Immune system

[Madderakka]

My rheumatologist told me that people with auto-immune diseases are typically sick less often because their immune systems are ramped up, but I feel like I am sick almost all the time. I was just getting over a cold and I woke up today with something else. I spent most of 08 and 09 on antibiotic/steroid packs and actually had my tonsils removed in Dec but that hasn't really helped. In fact I got strep two months after my tonsillectomy which is supposed to be nearly impossible.

[DragonflyC]

It depends on the person.

I've never been the person who catches what's "going around" (even though I'm a teacher surrounded by delightful, but incredibly germy, kids), and I definitely feel like my overactive immune system has played a role in that.  Even so, I was very, very ill a few years ago right around the time I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's, and I think it's because my immune system had begun to seriously attack my body and was too busy to fight off germs.  I'm back to almost never being sick again, thank goodness, though I would much rather have the occasional cold or flu than my constant Sjogren's symptoms. 

[bloodless]

One of my docs told me my infection of a skin rash wasn't healing because my immune system was so busy destroying healthy tissue it didn't have enough fight for real foreign bodies.

[Joe S.]

CDC reported that people on D3 did not get swine flu. There are things I get and things I do not. I do know about working with kids (K-5) and what is going around.

[Carolina]

OK, I've probably had, MAX, fewer than 10 colds in my entire life!  Probaby fewer than 6 actually.

And I'm 68.

I used to say, I don't get ordinary illnesses, just weird stuff like eczema all over my body.

And honestly until the arthritis hit hard in my late 40's I would have to say that I was almost never sick.  

But once my autoimmune system, which had attacked me fiercely until I was 27 with severe, severe eczema, then stopped (apparently) for a while, kicked in, things went down hill.

Even then, most of my misery was some discomfort from dry eye dry mouth, anemia, and then UTIs which are so common.   Only I turned out to have Interstitial Cystitis, which is why I started having UTIs at 65!   I'd never had ONE UTI in my life until then.   And now profound Peripheral Neuropathy, which is turning my life upside down.
,
So you can see, I wasn't 'sickly' in the infection sort of way at all.   Maybe the flu four or five times, MAX, in 68 years,

I did have measles and chicken pox back before the vaccines.    

But never colds or stomach aches.   If I did get a cold, it was a doozy tho, cause it had gotten past my immune defenses, and I generally wound up with bronchitis.

So If I had died at the common age of olden days (mid 50's) I would have been seen as a really healthy person!  Just a touch of arthritis near the end, and that silly eczema for the first 27 years.  Which didn't leave any scars and disappeared gracefully.

So in a way, I've just lived long enough for my immune system to turn on me viciously.

I guess it's just a trade off, and I will accept what I get, just for today.

Kisses,

Carolina

[Pisces24]

The stuff I catch seems to be all sinus or throat related. Doing the sinus flushes has really cut down on the number of and severity of them though.  Durn I still get them but not 5-10 times as year. Now maybe 2-3 and it is usually when it is wet, warm, moist and cool. That is why for a long time my gp just thought it was allergies.

Hate it when it gets in my throat because it drains down and my appetite takes a nose dive.

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

Whether we catch colds or flu or not is a topic that comes up periodivcally in here and we seem pretty evenly split between those who do - and those who don't.

I take Plaquenil but have never been on any immunosupressants and I haven't had a cold for years. Family and colleagues at work catch colds and flu and it just seems to pass me by. I just wish my immune system wasn't so dumb that it fights me - as well as warding off colds and flu!!

Others do catch stuff though.

Take care - Scottie 

[Pegasus47]

Sjs folks on prednisone tend to catch all kinds of infections- powerful immune suppresant, no more lymphocytes left to fight off the infection.  I was given pneumovac and shingle's vaccines lately. 

As long as we catch the Sjs early where the cells are still active, and can be promoted to have normal function, treat it with balanced natural method I believe gets better outcome and results.  That's just my opnion. I know most of you are heavily into drugs.  I try to use it as little as possible. 

Hope this is helpful!

Pegasus

[LeoLady]

Pisces24:

What's a sinus flush?    I've had sinus infections starting from the age of 10. 

LeoLady

[Carolina]

Yes, I got the pneumonia vaccine several years ago, and shingles vaccine in 2008.

Pneumonia can kill.

And shingles can wreck your entire life.   I've had a friend who had to move into a nursing home after a terrible bout of shingles which weakened her to the point of no return.

AND the pain of shingles sometimes NEVER goes away.

Kisses

Carolina

[syng4hym]

I get 4 or 5 colds a year which always turn into bronchitis or pneumonia, strep once a year, and the flu once...  so I'm always sick.  I'm terrified of touching a shopping cart without wiping it down with some type of sanitizer, I do not touch any railings and use my shirt to touch elevator buttons and doors... As of late, I've become a germ-a-phob. I guess I'm sorta the weird one of the group. 

[Carolina]

Dear syng:

I don't think that's weird at all.  NOW that I have all these ghastly autoimmune diseases, I am terribly afraid of getting an infection.

I wipe off all the equipment at the gym and wash my hands frequently.

I also live a fairly 'sheltered' life because I am retired, so I'm not as exposed to things as many others are.

And I have had several UTIs a year, for the past three years, and they are almost unbearable because so many aspects of my AI condition go into flare.

Vigilance is absolutely necessary for us.

Also I don't take prednisone OR methotrexate.   So I don't have any drug related compromise of my Immune system.

Kisses

Carolina

[mac]

Caroina,

Can attest to the pain left from a bout of Shingles.   Six years later I have as much pain in one spot as I had when the disease was active!  I cannot even tell you where the pain is,        ???not a place common to Shingles...LOL but a constant reminder.

PLEASE, if any of you can get a vaccine against this DO!!!  It is dreadful! 

[aussie mum]

Of my three kids, my daughter with SJS (diagnosed at 17 now 19) was always the last to catch a cold when they were little, often missing out completely. I was told once, that it was probably because her immune system was over active but had not got to the point of an auto immune disease yet.

Things have changed a bit now. Her cold's don't seem severe to us but a cold really knocks her about.

It is the beginning of winter in Australia and we are currently waiting for a period when she is feeling well and has no uni exams so she can get the flu vaccination. Her GP thinks it would be a good idea.

Does anyone have any experience with the Flu vaccinations?

Aussie Mum

[Madderakka]

I'm not on any immune suppressants yet, just pilocarpine to stimulate saliva. I used to have a pretty good immune system, but for the last three years I have been catching things frequently (I've had the sjogren's symptoms for about 5 years). I'm not sure if it's the move to a new state and therefore new strains or the fact that my son is in school or just the sj's progression, but something sure has knocked me for a loop. I've joked to my husband about putting a de-con shower by the front door and scrubbing our kid down before he comes in the house because whatever I have now, I feel like I'm breathing through a wet blanket.

Joe S, what is D3? I tried googling it, but all I get are camera websites.