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?

That does sound like a lot of illness for a 31-year-old. I would definitely be going to see the doctor and asking for a raft of tests to be done to try and get to the bottom of it. I very rarely get ill - a cold/winter virus or two - but that's it. Only ever go the doctor about routine stuff. I have IBS which is now fairly well managed after I made some dietary changes, but that's the main thing that causes me problems.

Very rarely now I work from home and don't have to cram onto rush hour train/tube/buses etc. I've gone from having maybe 2 bad colds a year to none at all.

Yours sounds quite excessive though, basically 6 instances of a virus in less than a year? Do you work in a busy office or go elsewhere you get exposed to germs a lot, maybe around small children etc?

Very rarely, I usually have a cold every 3-4 years (last one I had was over a year ago) and I don't remember the last time I was seriously sick. Probably when I had the flu at 27, and I am now 43.

However in my 20s i went through a period of years when I had plenty of unexplained UTIs and thrush, it almost drove me insane.

As others have said, it is a lot of luck involved.

I'll get maybe 2-3 colds a year but it's rare that I have to take time off work with them. I had half a day off in the last year with a bad back.

To clarify...I'm 55, so managed to get past 50 with 'barely a sniffle' as a primary school teacher, which is pretty impressive! Hit 50, and WHAM! The germ backlog caught up with me and my smugness backfired 🤦‍♀️ Small children en-masse do love to share their germs though!

Before I had DC very rarely, maybe one cold a year. Post DC a lot more often although it has got better since they have got into double figures.
Between the ages of 4-8 my DC were permanently ill, colds, coughs, upset tummies and some lurgys that I didn’t even know existed.
Op, the secret to staying healthy if you don’t have any other health conditions is keeping away from sick people and washing your hands a lot.

I rarely pick up viruses which is really bizarre because I have several autoimmune diseases and am on some pretty heavy duty immunosuppressants.

I don't have anything like OP describes.

In recent yrs I seem to get 1-3 day illness only. Like I'm just recovering from a mild 3 day cold. It will be fully gone by tomorrow. That happens maybe 2-3x a year. Maybe 2 days of work every 4 yrs or so (due to bad back or puke bug or somesuch).

My theory is that I'm at peak immunity in my early 50s. I've had everything there is to catch. My immune system hasn't started to degrade yet. Quite robust.

I’m very rarely ill beyond a cold perhaps once a year, the last time I went to the doctors was about 10 years ago.

I’m very conscious that I’ve been very lucky so far with illness. I’m 49 so suspect that my luck may start changing in the next few years.

This has reminded me that I must register with a doctor, we moved 6 years ago and neither myself or DH have registered yet.

I was going to write once or twice a year, but then remembered all the little complaints I have that don't amount to being so ill I have to stay in or cancel something and all those little niggles together would be A LOT. In fact, I feel slightly nauseous right now, just not bad enough that I have to change anything I'm doing or stop eating. So, if I look at all these smaller things, I might be iller than you!

I would say I get between 2-4 colds a year, but never enough to have time off work

D&V maybe once every 3 years?

But I do have I would say an iffy tummy maybe once a month? And headaches/feeling a bit sick quite regularly. What your describing sounds fairly like me tbh

I’m having the same issues. 3 colds since starting work two months ago. Had loads of time off already. Two horrific sickness bugs since having DD and loads of colds while on mat leave. Then IBS to deal with as a constant thing.

I think it’s partly being so run down, lack of sleep, maybe even zapped energy from breastfeeding.

I’m going to take some multi vitamins and echinacea.I feel your pain. Honestly it feels like there’s always something wrong with me and I can’t go on like this!

Almost never.
The last time I had a cold was in February 2013.

Almost never. Had no illnesses really in the last 20 years working.

I had a chest infection 2 years ago that required 2 days off.

I'm a T1 diabetic since birth, I had 2 bad hypos in the last 3 years that required a day off each.

That's 4 days. In 25 years.

I am reading these replies. Especially the one where someone said they’d lived somewhere 6 years and never registered with the doctor - I can only dream of being so healthy!

I have Addison’s disease and hypothyroidism and asthma. I’m never really well to be honest. I pick up proper viruses / infections about once every 2/3 months. Just awful. I practically live at the doctors. But I accept my circumstances are different to most!

Before becoming vegan I would get a couple of colds a year and I've had flu 3 times. Since becoming vegan I haven't even had a sniffle. I've also got a lot more energy and my cat allergy seems to have gone.

I've never had any other health problems apart from the odd rash and sciatica which lasted a month. I'm late 40s.

A cold maybe once a year, then a bug of some kind ever 3-5 years. In my I have had maybe 2 sick days in 5 years.

OP, I was like you last year, ‘proper’ flu for 2 weeks that absolutely floored me, then a chest infection that just wouldn’t shift and then another really bad cold. Went to the docs and said ‘somethings not right with me’ as normally I could shake things off. To cut a very long story short, blood test showed my iron levels were through the floor and so I had no ability to fight anything off. A few months of iron tablets and I am like a new woman and not had so much as a sniffle for 9 months now. I am back to my normal robust self. Hope you get some answers soon.

Generally, I get a cold which raises my temperature once every 2 years. I almost never get sick bugs.

This past winter was a weird exception, probably because I had to do 3 transatlantic trips and 2 medium-haul trips for work in 4 months. I had noro on Xmas day and then caught a cold. I sprung back from both very quickly though.

I was ill at your level when I was vegan, it was no good for my body. Vitamin A deficiency was a problem for me it turned out as I had this genetic problem
medicalxpress.com/news/2009-11-genetic-link-vitamin-deficiency.html

Since having glandular fever 5 years ago I seem to now catch everything. My immune system never recovered. Just in the last 5 weeks I've had 2 D/V bugs. Numerous colds and virus' every year but luckily never too serious.

I used to get a lots of colds because I work with children. Tortured with sore throats but haven't had one for years after having my tonsils out.
Had a lot of gynae problems but have had a hysterectomy.
I can't remember the last time I had a cold or D&V from a bug.
I now have Lupus and never feel fully well any more.
I get pleurisy at least twice a year, I had it the beginning of the year and ended up with a pulmonary embolism.
I only go to the Dr when I'm having a flare though, I don't need to go for run of the mill aches and pains.
To the poster with sinus problems I got the migraine (Daith) piercing and it's helped my sinuses considerably.

A lot. Tired a lot, migraines, ear infections that go on and on, general malaise, coughs and colds.
But, I don't look after myself, though I am getting better at it and can see things improving slowly. At times I have led a healthier lifestyle, I've been much better, though I can always rely on a few migraines a year.

OP sounds like me in my teens and 20s. Finally diagnosed with B12 anaemia, that led them to diagnosing coeliac disease and bile salt malabsorption. Weight went to below 6 stones.

I haven't had a cold, flu, d&v, tonsillitis, infections etc since my mid-late 20s and being fully gluten free, I'm 61 now.

I tell people how lucky I am, superhuman 🦸‍♀️ pesky bugs darent come near me! Only infection I can recall was 2002, infected mosquito bite.

But, I've got some bloody nasty autoimmune conditions (weird considering no infections) and lost my sight.