I haven't had a cold, flu or virus in 4 years. Been in treatment for 6 years.
I guess I thought I would never get sick again, and sometimes wondered if maybe I would, I would altogether feel better, like maybe my body was harboring viruses.
3 weeks ago, I came down with some kind ofreally bad stomach flu and directly after that, I came down with an upper respiratory infection, which I am currently dealing with.
My LLMD says the reason Lyme patients don't get "real people" sick is because our immune systems are always on alert, fighting off everything that comes our way. She also said that quite possibly my bacterial load was down and my immune system took a break, and therefore I got sick.
In some ways this could be good news, although overall I haven't felt all the great if indeed my bacterial load was down.
Just wondering if anyone else had had similar experiences.
Sometimes I don't know what to think.
Posted by surprise (Member # 34987) on :
Yes, I see this. I've been 'real people sick' only twice in the past 6 years, and I have 3 kids in schools bringing home nasty stuff.
1st time was 6 years ago, before I had a clue about Lyme, a flu came in and took us all down hard.
Nothing else since, despite others here, until 3-4 weeks ago, my younger ones caught a cold, and then I got it- despite all my vitamins, herbs, etc.
Couldn't shake it, ended up on a Z-pack after being off antibiotics for 8 months. Yes, it is strange, and disconcerting when it finally happens (real people sick)
Posted by DanP (Member # 7501) on :
Funny you should mention it - i got some kind of cough / congestion thing mid-August - a z-pack and a second round of Levaquin i think and i'm finally not coughing or blowing my nose as much...i thought i was immune to this kind of event due to the Lyme, but there you have it...
Posted by daphnesmom1 (Member # 39433) on :
surprise, "disconcerting" is the word, not sure whether to be happy my immune system is working, or scared that it isn't.
Doing zpack too.
Posted by lax mom (Member # 38743) on :
daphnesmom: In my case, I didn't get sick with a cold for over a year because my immune system was too weak to fight. It didn't notice any foreign invaders and didn't respond.
I just recently got my first cold and now sinus infection. I'm happy about it because it means my immune system is trying to fight something off.
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Not me - I can get a flu quite easily and a cold occasionally. I think we're all different when it comes to our susceptibilities.
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
Gosh, that's an interesting question.
I did get norovirus in the middle of Lyme treatment (I think that just bypasses anything going on).
I got a really bad cold for a week when my fiance only had it for a day. Hmmmmm.... This was when I was in remission.
Posted by YinYang (Member # 36358) on :
We generally define being "sick" as the sum of our symptoms. Runny nose, congestion, fever, vomiting, etc. are all vital responses of an immune system that is working. If you aren't experiencing any of these symptoms it doesn't necessarily mean you aren't getting the viruses (although, I suppose it could), just that your immune system isn't responding to them in the way that it would in someone with an alert immune system as a first line of defense.