Always ill. What am I missing? What supplements do I need? What other action can I take?

[Dogsgottabone]

I am on my fifth illness since September.

A very heavy cold which took a month to go.

A very short cold which looking back was lots of high sneezing and could have been covid (again, Third time)

Three heavy peri periods in 6 weeks in the autumn which has necessitated the iron and HRT detailed below.

A virus in December that was a bit like flu but wasn't and had me in bed for 4 days and I lost lbs.

A cough and cold that started just before Xmas, lasted for five weeks and has me wracked with coughs and which did nothing for keeping my prolapse safe. It was dry and tickly until the last few weeks where it cracked.

Now another horrendous cold, sinuses are throbbing, I haven't slept properly since Friday, my cough is raw and burning and my head is banging once the paracetemol wear off.

None of these coughs are easy to shake as I'm also asthmatic.

Its a bit woe is me really.

Things I already do:

Exercise daily, either hiit, yoga, swimming and then at least 10k steps

Eat 30 types of plant a week.

Take iron every 48 hrs for ferritin depletion, take bit v with it for absorption, take magnesium and iron on the days I'm not taking the iron.

Use HRT for peri.

Live in the countryside, no fumes or smoke.

What else can I do to stop this never ending feeling of being ill? What am I missing?

There are some really vicious viruses around this year. I hadn;t been ill in three years but then got Cobvid last Feb and it lowered my immunity. I've had a few heavy fluey colds over th epast 12 months.

Here's what I'd do differently from you:
Start taking First Defense! - If I use this immediately, as soon as the first tickle in the nose or back of throat, it stops the virus from developing.

First day you feel even vaguely 'under the weather' or 'coming down with something' take the day off if you can. Certainly cancel walks and HIIT sessions. Rest for as much of that day as you can. That knocks the illness on the head. If I do this, I don;t get ill. Last week I felt like I was coming down wiht something on Friday but had an incredibly busy work day and powered through. I still have the cold and have kost days of work and a fin weekend planned to it. If I'd cancelled Friday I'd have been fine.

Take Vit B, Vit C, magnesium and plant based iron (Feroglobin or Floradix capsules) and Vit D spray (not tablets - they are not absorbed as easily) every day, not every other day.

Wash your hands every single time you come in from outside - after filling the bird feeder, going for a walk or to the shops. Definitely after yoga and HIIT sessions where your hands are down on grubby gym floors or sharing weights and pulleys.

30 plant based foods a week isn't much. Aim for 8-10 a day in terms of portions and if you are including nuts, herbs, red rice etc as part of the variety count, go for a range of at least 70 a week.

Possibly co-workers' hygiene?

Honestly, as the parent of ND children, I think I have a higher-than-normal stress level simmering beneath the surface. It could certainly contribute to a lowered immune system.

Agree with other posters - more sleep, don't exercise so heavily/at all if you are ill and yes, it's probably the stress. I have 3 different friends who were in the same position as you and all of them stopped being ill all the time after cutting their 'active' hours (wether working, caring, exercise, housework) which reduced stressed and got them more sleep. It's great you want to keep fit but part of keeping fit is allowing your body recovery time.

30 plant based foods a week isn't much

Red magazine has an article about this this month. I am also an asthmatic exerciser who works in a school and am in perimenopause!

Thoughts- read up on gut health, stop exercising and rest for a while your poor body needs it, wash your hands frequently, mask may be an idea. Prioritise sleep - magnesium is supposed to be good. Get some sun on you if you can.

I really do feel for you, it sounds tough. You’re burnt out physically and mentally I think.

@WinterFoxes csn I ask why washing hands after being outdoors particularly? I would have thought you would catch more viruses from door handles indoors etc…

Vitamin c and zinc

OK thanks everyone!

I take VIT C with the iron for absorption so that's covered, plus I eat spinach and oranges. Iron should be taken alternate days for effectiveness I believe. I'm hoping my ferritin stores have gone back up at my next blood test.

I don't wash my hands with soap at work as I have excema so avoid abrasive soaps as advised by GP. I do rinse with hot water though. Perhaps I need a better solution.

@SquirrelFan you might be onto something there...!

@WinterFoxes I said 30 a week as I knew if I said 10 a day, someone would suggest 30 a week 😁I do eat at least 10 types of plant based food a day. Different ones. I mainly have them all with my breakfast and lunch.

I will bear in mind what you say about just stopping when you don't feel well but I suppose it isn't that easy, when you need to drive DC, or cook or do the shopping etc. And the house is a tip as I don't have time to keep fit, feed everyone, sort the dogs, do the school runs and go to work. And who can relax when the house needs cleaning?!

@sleepybuthappy i had considered kombucha for the gut biome, maybe probiotics would have the same impact?

@ohfibonacci thank you that's interesting I will take a look.

Maybe I am burnt out. But I suppose I don't have time for that!!

I'm so cross that it's half term and I haven't done anything I had intended to do, tip runs and sorting and cleaning etc.

It was my birthday yesterday and I was even too ill for a glass of wine. I had scrambled egg for tea because it was all I could think of to eat with my horrible cold.

I'd really like to spring into spring now!

@plumduck i will look at zinc thank you.

This will sound a bit mad but id try an antihistamine like Telfast for a month and see if it helps. As an asthnatic histamine is an issue anyway, Covid is causing histamine related issues for people (a % of long covid sufferers are possibly suffering from mast cell/histamine intolerance issues) and dropping progesterone in peri causes an issue because its involved in the receptors? (cant remember what they are called) that help breakdown histamine.
Worth a try! Im in a heap at the minute because my 'allergic to spring' that usually starts mid march began v suddenly and severely at the weekend, the mild weather i suppose. Sinus are full, head is full, post nasal drip, wheezing, joint pain, coughing the whole nine yards. Im prescribed a higher dose of telfast than otc and its now got it under control with my inhalers

I've got to go and sort out DC now as they are starting to emerge from teenage pits...

