[Misc] Anyone else ill all winter, every winter

[Westdene Seagull]

Without wishing to turn this into Mumsnet - does anyone else find that they're just constantly bloody ill from ~October till April every year?

Colds, sore throats one after the other... As soon as it warms up, all is well.
I guess having small kids doesn't help, but I do shed loads of exercise and have a healthy diet so not sure what else I can do?

Yes - feel run down the whole of winter. I put it down to SAD - https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/overview/

 

[Stat Brother]

I ought to donate my body to medical science (noone else wants it)

I'm approaching a full year in my current job and am the only employee not to have gone sick.
Chatting about that I reckon I can trace back 10 years without a sick day.
But as there might be a random one I settled on definitely 5 years without a day off sick and well over 10 years without multiple days off together.

 

[Notters]

Not all winter. But I had a nagging cough I couldn't shift for almost 6 weeks in November/December.

Yes, I had that one (presumably COVID?) then about a week off after Christmas, then onto the next one.

 

[BNthree]

Hayfever season is spring to autumn then cough/cold season is autumn to spring. Seem to be constantly sniffing and bunged up.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Nope..not one cold or cough so far this Winter or the last few…….i guess being outside the majority of the time helps (just susceptible to skin cancers instead)…caught nothing off the grandkids

 

[wunt be druv]

It's the kids, my Wife, Mrs.Wunt be druv, works with preschool children and lurches from one cold/sore throat to the next all winter, as soon as she is away from the little germ ridden darlings she is fine. Get rid of the kids and you'll be just grand!

 

[Littlemo]

despite having 3 kids, i very rarely get ill. Hope this helps.

Have they grown up and left home though?

 

[Mellotron]

Have you got school age kids? For 16 years I had endless colds and coughs from September.

Ah great.

Mine are 2 and 5 and we’ve had a winter of endless illness so far. Good to know only another 16 years of it.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Without wishing to turn this into Mumsnet - does anyone else find that they're just constantly bloody ill from ~October till April every year?

Colds, sore throats one after the other... As soon as it warms up, all is well.
I guess having small kids doesn't help, but I do shed loads of exercise and have a healthy diet so not sure what else I can do?

Yes. Every year, apart from covid 'stay at home' time. I have had a cough since September. It has its highs and lows. My mate (with whom I watch TV soccer most days) is the same. This started around 10 years ago. f***ing annoying.

That said, I rarely get a 'stinking cold' any more.

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

I suffer a mild form of S.A.D nov-feb so generally feel like shit and can’t be arsed to do anything and try not to leave the house if I can help it. I do the night matches but don’t look forward to them.
In the summer I’m as dynamic as Jack Albion (well not quite but you get the gist)

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I tried to remain faithfully vegetarian for one entire calendar year when I was in my twenties. I was ill that whole winter, but went back to meat the following spring and was fine the following winter and every subsequent winter since.

I’m not saying it’s impossible to be vegetarian and healthy, but I think you have to be way more organized and careful about what you eat than I have ever been prepared to be.

So, my advice (should you be vegetarian) is try red meat, chicken and fish. *

*This sentence was sponsored by the meat, fish and poultry board UK.

Failing that, I would advise the long, frustrating wait for a GP appointment.

Pointless. It is viral. There are no meds.

 

[Quebec Seagull]

Growing up in Eastern Canada, I've never been sick in winter except for the 4 years I spent in South Korea, where the temperature was rarely below 0 °C. I'd have the flu every January and be sick in bed for a month.

Then I moved directly from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) in 2000, and lo and behold! didn't fall ill once, thanks no doubt to the December-January-February -30 °C daily highs. It was quite apparent that my immune system required Canadian-cold temperatures in winter to kick into gear.

.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I suffer a mild form of S.A.D nov-feb so generally feel like shit and can’t be arsed to do anything and try not to leave the house if I can help it. I do the night matches but don’t look forward to them.
In the summer I’m as dynamic as Jack Albion (well not quite but you get the gist)

That's not acceptable. Have you tried a lamp? A pal of mine was transformed by his.

For example:

Beurer TL 50 SAD Therapy Light, White

Buy Beurer TL 50 SAD Therapy Light, White from our Desk & Table Lamps range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.

www.johnlewis.com

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I absolutely recommend a flu jab, however. If you can't get a free one (too young), buy one. At the hospital where I work all staff get one free. Every autumn. Other schemes are doubtless available.

 

[MJsGhost]

Pointless. It is viral. There are no meds.

This is an interesting listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001gl6g

it was a while ago that I listened to it, but think that the expert giving his opinion does suggest using a nasal spray to help reduce the risk of getting a cold (or reducing the severity). Not because they 'cure' the cold or treat it medically at all, but by creating an environment in your nose that is hostile to the virus. The viral load is lower and therefore more effectively dealt with by the body.
His suggestion was to use it on flights, or in other situations where viral transmission was more likely (so packed buses/trains/stadium queues) rather than just every day.

EDIT: This is the expert: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/emeritus/ron-eccles
Professor Ron Eccles:
"I am an expert on the nose and upper airways with an interest in human diseases of the upper airways such as common cold and allergy. I established the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in 1988 as a clinical trial centre testing new treatments for colds, flu cough etc. The centre closed March 2017 on my retirement from the university. I have been the principal investigator in over 120 clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. My special areas of expertise include studies on cough, sore throat, blocked nose, and the mechanisms of the symptoms of cold and flu. I act as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry and travel widely giving lectures on treatments for colds and flu."

 

[Normal Rob]

Have they grown up and left home though?

not yet.

 

[Swimboy64]

Without wishing to turn this into Mumsnet - does anyone else find that they're just constantly bloody ill from ~October till April every year?

Colds, sore throats one after the other... As soon as it warms up, all is well.
I guess having small kids doesn't help, but I do shed loads of exercise and have a healthy diet so not sure what else I can do?

Sounds like you might be overtraining with the shed loads of exercise which will defo effect immune system it might make you very fit but not necessarily healthy

 

[WATFORD zero]

I always remember Keith Richards saying that he had found the cure for the common cold.

All the years he was taking heroin he never had a cold, but after switching to Vodka he got them every winter

 

[Springal]

January has even horrific , I caught some horrible flu type thing at West Ham away I think , recovered for about a week - then we’ve all had Covid, and still have a nasty cough from it lingering

 

[seagullwedgee]

On the strength of suggestions on here, I’ve just bought a vit D high strength quick absorption spray. Brilliant stuff. Apparently the body dispels any excess taken, so get stuffing the vit D in, you can hardly go wrong.