General Sickness

[Cloneon]

If there's one indisputable fact, it's that we're all so very different. So, different in fact, that I'm absolutely confounded how medical science is still focused on "what's good for the goose is good for the gander." My wife has EHS. By the vast majority of people's opinion, it's all in her mind. Well, it's not. And, it was my consistent hidden testing which convinced me of that. Ever since this conclusion of mine, I've been ultra aware of how we're being coerced into certain treatments, for certain ailments, of which there seems to be a new one every day. When medical science fingerprints diseases to our genome, I'll start being less skeptical again.
My heart goes out to every person who is feeling ill and for which there doesn't seem to be a good diagnosis or treatment.

 

[cowgirl836]

Best wishes to all in this thread, and I’m knocking wood HARD, but…..

We have a 3 and a 6 year old and this winter has been BY FAR the easiest in terms of general household sickness since before we had kids

I just jinxed myself agreeing with this, kids about .5 yrs behind yours.

 

[cowgirl836]

After I got covid back in 22 I swear I was constantly coming down with something every few weeks. Think it did a number on my immune system and left it weaker for 6 months or so.

There's still research being done into the long term effects of covid on the immune system I believe

Yeah I think there's 2 things at play here.

1. Still getting back to "normal" after reducing interactions/masking
2. Too lazy to look but I think there is evidence that because Covid was a novel virus, it knocks down immune function for a bit. Anecdotally, we have friends who had really severe, less common illnesses on the heels of covid, similar to your experience. Just felt that for a period after they'd pick up everything.

 

[carvers4math]

Pretty much the same for me. As a kid I lived on a dairy farm and my dad was a two pack a day smoker. I smoked in high school and college and hung out in Smokey dank bars. Most days I couldn’t breathe and always carried my inhaler. Well, I moved out of my parents house, got married, quit smoking and hanging out in dive bars, and now I don’t even have an inhaler. Sometimes if I am shoveling snow in the cold I will get a tight chest but that’s really it. I remember clearly my doctor saying I would outgrow asthma when I got older. Maybe I didn’t I just avoid what causes me issues.

Our pediatrician never would pull the trigger on calling it asthma with my boys. All five had steroid and rescue inhalers but he referred to it as allergy induced asthma symptoms. They have my various grass and weed allergies. One of them had an exercise induced attack in seventh grade running lines at basketball practice. Moron coach sent him to call me by himself, another kid found him alone passed out on the floor. He’s one of the three that has asthma as an adult, with smoke as the main trigger. The other two do not have asthma and thankfully the long haul Covid one does not because not sure he would still be alive if he did.

 

[cycloneML]

You've either all been ingesting contaminated water due to a local natural gas plant, in which case you should call Erin Brockovich, or it's what we in the biz call a coincidence.

Glyphosate for the win

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I had to fact check this because I clearly remember being told that I may 'outgrow' asthma and I also did. Had a lot of problems in my teens that eventually faded. I do still have a rescue inhaler, but haven't used it for years and it's probably inpotent by now.

According to the EPA however, you are correct that you don't outgrow it. As many times as I had to go to the ER for a shot as a kid, I'm pretty sure I was not mis-diagnosed though.

https://www.epa.gov/asthma/do-children-outgrow-asthma#:~:text=Asthma is a lifelong disease,have wheezing after age six.

This is correct that an actual asthma diagnosis is something that is a life long condition that you don’t outgrow. However even though you still always have the condition, over 50% of people with asthma have their symptoms go away to the point that they don’t need to be managed anymore. This is why the term “outgrow” came from. The symptoms can also come back for a variety of reasons because you still have the condition but many will never go through this.

The other thing is that asthma is a form of RAD (or reactive airway disease) which is not a life long condition (in most cases) and is often used interchangeably with asthma and will usually have similar treatments. Kids that present with symptoms of asthma before they are old enough to be tested will fall under this category. The interchangeability of the names causes a lot of confusion and is another reason the “outgrow” idea has caught on.

 

[madguy30]

I’ve wondered about this myself. I don’t know if it’s just being a parents and suddenly having kids that go to school super frequently but I feel like there’s been an unusually frequent number of stomach bugs flowing through this house. My other hypothesis was water quality, but I have no way of proving this out.

A few months ago I had some stomach issues after eating honeycrisp apples and it went away after a day or so.

Was better, ate a couple of honeycrisps a few weeks later, and a similar thing. Mild headache and gastro stuff.

I had never had issues prior. It was brought up by a coworker that the apples may have been from trees grown in areas with bad ground water or something.

 

[JM4CY]

influx in temperatures

I’m definitely having diarrhea today because of global warming.

 

[Rabbuk]

I feel like the opposite is true for me. I'm saying no to things now that before covid would have been non negotiable. Like being strongly encouraged to go to a in person town hall meeting with 400 people in a 300 person auditorium in january, no thanks I'll dial in. Haven't had cold or flu since before covid.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I really feel like wearing masks for 18 months had a negative impact on everyone's immune systems by not being exposed to as much stuff. Same concept as when you send your kid to daycare for the first time and all of a sudden they are exposed to everything and sick all the time.

I used to get a few colds every winter and was only sick once during the entire mask period. Since then, it seemed like I got sick every time I ran into someone with the sniffles. Only had a cold once so far this winter so I think my body is finally getting back to normal. I've also noticed that my colds tend to hang on longer than they used to.

