WHY Am I Always Sick (or: WHY aren't YOU?)

Contributor: DeliciousSurprise DeliciousSurprise
I'm always sick. I'm so sick of being sick. It's boring. I'm tired. I need to do other stuff besides mope around my house throwing tissues in the general area of my wastebasket.

I work in an office that's open 24/7, with recycled air, and hotel style seating (nobody has an assigned desk, so we sit wherever there's room when we come in) so when one person brings in their cooties, it travels around the office like a petri dish of yuck. In the past nine months, I've had strep throat twice, and had colds twice. However! Some of my coworkers ride out the wave like they're on a private island.

How? I know some of you are those people. Teach me your secrets.


I already know to wash my hands compulsively; I hose down the desk when I come in... Still! What do I have to do? Shower in clorox? Take zinc every morning with a big glass of grapefruit juice? Teach me. Guide me. Most of all: help my immune system.
05/05/2012
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Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by DeliciousSurprise
I'm always sick. I'm so sick of being sick. It's boring. I'm tired. I need to do other stuff besides mope around my house throwing tissues in the general area of my wastebasket.

I work in an office that's open 24/7, ... more
Washing your hands compulsively is not necessarily effective. Many germs enter the body through mucous membranes (nose, eyes, mouth) so it's more important to be sure you don't touch your face until you wash your hands.

Also, stress to your employer that sick employees should not work. More work time is lost when more employees get sick.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Rossie Rossie
Like Kindred said, don't touch your face unless your hands are 100% clean. Take multivitamins, fish oil pill, annual flu shot (and you're probably one of the anti flu shot gang), and have enough sleep every night.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Raigne Raigne
Sleep is a major one. Sleep is as important to your health as a good diet and exercise are.

Nine months is too short of a time to really notice patterns, but if you get sick more around certain times of the year, it can be allergy related. I used to get sinus infections every spring and fall until I moved out of my parents house. They were like clockwork. An allergen in the house exacerbated by my parents smoking was causing it. I know, because they started to happen again when I had to move back in.
05/05/2012
Contributor: unfulfilled unfulfilled
I worked in the health food-alternative medicine industry for 5 years and the number one thing is limit your sugar intake. Sugar weakens your immune system.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Strengthen your immune system - healthy eating, regular exercise, regular sleep, drink things that don't have added chemicals/sugars/caffe ine.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Taylor Taylor
I'm one of those people who rarely gets sick. I can count on one hand the number of colds I've had in the last ten years, I never have allergies, and I've only had the flu once in my life. I honestly think some people just have better immune systems than others.

I also don't think all of the sterilizing helps. If you wipe something down and kill all the bacteria (good and bad) then it's a blank slate for when someone comes and sneezes on it or something. I'm not sure there's any science to that, but that's my personal theory. I can tell you that of the people in my life, the ones who wash their hands the most and use the most hand sanitizers are the people who get sick the most. So sure wash your hands, but not compulsively.
05/05/2012
Contributor: MistressDandelion MistressDandelion
If you are a mouth breather that can be your problem. I know that's mine, but I have no choice since I can barely breathe by my nose, my nostrils are too small. I'm gonna have some surgery for that. Anyways.


If you have thyme in your kitchen, you just found a good remedy. It's an antibacterial and antifungal and will aswell limit the damages viruses can do. I cured my father that way, and he had pneumonia. The doctor gave him pills for it, but he had to go back twice. With thyme, he's now ok.

To avoid getting sick, prepare the thyme just as if you were making tea, and drink this several times a day. To cure yourself, put some time in some water in a pot, bring to a boil and let it boil until around half the water evaporated (or the infusion turned black/brown), so, around 30 minutes. Add a little honey if you can't cope with the taste. Drink several of these. It is better if you drink it when the first symptoms appear so you can get better sooner.

I still do get sick a lot, but I find with thyme it doesn't last as long, if it lasts at all. I cured a (beginning) sinusitis overnight with very strong thyme infusions. So it's strong.

