To think this is just shit luck? Or is there something else going on?

[ImWorkingLateCosImASingerrrr]

I'm having a bit of a rant and a moan. Feeling a bit sorry for myself.

I know most of the country is ill with some sort of illness so I'm probably being unreasonable and just need to get on with it.

I have been ill since 7th December. On 7th December I came down with a usual winter cold / cough. On 12th December I was scheduled for gynae surgery. The anaesthetist did a full exam and was happy to proceed as I did not have a temp and it didn't go to my chest. Perhaps this was my demise. Surgery recovery was fine apart from infection. I was put on a course of antibiotics for 7 days. During this time I developed an infection in one of my surgery entrances. 2nd set of antibiotics. But the cold then developed into my chest. I couldn't shake it and eventually after feeling awful on 27th December went to OOO who said I had pneumonia. Another set of antibiotics prescribed. All finished. The chest infection has cleared, but I am still very bunged up and have a dry, hacking cough. Not out the woods yet and very tired still. Monday evening I was struck down with what I think is norovirus. 3 full days of complete V&D and not being able to keep fluids down or food. Today is the first day I haven't been sick. But it was horrendous and knocked me for six. Still feel like I could easily be sick now.
This morning I have woken up with a horrible UTI. I'm guessing it's from the Diarrhoea or dehydration. I surely cannot be out back on a 4th set of antibiotics in a month!? The UTI isn't great. I have a small amount of blood when I wipe. A red tinge more than blood.

What sort of fuckery is this? Is anyone else just getting infections back to back?

My immune system is shite. I had a long and gruelling cancer battle a with multiple surgeries, but that all finished 5 years ago. I have 2 heart conditions (prolonged QT and SVT) which was brought on from my chemo. Managed with meds. I was a 26 weeker and twin so I guess my immune system has never been fabulous.

But I am STILL not entitled to the flu and pneumonia jab! I have been to my GP 3 times. I have been to OOO once. What else can I do at this stage? I do get ill every winter without fail and hold on to illnesses but this takes the fucking pish!

Any ideas on who I can see, or what I can do? AIBU to think the GP should be helping me more or do I just need to suck it up? I eat a low UPF diet, plenty of fresh fruit and veg. But I've had zero appetite since 7th December and lost over a stone. I was only 9 stone to start with.

Rant over. Sorry for the long whiney post. I know there's people out there much worse than me. I am just so fed up. Trying to work and be a mum to DD and uggghhhh. Pulling my barnet out! Just desperately in need of some advice on what I can do to improve all of this!

Can’t you just get the flu jab at the chemist ?

I hope you feel better soon OP. I have no medical advice really other than going back to GP and back again and again but just wanted to say that it all sounds absolutely awful and you should be extremely proud of yourself for soldering on.

That sounds really tough. I'd just get the flu jab privately, it's £15 well spent. But I'm quite impressed you're already better after pneumonia, it took me at least 6 weeks to get back on my feet, awful illness.

If you can afford it, you can pay for the flu jab. I did at boots. I booked for a free jab as I have asthma, but the nhs conditions for the free jab changed and because I only have the blue inhaler I wasn't eligible. They let me pay though. (I think it was about £20).
I don't know about the pneumococcal vaccine though.

I'm not better from the pneumonia at all, I'm far from being out of the woods.

I think the jab is £15 at Boots? I’d just do that tbh. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pneumonia is shite though, and takes a long time to shift.

Ah I didn't know you could pay for the flu jab! I rarely go into the chemist as all my meds get delivered. I've evidently been living under some rock.

Is it worth me getting the jab now or waiting for next year? Thank you all!

Has anyone also tried b12 injections?

That sounds horrendous. The viruses this year are evil. I am fit and healthy normally but over three months I had D&V, Covid, a heavy cold, flu and tonsillitis. I was wiped out by Christmas.

My only advice is to take convalescence seriously or you are in danger of getting post viral fatigue. I had that and it took three years to go, sleeping 16 hours a day, lost my job etc. Do not risk it. You need two months of doing nothing. You must get signed off work and behave like a patient in an old school sanitorium for convalescent. Sit wrapped in blankets in the sunshine, drink loads of fluids, chicken soup or veg soup if you are veggie. Loads of garlic, ginger, foods high in Vitamin C.

I have every bug going after one of my surgeries. Back to back and on repeat.

It doesn’t help that it’s this time of year. Maybe all of the antibiotics are somewhat to blame.

I'm sorry you've gone through similar. It's been savage this year hasn't it.

I'm not actually working at the moment, I havent done since before my surgery. I've been logging in for an hour or two every few days WFH just to keep my clients in the loop and pass on any tasks that I need to.
Perhaps getting officially signed off for a while may help. Sitting in the sun with a blanket sounds like an absolute dream. DD has gone back to nursery 5 days a week now so I'm getting a bit of respite. I'm so sorry you've gone through went through the post viral fatigue. I hope you feel better soon!

I've thought about that too. 3 sets of antibiotics in 4 weeks can't be very good can it?

