[Closed] Poor Immune System

it unlikely to be your immune system.. if you were compromised you'd be getting sick year round.

if you are worried tho ask your GP to do an "IG" series. ( yes, blood tests )

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/immunoglobulins

what's your diet like?

it unlikely to be your immune system

I'd say that's exactly what it is, negatively influenced by the weather, perhaps psycosomatically

Quite stressed recently? Could try Ecanacia?

Apparently the crap summer that we had last year has reduced everyones immune systems this winter. We didn't get the usual amount of Vitamin D from sunlight which boosts our immune systems so now we are more likely to catch something, and because more of us are catching a bug we are spreading them around more too.

take some more Vitamin C and some Zinc which should help.

This year I have had a cold on and off for about 4 months - never had much of a problem in previous years.

I did have a course of antibiotics at the end of summer though, is it true that they can knacker your immune system?

Before you start shovelling vitamins down you have a look at the basics - are you getting enough sleep? Eating well? Not drinking too much? These are going to have much more of an effect on you than any of the crap you can buy in Holland and Barrett.

I'm unconvinced about the influence of diet - mine is very unimaginative yet I [b]never[/b] get ill...

Quite stressed recently? Could try Ecanacia?

Nothing like a bit of homotherapy I say...

Thanks for the info guys.

Not particularly stressed and normally get 6-7 hours sleep per night (I've never been a big sleeper) plus the odd afternoon nap.

Been taking echanacea on and off.

Diet is pretty good. Usually eat pasta, rice and white meat. Occasionally have a blow out of fish and chips. Very rarely drink alchohol.

Can't understand why I get at least 3 or 4 colds every winter when I live relatively healthy.

Have you got school age kids?

[i]6-7 hours sleep per night (I've never been a big sleeper) plus the odd afternoon nap.[/i]

****ing hell!

mike, they're viruses, and with little spiderman and bro running around, interacting with other kids then they're volumetric exposure to these increases, and you get them brought home to you.

The symptoms of a cold (rhinovirus) are actually your immune system attacking it so aggressive symptoms could be said to indicate a stronger immune system, so it's unlikely you have the bad aids. What you need to do is therefore control the symptoms when they arrive, which simple paracetamol does perfectly well, eat and drink well during the colds and generally you'll accelerate the recovery.

Echinacia is toss, and a waste if time - most, if not all homeopathy remedies, if they work become classified as medicine. There have been sufficient clinical trials which have shown no beneficial effect to this.

Ones that have been show to assist in controlling the immune response to colds have been vitamin c and zinc. You should get enough of these in your daily diet without the need to supplement. If you are concerned i'd recommend a daily probiotic and good diet, and that's pretty much all you need for a tough immune system if you're exercising at least moderately.

Usually eat pasta, rice and white meat. Occasionally have a blow out of fish and chips

.......what about fruit and veg ??

Echinacia is toss, and a waste if time - most, if not all homeopathy remedies, if they work become classified as medicine. There have been sufficient clinical trials which have shown no beneficial effect to this.

They work if you believe that they work!

most, if not all homeopathy remedies, if they work become classified as medicine

but [b]no[/b]t at homeopathic dosage levels (ie none)

The symptoms of a cold (rhinovirus) are actually your immune system attacking it so aggressive symptoms could be said to indicate a stronger immune system

so when I had a sore throat for 10 minutes last week, and had to blow my nose a few times, that indicates my immune system wasn't trying ? Perhaps, in contradiction to what I said before, I'm actually ill [b]all the time[/b], but don't know it due to the lack of symptoms ?

Never mind all that:

Spent 3 hours shovelling snow off my drive yesterday

1. How big is your drive!
2. Why? It'll have melted today.

😉

IS this the right time to suggest manning the **** up? 🙄 😀

Echinacia isn't part of homoeopathy. It has actually got some ingredients in it for a start. There's disagreement whether it has any effect on a cold, but that's true of some over-the-counter cold prevention as well.

