no booster), and it was no worse than a moderate cold, symptom-wise (no one else in the family got it) - it genuinely wasn't a big deal.  I took the usual rec'd immune-supporting vitamins, and I nasal washed 3-4 times a day, which helped keep my nose from completely clogging up.  I also used breathe-right strips on my nose when I slept, which also helped keep my nose clear enough to breathe through.  I did have to prop up pillows for 4-5 nights.  I only had a mild fever for the first few days, and was tired but not ridiculously fatigued.  I could have worked from home, if needed (I did continue computer-centric church work).  I didn't cough much, and didn't go through too many kleenexes.  (I coughed more out of quarantine than in it - took a couple weeks to be able to talk much without coughing.)  No change in smell or taste.  After I was out of quarantine, I took naps for the first week, but still wasn't stupidly tired. 

The one thing I did notice that was different than a cold was stamina in walking.  Two days before I came down with symptoms, I was walking the neighborhood with my dh, and though I didn't feel particularly tired or winded, I just couldn't keep up - I was walking so. slow.  It was noticeable enough that I thought I'd have to go to the doctor if it continued.  (Honestly, I was relieved it was due to covid.)  It took a week or two after getting out of quarantine before my walking pace was back to normal.

Edited November 8, 2022 by forty-two

[EKS]

My understanding is that what the medical establishment calls "mild" and what the average person would call "mild" are two different things.

My parents had covid over the summer.  My 85 year old mother had a sore throat for two days and that was it.  My father, who is 92 and immunocompromised, had a mild cough, fatigue, and intermittent fevers.  This lasted for a few weeks and then the doctor prescribed an z-pack and prednisone.  He was better the next day.  A regular person would call their illness mild.

My son had covid in April.  He had a high fever for several days, a bad cough for a few weeks (possibly more), nose issues, and GI issues.  I'm sure it would have been classified as "mild" by the medical establishment, but it didn't seem mild to either him or me.

[Arcadia]

My 80 year old dad (2 dose, 2 booster) had a very mild case of cold and would not have tested if he wasn’t meeting my elderly aunt’s family for dinner. His was in July this year. He tested positive for ten days but his mild cold was a few days only. He lives alone.

My 11 year old niece (2 dose) had a slight fever for a day and tested negative on the third day. Hers was last month. She was the only one infected in their household.

My husband’s aunts, nieces had mild cases last year, none boosted. Their household members didn’t get infected.

[prairiewindmomma]

I had what was considered “mild” covid according to medical classification….10 days of breathing treatments, productive cough, enough mucus to go through five boxes of Kleenex, heart palpitations, GI issues and now I have orthostatic dizziness. I am a month out and just now able to walk a block without breathlessness.

There’s a huge range of how people experience covid. Some people are completely asymptomatic. Some people get whammied. You really won’t know what you get until you get it, iykwim.

[Corbster98]

Mine started off with some congestion for 2 days, then when that went away, I had no sense of smell/ taste for about 7- 8 days. Nothing else but the lack of smell/ taste was not pleasant 

[Insertcreativenamehere]

My kids and I all had it last February and it was basically a bad cold for all of us. We are all vaccinated, however. 

[GoodGrief3]

I had it in April. Four days max, primarily a sore throat. 

[Acadie]

Dd20 had mild respiratory symptoms in the acute phase, then two months later developed Long Covid and hasn't been able to run or manage a full workload since. 

I'm really concerned that by focusing only on acute symptoms, we're minimizing the issues people are having in the medium term, like fatigue, exercise intolerance, hypertension, clotting, strokes and kidney disease, which is silent in the early stages. 

And that doesn't even include the long term issues, which are unknown at this point. But there is increasing evidence Covid causes immune deficiency, and I believe that's contributing to the increased severity of respiratory infections in children and teens that we're seeing this fall. As time goes on we'll know more. But as schools close with 1000+ students out sick, a higher percentage of children have severe infections requiring hospitalization than last winter's RSV surge, and we see more co-infections with multiple bacteria and viruses, it looks to me like we're already seeing fairly widespread immune deficiency. 

After Omicron last winter, the vast majority of American children have now had Covid at least once. That means we're heading into our first winter cold season after widespread infection of young people, and it's looking pretty brutal already. I wish public health officials and doctors showed more intellectual curiosity about why that might be, instead of chalking it all up "immunity debt." That's a term invented in 2021, not a concept with scientific validation. SARS-2 is a Level 3 Biohazard, and the CDC requires high quality masks and ventilation for researchers who work with it in labs, but no mitigations to protect kids exposed at schools? Mass exposure was an experiment. 

