Always a bit run down

LegacyUser

Hoi,

I live a relatively healthy lifestyle, but my body seems to be complaining. I had a cold sore that I couldn't shake off for a month, and it's still hovering around. I've had two styes this month. Nearly every month it feels like I have a slight sore throat.

I eat veg with lunch and dinner. Fruit in the morning, salad wrap for lunch, nuts snack, fish or pasta or whatever for dinner. Leafy green veg is a big thing, I know. I'll more often than not make a side salad of lettuce as well. I do eat a bit of junk TBH, like going out for a meal on average once a week, but I grab chocolate or biscuits when they're in front of me too.

I'm 25yo male. I'm taking multi vitamins, and L-Lysine for cold sores. I do weights at the gym 3 times a week. Doing less cardio these days to concentrate on muscle.

I get 8 hours sleep. There's underlying pressure to finish my PhD, but on a daily level it's ok.

Anyhoo, it feels like my body's missing something. What could my immune system be complaining about? And is it possible to get a test to see what your body is lacking?

Thanks.

Personally I'm not a vitamin expert, but I do know about ongoing stress and being ill as a result. Tbh if there's underlying pressure, try not to let it sit in the back of your mind. Personally, I find that the worst kind and the kind that will run you down fairly far. Make sure you're happy with what you've done for the day on a daily basis, don't put anything off, and either convince yourself you're happy with how you're progressing with your phd or work out a plan to finishing it.
The rest, you might try asking in a health food shop or even gp.

good luck

Meathlass

needvitamins wrote: »

Hoi,

I live a relatively healthy lifestyle, but my body seems to be complaining. I had a cold sore that I couldn't shake off for a month, and it's still hovering around. I've had two styes this month. Nearly every month it feels like I have a slight sore throat.

I eat veg with lunch and dinner. Fruit in the morning, salad wrap for lunch, nuts snack, fish or pasta or whatever for dinner. Leafy green veg is a big thing, I know. I'll more often than not make a side salad of lettuce as well. I do eat a bit of junk TBH, like going out for a meal on average once a week, but I grab chocolate or biscuits when they're in front of me too.

I'm 25yo male. I'm taking multi vitamins, and L-Lysine for cold sores. I do weights at the gym 3 times a week. Doing less cardio these days to concentrate on muscle.

I get 8 hours sleep. There's underlying pressure to finish my PhD, but on a daily level it's ok.

Anyhoo, it feels like my body's missing something. What could my immune system be complaining about? And is it possible to get a test to see what your body is lacking?

Thanks.

I would go to your gp and get a blood test done, that will show up if you are deficient in anything. I got bloods done for something else completely and found I was deficient in vitamin B12 which is very serious and can cause motor neuron disease and alzeimers. I now get monthly injections to boost the vitamin level. It didn't matter what my diet was as my body just won't process this vitamin so no amount of leafy veg were going to help me. Your diet sounds good so maybe you're not processing some of these vitamins.

RossFixxxed

There's a huge number of medical things that could be causing this. As the poster above says get to the GP you'd be amazed the number of simple things it could be.

Failing that it could be psychological perhaps? You do never know but do refer yourself to the doc and it could well fix it!

Good luck!

MJOR

You might also have alleries. Head to the doc for a few blood tests.

LegacyUser

Thanks all. I'll make an appointment for my GP for a blood test.

estar

just to confirm that you arent missing anything.

sounds like for whatever reason your immune system
is low.

echinecea is good for that, is there anything else that could be running you down? Do you often get swollen glands? Do you have any absesses on your teeth ?

Are you under weight or quite thin?

Do you drink a lot of alcohol or go binge drinking at the weekend ?

SarahSassy

In the meantime you could get some garlic tablets, they are a natural antiseptic...

LegacyUser

@estar: I'll see about echinacea. Could be good to improve immune system, but may not fix the root cause.
I don't get abcesses, but the roof of my mouth can be a bit sore when I've got a cold.

Also, under my tongue swells up a bit sometimes. It looks like the spit gland (but not sure?) is reddened, and the blood vessels get bigger. With this, I get small red-ened "blisters" or pointy things a coupe of milimeters long on the lining tissue that you see under your tongue, they can be a bit sore. I think it's just the lining tissue as normal, but in a sore state.

@SarahSassy: Thanks. Might be good when I fall into sickness. I try to use garlic for basically every dinner these days.

LegacyUser

Also @estar: I've cut back on alcohol the past 5 weeks, down to say 2 pints a week. Before that I wasn't getting wasted too often, but was drinking a few times a week in the evening.

I'm a little overweight (80kg at 5'10'').

aye

have a read of this.

http://www.mindbodyhealth.com/boost_immune.htm


do you eat any red meat? it does help your immune system when eaten in moderation.

also, if you are feeling run down leave the weights out for a week. Weight-lifting lowers your immune system temporarily while the body repairs itself. If you are ill you immune system is already lowered, then hitting it with the weights isnt the best plan.

http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/injurypreventiontreatment/a/trainwhensick.htm

SarahSassy

Do you work in an air conditioned office?

LegacyUser

UPDATE

Got the blood tests done at the hospital, and nothing was out of the ordinary, although the nurse thought I looked slightly anaemic (and that I fainted after they took the tests!)

Last couple of weeks I've been feeling grand. Got back to doing weights at the gym which feels good (despite their effect on immune system...)

I've been eating a nice bit of red meat for the iron.

The doctor said to come to see him next week because I told him I'm still feeling a bit run down. But for €45 I think all he'll tell me is to take vitamin tablets.

Ghost Girl

Try homeopathy. Its about finding the root cause to a problem, and they look at your life style as a whole, rather than just a medical issue you may have. For example if you had panic attacks, they dont look just for ways cure them, they find out whats causing them, etc....

Also id ease up on the gym, because you may not be giving your body a chance to recover from what ever is going on. And yes on going stress or pressure, no matter how minor it may be on a daily basis, does affect the immune system. I went through four to five years of having reoccuring tonsilitis, and even had to go to a specialist to get the tonsils checked, but they were fine, since found out years later that it was the stress in my life during those years that had me run down. I had similar problems like you aswell, re occuring colds, sore throats, lumps and bumps on the mouth etc...,they're all linked. I also found drinking fresh orange juice (not from concentrate) daily really boosted me over time. You must drink it religiously. Dont drink it with meals, it dilutes your stomack juices which are needed to digest food, but try and drink it a while before or after bran type foods because not only wil it boost vit C which will help you fight what your fighting, it will also assist in absorbing iron from those foods, and obviously good iron levels contribute to having good energy levels. So there, does that help? or am i waffling?

anna766

You're right to look for the underlying cause for all this, but if the coldsore problem is really getting you down, you might consider asking your GP for the higher dosage of Zovirax. I'm prone generally to coldsores but when I started a new job found that I just couldn't shake them at all. The OTC Zovirax is grand usually, but the prescription one (same as they use for shingles) supresses the virus for about 6 months. I don't pretend to have any medical knowledge, but it might be worth discussing this as an option with your GP?

Bob the Builder

coldsores are generally caused by a mental problem rather than a physical defecienty. By this I mean stress, and if you do have stress, i would recommend you see about getting some way of suppressing it.

There's only one point in my life that I ever had a coldsore and that was probably at one of the most stressful times in my life. the pharmacist told me that they were caused by my emotions and not my physical defecienty at the time.

few questions:
are your meals consistent?
is your daily routine consistent?

do you notice anything unusual in your sleep? as in weird dreams? or lack of consistency of sleep?

LegacyUser

Thanks for the suggestions from all.

I think the first step is to get the PhD over and done with. There's no alternative to work