People who don't get sick all the time... what's your secret?

[blackcoffeenosleep]

Long story short since the end of September me and my family (DH and 3 kids) have had the following between us: Novovirus, normal cold, ear infection, bronchiolitis and now 3 of us have hand foot and mouth.

Once we are past this how can I build up our immune systems? We already practice handwashing before /after the loo, beforw eating, after changing nappies/blowing noses and when we come home and just generally throughout the day. Hand sanitiser used reguarly by the kids at school and in shops etc. We're in scotland so still wearing masks in most places. We all take vitamin supplements and eat a healthy varied diet.

Are we just unlucky? Today is halloween and my middle child has woke up covered in HFM spots after being up all night with a cough and temp. Im just getting over it and his baby sister had it last week. My oldest son has had a cough too so think its going his way now too... DH seems to be immune to these things (except Novovirus.. that one got him bad 😩) no trick or treating for us tonight. Luckily we have pumpkins to carve and halloween crafts to do to keep us entertained.

Really this is just a moan but any other advice is welcomed! (I will add we all tested for covid at first sign of cough/temp and all neg) we all do regular lft as well.

No idea.
I’m very rarely ill. But when I am…I go hard
I can go years between colds, and then when I do get one, it floors me.

I rarely have anything that you can 'catch'.

Unused to get everything going but I've been vegan for 21 years and since giving up dairy I rarely get ill.

Teaching. You're basically ill for the whole of your pgce and nqt year.

After this you develop the immune system of an ox, but only during term time. In the holidays it'll catch up.

Seriously though, exposure to a gazillion germy kids is a great immune booster 😆

Vodka not had a cold for many years

DH, DD and I are very rarely ill but when we do get ill we get Really Ill, often in bed for four/five days at a time.
I caught the flu not long after having DS and it took me three months to recover as I just kept getting colds on top of it so I do think there is an element of falling into the cycle of illness IYSWIM.
No secret here, definitely a bit slovenly, everyone washes their hands after using the loo, but everyone kisses the dog and buggers about on the floor which is washed infrequently.

DS on the other hand gets ear infections and colds/coughs bloody constantly and it is infuriating, but always V mild, he just feels a bit under the weather. Mostly manages to go to school (covid tests all negative!) unless he's really tired. Grommets did help with ears but they've since fallen out as he's grown and now we're back where we were three years ago. Fourth round of antibiotics in 3 months

Thinking about it I had the flu and then later that year I got shingles.
Bloody awful. Not had anything so bad since though

Another vote for possibly too clean. We're never sick dh, me dc1 1 and dc9. We're clean but not fastidious so handwash after toilet and before food prep, but have animals and handle those without washing hands every time, get dirty playing out and don't sanitise everything constantly.
Also eat lots of fresh food little processed stuff, home isn't stressful, we're active, if I ever do feel like a sniffle might be trying to get a hold (bit of a runny nose maybe) i take a vit c+zinc and it never gets further than that. (zinc makes vit c more biologically available than vit c alone).

I grew up on a farm, so whilst we always washed hands before meals and bathed daily, we were generally a bit dirty.

I'm not very fussy about cleanliness (though we do have a cleaner). I've never bought or owned bleach.

We get the odd cold, usually from nursery (and I currently have vertigo) but other than that we're very healthy. Last got noro 5 years ago when a baby with noro vomited all over me!

Your problem is little children. They catch everything because they've no immunity to it and will often pass it to you. Give it a couple of years snd you'll be through this. Don't go overboard on the hygiene routines - you risk getting obsessive and it may not help much.

I'm immunocompromised and was always unwell until I was diagnosed and started medication. It was a bit of a shock as I grew up with horses and being exposed to mud constantly!
One theory I have is that you tend to be prone to certain things. I never throw up or get stomach bugs (had norovirus once in my life) and I can eat anything even if other people are sick from it. I told my dad I had been sick when I had norovirus and I swear he was ready to ring 999 as I didn't even throw up as a child
On the other hand, tonsillitis and chest infections are constant for me!

I drink too much, don’t eat especially well but I do run a lot (not very far or fast but at least am Out I guess most days). Am very rarely ill these days. But really I think a lot of it is luck, two men I work with who have been at the office around 20 years have neither had a day off sick, pre-COVID they might have come in to the office with mild colds but really there has been nothing really wrong with them. Neither are complete health freaks.

I think it's good genetics in my case. Me, my mum and brother rarely seem to get I'll, and if we do catch something we tend to shake it off quickly. I'm pretty sure my nan was the same. We also eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, so maybe the vitamins help.

My husband and kids catch everything that's going!

Just luck I think, I can't remember the last time I was ill, my DH has never had a day off sick in his life (he's 60), like others my housework standards are very low, I don't eat a particularly good diet, we drink too much ...I am overweight and don't exercise but just don't get ill. Our DS is the same ... I remember everyone telling me he would pick up bugs/sickness from school ... he didn't. . Could be genetic, my DPs and siblings all have good health.

I am hardly ever sick and my son, 11, has vomited perhaps twice.

