My Google-fu seems to be broken today, perhaps because I am sick. AGAIN. So, here I come seeking SDMB insight and/or wisdom.
In essence, I have been almost constantly sick in the past year or so. Right now, it’s a laryngitis with a mild fever, headache, and fatigue; two weeks ago, it was a funky flu thing that involved a fever, severe body aches, and extreme fatigue; two weeks before that, it was a stomach flu that caused painful bloating and stomach cramps and an immediate expulsion of all things eaten in the last day or three. Back in January, I had an awful bronchitis that put me in urgent care one day, and the ER a few days later, and exposed me to the joy of steroid withdrawal as I was on prednisone for three weeks.
Going back further (without boring you by adding more detail), I had multiple respiratory infections in the fall.
With the exception of the bronchitis, none of these illnesses were enough to send me to a doctor. My fevers are never over 100.5 or so, and the illnesses don’t seem to have much in common outside the host.
At first, I figured I was just catching everything my 17-month-old baby was bringing back from his day care, but I don’t recall it being anywhere near this ridiculous when older brother Boy 1.0 was the same age. Hubby and older bro, btw, have been sick about a third the times I have been. The toddler definitely seems to have a constant snotty nose, but the fevers and tummy viruses haven’t really hit him.
I was on sertraline/Zoloft for nearly a year, though, starting last June. Is it possible a side effect for me has been a suppression of my immune system?
FWIW, I did have H1N1 (though not confirmed through testing–the OB and GP both were positive I had it, though, as it was the only flu they were seeing at the time and my symptoms matched) when I was 7mos pregnant with the now 17-month-old. That flu wrecked me and my respiratory tract. I was on Advair for over a year, seeing a pulmonologist every few months, using a nebulizer, blah blah blah. I just was able to wean off the Advair last month. Perhaps damage from the flu has left me susceptible?
Or maybe I’m just lucky. I’m hoping it’s partially the Zoloft, since I’m weaning off of it. Being sick is depressing.