Why is my DH always ill?

[welby123]

In the past 12 months he's been ill a lot. He seems to pick up every single bug going. Usually cold/flu type symptoms with high temperature. He's currently not well at the moment, he's feeling sick and got the body aches. It was only 2 weeks ago he had D&V.

He never used to get ill (once or twice a year max maybe) so I'm wondering what has changed as I'm starting to feel a bit concerned about him. Should he see a doctor or is it just one of those things? His diet could be better but he's not really unhealthy. He used to go to the gym a lot but he stopped when he had a really bad viral infection a few months ago and never got back into it.

Anybody any experience of this?

Poor guy must be feeling miserable. I would encourage him to see a doctor who may suggest blood tests, could all be post viral but it wouldn't hurt to get checked out, hope he feels better soon,

What is his job - does he interact a lot with others? Eg my teacher friends are always ill but I am never poorly. I don’t have kids, so no school germs coming in the house, I don’t do public transport (cycle to work or drive), and most of my socialising is done outside - sports etc.

If he’s in contact with a lot of people then I’d suggest washing hands regularly, plenty of veg (eg onions, leeks garlic all boost the immune system) and a vitamin c and zinc supplement to give his system a boost.

How's his hand washing ?

I am your dh. I've been ill every three weeks since Easter when I had Covid and was very poorly with it. Mainly coughs, colds, ear infections, chest infections, temperature etc.
Some sort of mild long covid maybe?
I've seen the Dr who has given me antibiotics when I've been very bad but otherwise just sort of shrugged their shoulders a bit.

Does he commute to work? I've picked up something (cold/flu/d&v/who knows what) nearly once a month since we had a big back-to-office drive last september, so that's just over a year ago. I'm certain it's from the train as the number of people on my morning train has increased steadily over the last year as well. I wash my hands as soon as I get to work/home but it's obviously not enough when you're in a packed tube/overground train every morning and evening.

It can be luck, underlying issue or stress.

I'd ask for blood tests to see if anything underlying and focus on self-care.

It's an interesting one. Between the children, and after ds1 I had infective mastitis, I was constantly ill: d&v, colds, sinusitis, coughs, laryngitis, tonsillitis, etc. When pg with dd I had pleurisy and was given a broad spectrum IV AB for three days. That was 25 years ago and I've never been ill since. I am convinced that somewhere there was some lurking bacteria that never fully went away and kept making me ill.

He works in an office and he does commute to work on public transport, but this has been the case for about 7 years so nothing has really changed in that respect. He is so miserable with it, he's never got energy and it takes him a while to get over whatever he catches. I'll suggest he tries going to GP to get a blood test. It just doesn't seem "normal" that he picks every little thing up. We have young DC so I know he can bring germs home from school but he is rarely ill either as am I

Yes, I would recommend a full bank of tests. It could be as simple as he's low on things like iron and vitamin D and that is causing his immune system to be weaker and more prone to illness.

Has he previously had Covid? As I think for some people it can knock your immune system about and make you more vulnerable.

How old are your DC? Did the illnesses coincide with when they were born/went to nursery? As I get everything my DS picks up as well, but my OH only gets the occasional bug. I’ve always been more vulnerable to illness though.

How old is he?

He's probably had COVID at least once. COVID affects your immune system negatively for at least 8 months (that was the length of the study below), this is quite commonly accepted now. His body is struggling to fight off infections that previously he would have shaken off.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01113-x

This is why so many people are having continual illness, there are countless threads about this on mumsnet.

The best thing your husband can do is avoid further infections. Many viruses are airborne so he should definitely be wearing an N95 on public transportation and in crowded indoor spaces. He should also push work to improve indoor air quality (maybe via his union?) through ventilation and HEPA filters. And ask your children's school to do the same, there are so many studies out there showing that HEPA and/or ventilation lowers spread of infection in schools. Practice good indoor air at home too and try to isolate whoever is sick, or mask up at home when someone is sick.

He's never tested positive on a covid test. Not to say he hasn't had it of course, but as far as tests go he's never had it. He's only 27. Some of the times he has been ill, hasn't coincided with either me or DC being ill.

Would starting a multi vitamin perhaps help?

Low immunity is a bugger.

A multi vitamin can't hurt but the truth is that if he's specifically deficient in something, a multi vitamin isn't going to do the trick. A proper set of blood tests would be better to get a sense of what he might be lacking.

And I agree with others re Covid - I've had raging infections AFtER Covid every time (twice I've had it confirmed and the 3rd time I'm not sure but think so as I lost my sense of smell for 1 day).

This is me at the moment. I had glandular fever, flu and sickness bug. Metatone is a life saver

I’d get him to the GP or the practice nurse and get some bloods done.

Having a poor immune system can be a sign of something more sinister so good idea to check him out. May just be something as simple as low vitamin D. Blood test is a very good idea, for everyone tbh at least annually.

I think my blood tests are needed and perhaps he should take vitamins especially at autumn/winter time.

I think once you get one thing especially if you rush to get better you end up a little run down and more prone to pick things up

Sometimes all it takes is one decent bout of an illness to screw over your immunity. I caught flu once. Real flu. Not just a heavy cold like most people use the word for. I was really ill for a couple of weeks and for the next year caught every single sniffle and bug going. Being run down just makes you more susceptible, I hope he starts to recover properly soon

Until 2020, I'd never taken a sick day off work

Now if I get something I always seem to be out of action for a couple of weeks.

We joke that covid broke me, but I wonder if we'll find out in the future that it did.

If your DC are nursery age, this is all the explanation you need! Happens to most men when DC start nursery - all the fresh germs. Women have stronger immune systems so less affected.

Otherwise blood tests for reassurance not a bad idea

How old are your DC? Does it align with your DC being ill or starting nursery?