Colds and flu all year round

holy guacamole

Has anyone else sampled the joys of the summer flu this year? I have and now having only just recovered I find myself laid up with a nasty headcold. I always get colds/flu during the winter and last year had four separate instances of them each lasting roughly about a week.

But I could put up with it during winter, getting it in the summer is no fun though. Obviously our wet summer has played its part but even with that in mind its not natural to be so unwell during the warmer months. I've been to the doctor and he was mildly sympathetic but said there's nothing can be done and I'm just one of those people that catches everything that's going.

I've resolved to get the flu jab in September but wondered if anyone else suffers from colds/flu with such regularity and if so how do they combat it?

Burkatron

holy guacamole wrote: »

Has anyone else sampled the joys of the summer flu this year? I have and now having only just recovered I find myself laid up with a nasty headcold. I always get colds/flu during the winter and last year had four separate instances of them each lasting roughly about a week.

But I could put up with it during winter, getting it in the summer is no fun though. Obviously our wet summer has played its part but even with that in mind its not natural to be so unwell during the warmer months. I've been to the doctor and he was mildly sympathetic but said there's nothing can be done and I'm just one of those people that catches everything that's going.

I've resolved to get the flu jab in September but wondered if anyone else suffers from colds/flu with such regularity and if so how do they combat it?

It's not normal for you to get flu's all the time, you Dr. shouldn't be just passing you off like that! Get a 2nd & if needed a 3rd opinion!

• What's your diet like?
• Do you excercise?
• Do you have any allergies/ailments?
• Have you had allergy testing or blood cultures done? if not why not?

Degsy

Be carefull talking about "flu" please..most people will never get even one dose of influenza in thir lifetime..its a serious illness.

You're most likely suffering from colds due to allergies of some sort...most likely dust,damp,mould,pets,smoke or pollen.

Ask your doctor for an allergy sweat test or maybe check your house for possible allergens.

Burkatron

Degsy wrote: »

Be carefull talking about "flu" please..most people will never get even one dose of influenza in thir lifetime..its a serious illness.

You're most likely suffering from colds due to allergies of some sort...most likely dust,damp,mould,pets,smoke or pollen.

Ask your doctor for an allergy sweat test or maybe check your house for possible allergens.

+1 on this, I just took it that if the OP is seeing a Dr. on a regular basis they're diagnosing it as a flu! But then again if you had a proper flu that often you wouldn't be able to function!!

holy guacamole

Burkatron wrote: »

It's not normal for you to get flu's all the time, you Dr. shouldn't be just passing you off like that! Get a 2nd & if needed a 3rd opinion!

• What's your diet like?
• Do you excercise?
• Do you have any allergies/ailments?
• Have you had allergy testing or blood cultures done? if not why not?

That's just the thing, I live like a f*ckin monk these days! Good diet, eat my five a day and rarely have takeaways, don't drink, don't smoke. Exercise regularly but obviously that's difficult when I'm unwell so often.

Afaik I have no allergies or ailments and I had bloods in the past six months which turned up fine.

Degsy wrote: »

Be carefull talking about "flu" please..most people will never get even one dose of influenza in thir lifetime..its a serious illness.

You're most likely suffering from colds due to allergies of some sort...most likely dust,damp,mould,pets,smoke or pollen.

Ask your doctor for an allergy sweat test or maybe check your house for possible allergens.

Yeah I know the full blown flu is very rare. To the best of my knowledge I may have only had it once in recent years. But I don't really know how else to describe my ailments, its worse than a cold and has all the symptoms of flu but without the rapid ejection of bodily fluids you associate with that illness.

I had a very bad viral infection about six years ago and since then I seem to pick up bugs very easily. I've grown tired of going to doctors as any blood tests invariably show nothing out of the ordinary. The weirdest thing is it seems to go in cycles. I can go months without picking anything up and then spend two months combating the various viruses that are doing the rounds at any given moment.

Arthurdaly

I doubt very much you have actually have had flu at any point. Fulll blown full is very different to feeling a bit under the weather and a few sniffles! You will know as your body will be aching.

Not sure where you are situated or your travelling situation? I went from stitting on Dublin Bus with a gang of coughers and snifflers to cycling to work. Since then I have not had as much as a sniffle despite putting in a fairly substantial amount of trainging and racing.

Outside of that look at your diet or training. Colds etc are a symptom of overtaining so that may be your issue.

Key considerations are below:

Diet: Check out stickies
Training: Are you doing too much and too high an intensity
Exposure: sitting on a bus or other area with cold infested people

PhoenixParker

sounds like a recurrent/ongoing sinus infection to me.
Go and talk to your doctor.

Fuh Q

Garlic , thats the answer.

I would get colds fairly often and after some advice I done some research and discovered the benefits of garlic. I use Garlic as often as I can now, I add it to as many meals as possible, Now Im almost cold and flu free..

Hanley

Just gonna throw it out there... go gluten free for a month and see what happens!

holy guacamole

Arthurdaly wrote: »

I doubt very much you have actually have had flu at any point. Fulll blown full is very different to feeling a bit under the weather and a few sniffles! You will know as your body will be aching.

Not sure where you are situated or your travelling situation? I went from stitting on Dublin Bus with a gang of coughers and snifflers to cycling to work. Since then I have not had as much as a sniffle despite putting in a fairly substantial amount of trainging and racing.

Outside of that look at your diet or training. Colds etc are a symptom of overtaining so that may be your issue.

