Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 54 total)
  • Poor Immune System
  • Spent 3 hours shovelling snow off my drive yesterday than came down with a horrible cold/man flu in the afternoon.

    Seems like every winter I’m constantly catching colds/flu, get rid of it, then get it back within a few weeks. Beginning to pi$$ me off now.

    Is my immune system shot (hopefully I don’t have the AIDS)? Should I get a blood test?

    grynch
    Free Member

    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 )

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    MrNutt
    Free Member

    what’s your diet like?

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    it unlikely to be your immune system

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

    hora
    Free Member

    Quite stressed recently? Could try Ecanacia?

    mangoridebike
    Full Member

    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.

    grumm
    Free Member

    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?

    MrAgreeable
    Full Member

    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.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    I’m unconvinced about the influence of diet – mine is very unimaginative yet I never get ill…

    deadlydarcy
    Free Member

    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.

    MrAgreeable
    Full Member

    Have you got school age kids?

    Drac
    Full Member

    6-7 hours sleep per night (I’ve never been a big sleeper) plus the odd afternoon nap.

    **** hell!

    pk-ripper
    Free Member

    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.

    Woody
    Free Member

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

    …….what about fruit and veg ??

    grumm
    Free Member

    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!

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

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

    but not 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 all the time, but don’t know it due to the lack of symptoms ?

    miketually
    Free Member

    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.

    😉

    hora
    Free Member

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

    nickc
    Full Member

    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

    pk-ripper
    Free Member

    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.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    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 common variable immunodeficiency – 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

    iamconfusedagain
    Free Member

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

    mrmichaelwright
    Free Member

    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

    Jamie
    Free Member

    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.

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

    pk-ripper
    Free Member

    Mike? Overtraining?

    theboatman
    Free Member

    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 🙂

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    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.

    hora
    Free Member

    Mike, do you smoke?

    Moda
    Free Member

    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

    crispybacon
    Free Member

    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 😉

    grynch
    Free Member

    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.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    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.

    stilltortoise
    Free Member

    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!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    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.

    simonfbarnes
    Free Member

    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

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

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

    elaineanne
    Free Member

    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 !!!!!

    grynch
    Free Member

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

    common variable indeed… I so dislike anything common !!

    josemctavish
    Free Member

    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.

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