What do you do to not catch colds/flu/chest infections??

[getmesomewater]

For months I get one a cold or chest infection am well for a week then bam pick up something else ! I must have a awful immune system!! Apart from the norm diet, exercise & everyday hygiene... what do you do to ward off being ill? ?

Wearing a mask has really helped. Nothing like so many bugs since.

Agree about probiotics. I was just explaining to my toddler this morning that the antibiotics got rid of all the bacteria in her throat, but also the good bacteria in her belly. So now she had to eat yoghurt to restore the good bacteria in her tummy. My partner was looking at me like I fell from Mars. What is it about men not knowing anything about probiotics??

A high dose of vitamin D daily. I started taking 2000mg at the start of the pandemic and hadn't had so much as a sniffle for nearly three years - until this week. I am currently flattened with a horrible virus and feel awful.

I think sleeping well regularly does help you stop getting a bit run down in the first place. That sounds really obvious but I think people overlook it. Obviously difficult with young kids!

Vitamin D. Hand sanitiser. Flu vaccine.

Any time I feel even slightly nasally congested I use the menthol otrovin decongestant spray for a few days. Seems to head anything off. Haven’t had a cold for 3 years. Other than that just a fair bit of wine. Seems to work.

Good nights sleep and early bedtime
Drinking lots of water
Staying as warm.as possible and always having warm feet
Bone broth is meant to be excellent too but I couldn't face it

No idea. My diet is shite. I run slowly three times a week and that's it.

Never ill. Never had Covid. Have two DC who bring home everything and sneeze and cough all over me and I never catch it. I think I should donate my body to medical science.

Washing hands and hand sanitiser - every time I get in my car for example I sanitise out of habit, when I get lazy with this and don't remind kids or they do half hearted rinse of hands under cold tap, we're more likely to get ill.

Well, I never ever go outside with wet hair for a start off.

I also never go out with a bare neck in winter. When I was going out half naked as a teen I constantly had tonsillitis, chest infections etc etc.

I sleep lots, eat unprocessed foods, drink loads of water and wash my hands a lot.

I was getting a lot of colds and viruses in my late twenties and I got really fed up with it (I work with university students and they pass around a lot of bugs from all over the country all year!) I managed to reduce the number of these massively by washing my hands frequently, and making sure never to touch doorknobs and high frequency surfaces at work or out and about. (I use my sleeve or a tissue.) This had a really marked effect and I went from having really frequent respiratory illnesses all the time, to having maybe 2 mild colds a year. This was well before Covid, but flu and colds/droplet infections you pick up a lot from surfaces.

After having DD, nothing made a difference - I got every cold and bug going round from the time she started nursery (and Reception) and it didn’t stop until at least year 1. We were ill constantly for about 3 years running. IME there is nothing you can do to protect yourself against catching things from a toddler / primary schooler!

During the lockdowns I got used to hardly having a cold ever! And the lack of (non-Covid) viruses meant my asthma got much much better - better than it had been for years. Apparently this has led to something of a revolution in asthma research - no-one had expected that asthma would reduce so dramatically. Researchers now think as a result that asthma is triggered far less by environmental factors and far more by circulating viruses sensitising the lungs.

The colds are creeping back now. I recently had a virus that really knocked me out for two weeks - either a very bad cold or RSV or a paraflu or similar. DD and DP are currently down with another, poor things.

That will have had more to do with the number of viruses you were exposed to as a teen, and not the fact that your neck was bare. Viruses don’t enter through the skin of your neck.

Some interesting ideas here!
Mega doses of vitamin C - may as well throw them down the loo. Once your tissues are saturated you will just pee out any extra.
Water - just why?
Wrapping up? It's a virus (although being cold may make you more vulnerable).
Eat healthily, exercise, etc etc. The usual stuff. It's mostly down to luck & genetics I imagine.

@the

@TheMightyOak there's a big difference between dirt and viruses. Your immune system doesn't need constant exposure to viruses to "stay strong", on the contrary.

The best answer to OP's question is quite simply, wear a proper mask. It's basic physics. An N95 will filter out the virus particles and therefore you won't breathe them in/will breathe a much lower dose, reducing the chance of an infection taking hold.

Also if OP has already had covid then her immune system is likely compromised (see twitter.com/jeffgilchrist/status/1605958004163084292?t=wFimXnVpr7xsyuLAQxlkAQ&s=19 for summary of evidence) and her lungs may also be weaker making her more susceptible to other respiratory illness.

Wear a tightly fitting mask!

OP should also ventilate her office/enclosed spaces and run an air purifier. You can build your own HEPA filter for 80 quid. www.airbon.co.uk/post/diy-air-purifiers

These should be installed as standard in all school classrooms and schools wouldn't be such infection cesspits

Mostly down to luck.
I am still wearing a mask in crowded places - for me just public transport and some shops around Christmas.

Well none of us ever get ill and the I've always done the following:

Maximum exposure to dirt and germs throughout life. We never wash our hands unless visible dirt/after a poo. We pick food we've dropped off the floor and eat it, including in public places. Nothing sterilised as babies. Bedding and towels only washed when actually needed. Lots of exposing to viruses, we don't avoid people with colds etc.

Eat huge amounts of garlic, its fabulous for immune system

Follow a vegetarian diet

Get all our vaccines

I have no idea but rarely get colds or flu or viruses. It took me 2 years to get Covid. Had nothing else this year. I have the flu jab every year and don't hang out in crowded places or with children or have a public facing job. My kids for all their issues are never ill either .
I get migraines though so can't claim a clean slate of sickness.

It was interesting in the thick of covid that it seemed some very fit people got hit really hard by it. I do wonder if some people's bodies are under a lot of stress generally and so when a bug hits there isn't much more to fend it off. It might be wishful thinking to absolve guilt of being more sloth like.

I don’t really get colds or viruses -I haven’t had one for years - and I’ve never had flu. I don’t do anything I’m consciously aware of.

Viruses don't enter through the skin but being cold reduces how effectively the immune system works.

I'm constantly ill with something and it's starting to really get me down.

I take vitamin D. I eat well. Don't drink alcohol. Exercise loads. Yet I can't stay healthy.

I've got a training programme to follow and it's killing me off 🤦‍♀️

Last week I finally seemed to have got rid of the latest bug, had 2 days feeling good and then boom - wake up with a throat that feels like I'm swallowing glass. Now blocked nose, temperature, resting heart rate through the roof etc.

Maybe I should get some probiotics.

I think luck as much as anything. I'm fairly healthy but not super healthy in terms of eating etc.
Hopefully not tempting fate but I've probably had maybe 5 or 6 bad colds in my adult life including covid, and 2 or 3 sick bugs (excluding pregnancy - I had a few colds then)
My DH gets maybe 2 colds a year and rarely covers his nose or mouth to cough or sneeze (an ongoing bugbear!) so after 20 years I feel like I've built up an immunity!

Apart from vaccinations, just seem to be lucky. Still wear a mask in busy places but that’s for the benefit of my CEV husband. Very, very rarely catch colds even when the rest of the family have them.