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 .

As far as I know I've never had Covid, unless I had it back in 2019 when it wasn't known about. There was some nasty flu going round my work December 2019.

I work in primary school and usually have a good immunity to their bugs but since Christmas I’ve had 3 bouts. Started as a cough, got better then sore throat, then a cold. DH got a nasty chest infection from me. I eat lots of fruit and veg and cook from scratch lots of healthy whole grains etc. Lots of similar stories from those around me.

I’m 38 atm, two kids and I’ve just been sick on and off like you since covid! I don’t know if it’s because I’ve passed mid 30s or having covid twice messed me up. Been blowing my nose since start of Jan like I’ve got really bad hayfever…

It's well researched and documented that covid does long term damage to our immune systems. It's no surprise that people are struggling with immunity since being infected, and that can be the case even if the initial infection was asymptomatic because covid does 'silent' things in your body, including to the immune system. It's the biggest reason it isn't 'just a cold'.
It isn't well publicised though because politically and economically that doesn't look good.
The idea of an immune deficit where we catch more because of lockdown is also scientific nonsense for adult immune systems, they just don't work like that (although true for young children building up their initial immunity including immunity to the kinds of things you can only get once).
If it's covid legacy there isn't anything you can do, OP, other than check there is nothing else going on (low vit D, iron etc).

idea of an immune deficit where we catch more because of lockdown is also scientific nonsense for adult immune systems

Do you have a reference where someone proved it was nonsense?

Covid-induced immune damage is well documented. The rise of opportunistic bacterial & fungal infections, Tb & EBV reactivation, normally well tolerated pathogens hospitalising healthy adults etc etc all speaks to population wide immune harm, which may or may not be transient.
This has all been widely reported in scientific journals, Nature & some mainstream news.
What can you do?
Try to protect yourself from infection, wear respirator mask (eg N95 that fits well), ventilate indoor spaces by opening windows and using fans to create air flow, clean air using HEPA or DIY Corsi Rosenthal boxes. Wash hands, practice good food hygiene. Avoid people who are obviously unwell. Basically, steps that people who are immune-compromised have to follow anyway.

The only thing that’s helped my buggered old immune system (I’m another who always got badly hit by colds others seemed to shake off in a day or two) has been building in “rest days”. Not easy with DC, work, etc, but every week I plan one weekend lie-in and one weekday where I spend the morning doing very little (I work PT so appreciate not everyone can do this). Also earlier nights - I’m a natural night owl but now force myself to be in bed by 11pm at the latest. I’m generally quite a stressed person and I’m sure this hasn’t been doing me much good, so forcing myself to rest regularly has definitely helped, and I don’t get any less done. Also I now drink kefir every morning and I’m sure that’s helped my immunity too.

Do you regularly take vitamin d suppliments? All people in the UK should be taking them over winter every year and low vitamin d really screws up your immune system and cause depression, and back ache.

Ive got 3 friends who are conspiracy theorists & think Covid is a 'Plandemic', fake to mandate deathly vaccines and they've never had Covid & said my 3 bouts of Covid were a flu' or the tests have false positives. They are very very hermit like, no kids so maybe that's why?Another 2 acquaintances refused vaccines, both been very ill with Covid, one hospitalized for a year & on oxygen & steroids, wheezing like a 90 year old with an 80 a day fag habit.

I am rather baffled that many have no clue. Actually, maybe not so baffling since our media and governments are not mentioning this, since it is an inconvenient truth.

Repeated infections with Covid-19 are damaging your immune system, by causing T cell deregulation / depletion. This was already described by AJ Leonardi (PhD in T Cell differentiation) early in the pandemic. Additionally, every time you get infected your chance of contracting Long Covid increases.
The more the virus is studied, the more we discover that it acts in unexpected ways (e.g. viral reservoirs).

We must not forget that SARS-CoV-2 is extremely likely a lab leaked gain-of-function virus. At first this was considered some conspiracy theory, now it is pretty much accepted as a fact.

Next time when you see someone wearing an FFP2/FFP3 respirator in a crowded place, maybe ask yourself if they know something you don't... the chances are they do.

