Why do I keep getting sick?

[Mr.Lahey]

I don’t get colds of flu much. Maybe once or twice a year. But a month ago I got the flu bad. Last week I had a blocked eustacian tube. This morning I woke up with a cold.

This is starting to piss me off. I don’t like being sick. Should I be concerned? Am I just unlucky this year or could something be wrong with my immune system?

[Blake]

@Mr.Lahey

But a month ago I got the flu bad.

Do you really mean this? :eek:

A “normal” case of the flu leaves you literally bedridden for a least a week. And I mean literally. Standing or even sitting upright for more than 15 minute is almost impossible. Sleeping 16 hours a day is normal. And that’s a mild case of the flu. A bad case of the flu means that you can’t stand unassisted, and you *will * be hospitalised.

A lot of people think that a bad cold is influenza. It ain’t. If you’ve ever had influenza you know the difference.

Assuming you are mistaken then you just had a bad cold a month ago, then everything else is almost certainly related. The infection will have weakened the affected tissues and left you susceptible to further infection.

[Shmendrik]

@Blake

Do you really mean this? :eek:

A “normal” case of the flu leaves you literally bedridden for a least a week. And I mean literally. Standing or even sitting upright for more than 15 minute is almost impossible. Sleeping 16 hours a day is normal. And that’s a mild case of the flu. A bad case of the flu means that you can’t stand unassisted, and you *will * be hospitalised.

I dunno about that… see this news story.

Up to a third of children in some areas may have had swine flu, but many will not have been ill, analysis shows.
The Health Protection Agency has reviewed blood tests which showed higher levels of infection among children than originally thought.
In hotspot areas, such as London and the West Midlands, a third of school-aged children may have had the virus, but only one in 10 or less got ill.
Across the UK, the figure is probably about a fifth, the HPA said.
The findings reinforce the fact the pandemic is a mild strain of flu.

Flu, whether it is seasonal or swine, always affects more people than actually get ill.
The ratio is normally about 50-50 and pandemic flu is probably not much different, the HPA said.
The agency has been carrying out blood tests on sample groups as part of its on-going surveillance programme to look for signs that individuals had come into contact with swine flu.
These have revealed high levels of infections without symptoms among children - between three to fives times as many have had the virus than have fallen ill.

If this is correct, a flu infection can result in range of symptoms, from none whatsoever to deadly, and presumably everything in between.

[Colibri]

The problem described by the OP is potentially serious, and should not be diagnosed through comments on an anonymous message board. Please consult a medical professional regarding your problem.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator