No end of viruses leaving me depressed - or a depressive virus?

[baroqueandblue]

TLDR: Had an awful stomach virus most of November and into December, seamlessly morphing into flu-like illness. Felt I had begun to recover for a few days but then came down with a very heavy head cold (initially) around the 30th of last month. Lost senses of smell and taste on Friday, which are beginning to return, but the whole thing has gone on my chest and most days I still feel lingering symptoms of the old stomach bug too, ie. pain and discomfort, reflux. I look really drained and have started to feel really depressed, except that where I was getting quite tearful at times in the past week, now I'm just numbly miserable and very pissed off, which feels like a kind of hopelessness and depression.

Has anyone else felt depression as a viral symptom recently and come through it, or is it more likely that this unending string of illnesses has left me feeling extremely depressed? I don't feel suicidal but I am starting to despair of ever feeling better again.

Amongst your virus soup, it sounds like there was a round of covid (loss of smell/taste) and covid can cause neuro symptoms including depression.

So there could be a viral cause, as well as the impact of just being unwell for ages.

With covid, the best thing to do is rest, rest and then rest some more.

And then do your best to avoid catching one damed bug after another, Covid dampens your immune system, do you catch things that bit more readily and get them that little bit worse, and you don’t really get any let up in the fatigue.

So when you are better, think about how to avoid catching whatever else is going round. Wear a mask on public transport, in healthcare settings and in enclosed indoors areas. Avoid indoors figgy events during the winter virus season

OP, do you have a partner who could help you? Can you boost your immune system, take a regular multivitamin, eat more fresh food, build up your diet.

Rest more hours a day - go to bed early and try to sleep for longer.

It sounds like you need an old fashioned convalescence. Treat yourself kindly for a month.

I’ve been exactly the same, have had blood tests done this week as I’ve been ill for what seems like the last six months including what I assume is Covid. Nurse has recommended taking first defence spray as a precaution every week, which I’ve started since last week. Doing everything I can to avoid getting ill again as it’s draining and depressing

My immune system got totally clobbered by long covid and then I lurched from virus to virus for ages until I really thought my number was up. I ended up on a drip in the hospital at one point because it was so bad.

Someone told me to just wear a mask every time I'm in company and it really helped so much. I can now go out and see people without catching bugs, and my body is getting a chance to pull itself together again (Slowly).

It might be a good idea to also buy a vitamin tonic from the pharmacist, if you can tolerate them. I can't, but if you can then it would probably really help. My DS is very prone to viruses, but if I load him up with fortified breakfast cereal every day he can be really bullet proof (touch wood).

The depression thing is absolutely a symptom of viruses. I got it with covid and then after that I found that often the first symptom of a virus coming on was that I would be in the middle of a conversation and suddely feel as though I was just going to dissolve into floods of tears, and had to get off the phone asap. I wasn't sad about anything at all, and it was just the beginning of another (non-covid) virus. I don't know why it's like that, but it's a massive pain in the bum when it happens.

Take care there and I hope you feel better soon.

Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful responses. I will come back to the thread this evening with my reflections on your suggestions and similar experiences, but I really do appreciate your posts and am sending you all best wishes 💐

I’m glad you started this thread, @baroqueandblue - though obviously sorry you’re suffering. Recognising so many symptoms, and the feeling that one may never feel properly well again.

One unexpected result of relentless virus has been a sudden complete loss of interest in an occupation that had been fairly central to my life. At first I was a bit panicked by it - but I’ve realised I just have to let it run its course.

@UnmentionedElephantDildo I guess this could be covid and it's part of a cumulative impact. I haven't tested. And I'm trying to make myself rest but feeling so lost with it all because to answer your question @Meadowfinch I'm single and live alone and so I only have music, tv, books, etc for company most of the time. That's starting to wear a bit thin at this point 😬 And you know it's funny but since the worst phase of the flu last month my appetite has been great. A bit too good at times! And my diet is pretty good and balanced, but at the moment it feels like I'm not getting enough nutritional benefit from food. @TheRoundaboutHadLovelyFlowers , I suspect that like you a vitamin tonic wouldn't be tolerable for me, I react badly to all sorts of additives and colourings and the like, but I need to try something at this stage so thank you for mentioning that, I will have a look around online for a good multivitamin that I might just get on with! I'm sorry to hear you've been through so much with long covid and I can well believe how vulnerable it left you to all sorts of other nasties. I suspect I had covid last summer, never properly recovered, and so my own immune system has also been struggling to protect me in recent months. @VulnerableSleeve I hope your test results show up something that brings a useful intervention from your GP. I've never used First Defence but will bear the recommendation in mind, I hope it helps you and perhaps you could keep us posted here 🙂 @Weirdle relentless is spot on, that's exactly how I feel about it all.

Again, hearing how you've all been suffering I'm wishing you everything you might need to keep yourselves afloat and learn to thrive again.