Now, some people's innate immune systems deal really well with the virus and they don't even seem to get the virus at all, or only once and done. Why? Nobody has figured that out yet*... However in the meantime society has decided to act as if there no longer is a pandemic. I find that bizarre since that is the opposite of the prudence principle. Instead of wasting billions on things that don't work, governments around the world could have invested in clean air for public spaces, but they didn't 🙄
We should also not dismiss the fact that it is possible for the virus to become more virulent again since we are in a 'pandemic of variants'. If that happens, governments will wish they had invested in clean air.

PS*: Low levels of VitD have been associated with worse outcomes, but that obviously is not a miracle cure.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of running. I think there is research showing that after intense exercise your immunity is a lot lower and you are more likely to pick up bugs. Maybe as you get older your body is finding the same exercise you did when you were younger too draining. I would ease off a bit on the running to see if that makes a difference. Maybe replace some with more relaxing forms of exercise, yoga/pilates or some strength training.
https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/why-do-i-get-sick-after-endurance-events-and-how-can-i-avoid-it/

Yes, exactly! I posted basically the same thing. I probably sound more annoyed and/or patronising than you do since it gets really tiring always having to repeat the same thing over and over again...

I used to rarely get ill, despite working in a primary school (including through lockdown). Since getting COVID (mildly) a year ago I've developed asthma and over the last 3 months have twice had chesty coughs that last weeks, plus sinusitis. It could be coincidence, but it seems unlikely. I otherwise eat healthily, exercise, take extra vitamins, sleep well.

Lockdowns were years ago now. That's a pile of BS. What is doing this is SARS2 infections. The virus depletes your immune system. Thus you get other illnesses more often and for longer. The driver of this is children in schools, where the air is filled with virus droplets because windows are painted shut or closed because it is cold, and air filtration systems are not available or turned off.

Training for a marathon won't help. If you are worn out stick to halfs and 10k. Your body needs to repair itself.

Get every scrap of sunshine you can. Even if it's a boring litter pick around the block.
Having primary age kids is a real problem. Don't share towels, all take a multi vit and mineral every day and get them in the sun as much as possible too.

My immune system was just as rubbish before Covid. Even when a teen, if others got flu then I managed to develop bronchitis 🙄

I think there's a lot of unconscious bias going on. Or post rationalisation.

Take Zinc with Vitamin C daily

I hope I dont jinx us but we are a family of 5, 3 teenage children. We are rarely sick. We get outside as much as possible (children walk to school and go on walks at the weekends), drink supplemented milk (with Vit D), eat 30+ fruit/veg/spices each week and go to bed early.

I am on an immunosuppressant for arthritis but thankfully have been very well.

The other thing we always do is practice good hand hygiene. Everyone washes their hands for 2 mins with soap after being out in public and if on a day out we use hand sanitiser and wash hands before eating.

We have all had covid twice.

Lockdown was over years ago. Covid still isn't over and numerous studies have shown repeated infections screws up our immune systems. Everyone being sick all the time four years after a global pandemic began? It's Covid, it's always been Covid. We've been F.A. with our health for years now and this is the F.O. stage

@JaneMumofTwins I feel like I'm in the twilight zone with all these people asking "what is going on? What could this mysterious thing be that's making everyone sick all the time?" It's COVID, obviously. Have they totally forgotten the past four years? Jesus Christ

It's COVID induced immune system dysfunction.

Hth.

"Everyone" isn't "sick all the time" around here, just the normal amount. I work in a pub, so see a lot of people through. Where on earth are you, that everyone's sick all the time?!

I know. We also have the 100 day cough around. People are complaining about back to back infections and never getting consistently well. SARS1 survivors also exhibited poor health for the rest of their lives. Which is immensely concerning. I am just trying to avoid situations where I can get infected as I had Covid last April and I still don't feel back to normal.

I have Long Covid - so I'm sick all the time, and I'm responding to people on this thread who all say they're sick all the time and also know people who are sick all the time. It's the point of the thread

Tests you might want to consider: immunoglobulin test, lymphocyte sub panel test, cortisol test, CFDNA from plasma. I had awful lymphocyte sub panel with no immune T-Cells or B-Cells all below normal. My GP told me to avoid infection for 6 months. Luckily can WFH.