To wonder what the hell is going on with viruses these days?

[FuckOffTom]

Before the pandemic, back in the good old days of getting ill, you usually knew what was wrong and roughly how long you would be ill for. You knew what a cold felt like and that you’d be over it within a week. You knew what gastrointestinal viruses felt like and, although unpleasant, you knew you’d have 24/48 hours of ‘evacuation’ and then you’d start to feel better.

Since last year, everytime I catch something I can’t really identify what it is - it’s both gastrointestinal and upper respiratory except you don’t throw up, or have the runs you just know it’s affecting your stomach and the worst of it is… they last for weeks now!! Every morning you wake up, for weeks on end, feeling lethargic, weak and listless with no end in site. EVERYTHING feels like flu and lasts way longer than it should. Anyone else get this?!

Thanks for your kind words, I appreciate it. I don't take vitamins,if you eat sensibly,they are a waste of money. Water soluble...you pee them out. I take a high strength vit D. Two months ago I could run,hill walk. I am in the Covidence study 5 years at queen Mary university London. It's the only study that recruited folk BEFORE they contracted Covid, and focused on your health and lifestyle (we sent blood tests) I have had my grandkids to stay,then been told they have Covid,seen their mum,who subsequently had it. Obviously came in contact with it, over the past 3.5 years . Have done barrier, reverse barrier and isolation nursing. Inspite of not eating meat for well over 40 years,HB,iron,ferritin etc levels have always been well in range. DH went down with Covid a couple of days after me,he's overweight, eats crap,lots of meat,was ok in a week and pruning fruit trees,back to normal. Ironically, this months webinar from the study is on Long Covid, the following conclusions have been reached: if you are female, sleep less than 7 hours a night, and we're pretty ill with Covid, you stand a 94% chance of getting Long Covid. Great eh. One of my neighbours asked if I was "tired", er,nom will give you an example of the breathlessness, one day I removed 2 pillow cases from the bed,then I was gasping for breath and lay on the sofa the rest of the day. I have also gone deaf, seeing an audiology consultant Friday. Under a cardiac consultant to see if the breathlessness is cardiac damage due to Covid.

Lol working from home is hardly being confined is it?

If I felt confined then that's how I felt. You haven't the first clue about what I went through during lockdown. So save your LOLing for someone else.

There are good studies showing an increased risk of LC with repeat Covid infections, even mild infections. Also longterm vascular damage of multi-organ systems, including the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, etc etc.

Can't even begin to imagine how much more "confined" people will feel once impacted with Long Covid, and/or other longterm chronic conditions that have resulted from Covid infections.

I also think that people complain more

So glad i’v seen this I feel like I’m going mad lately keep catching exactly what you described and it’s like every 6 weeks so strange.

No one around me is getting it ever and thinks I make it up, even last week I was blocked up and nose running then couldn’t speak for 2 days with bad throat then just gone but constant headaches for a day now that’s gone and always tired.

What is actually going on?

I definitely haven't had Covid before, September. Never had a symptom,or positive test, and was giving blood tests. Both my DD have had it 5 times,(both customer facing roles) said the first time is the worst. March 2020,DH had every single symptom,but we hadn't learned about Covid then, so perhaps he DID have it, and that's why he was only ill a week this time. As for complaining more,a couple of weeks ago, I was looking online to buy a wheelchair for myself!!

Ive just,had two bouts of sickness from work - I tested at home several times as it didn't feel like any cold or flu I'd ever had., but apparently not covid. Utterly debilitating. Why is no one speaking about this generally... surely GPs and our healthcare systems have records and between them a lot of data.
I thibk its a bit worrying to put it on individuals when we know (plenty evidence coming out) that politcians care more for their own wealth snd ego than the lives and health of UK population.

I havent noticed it for myself or one of my sons. But my other son seems to have some long term impact. He had covid very badly and has had it twice since then. Hes also had shingles twice since. He gets all sorts of colds that last ages and doesnt pass them on to anyone else. He is so tired, that school send him home loads to sleep.

I think for those experiencing more sickness it's hard not to think it's due to COVID or viruses becoming stronger.

I'm on the other side of it because my son is now 8 and has worked his way through all the bugs there are (including COVID) so now we are both sick MUCH less often than when he was three, even though I am now late 40s and my immune system is probably weaker than 5 years ago.