We eat well, green veg, protein, frozen is fine. Fruit every day even if just an apple.
I don't use hand sanitizer. Wash hands after toilet and before food.
Exercise, even if just a walk, 4 times a week.
I am a teacher so can't be doing with a sick kid and the need to set relief!

I take a multivitamin, eat lots of fruit, and never use antibacterial anything. Pretty lax on the cleaning front. OCD runs in my family and the ones who obsessively clean do get more ill. But I don't know if that's coincidence - it could just be luck of the draw.

I don't want to tempt fate and also have no scientific evidence to back this up but since I began intermittent fasting three years ago I rarely get ill and if I do a bounce back in a day. I sometimes think I should look into it. Also if I'm really tired I just fast for a little bit longer and I can handle the exhaustion better - but I've been doing this for years - I wouldn't advice jumping into that bit because you so tank quite spectacularly when you have your first meal and break fast

I used to get upper respiratory infections all the bloody time. I also couldn’t breathe through my nose but thought that was fairly normal. About 7 years ago I found out I had a deviated septum and large turbinates and had surgery to fix them. Life changing! Breathing through my nose meant less sore throats and less upper respiratory infections.

Before the surgery my GP gave me the tip of gargling warm salt water any time I had a sore throat. It helps stop it progressing to an URI. That worked really well too. But now with my nose fixed I don’t get sore throats to even have to bother with this and nor do I get the associated ear aches. I used to have them all the bloody time.

I don't get I'll often (tho do have a chronic underlying illness - I mean in terms of coughs, colds, stomach upsets etc). I think it's just luck. I have a decent healthy diet but don't take supplements or anything. Would say I wash hands a normal amount and have never been too precious about kids eating the odd dropped biscuit.

But mainly it's luck I'd say - some people are just more prone perhaps.

Stress, tiredness and alcohol seem to bring on illnesses in my family. Not my dh and dcs, but my siblings and parents. We are otherwise pretty hardy, but if we have a big weekend with a wedding or something and have a few drinks and late nights, I know one of us will have a bad virus or proper infection within about a week! It may be being exposed to a lot of people as well, but kids can't avoid that. But definitely late nights, alcohol (grown ups) or overdoing it at work etc is what gets me and my family.

I've worked in early years for 30 years, I'm like a bloody ox!!
I honestly think it's what has helped, last week I had a terrible week of children literally coughing in my face (despite constant reminders!!) but apart from the odd mild sniffle or sore throat I always seem fine.
I've noticed newer staff or students tend to really suffer and often seem to catch everything that's doing the rounds sadly.

We're almost never ill. DH hasn't been to the doctor since he was in his teens, hasn't had a sick day off work ever. My last sick day was nearly 10 years ago and haven't been ill since, we did catch covid which was unpleasant but not too debilitating. The kids occasionally get a runny nose but that's about it.
I can claim absolutely no virtuous reason for this - I think we're just lucky! We're both a few pounds overweight and don't exercise enough, we don't live in an immaculately clean house, and we should spend more time outdoors. In our favour - we don't smoke and rarely drink, and we do tend to eat homecooked meals with plenty of veg and fruit. Interesting seeing a lot on this thread with similar lifestyles

I think it’s mostly genetics. And yes, it’s possible to have different situations with siblings because they might inherit different combinations of genes plus different circumstances in pregnancy.
I’ve got older sibling who’s got much better health than me, she is more like our Dad, I’m more like our Mum and actually have similar health issues plus parents were younger and healthier when they’ve got her. I don’t think they washed their hands in my childhood more often, and we used to have pets and I ate unwashed fruits and so on. However I catch every cold possible and have terrible allergy on exactly these pets I’ve grown up with. So I wouldn’t overthink the exposure theory too much. Some people are just healthier than another. You can change it but to certain extent.
I also suspect that my respiratory issues are connected with the fact that our Dad was smoking a lot at the house during my childhood.My sibling spend most of her childhood with GPs who didn’t smoke.

Most of the time, anti bac gels etc don’t work on germs other than bacteria. For example, no gel (even anti viral) won’t kill norovirus.

The main thing is to wash hands with soap and water after the loo and before eating. I don’t touch my nose/mouth/eyes often.

Lots of veggies, supplements such as vit D, zinc. Fermented foods as well as cutting down on anything very processed.

Getting out and about if you can for fresh air!

Also try not to let stress get to you. Take time to relax and chill out - your immune system
will be more likely to fight off an infection faster if you’re not burnt out and rundown (I know that’s sometimes easier said than done!)

Thanks for everyones replies.

A few mentioned good quality vitamins inc Vit D and Zinc.. i take these and also a normal multi vitamin. Kids take multi vits and an extra chewable vit D. Baby has abidec syrup on HV recommendation.
We also walk to school every day which there and back x 2 is around 3 miles. And i run around after a baby! So we are pretty active.
Dh thought I was mad when I told him we were too clean yesterday 😂 i looked up some of the suggestions someone gave r.e. Old friends theory and hygiene hypothesis which made an interesting read and made sense - thanks for that! I've binned my sanitiser and dettol spray for now 😂