Lots of fluids, chuck vit C down your neck, lots of rest, and a couple of paracetamol would be where I'd start, but living with kids, it's not uncommon to have 3-4 colds every winter

Perhaps, in contradiction to what I said before, I'm actually ill all the time, but don't know it due to the lack of symptoms ?

Spot on. You still have chicken pox probably, you still have pretty much every virus you've ever had, it's just that your body has dealt with it, produced antibodies to deal with any further interaction and reduced that in your body to negligible levels.

That's why some viruses can be "re-activated" in the future but you show no symptoms the majority of the time - shingles is often just another bout of chicken pox or other pox virus.

Bacterial infections are completely different though.

My wife is 35, fit, eats well, healthy etc.

For the past few winters she has had colds/flu/chest infections and pnumonia on a monthly basis. Like you suggest Mike - the slightest cold day/tiredness was a 'trigger'. Each time she saw the doc is was 'mtfu, you are a tired/stressed young mum - eat better and get a proper sleep'.

Then a friend who is a consultant and a locum GP got her referred.

She has [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_variable_immunodeficiency ]common variable immunodeficiency[/url] - the treatment is expensive, only paid for by less than 50% of NHS trusts etc - but is slowly working. She feels better and certainly has fewer illnesses/problems.

May be worth asking doc to check for (simple couple of cheap blood tests).

Matt

Are you training too hard? Overtraining will bugger you up a bit and make you much more likely to pick up bugs.

Mike - slightest sign of a cold/exposure to someone infectious then i start 2500% RDA vitamin C and 100% RDA zinc. one cold in 5 years and thats because i packed in smoking thus removing the protective layer of Tar from my lungs

I can cure you of your cold, all i ask is a free Prince Albert frame in late spring as am thinking of getting one as a stablemate for the Alpine 😉

Failing that, as mentioned above, over-training or exerting yourself without enough fuel can run you down. The end result leaving your immune system susceptible to invaders.

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Edit: The Queen would have been shocked at my English.

Mike? Overtraining?

You can sort yourself a blood test out pivately through your GP for about £60 (having a few colds, hardly sounds like the NHS should pay for it), they'll probably check you out for the Heps' to, alongside the HIV and give you the results in a nice letter. But generally when you are thinking of reasons for having an HIV test, a 'few colds' would be pretty far down the list 🙂

IMO its very much linked to diet and stress. FOr a few years I was very skint, and stressed because I didnt have much cash. I constantly got colds, and was guranteed to get one if anyone had the slightest snuffel in the office.

Now though I can afford to eat better, and I'm not stressed, and not surprisingly, I never now get colds.

Occasionaly if I'm training harder, or feel a bit under the weather I'll take zinc & sellenium tablets. Apparantley its given to cancer patients who's immune systems are shot.

Mike, do you smoke?

Try about 3 - 4000 mg of vitamin C per day and make sure you get your zinc in 15mg. The vit C you can take more just has a mild laxative effect on me anyway once you feel better back off the vit c and just get your ususal dose through food and continue every day with the zinc

Spent 3 hours shovelling snow off my drive yesterday than came down with a horrible cold/man flu in the afternoon.

See there's your problem, either move to a smaller house with a shorter drive or pay someone else to clear the snow off for you, you tightwad 😉

matt.... your wife has CVID?.. as do I.

who often does she get IVIG? ... Ask her doctor to look into checking into the hospital for overnight stay ( if possible?!!?!?! ) for each treatment. I think you'll find insurance coverage goes up then. well.. it does here anyway(swizterland). I have '0' co-pay if I'm in for a night.

Hi grynch - its all paid for. Turns out Sheffield is a UK centre for such things. She has it subcutaneously each week, at home, which is soooo much better than the 6 months heading into hospital for IVIG.

We have 6 weekly deliveries of drugs worth £000's flown in from US, plus all the kit (pumps, needles, fridge etc) supplied by our great NHS at home.

I have two (very) young kids who are not even at school yet. They get me and the missus out of bed in the middle of the night, demand lots of attention and we rarely get time to relax properly. When I do relax (i.e. do absolutely nothing), that's when the colds usually get me.

