Three colds already this year

[lurkingfromhome]

I used to be really prone to getting colds but in the last 7 years or so have hardly had any at all. This year, though, I've had three already - all really horrible ones that leave me feeling absolutely wretched for days.

I have a really healthy diet, exercise regularly, barely drink at all, don't have late nights and I work from home so I'm not out and about every day picking up other people's germs. Where are these colds coming from?

Being self-employed means that often I just can't afford the time to be ill - like now, when I have a whole heap of work on and am going to have to work through it when I really just want to curl up in bed.

What can I do to improve my immunity? Do things like echinacea really work?

Have you got DC? Because I found that when mine started preschool and school they picked up everything to start with, then got immunity to repeat infections and became hardy once they were a few years in. I got every cold / sore throat they had too.

Maybe not exposing yourself you normal germ levels means that you are more susceptible to them when you do mingle with others.

No, I don't even have any DC to blame!

I think you might be right, though. Living in a germ-free bubble most of the time (my DH has had one cold in the 20 years I've known him so he clearly doesn't bring any germs home!) probably means that any exposure hits me like a ton of bricks. Maybe I should stand in post office queues more often and stop using anti-bac gel on my hands to build up resistance ...

There have been some freakishly nasty cold viruses around this year - I do have a little germ incubating child but this year we've all had more bugs than usual so I think it's just one of those things. Hopefully next year's bugs will be less toxic!

My family and I swear by Vit C and Zinc (Redoxon do a fizzy drink) and also 5 a day and also there was some spray disinfectant around a while ago.

Also if you are 'out and about' a bit more then your immune system does develop and leaves you less prone to colds etc. Maybe go out a bit more even if just to cafes/high street etc.

Anti-bac gel is prob not helping you. The only properly effective method is handwashing - but even then it's not realistic to wash your hands every time you touch a door handle, stair rail etc in public. The gels are a triumph of marketing and scare tactics. In hospitals when there is a proper outbreak of a virus on a ward, all the gels are removed so that people have to wash their hands. The gels are anti-bacterial and colds are viruses not bacteria.

www.theguardian.com/society/2012/may/13/do-we-really-need-hand-sanitisers

Also just because your DH doesn't get colds, doesn't mean he's not bringing them home. My DH recently announced he'd had a cold for 2 days - it was so mild I hadn't even noticed, I think he blew his nose once! Following day I was really ill and spent the next 5 days in bed.