To think my immune system is f*****

[Pollyputthepeleton]

Over the last couple of years I’ve been ill with colds, coughs, bronchitis, flu, sinusitis, viruses and more pretty much every 5-6 weeks. I’ve now lost my voice for the second time since Christmas, coughing, sinuses blocked etc. What’s going on? I eat healthily (pescatarian) exercise regularly (ran a marathon in December) try to look after myself but seem to get every cold the kids bring home but end up bedridden while they and my husband have a mild bout.
WIBU to try and get some tests (no idea what sort) to see why my immunity is so fucked and why I am literally constantly ill? I’m so fucking tired of being sick, feel guilty and have understandably lost all sympathy from family and friends .

Do you work from home by any chance OP? I've got a slightly different problem, where I don't get ill often (once ever 6 months) but when I do it really knocks me off my feet. And I'm starting to wonder if I've got less resistance now I'm not in an office full of people anymore!!

In the same boat OP! No answers unfortunately

Hi, I ’m a stay at home mum, don’t know how I’d manage if I had a FT job- would probably have been sacked by now! I have two primary aged kids who cough and sneeze in my face as standard

Definitely speak to GP and they can arrange some tests

I think loads of people have something funny going on with immunity at the moment. Sickness for months on end and that back and forth better worse thing to add to the torment.

I'm trying probiotics, vitamins and meditation... Hope it works!

I'm the same OP. I work in multiple schools and have had something every half-term since a bout of COVID two years ago. It's the half-term holiday here, I'm ill again, and I'm just thankful that it's not in term-time because I can't afford to be absent again.

Have been discussing this with friends and family. A lot of people are in the same boat and thinking that there's something wrong with their immune system. But what? Cold after cold, coughing and fatigue that goes for months in some cases.

Have you had covid? I read that can affect the immune system and can take ages for it to recover (if it ever does). Something to do with the T-cells.

I have also lost my voice and it is really getting my down this time. When you mean you have lost you voice do you mean you are very hoarse/croaky/ quiet or are you like me and can’t make a sound at all? I have been silent for 8 days now and just want to be able to speak.

I’m immunosuppressed and also have neutropenia so I’m used to being careful without limiting my day to day activities. I think because we’ve spent a couple of years trying to avoid viruses it may take awhile for most people to build their immune system back up. It’s similar to when children start school and pick up all sorts of bugs or when they start back in September after the summer holidays there’s always a peak in virus infections.

Im the same OP. No idea what I can do. Seems I catch everything going and then everytime I'm more unwell with a cold.

How much fresh fruit & veg do you eat OP?

After a health scare two years ago, I started eating 30 different fruit & veg a week, as advised. I haven't had a cold since. On the basis of a sample size of one, the idea that your immune system is mostly in your gut, does seem to be born out.

root veg, leafy veg, fruit, nuts, salads, mushrooms, pulses.

The clue is in the two primary age children, how old are they?

I work in a high school and seem to be more robust now then I have been in a while (despite having had bad covid before being immunised, DS). We definitely got more bugs with the kids at primary, but even now with them at high school they still bring everything home. Poor DD has just been really poorly the last two weeks and DS had like 3 bugs one after the other before Christmas. They just pick up everything and pass it on, I will get stuff from the kids but often miss it at work from colleagues, I think because you spend more time together.

Nothing wrong with getting checked out by the GP if your feeling rough. But it could just be the kids passing on lots of bugs. The problem can be that kids aren't always that ill with stuff, DS had the snuffles for like 2 days yet I had covid for like 3 weeks and felt horrible for 3 months afterwards.

A consultant in A&E was telling me that adults, in particular, are really struggling still with their immune systems because of lockdown. I'm exactly the same as you although it's partly because I have various autoimmune stuff going on that I'm medicated for and therefore have a bit of a suppressed immune system.

Well horrible as it sounds, it’s reassuring that others are having similar experiences.
I eat very healthily, all food made from scratch- lots of fruit and veg, pulses, in stews, soups and curries odd bit of fish plenty of exercise etc. I’m mid forties and wondered if it was a peri- menopausal thing (no idea if I’ve made this link up)

I had this after having Covid and also had a one year old and a two year old that were in nursery and bringing everything home. A year on and I’m fine now and rarely sick but for about a year I had constant vomiting bugs, sinus infections, colds, flus, utis etc that I couldn’t shake and needed antibiotics for at least three times in 12 months. Hopefully it’s just a phase and you’ll feel better soon. Do you take any vitamins?

Same here O P.. no ideas how to solve it, though...

My DC and DH always throw things off. I end up in bed for a week... and not in a good way! 🤒

That’s it- everyone else I know seems to sneeze a few times, pop a paracetamol and be good as new while I end up with a bloody chesty cough or worse. It’s so boring and feel bad feeling sorry for myself as obviously could be so much worse!

I could have written this myself. Honestly others seems to shrug off a cold/ cough etc and I have to take to me bed.

I'm the same, in fact I'd say I'm even worse. I get a new cold about every 3 weeks (or more). I genuinely don't know when one illness ends and another begins. It's back to back. I exercise, I eat loads of fruit and veg, I take all the supplements they recommend for your immune system, I don't smoke, I drink very little. Whenever I've had blood tests they all come back perfectly normal. I even had a particular type of cancer freakishly young and I've heard cancer is related to weakened immune systems. I just don't know what to do anymore. Part of me wonders if it's related to all the chemicals we're exposed to these days.
Are you blood group A, by any chance? I've heard people with blood group A are much more sensitive to toxins/pollutants/chemicals than other people and will be ill more frequently because of it. I'm A.

I'm an SEN teacher, worked in schools for the past 15 years. Was always absolutely fine, used to throw off colds very easily, no days off work, just luckily great health. That all changed roughly since I had Covid 2 years ago; I now get ill all the time, coughs, colds, tired, earache etc. I've had more days of work these past 2 years than I had in the probably ten years prior. I had Covid over Christmas and then a cough/sore throat/cold this half-term. I feel like I can't catch a break.

I was still going into school to work with SEN pupils through every lockdown with no masks, so I don't think it's due to lockdowns. I think Covid has buggered my immune system.

So YANBU, OP. I think Covid has caused issues in a lot more people than the experts currently think.

That's right, I've had that - it's pretty much cleared up now but it lasted for over 1.5 months and I have no idea what it was! GP didn't either.

I can tell it's getting better as I don't have the chills anymore, though I still wear a large sanitary pad all the time just in case of accidents!

How strenuous is your marathon training?

Apols if I e missed your update on this.

It is not impossible for it to be more than your body can cope with just now. Or it could just be one of those things. Hope you find what it is, or it runs out when your D.C. are a bit older. All the best.

I was the same last year. Never been so sick so frequently in all my life. Was losing the will to live and worried about the future. You name it, I had it. GP did bloods and I had low ferritin. Started taking proper doses of iron and the illnesses stopped. This winter I have a 5 year old in school with all the bugs that go with it. DH has caught some of them, but I haven't caught anything yet!! Def worth getting bloods done.