Whenever I feel a cold starting I eat lots and keep doing stuff (even a bike ride, perish the thought). It's my way of sticking two fingers up at illness and it seems to work for me. Keep shovelling the drive!

The cold doesn't give you colds. Those viruses are about all year round. If you let yourself get proper cold eg out for a long ride without enough warm clothes then that depresses your immune system. Also we tend to sit around inside with the doors and windows closed, and in times gone by we all sat huddled around fires which helped no-end in spreading the viruses.

I'm unconvinced about the influence of diet - mine is very unimaginative yet I never get ill...

Simon you dick - scientists spend their lives researching something and you reckon they're all wrong based on a non-scientific study of sample size ONE (ie you).. this attitude really boils my piss.

Having a poor diet reduces the effectiveness of your body's functions. It may be that you have a brilliant immune system that can cope with it, bully for you. It IS true that poor diet does you no favours and statistically speaking, those with worse diets get ill more often. You are clearly lucky.

Simon you dick - scientists spend their lives researching something and you reckon they're all wrong based on a non-scientific study of sample size ONE (ie you).. this attitude really boils my piss.

as official site troll that really warms my heart :o) However, my point is serious, and the prevarications of scientists paid by vested interests to discover this or that do not concern me. We are omnivores, and can get by on more or less anything we can stomach. Clearly if I can eat any old shite and yet be rudely healthy, the influence of diet must only be marginal, unless I am actually a different species ? You only need one contrary datum to invalidate a theory

[i]If you let yourself get proper cold eg out for a long ride without enough warm clothes then that depresses your immune system[/i]

also suspect. I ride in shorts all year round. For all you know exposure to cold might be beneficial.

im still struggling with the flu had it since before xmas and was in bed for a week, totally wiped me out, was very headachy, coghing constantly, it went away 3 weeks later then came back 2 weeks later with revenge... in my household we all have it and its getting passed round (now weve all had it 3 times over.... totaly '-issed off' with it now... it stops you fron riding/ climbing as you have zero energy.....
we need some sun !!!!!

matt,... best of luck, and health to your mrs. then.

common variable indeed... I so dislike anything common !!

Thanks for clearing that up Dr. Barnes, I think I'll walk home topless since the human race is obviously immune to the effects of the cold.

I think I'll walk home topless since the human race is obviously immune to the effects of the cold.

I've been studying this, and wearing the minimum clothing consistent with marginal decency this winter, with no ill effects so far. A few days my feet have hurt from the cold in sandals.

I wear slightly more sensible clothing when biking so as not to inconvenience the others 🙂

crispy bacon - Member

See there's your problem, either move to a smaller house with a shorter drive or pay someone else to clear the snow off for you, you tightwad

I don't have a particularly big house or large drive. We share the drive with 3 other houses, so it took me 3 hours because (a) the snow was knee deep and (b) I shovelled the snow off the whole thing, not just my bit. My Mrs said I was a mug for doing the whole lot and said I should've just done our bit.

Anyway, glad to hear it's not just me who's catching colds all the time so it's unlikely I have the really bad AIDS, just need to eat more fruit and veg and take some more vitamins by the sounds of it.

grynch - Member.

common variable indeed... I so dislike anything common !!

I agree - its far from common, especially if you are under 60 or so!

It is variable mind....:?

 

mike-at-dialledbikes:

.....so it's unlikely I have the really bad AIDS.....

Otherwise known as eighties AIDS, that one was a killer.

Apparently from the 90s onwards it just clears itself up.

[url= http://www.thatvideosite.com/view/462.html ]Here's the problem![/url] 😀

the prevarications of scientists paid by vested interests to discover this or that do not concern me

You clearly know nothing about how science works. A lot of research is paid for by companies, but a lot isn't. Who do those people who advise you to eat more fruit and veg work for? Birds Eye? Fyffes? I too am almost immune to low-grade illnesses, am very warm blooded and I don't eat a lot of fruit and veg. I used to eat hardly any and I still wasn't ill. But I am not conceited enough to think that because of this I know more than those who've been researching physiology since I was in nappies. I just consider myself lucky.

