How often are you sick?

[quickturtle]

Just wondering coz I've been quite ill 3 times already this year with just viruses. I do have a child. But I'm getting fed up of it and wondering if this is normal.

I had 3 stomach bugs between Jan and Apr this year which was unusual for me. All caught from my 4 year old. Touch wood nothing since though.

Never. Have had a few colds in my life but that's it. Haven't had a cold in years. I've had covid but was asymptomatic.

I work in the germ breeding ground called a school

So usually a couple of colds a year, maybe a bout of Covid or something else going around as well.

How much time I have off depends on the illness how floored I am

So far this year I’ve had tonsillitis three times, norovirus, Covid and strep throat. Coughs and colds inbetween

The last time i was unwell was in 2017 and before that it was years and years .

Not prone to colds or coughs or stomach upsets.

Neither is my husband.

We are outdoors a lot and live by the sea which is reputed to bring good health.

There are 3 things that influence how healthy you are:

1. Luck of the draw with your immune system. If you have a strong immune system by genetics, you will rarely get sick and will not catch diseases (or will be milder) that will floor other people with weaker immune systems..
2. Current health: this includes how well you take care of your basics (diet and nutrition, weight and exercise) plus conditions that you have that affect the immune system (diabetes, IBS, lung problems, etc).
3. Exposure to pathogens: people who have higher exposure (the ones who have young children, or work with childen or infectious people) have higher chances of catching something.

If you take care of the things you can control, your immune system will be at 100% of what it can be.
There's no vitamins, supplements or detox diets that can take you immune system beyond what it can do by itself (i.e. "boost" your immune system). You'll be wasting your money.
Have a healthy weight, do some exercise and make sure you get all the nutrients you get through food (and supplement only if you have a deficiency or specific need. Supplements get pissed and pooed down the toilet when you have a healthy diet). And try to get away from sick people, use a mask in a hospital environment. Desinfecting a house won't make any difference unless there's someone with a bacterial/viral infection and you need to kill the bugs, or unless the house is a pigsty. For most houses, water and soap/detergent is enough.

I rarely get sick, have never had a stomach bug since I was about 3 years old, I don't remember when I had a cold last. And the only time I had covid it was after 3 days of hell, massive stress, with no sleep and surrounded by sick people, so I suspect my immune system had taken a hit and that's why I caught it. Still, it was very mild. I credit my genes (so no merit of mine) and also that I eat a balanced diet with lots of fruits and veggies, have a normal BMI and exercise moderately. Oh, and I don't have children, or work with them.

I had Norovirus in 2010 or 11. Had a cold last winter and that was probably the first for more than 5 years. Never had Covid or even Covid like symptoms. As a child I never caught any of the usual measles/mumps/ chickenpox despite siblings being ill with them. Apparently some people have immune systems that reject illnesses. 🤷‍♀️

Covid this year, nasty.
Covid in 2021, mild.
Other than that I haven’t been ill at all, not been to the doctors (aside from smears tests) for about 12 years

Try taking echinacea tablets OP, boosts your immune system and staves off the sniffles.

I get a cold once or twice a year. I had Covid twice but it was fairly mild both times.

Very very rarely do I get D&V. The last time I had it was in 2018, I can remember what year it was because it's so rare for me to get it. I think the time before that was when I was a child.

I'm genuinely never ill enough to be bedbound. I don't think I ever have been.

I used to get quite alot of colds/chest infections, especially during my university years and early teaching days.
After having my daughter in 2019 I caught COVID twice and had tonsillitis, the odd stomach bug and sinus infections.

In the last year or two I've barely had anything. One nasty sinus infection before Xmas but nothing since. Colds I get a sniffly nose for a day or so and that's it. They used to floor me.

Interestingly my stress levels have been alot lower the last couple of years, and I'm the happiest I've ever been.

I really think mental health has some strong links with immunity.

@Beezknees I very rarely get D/V too. My DD is almost 5 and has never had a stomach bug My DH less often than me.
I honestly think it's something genetic. It must be.
How can some people go years and years and years without being sick and others several times a year?
I'm quite emetophobic as well so I keep thinking I'm 'overdue' a sickness bug; interestingly those who are scared of being sick are often those who are very rarely sick.

