Coping with "regular" illness

    • Anonymous
      February 9, 2010 at 8:59 am

      Hello Everyone;

      I’ve just finished catching up on all the posts I missed during my week and a half long bout with ONE NASTY FLU!! (Almost thought I had the H1N1):eek:

      Anyway, that brings me to my question….Do “we” get the usual sickness’ like cold/flu worse than everyone else?? This was my first time with the flu since my relapse and I went DOWN FOR THE COUNT! I mean….in bed..flat on my back..couldn’t even sit up..or think..nothing!! Now in all fairness, my husband also got it and was in bed a lot as well, but he still seemed to fair better than I did and he’s bouncing back faster. The keyboard player in my band also got some form of it and he actually kept working! That’s what’s really bothering me. I’ve worked MANY times throughout my life when I was sick and got through it but this time it was out of the question and I lost a whole week of work.

      By the way, here’s something strange….when I was sick I didn’t have as much pain or symptoms as usual.:confused: I’m attributing that to the fact that I was laying down and NOT moving for a week but I don’t know. Now that I’m up and around, pain and symptoms are back.

      Well, didn’t mean to go on and on….I’m just still wondering if I got the flu worse than the others or how much of it was the combo of the flu and this other stuff. It’s bothering me that I couldn’t “buck up” and work through it like everyone else did!!:mad:

      Oh yeah….the test I had for Lyme disease came back negative….another thing ruled out! I’m going to the MDA clinic in April. Hopefully they’ll have a Neuro that’s willing to do more than a basic reflexes test!:rolleyes:

      Best wishes to all!!
      Lori

      P.S. I love all the quotes that people have at the bottom of their posts! I have to figure out how to do that and how to attach a photo. Anyway, here’s one I’ve always liked:

      Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want!

    • Anonymous
      February 9, 2010 at 10:34 am

      Lori,

      I’ve wondered the same thing since all this has started; seems “every little thing” is more difficult to overcome now. I just assumed that it was possibly due to an already compromised immune system, but who knows? It will be interesting to see what some of the more experienced around here have to say.

      As to your other question, about neuropathy/CIDP symptoms when sick: I attribute that, somewhat, to good old fashioned “distraction”. Kind of like the old “Three Stooges” gag…
      Curly: “My head hurts…”
      (Moe hits him on the foot with a hammer);
      Curly:”Wha’dya do that for?”;
      Moe: “Not thinking about your head anymore, are you?” :p

      Elmo

    • Anonymous
      February 9, 2010 at 7:24 pm

      Hi Lori,
      I have sensory CIDP and have found that my body seems to react differently when I have a virus, etc than it did pre-CIDP.
      I will have an exacerbation of my neurological symptoms: weakness, electrical sensations, pain, etc without the usual coughs and colds symptoms eg: runny nose, etc that I would have had before (though I may have a sniffle, but nothing like I’d get before CIDP). I can tell it is a bug by the fact that my family will come down with it the same time as I, but I react differently.
      I think my feedback system is a bit out of wack too.:confused:

      Kazza

    • Anonymous
      February 10, 2010 at 5:43 am

      [QUOTE=Kazza]Hi Lori,
      I have sensory CIDP and have found that my body seems to react differently when I have a virus, etc than it did pre-CIDP.
      I will have an exacerbation of my neurological symptoms: weakness, electrical sensations, pain, etc without the usual coughs and colds symptoms eg: runny nose, etc that I would have had before (though I may have a sniffle, but nothing like I’d get before CIDP). I can tell it is a bug by the fact that my family will come down with it the same time as I, but I react differently.
      I think my feedback system is a bit out of wack too.:confused:

      Kazza[/QUOTE]
      hi kazzi

      I dont quite understand how CIDP can be sensory only.
      Can you please explain

      thanks

      john

    • Anonymous
      February 10, 2010 at 6:38 am

      Hi John,

      My Neuro explained to me (quite a while ago) that my dorsal root ganglions (he drew a diagram for me) are the main areas affected by my CIDP. Apparently, these ganglions contain cell bodies of nerve cells that relay sensory information. That’s about all I can remember of what he told me. My sensory responses on Nerve Conduction Tests are always absent.
      Hope this helps explain it – at least a bit:confused:

      Kazza

    • Anonymous
      February 10, 2010 at 2:19 pm

      Thanks for the responses. I kind of figured it had something to do with the combo of illness’ but this is all new to me.

      Elmo….I know what you mean about the “three stooges” effect! I can’t say I was “pain or symptom free” during my bout with the flu. It just didn’t seem as bad but I was definately sick enough to be distracted!!

      Lori