Germs and exhaustion… your opinion please

Hi Erin! I am very scared of anybody being sick around me because I know how horrible my immune system is. So anytime somebody I know gets sick I do whatever I can to stay away from them. I remember last year I was in the ER with my mom and there was this nasty 24 hour virus going around. I caught that 24 hour virus and got sick for 4 days straight in a row. My husband caught it and the next day he was back to normal again. Me! I laid on a sofa for 4 days with no bath and barfed continually non stop. So when I hear the word virus! I run in the other direction. Hope you don’t catch it! And right now all week I have been exposed to no telling what at the hospital being with my mother. And I have that biggest fear! Good luck Erin and hope you stay well! Hugs
Linda H

[QUOTE=Erin]I have been helping out a some friends chaperoning their children in ski lessons for the past 3 wks.

I have just had my ivig dose decreased to 40 gm twice a month.

I have never taken steroids, because of contraindications for me.

So, last week half of my friend’s large family was sick with flu like symptoms and high fever. The sick half did not ski and I skied with the healthy half.

The day after our ski trip, the healthy half got sick, and a week later they are all still running fevers.

Now the first half is doing better, one on antibiotics, two others still coughing but no fever. They want me to ski with them tomorrow.

I rarely get viruses…even before cidp dx and ivig.
At first I didn’t think twice abt skiing…. outdoors, fresh air, etc, but now I’m having second thoughts.

I’m thinking I don’t want to spend 3+hrs in the car with these friends who I love. Also, I would have to drive tomorrow, and driving after skiing is very exhausting for me.

I think I know my answer after typing all this…. Yet I do enjoy the endorphin rush and fresh air.

Thanks to all,
Erin[/QUOTE]
Erin no to sound mean in any way but as you said you know the answer,get the fresh air some way else go for a walk but stay away from the bugs it takes longer to get over them and weakens the body so your best bet is to go for a walk and enjoy the fresh air that way, take care Brenda:) 🙂 🙂 🙂

Erin,
Don’t panic yet, you could just have a touch of the flu the others had and not a flare. I have been trying to pin this down with Kevie for the last few months. Being that I got the flu the same time as him, I experienced the same weakness symptoms. His streegnth was still intact, still able to walk on heals and toes, symptoms and pain increased however. I am sure it was the flu since I felt it and he was still strong. Because of the ivig, I feel he just does not get the full fever and ALL of the issues such as respiratory. He had the pain, weakness and sinus congestion, back/neck pain and headaches. So be patient, because after about a weak he was better and that was before treatment, so I know it was not a cidp flare. incidentally, myself and my older son are STILL sick. Better though, this is the worst flu I ever had. Hope you feel better soon.
Dawn Kevies mom

Hi Erin,
I don’t remember if you’ve shared in the past the extent of your battle with CIDP but I was wondering if the excertion itself from the skiing could have caused rebound weakness. I often have weakness after doing a surge of physical activity. There is the danger with too much excersice of what is now understood as the “Post Polio” syndrome. It used to be regular practice to push people with polio to physical exhaustion and later they found that that had a rebound affect where the condition is worsened by too much exercise. So that is why I was wondering if this could be the case for you with skiing. I know each of us is different but we each have a pretty predictable recovery time. Mine on a good day is a full 24-48 hours. Maybe yours is longer or maybe you are fighting something and the combination is at play. I don’t know if this makes any sense but, just know you’re not alone. I am impressed that you can ski! ;)Be well.
Linda