How’s often are you ill?

[BuffaloCauliflower]

Just that really. I’ve got a doctors appointment today to talk about various symptoms I think might be connected, one of which being recurring illness (but not just that)

In the last 8 months I’ve had 3 cold/flu things so bad I’ve had several days off work, two were really awful week long things where I was mainly confined to the bed/sofa, just seemed to take ages to shift. I’ve also had I think 3 D&V bugs, as well as multiple headaches, stomach aches, feeling sick. Just generally feeling unhealthy. Last year and the year before were the same. I’m only 31 and a bit chubby but eat a pretty healthy diet.

People around me don’t seem to get ill anything like as much as I end up feeling like a hypochondriac! How often are you ill?

Maybe once a year I'll get something that floors me completely like a virus but only for a couple of days . Never get D&V although had food poisoning for a day last year which was pretty nasty. I find exercise helps stave off anything if I feel a bit rough . I also take Spirulina and that seems to have boosted my immune system. I'm 47

Without wanting to tempt fate, I'd say perhaps every 3 - 5 years or so. I hope that you manage to get to the bottom of your symptoms.

Unfortunately fairly regularly. I have a malabsorption disorder that means I am often deficient in various vitamins which leads onto slightly lowered immunity and other problems. Last year DD had a cough which I caught and ended up with bilateral pneumonia and was in hospital for a week. She got over the cough just fine.

Rarely do I get anything that floors me and I can't go to work or need to stay in bed. In the last year I have had a UTi, which admittedly made me feel shit, I've never had one before and a bit of a cold.

I never get D&V and last time I had Flu was 1999, I remember as I had to cancel all the big New Year plans I had!

I take a daily B Vitamin and I am fastidious about hand washing which definitely helps.

@Bobbiepin interesting, thanks for sharing. I’m wondering about things like that.

Thanks all - every 3-5 years?! I can’t imagine such a thing!

I think it’s unusual to be sick that often OP. Do you travel on public transport and bite your fingernails by any chance? If not I think it’s worth a trip to the GP to see if there’s something causing a low immune system.

Hardly ever. Maybe one cold a year? Had a D&V 24 hour type bug this year. I can honestly say it's the first time I've ever had one. The last time I vomited before that was about 20 years prior after a bout of food poisoning at about 8 years old. The difference is now I have DC

All of the fucking time. Immune system is a bit bad and randomly reacts to things or thinks the world is ending. Also have had a run of physical injuries - not completely debilitating, but bloody sore. I am ill so often that it really pisses me off. In the last year I've been in hospital twice (infection), a+e 3 times and probably at the gp 6 or 7 times.

Guess what - we're all different. Average sick days per year is around 5, I think. But beware averages. I went 13 years with only 1 day off sick then got cancer. You can improve your immune system with lots of proper exercise and a healthy diet but for many people that's easier said than done.

BuffaloCauliflower I can temper the ridiculous healthiness with being a little accident prone if it makes you feel better.....injured happens much more often than ill and I have the scarred knees of a small child rather than a grown woman! I wonder whether it has much to do with my upbringing; very much an outdoors lifestyle, no mains water so from a well etc BUT my sister gets ill fairly frequently and had the same so I guess that I am just lucky. I have never had antibiotics and am 42 (apart from some put into my shoulder during an operation I think).

Rarely.
But when I am ill, it’s usually epic and completely floors me
For example, I went practically an entire year without so much as a sniffly nose last year...then got blindsided by Whooping Cough earlier this year

Immunocompromised but on meds
Probably 1 cold a year, and then something like a chest infection or tonsillitis
I don't get d and v, tonsillitis is my weak spot!

@Happyspud yes both those things 😂 but I wash my hands A LOT as well. I’ve got a bit of a weak bladder so go to toilet and wash my hands a good 15 times a day on average. I am going to the GP today.

My diet is pretty healthy and I walk a lot. The other symptoms I mentioned are stomach problems, mixture of sudden extreme bloating after eating (looks genuinely like I’m 6 months pregnant) feelings of uncomfortable fullness after small meals and problematic bowel movements, but while symptoms over years are fairly regular they’re never constant. I’ve tried connecting it to certain foods but doesn’t seem to be clear cut.

Hardly ever (touch wood). In the last 14 working years, I've had one day off sick when I was vomiting and a couple of days when I had my wisdom teeth out.

Oh and I’ve developed asthma and some skin allergies over the last 5–7 years, never had a problem when younger

Rarely really, about one cold a year and nothing else. I have rheumatoid arthritis, I just live with that, it has become 'my normal'. However, my fifties were blighted with every illness under the sun, thankfully my sixties aren't.

Very rarely.
Been to the doctors twice in 5 years. I am retired (early) and relatively stress free so maybe that helps. I also do weights 4 times a week and eat well.

Could be coeliac disease? I had a lot of colds and chest infections before diagnosis.

@Laterthanyouthink I’ve wondered that too. I bloody hope not I almost got tested for it a few years ago but it was when my bowel movements were really bad and I literally couldn’t get a stool sample to test. Symptoms got better then for a while too so I left it. No ‘sudden weightloss’ either, and symptoms don’t seem to be linked just to gluten containing foods

Just spotted the typo in the title too, sorry it’s early!

I’ve been on and off a low carb, Blood Sugar Style diet this year, and stomach symptoms do seem to be better when I’m eating that way (lots of fish, dairy, veg, olives, olive oil etc) when I go back to eating more carb rich foods I get tired and feel sick. But I’d argue no one feels great after eating pizza or big bowl of pasta!

Very rarely. A viral type thing maybe once every couple of years, if that. I have MS, diagnosed 20 years ago

About twice a year probably if you just count virus/colds

UTIs I get up to 5 times a year

OP definitely sounds like some sort of IBD. It would be worthwhile asking for some Coeliac testing.

Coeliac test is a blood test initially, then endoscopy so as long as you are currently eating gluten should be quite straight forward to have done.