how often do you have cold or flu syptoms

    • Anonymous
      February 12, 2011 at 4:03 am

      I just need to vent a little….
      for the past week or so, my stomache has been upset; off and on. did not amount to too much. However. I keep catching a cold. this time, It’s a bad one. I tend to be careful out in public. washing my hands frequently…. My children know they must be careful around people with these symptoms due to my weakened immune.
      One son had the flu. His girlfriend had the flu. Then my other son caught a cold, I needed to attend the er where my sister’s friend was (it was an emergency). she had a terrible cold.
      okay now I”m still awake at this hour because I’m stuffed up when I lay down. Just wanted to know? Is anyone else having the problem with staying away from those people who are ill? And how often are you catching the bug?
      Just frustrated.
      take good care always.

    • February 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

      on the run now, back later. we have cold/flu constantly form oct-march. increases symptoms of cidp.

    • Anonymous
      February 12, 2011 at 3:45 pm

      it is difficult because you want to run a normal life but with weakened immune systems we catch everything.

      I have a bottle of hand sanitizer that I attached some velcro to and stuck it to the wall right at the entrance to our house.

      Everyone knows my state of health is not good and they use the hand sanitizer, I am not 100% sure but I think it has helped me from not catching so many bugs as I haven’t been as sick since I put the bottle up… but it could be all in my head!

      I also use hand wipes to wipe down shopping cart handles, who knows what can life on those things LOL

      Good luck,
      Rhonda

    • Anonymous
      February 12, 2011 at 6:14 pm

      Answer- it seems like once a week lately.

      Golly, if I knew somebody was sick I surely would avoid them as if they had the plague. The trouble is, I never know who is sick or, who has been sick.

      Whaddya gonna do? Host a party and tell everybody, “please don’t come if you are sick or still contagious?”

      How about somebody else’s party- same question but how you gonna ask it?

      Or, the doctor’s office. I recently went to the doctor’s office. The waiting room filled up with people. Most of them were there because they were sick!

      My wife and I keep sanitizer in the car and we also use it on the shopping carts when it is available.

      I guess we’ll add some sanitizer at the front door for visitors. Seems a prudent thing to do. Yet it also seems like building a sand castle at low tide. A greater percentage of trouble may come from airborne particles.

      As you said, you have a need to go the hospital or ER to visit somebody, hmm, can you just plain not go? Not likely. Yet, maybe that’s the position we need to take. So you go, you get sick, then you go to the doctor and then maybe you get meds and maybe you get better. Repeat.

      Oh, sigh.

    • Anonymous
      February 12, 2011 at 11:14 pm

      HIghly unlikely tho! Soo, what to do? Go out and shop in ‘off hours’? As in early morning when fewer are out or at closing later at nite. Less ‘sick’ folks you encounter? Less likely of, well, contact! Of course, you can go around like ‘Detective Monk’ with packs of ‘wipes’? But rather try and wear washable ‘normal’ gloves in the winter and just be careful in the summer…. Truly it’s best not to stand out, or someone just mite deliberately come near you to sneeze on you. That’s the way some folks are these days.
      I also try and get doc appts early on [after AM rush hour] but before any real backlogs might happen. Get in and out faster.
      I’ve had varying degrees of sinusitis since I was age 7. It’d been managed until a pneumonia that gave me CIDP in the long run. I see an allergist annually as well as other docs for other s/e’s due to or not from the CIDP. Good health maintenance is your best prevention! And getting a GP that trusts YOU when you say YOU HAVE A PROBLEM and fits you in is key to keep things from getting worse or much worse.
      I WILL Go to docs’ offices? Even tho there are sick folks there? But hate having to go to an ER! Where there are REALLY sick folks! Luckily they know from the get-go that I’ve several immune issues and I’m in a ‘shared’ 2 person ER exam room. Only one other to ‘catch’ things from? WOW!
      Good luck to all and may we all not suffer too much from extra stuff?
      Definitely NOT what we need.

    • Anonymous
      February 28, 2011 at 2:12 am

      You mention wipeing the shopping carts off before shopping. Have you also thought of how many times a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. or many more things, have been handled before it even reaches your house ? Well, I have, and have you ever tried to wipe down a loaf of bread with alcohol, that is what I use, and then you get all that ink off of the wrapper onto your hands. I really get upset going thru all this procedure, but I do the best I can and let everyone else think I am crazy. I told someone today that thought I was crazy wiping stuff down, and I told them, you lay in bed for over two months and go thru all the pain, and then you won’t think my procedures of trying to get rid of things that might make me sick is not that crazy after all. Just keep the faith and in the end we will win !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      God bless,
      Drummer Dude

    • Anonymous
      February 28, 2011 at 6:43 pm

      Much to my surprise, I haven’t had any cold or flu symptoms this winter.