Good luck.
05/05/2012
Contributor: ejrbrndps ejrbrndps
rest, water, vit c, work out, but no matter what you do you will get sick, could you maybe have allergy problems? if you do you might feel sick even though you arent? did you get checked?
05/05/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Whelp, I rarely get sick. But being in buildings with recycled air really bugs my nose/throat, so if I can't seek out an old storage closet-converted-to-co mputing-space that doesn't have air vents, I wear a handkerchief over my ears to keep me warmer. Might be a placebo effect, but I just always feel uncomfortable with air blowing on me. Keeping an electric hot plate and making tea all the time warms me up, too.

Other than that, three square meals a day and enough sleep, and drink water like mad.
05/05/2012
Contributor: ToyTimeTim ToyTimeTim
Not sure how much help I can be but here is my story.

I grew up with a nutritional freak, my mom. We juiced stuff before Jack Lalanne was even heard of, I ate handfuls of vitamins everyday like candy, never went to the DR unless absolutely necessary, never got shots (I was 25 before my first tetanus shot). We did not have candy or pop or anything else that may have had sugar in it. Ya, my childhood was kind of lame.

When I was old enough to buy my own stuff, I was a sugar junky to say the least. To this day I do not watch my diet (Been at 160-180 for the last 25 years), I do not drink bottled water, do not wash my hands all the time. Basically I go against the norm. My kids are much the same too, although we do give them a multi-vitamin every day. If/when we get sick we use Ener-C and lots of water and hot tea.

I truly think that by making the body deal with infections it does more to fight off nasties than anything else.

Mom always told us the the body gets rid of stuff four ways; sweat, pee, poo, and snot. Anything you can do to help these things along will help to be rid of said infection.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyTimeTim
Not sure how much help I can be but here is my story.

I grew up with a nutritional freak, my mom. We juiced stuff before Jack Lalanne was even heard of, I ate handfuls of vitamins everyday like candy, never went to the DR unless absolutely ... more
"Making the body deal with infections does more to fight off the nasties than anything else"

---and so I don't disinfect things, or even wash my produce off. Gotta make myself tough!

But, that is also exactly the reason we *get* vaccinations. Don't skip your vaccinations! I usually figure, even though the flu wouldn't hurt me that bad if I was to get it, I owe it to all the elderly folks and babies I come into contact with not to be a disease vector.
05/05/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by DeliciousSurprise
I'm always sick. I'm so sick of being sick. It's boring. I'm tired. I need to do other stuff besides mope around my house throwing tissues in the general area of my wastebasket.

I work in an office that's open 24/7, ... more
I'm sorry. I wish I had an answer for you. I'm always sick, too. I have a crappy immune system, I guess. (One of the reasons I prefer working with patients who are nearly always healthy to start out with.)
05/05/2012
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
Quote:
Originally posted by Taylor
I'm one of those people who rarely gets sick. I can count on one hand the number of colds I've had in the last ten years, I never have allergies, and I've only had the flu once in my life. I honestly think some people just have better ... more
I agree, Taylor, I think it's just plain luck. My husband and I live in the same house, we know the same people, live with the same germs, and he rarely gets sick and I'm sick all the time.

The only difference is; he smokes like a smoke stack and drinks like a fish and eats animal flesh with even more relish than I do, and more of it! And I'm the one who gets sick. OK, I probably eat a little more sugar, but alcohol is transformed by the body into sugars, so that's gotta count. I never drink, never smoke (he only smokes outside) and he also works in a office with canned air and a LOT of people. I usually work with one woman and her baby and maybe her partner at one time, and we can't even see them if they are sick, because we see so many infants that the agency doesn't want us bringing germs from one patient to the other.

So, why does he stay healthy, despite an unhealthy lifestyle and I get sick often, despite living much healthier than he does? LUCK, I'm guessing.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Raigne Raigne
Quote:
Originally posted by MistressDandelion
If you are a mouth breather that can be your problem. I know that's mine, but I have no choice since I can barely breathe by my nose, my nostrils are too small. I'm gonna have some surgery for that. Anyways.


