To be so fed up of being ill?

I hope you start feeling better soon. My sister swears by Sambucol she starts taking it from September until the end of the cold and flu season. She hasn’t had a cold or flu for years, she just may be lucky but it’s worth a try.

look at your own punctuation, dear!

Do this and ask for your iron and ferritin to be checked, plus vitamin D and also folate. I only found out recently that folic acid isn't just for when you're pregnant and low levels at other times affect your energy. Not saying all this is the root of the problem, but if one or more of these is out of whack it'll really impact your ability to recover from the flu. I do think you should also get signed off for two weeks and give yourself chance to rest.

Yep I thought the same. Couldn't really understand what she wrote x

October there was the new strain of COVID going around. Quite a few staff at my school tested for it and we're positive. It's well known that COVID can dampen the immune system for a few months after and the mutated flu came round in November. Add together the usual bugs and colds and there's been a fair amount of illness in most schools. ....

Having proper time to recover is the key. DH and I had a similar amount of illness as OP and went back to work too soon after flu in October and then caught it flu after Christmas, and we’d had the jab.

we are taking proper time to recover this time, it’s dull, it’s awful and we are so bored of each other. But it’s so important.

I think that's more luck really. It's great you haven't gotten ill but eating fruit and veg and a healthy diet is good advice for people who are struggling with illness as it does boost your immune system.

Do you take any vitamins ? I got paranoid about getting ill pre christmas so researched them. It could be a placebo but I have managed to miss (touch wood) all the bugs going roind so far. I also eat a lot of fruit and veg.

I don’t eat any veg or fruit and I’m never ill and I haven’t had a cold in years

i really feel for you OP, that must be so miserable.

in the spirit of ‘what do I do now’ just a few suggestions.

• my DF was a Doctor and taught us Autumn / Winter are the seasons to increase Vitamin C & Zinc dosages to ward off colds and viruses. I get that it’s Winter, but it’s not too late to start and remember to do it next Autumn.
• similarly make sure you are supplementing with Vitamin D
• I follow the 30 a week philosophy and once you get your head around it it is really simple. My go to winter recipes are as follows;
• Winter Veg Chop: Lightly (very lightly so still al dente) steam chopped Broccoli, Asparagus, Sugar Snap, fresh Sweetcorn, French Beans). Leave to cool. In a separate bowl chop (you are aiming for small similar sized pieces of each veg) Tomatoes, Yellow Pepper, Red Cabbage, Spring Onions, Avocado and any other salad veg you like. Grate fresh ginger and the rind of a Lime into the bowl and add the juice of a Lime. Stir in the cooled steamed veg. Add sunflower seeds and pumkin seeds. Place in the fridge and add several spoonfuls as a side dish to whatever you are eating or just have a little bowl as a snack. Immediately you are achieving 14 of your 30 a week and giving your body a significant vitamin boost every time you dip into that bowl. I quite often eat this as a side dish to a piece of fish as my evening meal and top the salad with pomegranate seeds. I live alone but the bowl makes enough for 3-4 days and lasts well if covered in the fridge.
• Winter Veg Bake. Chop into large squares; Butternut Squash, Parsnip, Celeriac, Sweet Potato and roast in olive or avocado oil in the oven. Halfway through cooking add fresh Sweetcorn, Red Cabbage, Romanesco, Sugar Snap, Tomatoes, Broccoli and anything else you fancy. Again I make enough for several days. The first day I eat it with Haloumi or fish and afterwards (it lasts for 3 days plus in the fridge) just fry up small portions to go with Fish, Sausages etc. Or make the leftovers into Soup.
• The aim of both these recipes is to reach my 30 a week and always have something in the fridge to make that easy. The rest of my 30 each week will be fruit, nuts and seeds.

Do try to get the flu jab over the next few years. Your immunity has obviously taken a hammering and it will take some time for your poor body to recover. The environment you are in means exposure is inevitable, all you can do is protect and ward off.

FWIW and I am scared to tempt fate, I am supposedly immuno compromised because of an underlying medical condition, but following my vitamin / flu jab / 30 a week protocol together with rigorous hand washing, have never (to my knowledge) had Covid and haven’t now had a cold since 2019.

Of course that could all change tomorrow, but something in the mix does seem to have helped. I always used to get a Christmas cold prior to starting the ‘30 a week’ way of eating. Maybe the boost in vitamin levels consistently throughout the year, has been my protecting factor.

infections can develop. Go back to GP if it’s been a week or so since going to check
for sinus infection/ chest infection/ throat

If you think it could be Covid please test then, as someone who ended up like you for 5 weeks while pregnant in October. I lost 2 weeks of wages, lost weight, was so unwell my baby wasn’t gaining weight and almost had to come out earlier. People are still vulnerable like how you are being so run down. If you’re that sick, I’d think twice about socialising anyway. Also if I was your friend and you told me all this and you turned up to an meet up that unwell I’d be so upset you’re will to get me sick and put me through what you have gone through.

You need Mullaine (sp) tea bags, thyme, honey and garlic (seperately!) . Get well soon.

Can you get a week away at half term?