      Everyone in my family has been sick except me and I haven’t gone out of my way to avoid those who have been sick. My nieces just had strep throat. Go figure.

      I don’t know if I’m just incredibly lucky or my lifestyle change has made all the difference (healthy diet, vitamins, and rigorous workout routine).

      I just hope it stays that way.

    • Anonymous
      February 28, 2011 at 8:36 pm

      [SIZE=”3″][COLOR=”Teal”]I retired from a hospital so hand washing I know about. Every time we go out the stores most have wipes for their buggys. As far as food being touched, I have to say if I EVER saw anyone wipe something over bread or a can I will instanley get a manager. That is parnoia.
      Keep hand wipes in the car and the best place is the door handle or armrest. Wipe as soon as you get in your car.
      Most germs are from contact. Have you ever see a waiting room wiped down in a doctors office or asked the nurse how often the exam room is wiped. My vets office and exam room are cleaner than most doctor offices.
      I got hand wash in every bathroom and the kitchen and utility room. Think about your paper boy haveing the flu and every paper he touches is contaminated.
      I from working in a hospital saw a person got worse because THEY did it to themselves with worry about something they more than likley don’t have.I still do what I did for over 20 yrs at the hospital WASH-WASH-WASH-AND WASH in other countrys people wear a mask when they are sick. I would love to see it here.Remember the news media is the biggest fear spreader there is. Bless you Lakoda[/COLOR][/SIZE]

    • Anonymous
      February 28, 2011 at 9:00 pm

      I have MS and hubby has CIDP. I have had less colds and flu since being diagnosed in the mid 80’s. Hubby hasn’t had one bout of sickness since being diagnosed in 2007. (Knocking on wood now ). I am a retired nurse, and I use disinfectants such as bleach and lysol very sparingly in my home due to fear of lowering our resistance to everyday common bacteria. We need to allow our bodies to fight off some of these things naturally. Where we are cautious is at the hospital i.e. wiping down the bedside tables and objects like that because of C. difficile and MRSA that are rampant in hospitals. Also shopping buggy handles in the grocery stores we wipe down. Any hint of a cold and we take zinc, and we both take daily good quality probiotics to keep the intestinal bacteria in balance. I strongly believe it is important to let our bodies develop some natural immunity with the everyday harmless bacteria. Also many of the hand santizers won’t address the really harmful bacteria. I think they say it would require a 10% bleach solution to address those the really harmful bacteria so when we wipe bedside tables and buggy handles, it likely is inefficient. Good old regular hand washing with soap and water is what we do religiously. When someone is sneezing and coughing when I’m out shopping, I will make a rapid exit away from them.
      Laurel

    • Anonymous
      March 1, 2011 at 10:35 am

      I have been in recovery since 1/2010. I avoid sick people as if they have the plague. My GBS all started after a mild cold and my wife and I will do anything to avoid a recurrence. If we are in a restaurant and somebody sneezes, we get up and leave. We avoid places where small children or crowds of people congregate. No malls, no schools. When we do go to restaurants, we go right when they open and are the least crowded. If my wife feels like she is coming down with something she sleeps in our guest bedroom. I have been fortunate not to come down with something since I left the hospital as a lot of co-workers have been sick and a bad cold has made its rounds among family and friends including my wife. I did wake up a few weeks ago with a bad sore throat that I thought for sure was going to turn into a bad cold but got on Zycam (not an endorsement) immediately and it went away without getting worse. We do what we must do….stay healthy my friends.

    • Anonymous
      March 4, 2011 at 1:24 pm

      I retired early from my teaching job, because of the exposure to sick middle schoolers. It was not worth a possible 3rd bout with GBS. I take lots of vitamin C capsules to keep my white blood cells healthy – and they are the ones which fight off infections. Linus Pauling was right. We need around 5-7 grams to keep us healthy. When I feel a cold coming on, I take Olive Leaf extract. It fights off bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites (worms, etc) You have to know what you are doing before taking it, because there is a “die off” where you might feel worse for a day or two as it kills off the germs and your body has to clean it up – if you are really sick. I do alot of what was suggested in the other posts – trying to avoid the situations. But many of the germs are in the air. So we have to make sure our bodies are strong and healthy to fight it off. I am sorry that I had not known about olive leaf when I got GBS the second time. I think it would have helped the C.