I genuinely didn't know you could rock up and pay for it! I really ought to have looked into this. I'm going to do this once the D&V is clear and not catching for sure. Perhaps it's too late for this year but it's worth a go.

Gosh it sounds like you’ve had a really rough time. Please just get another round of antibiotics and clear the UTI and hopefully continue with your recovery.

not to minimise it but try to get a bit of perspective. It’s just a month and hopefully you can turn it around now. A month in the grand scheme of your life isn’t much and fingers crossed in a few months time you’ll be able to look back and realise it was a tough time but relatively short lived.

I pay for my flu vaccine every year at Tesco pharmacy, and they even send me a reminder to book in September. Worth every penny!

I’ve been very ill after multiple rounds of antibiotics for a chest infection, and even ended up in hospital because I stopped being able to tolerate penicillin, so I can sympathise. I believe that a lot of our immune system is in our gut biome, so I think you should try pre and/or probiotics, to counteract the death of your good bacteria from your antibiotics. You need to wait until your current course is finished though. I would go to the pharmacy and get antibiotics for your UTI - the last thing you need is a kidney infection which has to be treated aggressively while you’re in this weakened state. Then you can concentrate on building your gut flora back up. I’d also recommend a general multivitamin and mineral supplement to help boost your immunity. Good luck. This has been such a debilitating period but hopefully you’ll turn a corner once your recovery from the pneumonia in particular is properly under way.

You can get loads of different vaccinations privately - it's just the NHS only organises and pays for the ones where there are medical recommendations to vaccinate the public at large at set points. So all the normal childhood vaccinations, now things like HPV, and the annual scheme to get the categories of people deemed vulnerable on a population level to have flu jabs. It's not really because that one person on the list for a flu jab will benefit the most personally, it's population-wide this group is most likely to need hospital resources, we want to limit that.

You can privately pay for the flu jab, a pneumonia vaccination, and these days even covid. The flu jab is cheap, you can get it for about a tenner at supermarket pharmacies. The others are more £££ because less economies of scale I think. They're like £70-80 each.

Good advice about gut microbiome above. I’ve managed to avoid the cold/D&V viruses this year, but I’ve had a cold sore since October! Grr. I’ve just started taking kefir from M&S at the recommendation of my dietitian friend. Let’s see if it works!

Hope you’re feeling better soon OP.

It’s certainly worth looking into supplements. B12, D and probably C. Maybe other things.

Sometimes when your health takes a battering, it just takes time to recover. You’ve had multiple issues and you need to give yourself time to recover. Get yourself signed off. Give yourself permission to rest. It’s worth looking at multivitamins and immune supplements if you can take them. Recovering from pneumonia in particular takes time.
I’m not sure you’d get a flu jab while you’re still ill. I went with a cold once and they told me to come back when I was well. I’d suggest booking it in for a few weeks’ time.

To be fair I don’t think there’s a huge amount the GP can do. There’s a huge amount of respiratory illness around at the moment and most of it is viral. Pneumonia can take easily 4-6 weeks to recover from and there’s no treatment for the cough unfortunately. I think it really is bad luck. Probiotics and vitamins, good hydration, stay in the warm and rest as much as possible.

Antibiotics destroy your gut microbiome which is where most of your immune system comes from, you need to start taking gut health very seriously

You sound similar to what I was post surgery with GA for a minor issue. Known fact the GA suppresses the immune system and so if you were under the weather prior its just exacerbated it and then some. I feel for you.

You can't just rock up I don't think, you need to make an appt.
I made one in Dec, but it was cancelled due to lack of vaccine. I have been unable to make one at Boots since then, but found I was able to at a smaller pharmacy.

I had a horrible cold in October that just didn't clear up, and that turned into pneumonia. I had two lots of antibiotics and a 5 day course of steroids, I'm asthmatic too which didn't help at all. I felt so ill, but the worst bit is the fatigue. I went back to work too early (pressure from my boss) and I'm still struggling with it.
Optibac to a probiotic for when you're on antibiotics, which I found really good. I take theirs anyway. I have an friend who's an ex paramedic and now is a nurse practitioner specialising in asthma, and he recommended a good multi vitamin, vitamin d, but to add in a broad spectrum vitamin B (I found a dissolvable one in Waitrose when I was picking up a few bits) to help.

Yes I've been reading up about this. :(

To add to my many list of ailments (I promise I don't have hypochondria, just medically complex) I have a congenital malrotation of the bowel and intestines. Discovering that is what picked up my cancer. So my gut health is very important.
I have kefir daily, I have to eat everything from scratch and eat lots of leafy greats, pre and pro biotics. I graze rather than big meals. Are there any other supplements I can take that you think would help? Perhaps I need to see a dietitian. I limit red meat and largely live a pescatarian diet. Lots of healthy fats etc.

I think I just need to admit defeat, rest and wait for all of this to pass rather than looking for quick answers. Does anyone think seeing a dietitian would be a good thing?

@pumpkinpillow thank you, that's useful to know. Perhaps when I'm a bit better and non-contagious I'll make an appointment with the local boots.