This article explores the question of "immunity debt" vs. immune deficiency, to explain the current surge of respiratory illness.

It's really important we get this right. If our kids are sicker because they need exposure to pathogens to build immunity, then our current approach of no mitigations in schools is the way to go. But if what we're seeing is partly due to Covid-acquired immune deficiency, then masks and other mitigations are essential to protect young people who already have some immune compromise, and prevent future infections and further immune deficiency in our children. And with evidence increasing on the side of immune deficiency, I don't think we should wait a decade for research results before we start protecting our children's long term health. 

An essential function of our immune systems is constant surveillance and taking out cancer cells in our bodies, before they develop into clinical cancer. It's well-established in cancer research that other viruses increase risk of various cancers after the acute phase of infection. That's another reason we really need to understand what's happening with SARS-2 in our bodies, and not just assume it's a head cold.

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Acadie

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I am one week out from finally testing neg after a two week bout of COVID. For me, it was definitely worse than a bad cold. I had a fever, brain fog, eye discomfort, and unbearable muscle aches. I barely moved for 5 days due to the pain. I am told, however, that people with fibro tend to experience worse muscle pain with COVID but who knows if that is reliable info. I could only find one observational study supporting that claim.

[horsellian]

When I had COVID in July I only had one symptom - a streaming nose for about 48hrs.  I felt absolutely fine, and if I hadn't tested, I would've thought it was probably hayfever (I react to some flowers, so often get hayfever for a short period while something is flowering in the neighbours garden).

[EmilyGF]

DS17 got COVID in September and went running 6 miles on the day after testing positive.

He had quite a runny nose and was a bit more tired than normal. He was glad to stay home from school a few days and write college essays.

ETA: He tested because another XC team member had tested positive and the coach asked everyone to test.

Emily

Edited November 8, 2022 by EmilyGF

[plansrme]

Most of my immediate family had it; we all had milder symptoms than a cold. In fact, I would take COVID over a cold. No COVID vaccinations other than that one of my international kids was vaccinated after he had nearly-symptomless COVID because it is required to enter his home country.

[marbel]

Last Christmas all in my little family got sick; 3 out of the 4 of us tested positive for Covid. I never got a positive test, but I was sick too. For all of us, it was just like a minor cold. The kind of cold that in the past, people would have just ignored as they went about their business. (I am not endorsing that, just staying that's the kind of cold it was.)

 

[Elizabeth86]

I’ve never actually had the flu, but for me and most of my children it was as if we had a stomach virus. I was worn down and unfocused for 3 weeks after the symptoms were over. I was also first trimester pregnant. I was vaccinated.
 

My husband (unvaccinated a smoker) was down for about 2 days and said his felt like an ordinary cold. 

🤷‍♀️🤣

[KSera]

One of my adult kids had it over summer and it was pretty bad, though the bad part didn’t last very long. Fever, severe muscle and joint pain, vomiting, heart palpitations and elevated heart rate. The acute symptoms were much improved after about four days—2.5 of those were misery. Joint pain and heart symptoms have continued Post Covid. 
 

1 hour ago, Acadie said:

I'm really concerned that by focusing only on acute symptoms, we're minimizing the issues people are having in the medium term, like fatigue, exercise intolerance, hypertension, clotting, strokes and kidney disease, which is silent in the early stages. 

And that doesn't even include the long term issues, which are unknown at this point. But there is increasing evidence Covid causes immune deficiency

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’m very worried about the number of people who are no longer concerned about catching Covid however many times, because they didn’t feel too bad during the acute phase. The acute phase is the least of my worries as a vaccinated person. And especially with my kids, the acute illness phase is not at all what I am concerned about.
 

[Ting Tang]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.  I am still terrified of it, and I feel like it's been three years---I will likely get it.  I haven't gotten the updated booster but plan to do so.  I do not really agree with what the medical community classifies as "mild." A few of your comments sound very concerning, to say the least.  😞  Mild to me would definitely be a cold.  

[Rosie_0801]

I had it back in May, I think, and felt far better than usual! Having a snuffly nose was annoying, but energy-wise I was out excavating a new garden bed.

I'm still doing what I can to avoid it though. I might not be so lucky a second time.

[Drama Llama]

So, when you read statistics that X% of people's cases are "mild" they mean "they didn't need to go to the ER".  They might have been laid out with body aches, a terrible cough, somewhat low oxygen, and a 102 degree fever, but they weren't in respiratory distress, or needing oxygen, or close to organ failure, or throwing clots.  