If you actually use your brain, you'd understand that we are talking about RISKS here. So a poor diet increases the RISK of certain things. It doesn't mean you are definitely going to be ill, or die early, or whatever. It goes back to a very well-worn argument that often comes out - everyone knows someone who lived to be 95 and smoked 20 a day. Does that mean that smoking doesn't really cause cancer? No, it doesn't. Because when you look at a larger sample, you will see that lots and lots of people DO get lung cancer who smoke.

I've been studying this, and wearing the minimum clothing consistent with marginal decency this winter, with no ill effects so far.

Again, you might be able to do this but lots of people aren't. So either they are snivelling weaklings under the influence of winter clothing manufacturers' marketing, or we are all made differently. Which is more likely?

I am a generous type, and I want to be nice to people and have them like me. I'm sure I'd get along with you in real life Simon and I don't bear you any animosity but sometimes, you are a prize tw*t. One of the main reasons for this is that you just don't listen to what other people say. Not properly. You have your own little ideas and think that (maybe because you're blessed with some intelligence as well as a strong constitution) you're always right. But true intelligence starts with the ability to know what you don't know.

You don't catch a cold from being out in the cold, I too believe that going out in cold weather is actually beneficial and indeed when feeling poorly with a cold some exercise can be a good thing.

There have been many studies that say you body takes what it needs and, so over dosing on vit c and others isn't really going to do much to help, same principle as Detox fads your body can get rid of the stuff it doesn't need and no amount of cranberry juice is going to make any difference.

I think I'll walk home topless since the human race is obviously immune to the effects of the cold.
I've been studying this, and wearing the minimum clothing consistent with marginal decency this winter, with no ill effects so far. A few days my feet have hurt from the cold in sandals

It's true! I've seen him walking around sub zero temps in Lancaster wearing a thin T-shirt, shorts and Jesus slippers. A few hours after he's had his coffee and gone home, teenage girls appear, drinking more slightly more intoxicating liquids, but wearing just as little. Simons conclusion from all this is appears to be that the human body doesn't feel the cold. Mine is that some people feel the cold less than others. Either of us could be right, I will certainly be keeping my coat and, most importantly for me, my hat on in such situations.

To the OP: Plenty of broccoli and green tea will help you fight off colds IMHO. I almost never get colds now I've gone veggie, which means eating lots of fruit, greens and quality veg and seed oils/fats.

I would have thought that if you're catching a cold, your immune system is fairly good. After all, symptoms of a cold are the indications of a fight put up by your body.

If the common cold rapidly deteriorated into pneumonia or something, then it's time to get worried. 😉

Simons conclusion from all this is appears to be that the human body doesn't feel the cold.

Actually Simon's conclusion is that one need not pay attention to the cold, and that eventually you can come not to feel it 🙂

most importantly for me, my hat on in such situations

due to a lack of [b]hair[/b] 🙁

Mike, I've emailed you with a bit of info'.

Don't worry about it.
Go to the pub for a beer.
Eat what you like.
Roll on summer!

well i doubt you've got flu mike because you'd be laid up in bead sweating your t*ts off now if you had. flu's a pretty nasty virus and you don't catch it by going out in the cold to clear a bit of snow off your drive. secondly, if you had something wrong with your immune system you'd be suffering with all sorts of little bacterial/fungal skin disorders, rashes, prickly heat, hives etc.

Diet is often shunned as a reason for getting colds by people who eat badly and never seem to get ill, but since colds are also viruses it just means they haven't been exposed. many of the vitamins you get from eating fruit and veg are enzyme co-factors and without them the enzymes in your body work slower and less efficiently. to keep your immune system in pristine condition you need all these co-factors to help it produce all the complex biomolecules involved in an immune response in good time to fight off infection. If you haven't got these co-factors when you need them your immune system will be slow to react and the virus will take hold. There's nothing wrong with taking a multivitamin daily to help you get the most out of the food you eat.

Tim (BSc Biochemistry)

Diet is often shunned as a reason for getting colds by people who eat badly and never seem to get ill, but since colds are also viruses it just means they haven't been exposed

so people all around me, and living in my house get ill, but I'm not exposed?