Unfortunately, if we catch a cold it often hits us much harder than it does healthy people and it takes longer for us to recover. A virus is a huge burden on our already hard working immune systems.
I've even noticed that during and after a cold that often my Lyme symptoms will flare. Like my immune system can't handle fighting off all of the infections at once!
We may not catch as many colds as we used to because we generally try to take better care of ourselves than we did before we got sick. We eat healthier, get good rest, try to reduce stress, etc...
Now that I have Lyme my life style is different so that I am not exposed to as many people and and social situations on a daily basis that would possibly expose me to viruses. This greatly cuts down my risks of getting sick.
I am also more cautious in public to stay away from sick looking and people so that I don't catch what they have. I also wash my hands frequently and use the hand sanitizer gel before eating.
I'm grateful for the less frequent colds but I know that it is not due to having Lyme or a great immune system. I have an immune deficiency (CVID) so I have to protect myself!
Posted by lyme in Putnam (Member # 11561) on :
Thanx Sammy. I haven't gotten a cold in years. I'm near kids a lot also teaching, but nothing. Guess I want to feel like everyone else.
Posted by lymetwister (Member # 19590) on :
I disagree !
When one gets sick, the symptoms of being sick is actually the Immune system working, hence the symptoms we feel.
Many with Chronic Lyme have Chronic Strep for example, confirmed by bloodwork, but there are no symptoms of say a soar throat b/c the bodys' antibodies are not killing the Strep. This is a good example of what I'm saying.
Our IGg Antibodies are elevated suggesting chronic Infections besides Lyme, but no IGm Antibodies that would be "Fighting" the infection, producing symptoms are not there b/c the Immune System is not working.
Posted by philly78 (Member # 31069) on :
I work in the ER. I am exposed to sick people all the time. I get coughed on...vomited on...unknowingly treat people with active TB...those with MRSA, VRE and C-diff...etc. And ya know....I cannot remember the last time I was sick with the flu or even a cold....until now!
Two years into my treatment and I am actually coming down with something right now....or at least I think I am. I can only conclude it is because my immune system is getting stronger.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
The way it was explained to me is that one part of our immune system is in overdrive and one part is suppressed.
Even though I feel well and feel that I am over the Lyme and babesia, I still rarely catch anything communicable.
I've been this way for about 25 yrs.
(I'm knocking on wood over here.)
Posted by Lymedin2010 (Member # 34322) on :
I've had this crap for years & always got sick 2-3 times a year with one thing or another.
I've been chronically sick for 1 year & 5 months & have gotten sick 3 times. Flu, bad stomach virus with diarrhia, headaches, nausea, vomiting, increased head and neck pressures, & fever of 102.
I am actually sick right now with flu like symptoms. Sneezing like crazy for 2 days, running nose, congestion, cough, & unwell on top of being sick. My daughter, son, & wife all came down with it as well.
Posted by Messa (Member # 38065) on :
Lymetwister, is it a regular strep test? My LLMD suggested I be tested for strep but my dr here won't do it. He said I can't have strep because I'm on antibiotics.
Posted by philly78 (Member # 31069) on :
I have been sneezing with runny nose, cough and congestion. I haven't had symptoms like this for a long long time. I've had lyme flares and symptoms related to TBI's but this just seems.....different.
Posted by Tammy N. (Member # 26835) on :
I agree with Lymetwister.
I believe we don't get sick because our over-burdened immune systems cannot muster the energy necessary to wage a healthy immunological response to the invaders.
Posted by Jennybean (Member # 34198) on :
I just had a discussion about this with my naturopath. She asked me how often i get sick. I said never. It's the running joke iN our family because I'm the one with Lyme, but I never ever seem to Get sick. Sometimes I'll feel like something is coming on, then the next day it's gone, and suddenly my husband has the flu and is down for a week.
She said that not getting sick ever is not a good thing. When we experience symptoms it is our immune system fighting off the invaders. Just because we don't have symptoms does not mean we are not sick. This can be especially bad when coming Into contact with things like strep that can hide in the body and just compound our already complex issues.
I was shocked. I never paid much attention to it. I guess I kind of thought my system was hyper reactive because of the Lyme, so something like a cold was obliterated before it could take root. This has really opened my eyes. Walking around like a demigod was really only adding to my issues, since I know for sure I have passed strep to family at least twice in the past 4 months. I am going to be a lot more vigilant from now on.
Posted by Ellen101 (Member # 35432) on :
I just got over one of the worst colds I have ever had. So yes, we definitely do get sick. For those of you worjing in a hospital or school setting you may have built up imminities to certain things and that is why you don't get sick.