But a portion of those people with "mild" covid have no or almost no symptoms.  My husband only knew he was positive because he took a test before visiting elderly relatives.  He had zero symptoms.  Some of my other IL's had symptoms that were just like a regular cold.  I would say that at least 50% of the people I know who have had it have reported that it was like a regular cold.  

[Acadie]

10 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.  I am still terrified of it, and I feel like it's been three years---I will likely get it.  I haven't gotten the updated booster but plan to do so.  I do not really agree with what the medical community classifies as "mild." A few of your comments sound very concerning, to say the least.  😞  Mild to me would definitely be a cold.  

It helped me to read Dr. David Berger's take on Twitter--

1. Don't get infected.

2. If you do get infected, get infected as few times as possible, while as vaccinated as possible, with as low a viral load as possible (through masking and ventilation, etc). 

Reading this helped me focus on doing what I can to minimize the impact for myself and my family, rather than thinking of it as all or nothing.

We're masking in public places and not doing indoor dining (except for dds at school), so definitely taking precautions. But since 3/4 of my family has already had Covid at least once and my oldest has Long Covid, it helps me emotionally to focus on the good we can still do by minimizing reinfections and future exposure. 

[KSera]

19 minutes ago, Rosie_0801 said:

I had it back in May, I think, and felt far better than usual! Having a snuffly nose was annoying, but energy-wise I was out excavating a new garden bed.

I'm still doing what I can to avoid it though. I might not be so lucky a second time.

Wow, you sound like you fit the profile of the “zombie ant-like” variety that was shared a couple days ago 😂. The theory being that in some people, having Covid shuts down interferon, rather than increasing it like most viruses do. High levels of interferon normally cause people to want to be antisocial and withdrawn when sick, but low levels tends to get them out and about.

 

[Ausmumof3]

DH is the only one who had to here. He had a week in bed and about four weeks afterwards of coughing, especially after exercise etc. he does have a history of overworking and then crashing when he gets sick. 

[SanDiegoMom]

Husband felt worse than I did - like a flu.  Mine was a bad cold with one night of fevers.  Both of us had brain fog for a week or so after, though.  Just harder to concentrate, follow thoughts. It was weird.  It could have been anxiety but I actually was less anxious about Covid than my husband but the brain fog was just as bad. 
 

Felt fine about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks after onset. 

[whitestavern]

Two of us had fever and aches, no typical cold symptoms but on the same level as far as harshness. One threw up and was very tired for 2 days. One felt like they had a bad cold with typical cold symptoms. (Last was vaccinated.)

[mlktwins]

Both of my boys just had minor cold symptoms in July.

[BeachGal]

4 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

If we should get Covid, is there a chance it might be nothing worse than a bad cold?  Or is it likely to be more flu like?  I just wonder if more people feel like it's a bad cold or if more feel like it is a bad flu?

It has been quite bad for some of the long haulers. There are multiple phenotypes of long Covid but of the major six or so, all of them now have clinical studies either already going or starting up. Some MDs have developed treatment theories after gathering and studying biomarkers and some of their patients have improved.

Resia Pretorius (Stellenbosch) is making the rounds this week at a number of research universities. She is working on the microclot problem. There are others, too.

[shawthorne44]

I had it back before it was a known thing and it was a mild cold for me.  DH was sick enough that I called it "Not Man Cold" since he is the king of man colds and he was really sick.  But only for 24 hours.  

[AmandaVT]

I had it in May - I was asymptomatic, except I lost my sense of smell for a few days. Since then, I've had a weird smell issue where whenever coffee grounds are put into the garbage, I feel like the whole house smells of old coffee and rotten garbage. It's super weird and I'm really hoping it goes away soon!! 

DH had it in July - felt terrible for the first 24 hrs. Fever over 103, and said his bones felt like they were full of shards of glass. Paxlovid helped him turn the corner pretty quickly and he was feeling much better the next day. Also, I've been reading that paxlovid is also helping make long covid less likely, which is great to hear. 

[Mrs Tiggywinkle Again]

I had it a second time in January 2022(maybe a third time, the first possible was April 2020 and testing wasn’t great).  In January 2022 I had three vaccines and was sick for two days with body aches, fever and head congestion.  Two of my kids had positives and slept for a day and then were fine. Both vaccinated.

