Anyone else scared to cough in public?

amother

Wed, Dec 23 2020, 11:40 pm

I have a very bad cough and am having such a hard time. When ever I go anywhere (even though I wear a mask) I'm afraid of coughing and upsetting or making people afraid. It's driving me crazy, it's so hard to hold back a cough. In the store, by work, by appointments... Confused

I feel like wearing a t-shirt stating "tested negative for covid, it's just a bad cough." Anyone else have this problem??

EsaEinai

Wed, Dec 23 2020, 11:51 pm

I had this a few months ago. I got tested, results were negative. My cough lingered for a month! I didn’t have a t shirt made, but every time I coughed I made an announcement that I’m negative and I just have a cough. I get you, op. Refuah sheleima!!

amother

Ivory

Wed, Dec 23 2020, 11:52 pm

Lol yes! I'm a therapist and I was working with a student in a school last week. You know how sometimes you get like a tickle in your throat and it won't go away until you eat or drink something, and meanwhile you're just coughing away? So that happened to me TMI

I got a LOT of looks.

amother

Natural

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 12:08 am

In the world we are in right now, you really should feel comfortable to reassure those strangers around you that you tested ( overnight tested, rapids are junk) and its not covid. They will ALL appreciate your kindness.

PeanutMama

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 12:20 am

Yep. I got that once and I was holding it in. My chest hurt for a good new minutes until I just had to cough. Argh.

People think everything is covid.

A plain old cold is covid
A plain old cough is COVID
A plain old fever is COVID

I had strep maybe a month or about 2 months back and I got tested and BH it was negative. But yea. It was scary to cough lol.

amother

White

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 9:00 am

Make sure you have gum or candy with you.
I didn't go out in public after I recovered from Covid for a while because I wanted to be more machmir than the CDC and I still had a cough. I still coughed slightly once I started going out but I was assured it was a normal cough. Still I was very self-conscious about it.

tweety1

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 9:34 am

Op, I do I get you. I'm in the same boat now. Recovering from a bad cold. I have a hard time cuz the way my body works colds is weird. My cough comes out after I feel perfectly fine and after my stuffy nose is gone. My body has been this way since I remember myself. It's like all the congestion that was stuck comes out. And when you have to clear congestion... try fighting that back.

Kiwi13

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 9:44 am

I’m nervous even to cough in my own house when our nanny is here (her family and ours are all extremely careful about COVID safety). Yesterday I was coughing in the bathroom after using spray deodorant and I was scared she’d think I was sick, but I was also too embarrassed to shout out, “it’s okay, I’m just choking on my deodorant!” What can you do. Strange times we live in.

Teomima

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 10:11 am

Yes! Are you me?? I've had this horrible cough for weeks now. I even got a chest x-ray but it's all clear. I'm on a very strong cough suppressant and using an inhaler but any physical exertion, even just talking or walking, makes me cough. I've had two tests in two weeks just to be sure and it's negative every time, but I feel so guilty nonetheless.

Elfrida

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 2:45 pm

Coughing when you are giving Corona shots can become really embarrassing. People think that if I had it myself, I shouldn't be coughing - for any reason!

amother

Emerald

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 2:48 pm

I had a cough from before the beginning of Corona until like a few weeks ago! I got an inhaler for it. I took the inhaler before going out even if I had coughed like just once. I didn't want to scare anyone.

BH it's better now I discovered that it goes away if I sleep enough.

Metukah

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 4:02 pm

I had a cough and tested negative for covid BH.
I was absolutely terrified to cough. Every time I coughed I announced that it wasn't covid.
Difficult times we live in. Difficult times.
(Weird thing, my reply posted in another thread)

amother

Aubergine

Thu, Dec 24 2020, 9:04 pm

I usually get a cough every winter that lasts for a long time, probably 5 weeks to 2+ months. I've had several experiences in the past--long before COVID--when people moved away from me when they heard my cough. One year I couldn't go to my weekly exercise class for months because my cough made a senior member of the class nervous.

Praying I don't get it this year, because I don't know what I'll do!!

amother

Lavender

Sun, Dec 27 2020, 7:53 pm

I've been coughing for over 10 years. It may go away for a month or 2 but then it comes back. So people who know me know to ignore it, but people who don't? Yeah, I feel guilty coughing around them.

The craziest thing is that before pesach I was coughing and was not feeling well-just extremely tired. No fever as we were checked every day when entering work. (I am considered an essential worker). Months later it came out that 'bone fatigue' is a symptom of covid-and that described what I felt in March. Got tested for antibodies and had them. So when I was coughing and tired and saying "it's not covid" it really was. I feel better that at least I wore a mask then. And I don't think I passed it on to anybody either.