Why am I always ill?

[Chocolatedodger]

Is anyone else constantly ill at the moment?

I’ve just got over tonsillitis about 10 days ago, I took antibiotics for that. They cleared it up. I felt drained for days afterwards though.

Then on Tuesday this week I was throwing up/diarrhoea with what I think was a sickness bug, I still don’t feel well from that - I had a fever, chills and body aches yesterday and my tummy is still dodgy.

Now today I’ve woken up with a sore throat down one side and blocked nose on top of that!

I do have a 4 year old, but surely this amount of illness isn’t normal?!
Should I get a GP appointment for bloods?

There are a lot of bugs doing the rounds but it can't hurt. My old GP used to hand out prescriptions for vitamin & mineral supplements at this time of year as well as doing blood tests, that might be worth a try as well.

Some people are just very prone to picking up every virus going. How’s your hand hygiene? Are you a nail biter?

I used to catch anything & everything... I've skipped the last 4 bugs/colds in our house-the only thing I can put it down to is taking vitamin D in the last 6 months. Maybe try that?

Take vitamin d tablets every day in the winter time. Low vitamin d screws up your immune system.

Normal. Especially with a 4 year old in the house.

This year is particularly bad as people haven't been exposed to as much over the last couple of years so immunity is lower

I'm currently on my third bout of something in about 6 or 7 weeks.

Yep ... our whole family have passed something back and forth since October half term. My 5YO is normally pretty hardy was knocked for 6 by tonsillitis a few weeks ago and is only just perking up. I am hitting the Lemsip hard... again!

So much going around.

I do tend to pick things up at the moment too. Hand hygiene etc is very good but I am very run down and I don’t think that helps.

I already take vitamin D3, a multivitamin and magnesium.

I’ve just ordered some floradix on Amazon too.

Floradix is very effective.
One thing I think has helped me is regularly gargling, either with Listerine, or chlorhexidine mouthwash. The others all work in public facing jobs and have brought home every bug going. I'm the only one that hasn't had the sore throat bug, a nasty cold, or Covid.

I also bought a netti pot ages ago but I'm too chicken to try it.

What seems to help me is vitamin D and I take a shot of ginger/lemon/chili every morning with my breakfast. If I feel a tingling feeling in my throat or tickelish nose, I take another shot.

@Snoken when you say a shot how exactly do you prep it?
I am the same. I take vitamins, high dose vitd and it is still one thing after another. Hand hygiene good. I'm fed up of it

This sounds like me. And it's fkn horrible.

I've just started taking daily

1g vit c with zinc
vit d3
echinacea
probiotic

All other suggestions welcome!

I was going to click on this and ask do you have a small child, then saw you have a four year old. In my experience the first term back to school is always the worst then it stops being so constant. I would just stock up on lemsip rather than buying vitamins!

I take boiling water, add grated fresh ginger, lemon juice and chopped chili peppers. I let that sit in a glass bottle until room temperature and then I put it in the fridge. I use a lot of ginger as I like it really strong. I sometimes put grated turmeric in too and sometimes I add a bit of honey when it's cooled off as that has anti-bacterial properties.

You can then drink it cold, or you can put an inch or two in a mug and fill up with hot water.

Honestly almost every single person I speak to at the moment is either ill, been recently ill or a family member is unwell.

There is so much going about. It could be that the antibiotics have affected your gut microbiome which made you more susceptible to further infections, especially sickness.

Perhaps try a good probiotic. Optibac or VSL3 are good.

Hope you feel better soon.

Firstly I'd say the tummy bug and the symptoms you have now are probably the same marvellous bug. I'm coming up to a week in and nothing says glamour more than coughing til you're sick whilst sat on the loo.

Secondly I am one of these people. I get ill very often and worse than others and I've been like this since my late teens when I had glandular fever.

I am going to focus on this over Christmas and beyond as it's quite mentally tough.

I think
Vitamins d & iron (although don't see much difference when I've tried this before tbh)
Walk in the daylight
As much good quality sleep as I can
Better stress management

It's this last one which I think for me is key. I know when I get stressed I get sick which stresses me which makes me iller.

Good luck!

What do people think about eating lots through an illness? I’m fighting a throat infection and a cold atm, and I find I’m much hungrier plus I crave sugar and chocolate (normally don’t eat either). I’ve been giving in to these cravings and frankly overeating in the last couple of weeks. Should I resist? Is an unhealthy diet going to make things worse?

Have you had Covid in the last six months? I read that it can reduce your resistance for a while.

I think you crave carbs when ill because your body needs more energy, and you want easy foods because you don't feel like cooking. I make lots of chicken and red lentil soup, and porridge.

Take some Vit D tabs if you don’t already. Doctor told me to do the same last year and so far I’ve been illness free this winter despite members of the household having bugs/colds etc

Well they say that most of your immunity is in your gut, so eating to boost your good gut bacteria should help you fight more illnesses. I've started really trying to boost my fibre this winter and since then I haven't (so far!) got struck down by the bugs that are doing the rounds. I'm trying to increase the range of fruits and veg that I eat, as well as beans, nuts, seeds and wholegrains.

In DS1's first year at primary school I was doing 5:2 and eating a really healthy diet and I didn't get ill at all- fasting is supposed to be great for gut bacteria. The healthy diet has lapsed occasionally over the years but when I let it slip to not getting enough fruit and veg and having too much processed crap and sweet stuff I definitely get more bugs.

It's worth asking for blood tests as lots of people are deficient in vitamin D and many women are low in iron, but if the blood test comes back fine then really look at boosting your diet. According to current studies you need to eat a variety of different fibre sources for the ultimate gut health. Dr Tim Spector says you should aim for 30 different plants each week- this includes grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and vegetables. I've counted that this week and when you add in things like oats, seed sprinkles on porridge, a generous amount of garlic in you dish etc it is actually achievable.

Do you have sinus issues OP? I have chronic sinusitis and my GP said it makes me susceptible to ENT infections. I've just recovered from tonsillitis, a nasty sinus infection and an ear infection. Antibiotics cleared up the tonsillitis but I have been prescribed a steroid nasal spray for the sinusitis. Could be worth mentioning to GP/nurse practitioner if you have similar.

Starve a fever, Feed a cold. I'm always hungry when I have a cold, I don't see what harm it could do. I'd have plenty of warm drinks and soups as well though. Eating was the only time I didn't feel nauseous when I had Covid too.

Isn't lemsip just paracetamol and vitamin C in a drink?

I would have thought a multivitamin taken with a hot cup of homemade honey and lemon would be much better.