I will come back to the thread again later.

@MILLYmo0se i have fexofenadine, that's the same thing isn't it? I start double ending the day with antihistamine at the end of feb. So fexofenadine in the evening and loratine/cetirizine in the morning.

That's a really good point I hadn't thought of that.

I think it’s great to be a ‘high achiever’ in relation to taking care of your health. I too like to do all the things, so I empathise.
What jumps out for me though is a combination of
1 you have a lot of plates spinning and you sound stressed
2 exercising hard while you’re ill or recuperating is a bad idea
3 a gas heater without great ventilation is nuts 😂
4 a holiday sounds like a plan.
So frustrating, isn’t it.

Whilst living in London I was constantly ill but started taking bee propolis and it was a game changer.

I was ill from mid-September to a few weeks ago. Started taking propolis again but tbh it was probably the three different courses of antibiotics that made the difference!

From some of the things you have said it sounds like you can't stop. I'm like this and it's only after splitting with DH and being a couple of years down the line that once I do actually stop in half term and have a few days without kids, that I totally stop and find it hard to get started again! Sometimes once you get wound up to do everything at speed you can't relax and you sound a bit like that with your to-do list. It just be punishing on mind and body. Maybe try building in some regular time to stop and not 'be productive' - read a book or listen to audio books lying on the sofa without getting through your to do list, plus getting enough sleep, would help. Speaking personally, my body does need time to stop now, and totally slow down, though I realise that's easier said than done when you have lots of responsibilities.

It sounds like you have a lot on, I'd agree with @Esmereldaeats but I'd add find a way to wash your hands properly.

@Dogsgottabone I buy mine from Amazon but Holland and Barrett is also an option.

Just reading about your day makes me feel exhausted!
couple of things - do you always cook? Why doesn't DH do some?
why is the house a tip if you don't tidy/clean? Why is no one else mucking in?

Then on the exercise thing, try thinking of it like your body has a certain amount of resources, right? When you get ill, a load of resources are diverted to your immune system to allow it to make extra white cells and fight off the infection. When you exercise, you're forcing those resources to be redirected back into eg transporting extra oxygen, repairing muscles. Your body only has limited resources so it can't do everything. That's why you need rest to recover from illnesses and injuries, so you can use maximum resources where they're needed.

you sound absolutely burnt out, you are trying to do too much and it sounds like you put a lot of pressure on yourself to achieve everything.

Following since in the same boat.....menopausal, stressed, work in a school. I've been ill and coughing since mid November, had a course of anti biotics and 2 courses of prednislone in that time so GP not sure what to do with me now I have yet another chesty cough thing.

Yes thats the same. I normally up my steroid inhaler and take the telfast from start of marchish but its definitely kicked in early this year.
My asthma/histamine has definitely changed with hormones decreasing, ive had asthma since childhood but hay fever has developed too over the last decade. Oranges caused an allergic response but now if my diers contained a lot of histamine pretty much any fruit can make me wheeze and alcohol just isnt worth the bother. Covid threw me for a loop last year, i got over the cough etc but the brain fog and joint pain id had pre hrt came back for a month or so, had an occular migrane for the first time ever.
Sorry, didnt mean this to be an essay, but stress also triggers histamine release and you do seem to be operating under stress.
Try the antihistamine and a low histamine diet (tho its a pain tbh) and see if it helps?

If you are very vitamin d deficient, which is extremely common at this time of year then this might not be enough. I would take some high dose stuff for a couple of weeks. Boots do a spray which is 7000 units.
Vitamin d deficiency totally screws up your immune system and causes depression and back pain.

I had a winter of illness - 5 months of one after another. I didn’t have any magic recovery but I did take hygiene much more seriously after that, washing hands not sharing food with dc etc. I’ve never been ill in that way again.

it’s frustrating but be kind to yourself now and listen to your body needs. Sometimes we get Ill and we just have to focus on rest.

This is interesting. I had Covid in July and since then have had one thing after another. I am usually very healthy.
It suddenly occurred to me that vit D might be a partial cause. I’ve been wearing factor 50 on my face whereas usually I would rely on factor 30if I go for a walk, or just SPF in my moisturiser. This obsession with totally blocking out sun and using chemical laden creams on a daily basis isn’t good for us and cuts down on our ability to absorb vit D from the sun. I used to use mineral based SPF but somehow have been brainwashed into the chemical factor 50 sunscreen.
In the winter this is a particular problem. I also live in a north facing house and live in the north.
I take vitamin D and calcium supplements on prescription but don’t think they are much cop, and I take them very sporadically. Recently I read that taking calcium supplements is actually bad for your bones, not good for them. So I have stopped taking vit d altogether.

Im going to start using a spray and see if that helps. Stress definitely plays a big part in immunity and it sounds like you are not getting adequate rest and are stressed and overburdened. Working in a school won’t help. What do you do for yourself to relax and feel good? Do you see friends or have hobbies? It sounds like your life revolves around exercise, work and targets. What about fun? You’re in bed early every night too. Is your family life happy and rewarding?

You sound on a bit of a treadmill to me .

I would look at the brand of supplements you are taking too. Take a good quality brand multi vit and mineral plus fatty acids. You shouldn’t need additional iron unless you are deficient.

I have also had three months of back pain . I see that can be caused partly by lack of vit D.