To be so fed up of being ill?

[ProudPearl]

I'm starting to feel like I'll never feel well again!
I caught what I now think was flu in October. At the time I referred to it as a cold but it knocked me off my feet for over a week. It was 5 full weeks before I felt like I was getting better.

Then, early December my son came home from uni coughing. After he'd been back a week I could feel the tell tale signs of a new cold...scratchy throat etc. This became another full blown cold. I was frustrated but that made sense...my son has been living in a different part of the country so that was obviously a new virus to me. I started to get over that after about 10 days.

Then on Christmas eve my DH started coughing. I assumed he had the virus I was just recovering from. But no, by boxing day I was feeling absolutely rotten again. Terrible cough, sore throat, struggling to sleep at night.

I went to the GP and she was sympathetic but said it was just viral, rest and fluids. Didn't seem concerned about how long I'd been ill. No chest infection or tonsillitis. DH has also seen his GP and been told the same. DS is also no better, not seen his GP as they're the other end of the country and his symptoms are the same as ours.

This hasn't really gone away. I'm a teacher, so I'm back at work now but I've only taught 2 days this week and my throat pain is unbearable. I'm constantly coughing at night so feeling absolutely knackered.

I could cry this morning after another bad night, I feel like I'm wasting my life away. I'm supposed to go out tonight with friends but I'm going to cancel as I feel like shit. We cancelled so much over Christmas and New year. Friends and family are starting to think we just don't want to see them. We haven't seen DH's family over Christmas at all, it's the middle of January now and we're still not better. I'm worried they'll think we just don't care.

We're dragging ourselves to work but no energy left for anything else.

In terms of medication we've got all the usual stuff. Strepsils, paracetamol, ibuprofen, cough medicine, hot lemon and honey. We're taking vitamins and have really increased our fruit and vegetable intake.

Thanks if you're still reading. I'm just looking for suggestions on what to do next.

TL/DR: I've had the flu since October and it's not budging, Doctors no help at all, wtf do I do now?

i really feel for you OP, that must be so miserable.

in the spirit of ‘what do I do now’ just a few suggestions.

• my DF was a Doctor and taught us Autumn / Winter are the seasons to increase Vitamin C & Zinc dosages to ward off colds and viruses. I get that it’s Winter, but it’s not too late to start and remember to do it next Autumn.
• similarly make sure you are supplementing with Vitamin D
• I follow the 30 a week philosophy and once you get your head around it it is really simple. My go to winter recipes are as follows;
• Winter Veg Chop: Lightly (very lightly so still al dente) steam chopped Broccoli, Asparagus, Sugar Snap, fresh Sweetcorn, French Beans). Leave to cool. In a separate bowl chop (you are aiming for small similar sized pieces of each veg) Tomatoes, Yellow Pepper, Red Cabbage, Spring Onions, Avocado and any other salad veg you like. Grate fresh ginger and the rind of a Lime into the bowl and add the juice of a Lime. Stir in the cooled steamed veg. Add sunflower seeds and pumkin seeds. Place in the fridge and add several spoonfuls as a side dish to whatever you are eating or just have a little bowl as a snack. Immediately you are achieving 14 of your 30 a week and giving your body a significant vitamin boost every time you dip into that bowl. I quite often eat this as a side dish to a piece of fish as my evening meal and top the salad with pomegranate seeds. I live alone but the bowl makes enough for 3-4 days and lasts well if covered in the fridge.
• Winter Veg Bake. Chop into large squares; Butternut Squash, Parsnip, Celeriac, Sweet Potato and roast in olive or avocado oil in the oven. Halfway through cooking add fresh Sweetcorn, Red Cabbage, Romanesco, Sugar Snap, Tomatoes, Broccoli and anything else you fancy. Again I make enough for several days. The first day I eat it with Haloumi or fish and afterwards (it lasts for 3 days plus in the fridge) just fry up small portions to go with Fish, Sausages etc. Or make the leftovers into Soup.
• The aim of both these recipes is to reach my 30 a week and always have something in the fridge to make that easy. The rest of my 30 each week will be fruit, nuts and seeds.

Do try to get the flu jab over the next few years. Your immunity has obviously taken a hammering and it will take some time for your poor body to recover. The environment you are in means exposure is inevitable, all you can do is protect and ward off.

FWIW and I am scared to tempt fate, I am supposedly immuno compromised because of an underlying medical condition, but following my vitamin / flu jab / 30 a week protocol together with rigorous hand washing, have never (to my knowledge) had Covid and haven’t now had a cold since 2019.

Of course that could all change tomorrow, but something in the mix does seem to have helped. I always used to get a Christmas cold prior to starting the ‘30 a week’ way of eating. Maybe the boost in vitamin levels consistently throughout the year, has been my protecting factor.

I don’t eat any veg or fruit and I’m never ill and I haven’t had a cold in years

Do you take any vitamins ? I got paranoid about getting ill pre christmas so researched them. It could be a placebo but I have managed to miss (touch wood) all the bugs going roind so far. I also eat a lot of fruit and veg.

I think that's more luck really. It's great you haven't gotten ill but eating fruit and veg and a healthy diet is good advice for people who are struggling with illness as it does boost your immune system.

Having proper time to recover is the key. DH and I had a similar amount of illness as OP and went back to work too soon after flu in October and then caught it flu after Christmas, and we’d had the jab.

we are taking proper time to recover this time, it’s dull, it’s awful and we are so bored of each other. But it’s so important.

October there was the new strain of COVID going around. Quite a few staff at my school tested for it and we're positive. It's well known that COVID can dampen the immune system for a few months after and the mutated flu came round in November. Add together the usual bugs and colds and there's been a fair amount of illness in most schools. ....

Yep I thought the same. Couldn't really understand what she wrote x

Do this and ask for your iron and ferritin to be checked, plus vitamin D and also folate. I only found out recently that folic acid isn't just for when you're pregnant and low levels at other times affect your energy. Not saying all this is the root of the problem, but if one or more of these is out of whack it'll really impact your ability to recover from the flu. I do think you should also get signed off for two weeks and give yourself chance to rest.

look at your own punctuation, dear!

I hope you start feeling better soon. My sister swears by Sambucol she starts taking it from September until the end of the cold and flu season. She hasn’t had a cold or flu for years, she just may be lucky but it’s worth a try.