The last time was covid, in March last year. I'd avoided it until then. I'm rarely unwell, I seem to have a decent immune system and hardly ever pick up colds. I'm 60 now, before covid I hadn't taken a sick day in about five years. When my children were small it was a different story, I used to catch everything going, especially sickness bugs.

I agree it must be genetic as my DS is the same. He never really caught anything at nursery or school either even when illnesses were doing the rounds.

We both had the D&V at the same time, I can remember it vividly as it was just so unlike us. I don't know if it was a bug or something we ate.

It might be genetics but it could also be exposure eg young children, and especially it could be lifestyle-diet, exercise, sleep, stress.

I'm back in the office a few days a week this year after 5 years of working from home.

The number of colds and little crappy viruses I've had has skyrocketed. I've gone from maybe 1 cold per winter to having 4 since February.

I'm hoping my immune system is just catching up and it'll calm down a bit at some point.

I very rarely get D&V - don't remember getting it as an adult. I have 2 dcs age 2 and 6 who also rarely get it (6 yo has had it 3 times in her life). Lots of coughs and colds but mild, never need to take time off or cancel plans.

I sleep about 5 hours a night and don't do any exercise. Diet is OK but not super healthy.

I think it's less in your control than you think

I have two children who have similar diets etc but one is just massively more prone to illnesses and gets them more severely.

Once in 8 years. Never had d and v .

Agree with previous poster about supplements being a complete waste of money. The only thing I would take issue with is wearing a mask in hospital.... unless you are staff (I was) during COVID everyone wearing one.... the masks are to protect the patient. The only way you will get slight protection by wearing a mask is a surgical grade one,plus double layer cotton and filter . Worn properly,I see people now with them round their chins assuring me they are safe from germs. It used to be a standing joke in my family, them including DH getting coughs,cold,sore throat,D and v, Covid, and nothing for me. I have been veggie for about 40 years,keep to my correct weight etc. but when I was working,at one point 5 nights a week, I was lucky to sleep 3 hours in the day. I was also being badly bullied at work,used to go home crying. My last year before I retired I couldn't sleep at all in the day. None of this affected my immune system.

I am unwell with a cold or sniffle every 3 weeks on average. Bigger things that cause temperatures about 4/5 times a year. My kids are school and nursery and I work full time so I am burning the candle at both ends. Definitely not looking after myself as I should be. I had bloods done and my iron is all over the place so I’m hoping that that’s had an impact and can explain this.

Hardly ever. I catch usually one or two colds per year but I've only ever had 3 sickness bugs in my life.

Just recovered from a mild cold, had a mild cold last October. DD is also rarely ill though and when she is it is mild enough to impact going to school or anything. Weird as I was ill a lot as a young adult and I remember some particularly horrendous illnesses when DD was a baby (me not her) but it all seemed to stop in the last few years

If people weren't pigs then I'd agree with you about masks. Unfortunately we are surrounded by people who cough and sneeze into the air, instead of into their elbow, and pick their nose and then touch everything. Masks are very good at holding their saliva and snot from spraying everywhere, and they reduce the number of times people touch their nose and mouth, so they do reduce the rate of diseases that are transmitted by respiratory droplets.

If you're going to spend a long time inside with someone contagious, in a place that is not ventilated, then a surgical mask probably won't make much of a difference, especially if the person is talking, eating and coughing a lot, moving the mask in the process. But for occasional encounters and walking around, they are very effective against sprays.

I’ve had some kind of illness (nasty colds and Covid) once a month for the last few months. I never used to pick up bugs, or if I did it was very mild symptoms. But I keep being floored by them now. I don’t know if it’s post Covid, or because I’ve had a lot of stress and it’s lowered my immune system. I’ve ordered a blood test to check I’m not deficient but for me I think it’s probably stress.

what I am finding difficult is I genuinely feel so rough with “just a cold” that I don’t feel very fit for work. But when people hear a cold they think a bit of a sniffle headache etc. And that is what my colds used to be like but now it feels 10x worse! But the judgement is still there.

I hardly ever get ill. I've had one day off sick in the past 19 working years! (Except when I had to isolate for covid - but I didn't feel unwell and I would have gone to work if it hadn't been against the rules at that time.)