MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
Hardynaka posted recently that while she was really sick she (?) didnt' have colds for a long time.
When I first got disablingly sick with chronic Lyme I also didn't have a single cold or flu for two years- which felt really odd. I normally get them two to six times a year depending on what kind of work I"m doing (if indoors that means lots of exposure to sick people, however my lifestyle with regards to exposure to people's germs didn't really change when I got sick).
Is this at all documented as some side effect of Lyme's effect on our immune system, or is it just coincidence on my part?
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
I was infected with lyme in 98. I did not have a cold/flu episode that I typically had every winter until last year. I also use to suffer from sinus infections twice yearly until lyme happened. That stopped.
This seems to be the norm with most on this board. But then again......there are others that tell a different story. Just another sx that is confusing this crazy some do, some don't illness.
I've read that it's a good sign of healing when you start having flu/cold viruses again. I know I'm winning the battle, so maybe there is something to this.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6479 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
OMG!! I haven't been Dx yet but you just conviced me that what I'm dealing with is probably lyme. Ever since this thing started to affect me (mainly my throat) I've only had two colds in the last 6 years. Which is highly abnormal for me. Before all this I would get atleast one cold a year. But now if i do get a cold they are 10 times worse than before and usually last a month or longer.
klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
When I first got sick, I did not have a cold for at least six years! IMO, this has to do with the dysregulation of the immune system.
However, I have noted that when I do rarely get sick, it lasts forever. I get much sicker than my DH does, with the same virus, and while he gets over it in one week, it takes me about 7 weeks.
Klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
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posted
OK, someone please explain why if the immune system is screwed up because of lyme / co-infections why that would effect the number of colds / flu etc one gets?
I have noticed the same thing in my daughter, but she was homebound much of the time and I thought that was why she did not get everything going around like she usually does.
Before being sick with lyme she missed on average 30 days a year of school from various upper respiratory illnesses and multiple strep infections.
Right now her two sisters and I have passed around a horrible cold. My lyme daughter has not gotten it yet, but today says she feels like she has the flu. I think it's the regular lyme stuff though.
Thanks, MommaK
Posts: 242 | From Mississippi | Registered: Oct 2006
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trails
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1620
posted
count me in here too.
No colds since late 2004 when I relpased. NONE. and I taught one thousand children. I typically got sick several times (3-4) each school year. The last year while struggling to stay at work I never got a single cold.
Must be HYPER immune system if you ask me. That is quite different than immune deficiency which most folks attribute to lyme. Posts: 1950 | From New Mexico | Registered: Sep 2001
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
when I first got sick I would catch everything that came along.
But over the years I didn't seem to get much of anything. Thats a blessing. Even dispite the fact that my immune pannels had come back low due to years of lyme disease. Craziness.
When I do get a cold its very rare-like a few months ago I caught my hubbys cold & found this to be a positive sign that purhaps after 3 years of treatments my body is getting more "normal"
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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This is because persistent lyme causes the immune system to go into high gear against foreign invaders. Medically what is happening is our immune system's T cells are being excessively polarized into the Th1 type, which fights invaders like virii and bacteria.
So, we fight off cold germs very well. But this overactivation also leads to inflammation, which in turn causes many of our symptoms.
So, you may ask, why doesn't our activated immune system kill off the lyme? Part of reason is the lyme infects and hides in white blood cells, which are part of the immune system. For the immune system to do the job all on its own, it would have to kill part of itself!
The immune system generally does not eradicate itself, so it needs help from other bacteria killing methods such an antibiotics.
Posts: 727 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2006
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
The lack of getting sick can also be a sign of autonomic nervous system disfunction.
I don't know all the science behind this. But my doctor who is treating my ANS symptoms said I could expect to get sick more, and have my allergies return, when the ANS was back up and running.
He said it's not that you don't get sick. It's that the body doesn't respond the way it normally would because it is too stressed.
Many symptoms of a cold/flu are actually the body's response trying to fight it.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
very, very interesting, thanks all.
Maria
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