Poor Immune System

I've been on immuno suppressants for several years. A cold can morph into a chest infection and thence to pneumonia in the blinking of an eye. My GP recommended I take Vitamin C and zinc in a cheap combined pill as she says, the research confirms it helps the immune system.

i was significantly ill last year as a result of complications following a chest infection. That seems to have helped close friends and family to fully realise the need to keep away if they have infections. Be up front about it vickymedrew, most people will respond positively

Re getting rid of verrucas as mentioned in an earlier post, there was a programme about this on telly some time ago which found that a very good cure was to cover the verruca with a piece of duct tape ,leave it on for a week, remove it and gently pumice the area, then repeat it . I tried it on a very small one and it worked a treat! Re colds, I take Echinacea as soon as possible after being in contact with anyone with a cold, and(touch wood) haven't had a cold for about two years.

I have to stay in most of the winter as I get colds so easily,and
they last for weeks. I have a terrible immune system,would give
anything for some help,I tried First Defence,but it didn't help.

I swear by the cold defence nasal sprays! The Boots one is fine and Aldi do one too. We use them before flights and in the winter I use it before going into large groups, and busy places. Also if you use it when your OH starts a cold, it can prevent you getting it.!

Advice on tact would be appreciated please.
Honestly, my advice would be to drop the tact. Just say exactly what you have said here - "I easily pick up chest infections and colds and have developed bronchiecstasis because of this. A simple infection takes around three months (and lots of antibiotics ) for me to get rid of. " Then just add - "so I'd appreciate it if you'd steer clear of me if you have any viruses or infections, even just a cold. We can catch up later."

There is no way anyone could construe that as rude. And if they do, they're not worth having in your life.

If anyone goes to hug me and it's obvious they have a streaming cold I back off! Tactless? Maybe but better than being ill.
Be careful about touching anything they have touched eg a pen, cutlery, a cup etc and wash your hands!!

If it's one of the DGC what do you do when they want a cuddle? Kiss the top of their heads not their faces, cuddle them (and wash your hands afterwards).

Oh, I do sympathise! My immune system is terrible as I am asthmatic and have to take antibiotics at the first sign of a cold going down on to my chest as it could easily turn into bronchitis or pneumonia, which I have had once and wouldn't want to repeat. I still have a nasty chest/sinus virus which I picked up at the British Museum (which was packed with tourists) 5 weeks ago. To make matters worse, it's one of those viruses which seems to be getting better and then gets worse again. It also seems to morph into various other symptoms. So far I have had: a high temperature, which only lasted one day, a persistent cough, blocked sinuses, aches and pains like flu ( I have had my flu jab) wheezing, and a constant sweaty feeling. My brother-in-law, who lives in Berlin has the same symptoms exactly, so it must be an international bug! I took the antibiotics about two weeks in to stop it going on to my chest, but although they did stop that happening, the virus still goes on its merry way in other parts of my body! I am terrified of travelling now as I always seem to pick up something and, yes, I do use First Defence. We are going away soon and i am contemplating using a face mask on the plane as well as the FD!

Wish I could get help with my immune system,I have colds all winter,
can't go out!

I have never had any trouble telling people to keep away on this issue. Your needs far exceed theirs.
As does anyone elses' with this sort of problem.

I agree with everything said here. I too get chest infections and breathing problems if exposed to germs. I tell people now and generally they understand. Unfortunately there are germs on everything we have to touch. Cash machines, shopping trolleys, banisters, door handles etc. I too carry hand steriliser and use First Defence and wash hands endlessly.

Midgey thanks for the black nail polish tip, will definitely try that. Tried the duct tape remedy but it kept coming off.

sallyswin I hope your SIL and daughter are on the mend now and can enjoy their new kitchen - there's nothing worse than having the house upside down and being ill! Vickymeldrew (and all of you with reduced immune systems) you have to tell everyone to keep their distance when they're ill. If people are sensible they will understand. When my mum was in care the slightest sniffle or tummy upset kept the patient in their room to stop it spreading and visitors were told in no uncertain terms not to visit if they were ill. My niece was receiving cancer treatment last year and we all knew that if we had any ailments to keep away. I don't have any problems with my immune system but was very ill 5 years ago with a flu virus which destroyed the olfactory nerve and took away my sense of smell and taste permanently. I had a similar thing again this Christmas which took weeks to clear up so also want to do my best to keep clear of such bugs. It seems only sensible to me if I'm ill to cancel a visit or a trip so as not to pass it on - shame others don't think the same way!

vicky hi, and glad your treatment for cancer worked (I assume as it was a few years back). My mother was an asthmatic and had us all trained to avoid her like the plague if we had colds.
I agree that tact is misplaced.How about making an annual announcement (every October maybe) on Facebook or via email as in "With the cold and flu season approaching I dread catching these winter viruses that always seem to turn into nasty chest infections. I'm told it's an after-effect of chemo. I do what I can to protect myself, including getting an annual flu jab. I'd be really grateful if all my regular contacts had a flu jab too. And if you have cold symptoms can we have a nice chat on the phone please, rather than meeting face to face. I won't be offended if you cancel something at short notice. Thanks for your care and consideration."
And then mention it as well to people when you see them. Tell them you'd rather they let you know if they have a cold so you can decide to back out of a coffee morning or whatever.