My unvaccinated mother tested positive after my unvaxxed sister gave it to her. Neither were sick more than 12 hours or have lasting side effects. 
 

It’s just really hit or miss. The second time I had it, post vax, was worse symptom wise than when I had it in October 2020, before vaccines were available. Still neither were awful, but the first time gave me a lot of brain fog and sent me into a depressive spiral for a while.  My smell and taste has never fully come back.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Mrs Tiggywinkle Again

[Ditto]

It went through our house in May.  Everyone had been vaccinated multiple times.  None of us had it bad.  The worst was just the fatigue and brain fog that lasted a few days.  It took another week or so for full energy to return.  We have since had the bivalent vaccine (and flu shots!).    

[Dianthus]

I have it now for the first time. I'm really annoyed I didn't get the fall booster but I was boosted in the spring. Symptoms are fever with chills and sweats, the worst sore throat I've ever had, like a completely raw open sore on the entire throat and can't swallow anything without hurting, way worse than strep, which I had a lot in college. Congestion and coughing. TMI, So much muck in my throat that it gags me and made me vomit about 10 times, but I have a sensitive gag reflex.  It's been miserable and not quick. Tested postive on Friday and last night was still miserable though I feel better at the moment, well enough to fold laundry. So, nothing like a cold and worse than the time I got a touch of the flu while vaccinated.  I think it's worse than any other time I've been sick just because so much is happening at once. I don't feel dangerously sick though. Just miserably sick. The sore throat is the worst part no relief from tylenol and ibuprofen or chloroseptic spray and drops. Just miserable. My 2 yr old is the only one not vaccinated and she has had a fever for 6 days. The first couple days she was surging to 105/106, now at night has gone to 103/104. She's going to the doctor soon though I don't think she can do much and I think she's getting better. I want her ears and eyes checked. Her eyes have been goopy and she's pointing at an ear though I think throat pain is sometimes felt in ears. She definitely pointed at her throat but not much now.

2 adults and 3 kids in my family have it. All similar symptoms but ds11 recovered after 2 days. Ds7 hasn't gotten it. Crazy virus.

[catz]

My college student had it.  He tested positive incidentally, didn't have symptoms.  Isolated and it didn't spread (he lives with 3 others at college).  He did get it a couple months after his booster last winter.  That was definitely omicron.

My high schooler had it last month.  She had very much a typical cold.  Low grade fever MAYBE one day.  Cold, cough, used up a bunch of kleenexes.  But kept up with school work, online chatting friends constantly, showered every day, enjoyed the room service.  Was definitely ready to roll at 5 days.  She had not been boostered since last year over the holidays.  ETA - also, it didn't spread.  DH and I did not get it.  We did do a decent job isolating her though once she tested positive.

ETA - we have had full blown influenza A/B here a couple times verified by testing and that was WAY worse for us.  I won't miss a flu shot every again.  

Edited November 8, 2022 by catz

[popmom]

My experience was something between a mild cold and flu in that I had body aches, but I have autoimmune disease that already causes me to have body aches. My adult children ran a fever, but it wasn't anything awful.

[Ausmumof3]

Anecdotally in my peer group the men have had more acute cases but the couple of people is suspect are dealing with possible long covid are both women. One says she thinks she hasn’t been right since she had it but she has significant other health issues so it’s hard to separate out, the other hasn’t specifically said long covid but says they’ve been sick ever since they had it and has a couple of other health things that have started in that time. I do sometimes question though because I have had some brain fog memory issues lately that I would put down to covid if I’d had it, so hard to know how much is just life stressors I guess.

[Rosie_0801]

1 hour ago, KSera said:

Wow, you sound like you fit the profile of the “zombie ant-like” variety that was shared a couple days ago 😂. The theory being that in some people, having Covid shuts down interferon, rather than increasing it like most viruses do. High levels of interferon normally cause people to want to be antisocial and withdrawn when sick, but low levels tends to get them out and about.

 

I figured it gave my immune system something more important to do than create autoimmune issues. *shrug*

I think I like that explanation better than, well, I don't think I want to identify as a zombie ant. 😂

[rebcoola]

We had Covid July.  For DH it was bad like the flu. Me and it was a bad cold/ mild flu more tired than I would be with a cold.  For ODD it was cold like but long. MDD very mild cold almost asymptomatic  YDD bad flu( she was unvaxxed at the time)

[Farrar]

Another vote that it was super mild for us, at least in the moment. I would rank it below most colds I've had, actually. 

Who knows what it's done to me long term, of course. But what can you do? Nothing at this point.