Also I work in an NHS hospital and we aren't seeing anything unusual for the time of year. However it has been mild.

I’ve got a thread open on this already but it’s worth noting there’s been an uptick in pneumonia in China, if it’s spreading there you can guarantee it’s here too…

https://news.sky.com/story/who-seeks-answers-from-china-about-mystery-outbreak-of-respiratory-illness-13014034

The lockdown and working from home has meant our immune systems have not been exposed to as many pathogens.

When I worked in hospitals, when I went from one to another I would be ill in the first 2-3 weeks and then it was as if your body got used to the 'local bugs'.

Normally your body is making antibodies all the time but the ones it has encountered before it, huge simplification, is like it has a recipe to create the antibodies but over the last 2-3 years it hasn't been able to get any recipes together.

So, if you are a fan of cooking shows, this is like they virus is a mystery dish the immune system has to identify all the ingredients.

Viruses mutate constantly it is how they survive otherwise we would be infected once, develop immunity and not catch it agin.

I should say my son is 14 and way past the childhood run of bugs that nursery children go through.

We both were also not locked down, although i appreciate other people were so less circulated.

Nothing has changed for me, I still get colds, can tell they are colds, and they last for ages - same as they always did. I haven't had a gastro bug for well over 10 years.

Yes! My daughter has long lingering illnesses so much since the pandemic

I think covid has done something to our immunity.

@Nannyfannybanny sorry to hijack the thread and also for what you have been through. But so much of it resonates with me. I've had covid twice, the second time, this last Easter floored me for two weeks. Since then I've been very frequently ill, exhausted, awful digestive issues, etc. But the worst thing has been the effect on my hearing. I've developed constant tinnitus and gone partially deaf in one ear, and I have frequent episodes of labrynthitus. I had no idea ear issues had been linked to long covid. What you said about sleep also chimes-I've been a terrible insomniac since I was 17-I sleep about 5 hours a night if I'm lucky. So I guess all that would make me a strong candidate for it. Am I right in thinking there isn't much that can be done if you do have long covid? You just have to learn to manage it?

YES. Kids have been ill solidly since September. Last year we all got a monster of a virus that lasted three full weeks. Never had anything like it. It just wouldn't let up. I couldn't move and minute to minute was in so much pain and discomfort. Definitely not the same as it was before.

Viruses do mutate and the ones that have the best chance to propagate are the ones that don’t make you so ill that you can’t carry on (just about) with every day tasks and that linger for weeks. Both of these things make you more likely to come in to contact with other people and spread the virus around.
I thought I was starting to feel better yesterday but I am back to feeling heavily fatigued this morning again. It seems to come in waves - I will feel flawed for maybe half an hour and then gradually start feeling better and then it will come back. Very strange!

it's because we all ruined our immune systems by 'lock down', now they are struggling. and ultra processed food, and over use of disinfectant and chemicals in the home.

I think our immune systems are still playing catch up from lockdown. Don’t forget that for most of winter 2020/21 we were in lockdown so had an entire winter pretty much virus free. Now when winter hits, it can be difficult for it to differentiate and cope with everything flying around. I’m on my second cold in two weeks now so feeling pretty crummy, it’s annoying.

Not here. We’ve all had covid a few times but none of us are any more ill from getting it. Never get colds or sickness bugs, and never have. We all exercise a lot, all low end of the BMI, don’t drink, don’t smoke.
I suspect most of the people answering this are going to say ‘yes I’m more ill’ but anecdotally from our end and people who have similar lifestyles, we’ve all been fine.

I thought Covid was known to mess up immune system so it "forgets" viruses you've already had, same as measles? So you should get sicker with colds etc as you're experiencing them as if your immune system cant quite remember how to produce antibodies to them?

I think a lot of people are suffering from Long Covid and not aware. It seems to affect women more than men but 2 people I know have been really wiped since catching covid, one was the first time catching it and the other the second. One developed celiacs disease 2 months after covid. I'm really hopeful that more research on how to test for Long Covid and who is at risk genetically and help identify it.

There's little evidence to back up this 'immunity debt' claim. Our immune systems are stronger than you think. Unless you are on chemotherapy, had a bone marrow transplant, or are on drugs that cause you to be immune-compromised, this shouldn't be a concern.