Quick question about colds

[tugrik]

How long is it usually between being exposed to a cold and the symptoms hitting you?

I was sniffly on Thursday before I ever even stopped by the con hotel, but only barely. That got worse on Friday, but not enough to bother me. Saturday, during the panel Revar and I hosted that morning, I really felt a cold coming on. Sunday I spent home all day feeling "bweh", but felt good enough that evening to pull by the hotel around 10:30p or so to say goodbyes and do a few last deliveries.

This morning? It was like being kicked in the face. Full on, vicious cold. I had to call in to my Monday morning meeting -- which is normally a meeting I attend in person come hell or high water.

My curiosity is because I'm wondering -- did I catch this from a co-worker and it took this long to settle in? Or is this a 'con crud' and being exposed on Friday-ish or so is what has me feeling like the underside of a shoe today?

Comments

[rainbow-roo.livejournal.com]

Hey Tugrik! Question - did it start out as some intense pressure in your sinuses/clogged sinuses that eventually had you feeling all weak with body malaise? And/or an ear (or both) plugging up?

I think I may have caught something from someone at the convention - which really had me in a downer mood. I pretty much spent half of the latter end of the convention sequestered to my room. Didn't want to give it to anyone else if I had something - and didn't feel up to going out anyways.

I had to call in to work sick today because ugh, I woke up feeling like someone smacked my face with a shovel. I can't figure it out though - because I've been in great health up until the convention. The only thing I can think of is all that bacteria that can spread - elevator buttons, doors, etc..

I'm wondering if someone came to the con with something and I caught it, though this really seems like a bad sinusitis/sinus infection to me. I've had it a few times in the past to know what the symptoms are all about.

I'm kind of curious to know if your symptoms are anywhere in that ballpark area. I hope you feel better!

(Btw - I'm not implicating you or anything here - just trying to figure out if other folks are feeling what I'm feeling.)

[genet.livejournal.com]

My gut says if you were sniffly on Thursday, it was settling and getting comfortable over the weekend.

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat (which I assumed was from shouting myself horse at the dance the night before).
This morning I have a stuffy/runny head. Yikes!

Hope you feel better soon. Sorry I never happened to run into you.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Nothing saying it can't be both, sadly.

I usually have a lag of at least a day between exposure and symptoms, sometimes up to a week. So, odds are you got a bug from work, and then the various germs floating around at the 'con took advantage of your already busy immune system to sock it to you some more.

Feel better soon!

[kakoukorakos.livejournal.com]

I have much the same thing, I think. I knew it was coming on late last week. I went to work on Friday rather than staying home to rest because I just had too much to do, and it didn't seem that bad. It got much worse over the weekend. I just stayed home today even though I could probably tough it out and work. I figure it's best not to expose others since I still have some symptoms, and also to just get all the rest I can in order to put an end to it. I suspect if I'd stayed home on Friday, it probably would've been over quickly and I"d be working today and not had a moderately wretched weekend complete with clogged sinuses, massive headache, and a raw throat.

Sure, you could've caught something else over the weekend too (since you were already fighting something off), but I think it's more likely your cold from last week had a resurgence over the weekend due to all your activities and the stress of doing stuff.

[punktiger.livejournal.com]

Most likely you got it from a cow-orker. I find it usually takes about two to three days after exposure to a cold when you feel it stating to affect you. After that, it's the 3-3-3 rule:

3 days getting it,
3 days got it,
3 days going away.

One last thing, Zicam works a treat when you feel a cold coming on. (It does for me, anyway.)

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

I had to call in sick today and I am working remotely.
I stupidly let the guys come back from Con on Thursday night so I'd have some ( ANY ) social time at all with Arakin.
So much for missing the convention to avoid crud because I am >< this close to being fired from being ill most of December.

[thakur.livejournal.com]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Facts-about-the-Common-Cold-Incubation-Period&id=310598

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

You had it before the con. Being at the con just made it worse. If you'd been at home instead, it might have ended up milder. Hotel air is quite dry (yes, I know it's been raining like mad there) and can aggravate nearly anything into being much worse. And most of us fail to drink enough water when we're at a con, worsening this by talking far more than usual, which contributes to the dehydration and stressing the old mucous membranes.

That said, you may also have layered on a second virus. Nothing in the rule book that says you can't have multiple virii at once.

[nemetfox.livejournal.com]

You probably got it beforehand.

[higginsdragon.livejournal.com]

It all depends on the virus, really. Some hit in 24 hours or less. Some take 72 hours or so. Bacterial infections usually take a few days. You probably got the cold on Monday or Tuesday of last week.

Good news though. Usually by the time you have full blown symptoms, you are generally not as contagious. It's the period while its incubating (and you don't know you have it) where you are the most contagious.

[kevinbunny.livejournal.com]

Colds and other bugs like to take a little while. In my experience, it's somewhere between three days and a week. Bear in mind, the period *right* before you start showing symptoms is when you're most contagious. The symptoms are your body realizing something is wrong and starting to fight it off.