I also think everyone is just more aware of their health than they were 5 years ago.

So a lot of people are dumbing or disagreeing with your post without explaining why this is wrong, so I’ll try that.

Simply put your immune system doesn’t work that way for adults. What you’re thinking of is what is referred to as the hygiene hypothesis which is in regards to children where exposing them to different germs/microbes when they are young can build and improve their immune system when it comes to certain conditions/diseases.

Adults don’t work that way. Your immune system remembers markers and has learned how to fight off diseases. The key part is coming into contact with germs does nothing to make your immune system “stronger” it just prompts an immune response.

With that said to dither answer you question one of the reasons we are seeing a slight uptick is that all the covid protocols were amazing at killing germs/microbes. People were regularly washing/sanitizing their hands, surfaces were being cleaned, people were wearing masks on airplanes to reduce spread. It had a huge impact of reducing the spread of germs. Nothing to do with impacting your immune system.

Hope that helps.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

A few months ago I had some stomach issues after eating honeycrisp apples and it went away after a day or so.

Was better, ate a couple of honeycrisps a few weeks later, and a similar thing. Mild headache and gastro stuff.

I had never had issues prior. It was brought up by a coworker that the apples may have been from trees grown in areas with bad ground water or something.

Not discounting any possibility but it’s far more likely either human contamination during handling or simply coincidence. If it truly was a ground water thing it would be a larger public health issue.

Do you always wash your fruit thoroughly before eating it and get a lot of fiber in your diet?

 

[Cyhig]

I don't know about everyone else but I feel like I'm just going to a lot more places.
TONS of kids events, restaurants, etc.

Even at Hilton where there's a line of like 40 straight urinals the handles are still manual.

Plenty of opportunities to get some germs.

Time to go back to the trowel system

 

[Dopey]

I just jinxed myself agreeing with this, kids about .5 yrs behind yours.

The first full winter when your kid is 3 instead of 2 is a game changer, in my experience.

They’re usually away from the diaper kids and start keeping their finger out of their damn mouths much better.

 

[madguy30]

Not discounting any possibility but it’s far more likely either human contamination during handling or simply coincidence. If it truly was a ground water thing it would be a larger public health issue.

Do you always wash your fruit thoroughly before eating it and get a lot of fiber in your diet?

Yep.

I was thinking human contamination too but the two incidents were a few weeks apart and likely from different batches of apples.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

Yep.

I was thinking human contamination too but the two incidents were a few weeks apart and likely from different batches of apples.

Could still be human contamination but if it happens again might be worth looking in to

 

[madguy30]

Could still be human contamination but if it happens again might be worth looking in to

Yeah I switched to bananas for some fiber intake any how which has been fine and cheaper as it is.

 

[Cyched]

Regarding the masks, after not being sick during Covid, it did seem like I caught a cold every time I did some big social event (including the UNLV trip).

After a nasty cold before Christmas in 2021 that wasn’t covid fortunately (tested more than once before the family gatherings) things have normalized in terms of getting colds/sick each year.

Think once everyone got back to normal the usual crud that was now pent up started circulating again. A lot of friends and family were sick in ‘21 but have been fine since.

 

[cowgirl836]

The first full winter when your kid is 3 instead of 2 is a game changer, in my experience.

They’re usually away from the diaper kids and start keeping their finger out of their damn mouths much better.

Again, don't want to jinx myself but is just another galaxy from 2022 and 55 sick/exposure days. We're at 2.5 but really so much better even from last winter.

 

[CyCrazy]

I tell people that I outgrew asthma. They say that's not possible, but I was afflicted with it all through my childhood into my mid- to late 30s.

Like a dumba$$, I was also smoking, starting at 18. I took prescribed medicine daily for my asthma and then they made it over the counter, so it was easier to get. But then years later they outlawed it altogether, the only thing that worked every time on my asthma, because people were using it to make meth. So I started taking the next best thing, Primatene tablets, which worked, but not nearly as effectively as the other meds. It was OK, however, when combined with the mist. Then they outlawed the tablets too for the same reason.

A few years before they outlawed it, however, I quit smoking and suddenly, I didn't need any type of asthma medicine anymore. I still kept some around to make sure, but I haven't taken any Primatene tablets or mist since. I haven't had an asthma attack since, not even a tightness in the chest, and I'm in my 70s now and have no breathing problems.

From what I've found out, once you have asthma, it's for life. But I'm living proof that's not the case.

Both of my parents got over it in their teens. It is possible, I was just unlucky and I barely smoked cigs in college at bars. Primatene tablets were legit, too bad they are gone.

 

[cowgirl836]

This is correct that an actual asthma diagnosis is something that is a life long condition that you don’t outgrow. However even though you still always have the condition, over 50% of people with asthma have their symptoms go away to the point that they don’t need to be managed anymore. This is why the term “outgrow” came from. The symptoms can also come back for a variety of reasons because you still have the condition but many will never go through this.

The other thing is that asthma is a form of RAD (or reactive airway disease) which is not a life long condition (in most cases) and is often used interchangeably with asthma and will usually have similar treatments. Kids that present with symptoms of asthma before they are old enough to be tested will fall under this category. The interchangeability of the names causes a lot of confusion and is another reason the “outgrow” idea has caught on.

Almost positive the oldest has RAD. Only popped up during respiratory illnesses and seems to be improving over time. Been a while since we've broken out the albuterol.