What does having multiple colds without symptoms except fatigue mean?

May 13, 2007 9:18 PM

What does having multiple colds without symptoms except fatigue mean?

I've talked about this with my doctor and haven't gotten any kind of answer about this other than "Its a cold, so I'm not going to give you any medicine." About two years ago I got a winter cold that gave me, for the first time in my life, very severe fatigue and little else. It lasted 10 days or so. I couldnt work for 3+ days. All I could do is sleep.

This winter I got a cold a month that had very few symptoms other than moderate to severe fatigue. I felt slightly feverish and maybe some sniffles or throat pain. In 7-10 days this cold would go away and then I would get another roughly 3-4 weeks later. Cold medicine or just advil would help with the symptoms (even the fatigue sometimes) but I would have to wait a few days for the virus to pass. I usually do not get a fever, but feel hot. My temperature is usually a little below the norm.

I'm a bit worried that I'm no longer getting the classic cold symptoms like coughing, dripping nose, etc. Just getting this fatigue with light (or no) cold symptoms worries me and my doctor's attitude of telling me is nothing isn't really helping. A full blood test and physical examination didn't find anything wrong with me. I also still have my tonsils in my late 20's.

Now that things have warmed over I'm not getting these colds anymore, but I feel like I should do something just in case this is a sign of a serious development. I occasionally wake up feeling feverish and fatigued but it clears up the same day.

I'm considering seeing a specialist, but not sure who to see. An ENT? Or perhaps another GP? Does this just happen to some people as they grow older? No one in my family gets this kind of cold. Thanks.

posted by damn dirty ape to health (8 comments total)

I can't diagnose, but "my doctor's attitude of telling me is nothing isn't really helping" is a big sign that you need a new doctor. Ability to communicate, be heard and helped is important in this sort of relationship. Get a new GP and let it be known that you are concerned and would like to root out a cause and treatment.

Before you go, copy this post and/or make a written account of what you've been going through. Having it all down on paper can help you remember important details at your appointment.
posted by cior at 10:26 PM on May 13, 2007

That happens to me -- swollen glands and fatigue, and sometimes body aches. This lasts as long as a cold would: about 10 days. I get it about twice a year, and I don't get normal colds-with-respiratory symptoms. My doctor says it's a virus, that it's my version of the common cold.

But if it happened once a month for a stretch, I'd want more of an explanation. There isn't a medicine that can knock out viral infections, but I'd still want to feel that my problems were being taken seriously. Tell your doctor that 7-10 days per month isn't acceptable. If you think it might help, show him a calendar with your "sick days" shaded in. If you don't get a satisfactory reaction, see another GP -- because, as you said, what kind of specialist would you see?
posted by wryly at 12:14 AM on May 14, 2007

Consider allergies.

For the past five years, at this time of the year (well, actually, a little bit earlier), I always seemed to get colds.

Symptoms: stuffy nose, sneezing, but sometimes neither of those and just plain feeling under the weather. A bit like I'd just been beaten up. I'd complain to colleagues that "I'm getting my Spring cold again".

It took me a few years to realize it was actually allergies. I'd always suffered in Summer but didn't realize it could kick in so early. It's crucial to understand that not all allergies result in a runny nose/streaming eyes. Some are more insidious. And it's not all about pollen or dust either.

I now take Loratadine tablets from around March onwards, until around October. Loratidine is cheap and effective. Here in the UK I can buy it unbranded from supermarkets, one a day. Some people find other allergy tablets work better, however, so you might have to experiment.
posted by humblepigeon at 1:36 AM on May 14, 2007

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Epstein-Barr Virus?
posted by infinityjinx at 8:29 AM on May 14, 2007

Have you considered Lyme Disease? I had it and the symptoms sound similar. It sort of comes in with fatigue but no cold-like symptoms, goes dormant and comes back stronger. And one blood test often doesn't show it. I've always had a couple of tests spaced weeks apart to identify it. I always described the feeling as if somebody stuck a hose in me and drained the energy out. Of course, the vectors for Lyme Disease are pretty limited. I got mine from a deer tick. If you live in an arid area, or deep in a city, or haven't been hiking or anything like that, you're probably off the hook.
posted by lpsguy at 8:48 AM on May 14, 2007

Have you made any lifestyle changes lately? I got a peculiar spate of colds when I started going to the gym. If you're being exposed to a new space or group of people with all their germy diversity, that could be a rational explanation.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:56 AM on May 14, 2007

All colds are viruses, but all viruses are not colds.
posted by docpops at 4:50 PM on May 14, 2007

I had one winter that I kept saying I couldn't get sick and I couldn't get well. The blood bank tells me I was negative in December, and positive in February, for CMV.
The only symptom I had was tired and an indescribable crappy feeling all the time, and apparently it can come and go on some people. Since nearly everybody has had it, it's likely you'd have antibodies if they looked. It's just another question you could ask the doctor. (From the same wonderful family of herpes viruses that brings you Epstein-Barr.)
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:29 AM on May 15, 2007