As to looking after yourself, well an ordinary balanced healthy diet is probably the best way, and you will get all the vitamins and minerals you need. There is plenty of vitamin C and zinc in a mixed diet with plenty of fruit and veg. No real evidence that supplements may a crumb of difference and they are probably a waste of money.
One exception - I do take cod liver oil capsules (although the evidence they prevent colds is weak). I think we are all a bit low in this vitamin in the winter and its hard to get enough from food. Nobody seems to have a good explanation why we get more colds in winter - so low Vitamin D could be partly to blame.
One thing that was shown to help reduce colds, in a study of middle aged women, was to get outdoors and have a brisk walk in the fresh air, every day if possible.
And of course wash your hands thoroughly when you have been out and about as many viral infections are caught via hands picking up the virus and transferring them to eyes/nose/mouth. (don't recommend that hand washing thread on GN though - enough to trigger OCD!)
Though I have to confess... when my son had chemo which wiped his immune system for a couple of months (before a stem cell transplant) I became VERY paranoid and ever since I've not fancied pastries etc that are left around unwrapped and uncovered all day for people to sneeze over and touch.

After coming back from Italy with a really nasty chest virus caught from the air conditioning in the last hotel, I was dreading the winter colds doing the rounds. It took me nearly 2 months before I felt anything like normal over the summer which included two visits to A&E with breathing problems. Luckily we are now into February and so far so good. I belong to a few groups, meeting up most days with quite a few people. Some have had colds and really should have stayed at home. I usually make a joke of it and back off saying after the virus, I didn't want to risk another chest infection as they really knock me about. I don't think anyone has been offended as yet and quite honestly I don't care as I think they are being a bit anti-social spreading germs unnecessarily. As you can see by my username I am a square dancer (2 days a week and a Scottish Country dancer another 2, plus a couple of keep fit classes), I always, always wash my hands before having refreshments and when I get home. The dancing obviously uses lots of hand holding so germs passed on are unavoidable. Hope by posting this I haven't put a jinx on things and end up with a cold before the summer comes, when I shall start the hay fever season!!

Have a look on youtube and do the "spit test" for* Candida*. It can lower your immune system and needs to be got rid of by diet.

I was told by my GP that my immune sytem was low and so I now take a spray vitamin D and manuka honey which both boost immunity.

I have got a book on Candida though and will look into it and maybe do a cleanse. It won't do me any harm and could do some good.

Have to say, Rubylady that there is no scientific evidence behind this "alternative" idea that lots of people are infested with candida and need special diets to clear it up. Candida is a common infection of the mouth and vagina and other damp crevices. Very occasionally it spreads elsewhere but that would be in people who have a massively damaged immune system e.g. very ill with AIDS.
The candida is not held in check by the failing immune system. But this is very rare. Alternative practitioners presumably make money out of "set tests" and advising on exclusion diets.
I read one of those books once and had a good laugh at the reasoning
1. candida is caused by a species of yeast
2. therefore all foods that contain any yeasts or have any yeasts in the making thereof will promote candida.
3. And while we are at it, fungi are related to yeasts so give them up as well
4. so you must give up mushrooms, bread, marmite etc

rubylady A cleanse would probably strip out all your natural balance of candida and other things, leaving you more, not less, likely to suffer. Our digestive system is self-regulating, if we give it a chance and don't try to take over all its functions for it. It has been doing this for thousands of years longer than we have even known of the existence of our internal flora.

Hi. I'm new to these forums so have been interested to read through this thread. I get one infection after another. I look after my two baby grandsons and they always seem to have colds etc. The trouble is that a common cold can really floor me for a week or more and often ends up sigh a sinus infection. I find that I can't drink even a couple of glasses of wine or I will be sure to catch something soon afterwards. That's easily enough avoided but annoying. I'm a retired teacher and thought things would improve when I retired but not so. I'm thinking of having the flu jab next winter to see if that helps.

I've had a nice trip to Isle of Wight last week and brought home with me a horrendous cough and cold. I had similar last year and ended coughing non stop for about 2 months.

I am feeling better now although still coughing my guts up, but the space in between is longer.

Funnily enough before I read this, I emailed my two children to say I must be more vigilant with hand washing and for them not be offended if I wash my hands round their places and a lot more here when the grandchildren come to visit. They were both fine about it.

My immune system seems shot and I have tried everything under the sun to try to improve it, so now I am thinking prevention is better than cure.

I wash my hands after being out, but sometimes forget, I won't in future. Also before eating whilst out. Another thing that might be worth mentioning is, don't touch your face or eyes. You can pass germs on through the tear ducts apparently. I am guilty of this as sometimes my eyes water and then the make runs a bit and I use my hand to rub it away, I will use tissue in future.