If you have thyme in ... more
Just to add some support for thyme as a healing herb, it's used fairly regularly as a treatment for cuts and infections in small and exotic mammals. The honey won't just help with the taste either. It's also antimicrobial and is really good for soothing a sore throat.
05/05/2012
Contributor: ToyTimeTim ToyTimeTim
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
"Making the body deal with infections does more to fight off the nasties than anything else"

---and so I don't disinfect things, or even wash my produce off. Gotta make myself tough!

But, that is also exactly the reason we ... more
In that case I might consider it. Still, my mom is a care taker/at home nurse and refuses to get vaccinated. She does do the standard hand washing and sanitation deals.

I am not saying that folks should just stop doing these things. Just stating that this is how I grew up, this is my only explanation for why I do not get sick that often.
05/05/2012
Contributor: All His All His
You can do everything you can think of and sometimes some people are just more prone to get sick. I have had to accept that I get sick easily and a lot. There are some things that seem to help span the distance between illnesses.


I make sure to take a multi vitamin everyday. I watch what I eat to make sure im getting everything my body needs ( but I still eat junk food lol) I have to take an allergy pill everyday or Id have a sinus infection 365 days a year (yay for crappy sinuses). I also do a daily sinus rinse (unpleasant but it does help clean out whats lurking in the sinus membranes). I try my best to make sure I get enough sleep (easier said than done with a 3yr old who never tires and wakes up before the crack of dawn like clockwork lol) I only ever go to the dr when I need to and avoid antibiotics unless I truely need them. I do wash my hands and wash surfaces when I can. but like ToyTimeTim said I still do believe your body has to get exposed and fight things off on its own sometimes, its how our bodies build their own natural immunities. I do take Zicam when I think Im getting a cold(its a zinc supplement) and it comes in forms other than a pill.


I and the people around me have come to terms with the fact that I seem to be more suseptable to germs no matter what I do and so I've learned to work around it, I have found by doing it all I don't get sick as often as when I was a kid but I still get sick more than your average person.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Voir Voir
What kinda diet do you have? Not eating healthy lowers immune system and it could just be genes. Some people have stronger or more proactive immune systems than others.

Try adding lots of blackberries to your diet (they are very high in antioxidants); lower or eliminate fast foods and sodas; eat more veggies and fruit and less beef more poultry and seafood. Exercise.

Cleaning compulsively; especially the body can eliminate the bacteria on the skin that helps fight of "germs" and ick stuff. And can also accelerate germ buildup.

A lot of people take vitamins but I don't like taking pills or any sort of medication really so I have nothing to say on them other than you can get the necessary supplements without relying on a pill to fix everything B| You could just take a multi-vitamin in the morning and go about your day.
05/05/2012
Contributor: Taylor Taylor
I love this thread. I think it's so interesting to see what everyone does to try and stay healthy and what their theories are as to what is the big factor in getting us sick.
05/05/2012
Contributor: vanilla&chocolate vanilla&chocolate
First quarter of college, I had a really tough math class that I was always up half the night studying for. I got 4-5 hours of sleep, and my eating started to go to hell as well. I got sick twice. Now, I've been eating well and sleep 7-8 hours a night, and I haven't gotten sick yet in 2012! I also work out a lot and take vitamins every day.
05/05/2012
Contributor: DeliciousSurprise DeliciousSurprise
Wow; I never thought I'd get this many replies! I hope y'all will forgive me for not replying individually since I'm pretty sure halfway through the nyquil would kick in and my responses would stop making sense.

I very much appreciate you all taking the time to help my immune system. I'd never heard of Thyme as a healing agent, though I do know diet and exercise and sleep are big factors in being not sick.

I am one of those anti flu-shot people, but just cuz I'm an anti-shot person.

My job isn't AWFUL about making people work when they're sick, but we don't get a lot of paid time off, so 90% of people come in when ill because they'd rather not "waste" their time off on something as silly as illness.

And I do wash my fruit--but not because of pesticides, but because I don't know who's been pawing over my apples before I got there... And I don't know what that dude did before he got to my apples.

My diet is super meh--I never eat fast food or drink soda, but I do get takeout for lunch pretty much every day. I guess that's semi-fast food? Argg.
05/05/2012