Posted by jackie81 (Member # 27031) on :
No my lyme doctor told me the exact same thing. For the first 2 years of having lyme I NEVER got sick with a cold or anything and I asked her why and she said that having the cold SYMPTOMS is you actually caused by an immune response.
SO..if you dont have symptoms of a cold (runny nose, sneezing etc) then that means your immune system is not working properly.
2 years into treatment and BAM knocked down with a cold..I took it as a good sign that my immune system has kicked in
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
In my opinion, generally speaking, someone with a weakened immune system is more prone to "catching" the cold and the flu.
For example, pregnancy is known to make a woman more prone to catching colds/flus because during pregnancy a woman's immune system is weakened.
Another example would be when there is a disruption to your body's circadian rhythm due to lack of sleep, stress, your eating and drinking habits and etc. When your body's circadian rhythm is disrupted then your immune sytem will most likely be weakened and thus you will be more likely to catch a cold and/or the flu.
Many other things such as genetics can cause a person's immune sytem to be weakened and thus causing some people to be more prone to catching the cold and the flu.
Well we know AIDS patience have a compromised immune sys. Do they get the flu and sick often? That might buy us a clue.
I think the more entrenched with Lyme that one is, that it acts as its own immune sys against others invaders. Not all (strep, babs, and Bart as an example), but some. Probably the less virulent type and ones in which they have not co-existed with.
Borrelia enter the infection bacteria and kill it off. The only thing this cant't explain away are viral infections.
I am also willing to put good money that with every system there is an opportunist. Borrelia, coinfections, and parasite in us. I bet there must be an organism, bacterial, viral, or parasitic, that takes advantage of the plentiful supply of Borrelia. Trick is doing various experimental exposures for the in vitro testing.
I bet that some of us took years to get sick, like me. Bit in 1995 and sick in 2010. Because I had good body flora and ones that kept Borrelia in check, as well as a good immune sys. Get a little sick and we take ABX, which lowers our immunity and kills off the good body flora, which would have otherwise kept a better check.
Medicine might catch up to this body flora idea eventually and it might be a matter of consuming or impregnating us with good flora, just like we do with probiotics.
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
Lymedin2010 said:
quote: Well we know AIDS patience have a compromised immune sys. Do they get the flu and sick often? That might buy us a clue.
It appears that AIDS patients may be somewhat more prone to catching the flu and colds compared to people without AIDS. (Although, this difference appears small to be small)
However, the severity of the flu symptoms that people with AIDS experience seems to be greater than the severity of symptoms that a "healthy" person would experience when they get the flu and the mortality rate from the flu is much higher in an AIDS patient than it is in the general population.
"Persons with AIDS have significant excess mortality due to pneumonia or influenza during influenza seasons and should be considered a high-risk group that is targeted for the prevention of influenza."
"Although HIV infection does not appear to significantly increase susceptibility to seasonal influenza virus infections, case series and retrospective cohort studies from the pre-HAART era have demonstrated increased illness severity among HIV-infected adults, particularly those with AIDS."
So, it appears that the symptoms that result from catching a cold or the flu are greater and more severe in people that have a weakened immune system.
.
Posted by koo (Member # 30462) on :
I'm the same as Lymetoo, never get sick.
I have never received a flu shot. I worked in a hospital and was exposed to a lot but never came down with anything. Knocking on wood with you.
I think it is the immune system working in overdrive.
Posted by DanP (Member # 7501) on :
I've had a cold once in the past 8 years - 8 years of Lyme emergent - and that was a few months ago after my first steroidal injection for back pain - a miserable cold ensued.
Posted by peonyprincess (Member # 38611) on :
That is weird, I too never get sick. The only thing I have had over the years was once every month or so I would feel like I had the flu, sleep for 14 hours and be better. (lyme?)
Did have one first and only sinus infection when the lyme showed itself.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
dont get sick -- phooey!!!
every time somebody sneezes i get pneumonia. i have to stay at home during flu season!!
i took a cruise couple of years ago for 3 weeks to south america on celebrity. that cruise illness broke out onboard and i caught it. never been so sick in all my life. even the people in the suites next to us said they could hear me coughing and breathing.
made it home and the doc said i was one day away from a hospital stay.
for me, i catch every little single germ in the state of texas. it's a wonder i don't have west nile!!
Posted by tickssuck (Member # 15388) on :
I NEVER catch cold-type respiratory-type stuff since getting Lyme sick in 2006.
I buck all kinds of neurological stuff all day, everyday; but, so far, not the viruses that go around my family, friends etc, never.
Why? Don't know. I've heard most all of the theories listed above....not sure anyone knows the answer for sure - though I tend to lean towards Lymetwister's theory. However, why is this not true for all of us then? TS