Weird Thing About Having a Cold

[AnaKhouri]

I am not sure if this is OK to post here. I don't need medical advice, I just can't find any information on this and want to know if anyone else experiences anything similar.

This morning I woke up and knew I would be sick tomorrow. I always know because the pattern is the same: one morning I wake up with sore, achy joints and fatigue. Not unusual for someone who is getting sick. However, my skin is also super-sensitive. Even wearing clothes is uncomfortable. The aches and fatigue remain throughout the illness but the sensitivity goes away by the time the illness is full-blown (Today the actual cold started early, I was completely sick by this afternoon. Usually it is more like 24 hours before the full sickness sets in.).

Does anyone else experience this sensitivity as they're getting sick? It always happens before I get a cold/sinus infection/respiratory thing. I don't seem to feel it before having a stomach problem (though I have had stomach viruses or the flu so rarely, I don't even remember how I feel beforehand).

I can't find any information on this symptom on the Net and no one I have ever asked has experienced this skin sensitivity. It only happens as I am getting sick. Is it psychological somehow?

Anyone else have this, or am I a sideshow freak?

[lupo pazzesco]

I usually get the hypersensitivity and overall aches with fatigue, but the first sign for me is a increased thirst and my throat feels...off. Not quite scratchy, not quite sore.

The achy and fatigue stick around for the duration for me, but the sensitivity fades. All three come roaring back with a vengeance when I spike a fever, though. That kind of sucks. I'm already weak and icky feeling, and now I can't even stand curling up under the blankets because the blankets irritate me.

So no, not a freak. People just get sick differently. I was bitching earlier that my boyfriend has a titanium immune system. I've been sick just over a week now. He caught a similar bug and was back on his feet within 36 hours, the bastard.

[Buglady]

I get the same thing. I feel as though someone has gone over my skin with a dull potato peeler. How else can I describe the feeling? It's somewhere between a sunburn and a bruise... and my hair always hurts when I have a really bad cold (that and it will go really limp and blah no matter how recently I have washed it). Usually it happens if I'm overtired/stressed, and like you, about 24 hours before I show cold/flu symptoms. If you're crazy, at least you aren't alone

Another way I can tell I'm getting sick is that coffee doesn't taste good - I'll wake up and just not want any coffee. (You have to understand, coffee is my LIFE'S BLOOD normally). This kind of sucks because if I don't have my normal 2 cups of coffee I get a caffeine withdrawal headache... bleh.

[HappyFun Ball]

My hair and teeth will become hyper sensitive and my throat will feel hot a day or 2 before I get sick. When I'm stuffed up I tend to have a British accent.

[Sapphire Silk]

What everyone is describing is called "prodromal" responses, and they are very common before actually coming down with the full blown illness. You are contagious at this time, btw.

Everyone experiences them differently, but I'm not hearing anything unusual about the reported symptoms

[telecom_goddess]

I have found, and this may just be me, but since I started taking garlic supplements about 3 years ago or so I almost never get sick with a cold anymore.

And I used to get sick all the time.

Just sayin'

[dalesys]

...taking garlic supplements about 3 years ago or so I almost never get sick with a cold anymore...

Nobody gets close enough!

[telecom_goddess]

Nobody gets close enough!

hahaha funny But these are not the kind that reek of garlic...they really don't produce a smell.

[Pagan]

Another way I can tell I'm getting sick is that coffee doesn't taste good - I'll wake up and just not want any coffee. (You have to understand, coffee is my LIFE'S BLOOD normally). This kind of sucks because if I don't have my normal 2 cups of coffee I get a caffeine withdrawal headache... bleh.

I do the same thing, but with dairy. And I have to have my glass of milk every night!

Oh, and alcohol, too, doesn't appeal.