I think it is bad this year, and I completely feel for you. I've had flu jab on time etc. and have now had a dreadful cold (not flu) since before Christmas, so more than 3 weeks ago. I am not on death's door and I am grateful for not having the achy bones or dizziness of flu, but cannot sleep for almost choking, cannot believe the amount of "fluid" still going on, it is in my eyes as conjunctivitis, and I am still blowing my nose continually, constantly tired, I look terrible and feel terrible most of the time between the hot lemons, which at points I have timed to see when I can have the next one. Every night of sweating etc. I think "well tomorrow will be better surely". No dice. Just had all my bloods done for something else before the onset, so no problem there. Just a horrible horrible bug. Even with the worst of things, I tend to recover in days, this one is doing my head in... I guess you just have to keep going sometimes, but god when will this end has crossed my mind. xxxx (PS ignore the "grammar-corrector", they really are not in touch with real life and this inability is on them !)

Can I ask is this unique to the UK? I’m laying in bed can’t sleep full of cold reading mumsnet at almost 2am and pondering escaping so where next year.

Then I thought this cold flu thing is it global at the same time or just our cold seasonal wether that cumulatively makes us sick?

@ProudPearl there's flu, RSV and covid doing the rounds, sounds like you've been unfortunate enough to have them all. This version of covid definitely lingers, son got it end October (definitely covid as three health workers here and we still had tests left over) I got it early November off him and I'm still coughing and sinuses blocked up every night. Was worse than when we originally got it in march 2020🤷............soon be spring🌷🐣

I feel like every cold lately has been a really severe one and I find it harder to bounce back. I also had flu in early December and even now I still have traces of the cough and fatigue.

I asked a doctor what more can I do to strengthen my immunity. I know you said you had vitamins, but check your dosage and my doctor also said have a separate vitamin d supplement, but as a mouth spray as this is absorbed a lot better. You can take it alongside a multi vitamin but just heck the dosage, you can see online the maximum daily dosage.
Also when you get a cold start an extra vitamin and zinc supplement alongside the other vitamins.

I'm not eligible for the flu vaccine, but next year I'm paying for it privately as I suffered bad this season and it takes a long time to get over it.

Hope you feel better soon! But definitely try the vitamin d spray, so far I've not had anything since starting it!

Agree with this, plus asking GP to check your thyroid function. My vitamin D was 51 this time last year, vitamin pills (take with orange juice to aid absorption), are the way to go.

It’s definitely not too late to get the ‘flu jab OP.

Hiya OP! 👋
I'm so sorry to hear your feeling like crap, T'is the season for coughs and colds which is sods law 🥶

I could have written your post last year, both me and my hubby were very ill during Christmas 2024 with flu and then our young DS was poorly. 🤧

We had moved into a new drafty house and burned the candle at both ends with working long hours, looking after an elderly mother and then taking lots of trips out with DS to make "christmas memories" and we inevitably got very run down and poorly. 🤦🏻‍♀️

This Christmas 2025 (just gone) we had a game plan, and it was as follows:

1. Having our flu jabs 💉
2. Keeping topped up with allergy meds everyday, when we felt a tickly throat. 🤧
3. Plenty of water for hydration 💧
4. Plenty of fruit and veg (slow cooker and airfryer are your best friends) 🥘
5. Guilt free rest days in our pajamas 😌
6. Any trips/days out (for Xmas memories) could NOT be outdoors (like lanterns lights around a zoo as we always traipsed around in drizzly cold weather), so we only attended indoor events, so we didn't get soaked. 🌧
7. Knowing when to say no to invites/parties/ play dates, to give your body a rest.

I personally use a humidifier, and have a nasal spray or even a neti pot to clear my nose out, and take an antihistamine 💊 and tape my mouth shut (Buteyko method) but I understand that may freak a few people out 😆
Because it forced nose breathing and gave my throat a rest, so it worked for me 😉 it's not for the faint hearted.

We haven't gotten proper ill this year. We've all had the sniffles (thankfully) but are nowhere near poorly like we were on Christmas 2024. 🙌
Prioritise rest, sleep and fluids, and make sure you are having time for yourself.

Also to add, could you possibly have low iron levels or magnesium? Or even be perimenopausal?
Maybe a trip to the GP would suffice? 🤔
Sending hugs and I hope you feel better soon 💗 🫂 💐
@ProudPearl

Any chance you could be vitamin D deficient? This can lead to catching continuous illnesses, and also a lack of energy.

I know this because I’m currently on massive dose prescribed after my number was in the teens, rather than the over 50 it should be.

Apparently most people in the U.K., in winter, don’t get enough vitamin D

Did you really rest after the first lot or were you still on the go? Was your christmas busy?

The nhs definition of rest is doing nothing no tv, no reading, nothing.

I suspect you haven't given your body chanve to recover.

Work would replace you tomorrow but your family wouldn't. Look after yourself and feel better soon

This won’t help you now (bit high dose vitamin c and zinc, vitamin d, loads of fluids and rest might), but the next time you get the beginning of a cold try the first defense nasal spray. It definitely seems to work if you catch things early enough, it traps and expels the viruses and deactivates them or something.

The absolute irony of your post being full of poor grammar, and poorly typed as well...sloppy and unprofessional as well as you being a complete cow to the OP when she's already said how low she is feeling.

@ProudPearl hope you feel better soon, lighter days are coming!