Completely run down

Greenduck

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help me. Basically Im a female in her late twenties, fit enough and not over weight or underweight. Lately I've become very run down, as in I have had three infections over the past month and a half. One was a throat, one was a kidney and then throat again! Im becoming so frustrated as its costing me a fortune in doctors fees and prescriptions.

Would anyone have any advice on what vitamins or supplements/food I could take to help my immune system and give myself a boost? Im feeling tired constantly and cant afford to be sick again.

By the way, I eat well - plenty of fruit/veg and almost always have three decent meals a day. I also walk for an hour a day.

Any advice would be very much appreciated

seamus

Do you do any other exercise apart from your walking?

Presuming you're eating enough and balanced enough (i.e. not avoiding carbs or fat or protein), then I would usually put tiredness and low immunity down to excessive training.

But if you're not doing any kind of fitness training, then I'd get yourself to a doctor specifically for blood tests to examine what the cause could be. Any supplements which supposedly boost the immune system won't be of any use to you if you're deficient (or indeed overloaded) in one or more key nutrients like iron.

Sometimes also you just have a bad run. Antibiotics and a lot of other medication will leave you with a somewhat weakened immune system, so you can be unlucky enough to get sick two or three times in a row, and this can leave you very run down.
Taking a week or two off work and getting extra rest can do a world of good. But if you're two weeks clear of your last illness and still don't feel great, then I'd get yourself off to the doc (again!).

siochain

seamus pretty much summed it up. Full bloods check here would be a great starting point, really everyone should do this every 12 months if not every six months.

if you had a few runs of Antibiotics you may need some probiotics to bring gut health back up.

Get well soon.

Fizman

Echinacea is very very good for your immune system imo. For 2-3 years I used it from Oct - May and didn't get as much as a sniffle. For one reason or another, I stopped using it over the last year or so. I'm currently recovering from a throat infection with Augmentin.

It may or may not have any direct relation, but I'm certainly starting them again!

colman1212

Fizman wrote: »

Echinacea is very very good for your immune system imo. For 2-3 years I used it from Oct - May and didn't get as much as a sniffle. For one reason or another, I stopped using it over the last year or so. I'm currently recovering from a throat infection with Augmentin.

It may or may not have any direct relation, but I'm certainly starting them again!

I second this. Echinacea is the business. I used to always take it during the winter when I was at home.