Key considerations are below:

Diet: Check out stickies
Training: Are you doing too much and too high an intensity
Exposure: sitting on a bus or other area with cold infested people

Only occasionally do I get what you'd call the sniffles, or just a basic cold complete with sore throat etc. Invariably I have flu like symptoms, aches, pains, dizziness, nausea, extreme fatigue but without ever actually vomiting or anything like that.

I do use public transport a fair bit and I'm fully aware of how easily things can spread on buses, trains etc but I only use them for longer journeys from Limerick to my native Kilkenny. I seem to take every precaution available but to no avail.

Fuh Q wrote: »

Garlic , thats the answer.

I would get colds fairly often and after some advice I done some research and discovered the benefits of garlic. I use Garlic as often as I can now, I add it to as many meals as possible, Now Im almost cold and flu free..

Yeah I use garlic quite a lot of the time too. Like I said my diet is pretty good but for whatever reason I'm still susceptible to bugs.

sounds like a recurrent/ongoing sinus infection to me.
Go and talk to your doctor.

This sounds plausible, thanks for the tip.;)

Hanley

I think a good starting point to examine is something like the following:

1) do you sleep for 8 or more hours a night?
2) what do you weigh, how many calories do you eat on an average day, do you eat a lot of bread, pasta and processed carbs, do you eat much meat?
3) If you were to rank your exercise sessions on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest, how many times in a week do you exceed 7?

...the basic point of the above being that if you're sleeping enough, eating the right kind of food, and not running your body into the ground, you should be ok. For most people, even tho they think the above is in check, it's usually not.

Of course I'm not suggesting I know you better than you do, but it's a good baseline to think of things from

holy guacamole

Hanley wrote: »

I think a good starting point to examine is something like the following:

1) do you sleep for 8 or more hours a night?
2) what do you weigh, how many calories do you eat on an average day, do you eat a lot of bread, pasta and processed carbs, do you eat much meat?
3) If you were to rank your exercise sessions on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest, how many times in a week do you exceed 7?

...the basic point of the above being that if you're sleeping enough, eating the right kind of food, and not running your body into the ground, you should be ok. For most people, even tho they think the above is in check, it's usually not.

Of course I'm not suggesting I know you better than you do, but it's a good baseline to think of things from

First off re your previous post I've actually been gluten free for about two and a half years now. I do stray the odd time but for the most part I stick to a gluten free diet. I sleep well too. Like I said I live a fairly healthy lifestyle nowadays and my diet is pretty balanced. Rarely eat processed foods and keep an eye on things like salt intake and saturated fats.

I haven't been able to exercise much of late due to being under the weather quite a bit but when I do I tend to have three hard sessions a week whether it be running or football. Tbh I can't see anything in my day to day living which should be causing this but there is a history of sinus problems in my family so I may check out what one of the above posters recommended.

Hanley

holy guacamole wrote: »

First off re your previous post I've actually been gluten free for about two and a half years now. I do stray the odd time but for the most part I stick to a gluten free diet. I sleep well too. Like I said I live a fairly healthy lifestyle nowadays and my diet is pretty balanced. Rarely eat processed foods and keep an eye on things like salt intake and saturated fats.

I haven't been able to exercise much of late due to being under the weather quite a bit but when I do I tend to have three hard sessions a week whether it be running or football. Tbh I can't see anything in my day to day living which should be causing this but there is a history of sinus problems in my family so I may check out what one of the above posters recommended.

Dammit... sounds like you're doing everything right. The easy fixes are so much more fun!

Best of luck with it. I've been sick on/off for the last 6 months too (but that's my own fault) and it's bloody horrific.

arse..biscuits

Fuh Q wrote: »

Garlic , thats the answer.

I would get colds fairly often and after some advice I done some research and discovered the benefits of garlic. I use Garlic as often as I can now, I add it to as many meals as possible, Now Im almost cold and flu free..

I second this. Lash garlic and chilli into you.

boogle

holy guacamole wrote: »

First off re your previous post I've actually been gluten free for about two and a half years now. I do stray the odd time but for the most part I stick to a gluten free diet. I sleep well too. Like I said I live a fairly healthy lifestyle nowadays and my diet is pretty balanced. Rarely eat processed foods and keep an eye on things like salt intake and saturated fats.

I haven't been able to exercise much of late due to being under the weather quite a bit but when I do I tend to have three hard sessions a week whether it be running or football. Tbh I can't see anything in my day to day living which should be causing this but there is a history of sinus problems in my family so I may check out what one of the above posters recommended.

You haven't said what you weigh or how many cals you eat a day. Count your calories to make sure you are not under eating maybe?

holy guacamole

boogle wrote: »

You haven't said what you weigh or how many cals you eat a day. Count your calories to make sure you are not under eating maybe?

I don't think I could ever be accused of under-eating tbh.:D

I weigh around 13 stone and I'm a little over 6ft so I'm fairly average on that score. If anything I could do with eating a bit less as I have that Irish mindset of treating every meal like its my last and eating till I can barely move!

ebixa82

Echinacea, Vitamin C, Zinc, Garlic if it is a cold.

What are your symptoms exactly?

If it's just sneezing and runny nose then it's most likely an allergy or hayfever.

Temperature, fatigue, aches and pains on top of that then it's a cold.

Degsy

Try some Zirtec or generic antihistamine tablets and see how you get on.

My money would be on a pollen,dust,pets etc allergy of some sort.