Since your ME/CFS onset, have you caught the Cold & or Flu more or less frequently?

[lansbergen]

And i can usually tell by the feeling in my head, you know that kind of strong virus feeling.

I do not know what a strong virus feeling is. Can you explain?

 

[stridor]

Last cold was 2011, the one before 2008, then 2004....the reason that I remember them is that when I get one, it is nasty.

 

[MeSci]

Yes i've had m.e a long time (about 17 years) so I'm absolutely sure it is viruses. As soon as a virus is going around the family i know it's coming and then i get it. And i can usually tell by the feeling in my head, you know that kind of strong virus feeling. I also usually get sore eyes/head from reading or watching tv.

Do you mean that you only get that when you think you have a virus? I get tired and sore eyes and mild headaches on and off much of the time, and see them as ME symptoms (or maybe occasionally hay fever or dust mite allergy). I get many cold/flu-like symptoms much of the time, usually indicating that I have overdone things. ME symptoms are largely due to a persistent/recurrent immune response, apparently in the absence of an active infection. Cold/flu symptoms are also due to our immune response.

I do think there may be subtle differences that could distinguish ME symptoms from respiratory infections, such as a different type of aching, perhaps, and some people reckon that if they produce a lot of nasal secretions it is a proper upper respiratory infection. I don't think a sore throat is usually good evidence, as I get these when I don't think I have an upper respiratory infection. Sometimes I think they are due to stale secretions draining from the nose or ears. They may contain irritating/inflammatory microorganisms or their debris, but I wouldn't regard that as infection.

 

[paul80]

I do not know what a strong virus feeling is. Can you explain?

It's hard to explain feelings but it's like a heavy feeling in your head.

 

[paul80]

Do you mean that you only get that when you think you have a virus? I get tired and sore eyes and mild headaches on and off much of the time, and see them as ME symptoms (or maybe occasionally hay fever or dust mite allergy). I get many cold/flu-like symptoms much of the time, usually indicating that I have overdone things. ME symptoms are largely due to a persistent/recurrent immune response, apparently in the absence of an active infection. Cold/flu symptoms are also due to our immune response.

I do think there may be subtle differences that could distinguish ME symptoms from respiratory infections, such as a different type of aching, perhaps, and some people reckon that if they produce a lot of nasal secretions it is a proper upper respiratory infection. I don't think a sore throat is usually good evidence, as I get these when I don't think I have an upper respiratory infection. Sometimes I think they are due to stale secretions draining from the nose or ears. They may contain irritating/inflammatory microorganisms or their debris, but I wouldn't regard that as infection.

No i can get sore eyes/head without virus but only if i'm not resting them enough.

Normally when i don't have a virus i can sit at the computer till about afternoon (if i've had good rest and sleep) before i need to go lie down. But when i have a virus i can only get up for about an hour before i need to go lie down. I spend most of the day in bed just getting up for short periods. It feels like my body is using some of the small amount of energy i have available to fight the virus so all the parts of my body get sorer quicker than normal.

When i first started getting viruses often, i didn't realize it was a virus because i lack a lot of the common virus symptoms. Initially i just thought my m.e was getting worse but i would get better after about a week and go back to "normal". But after a while i noticed it always happened when a virus was going around my family.

I actually feel better about it now because i know the virus will go away, where as before i was always worried it was permanent. But i still really want to find a way to protect against viruses.

 

[Mr.Catts]

No colds and flu.

 

[stridor]

My reply above was in 2014. In 2015, I tested positive for mycoplasma and HHV-6. Got those cleared up by the end of the year and then had a bad cold last year. I'd have to say that the further I advance with recovery the more susceptible I am to viruses.

 

[Snow Leopard]

I've been catching almost everything going around. 2016 was particularly bad for me and I also had a bad bacterial infection in dec-jan that has set me back (either the infection or the antibiotics too?).

 

[meandthecat]

I used to get colds like anyone else till the ME struck then nothing for 7 or 8 yrs. As I began to improve I got my first cold and even in the midst of sneezes and coughs there was hope. Sad isn't it, I was happy to have a cold.
I now get the odd cold or flu'y thing but not as bad as those around me.

It could of course be that my false illness beliefs have been modified by the profound and caring treatment that I received, not, and I no longer have to big it up. Perhaps they could teach me to float in the air and fart rainbows!

In a post-truth world anything can be believed, but gravity has a way of re-asserting itself.

 

[Jesse2233]

Have been improving with mHBOT and now have my first cold since onset a year ago. Before I would get sick 4-5 times a year.

 

[Mel9]

Revisiting an old thread because I have my first cold in years! Feel horrible but the aches and pains seem very different from ME CFS aches. And I have a fever! (37C) for me is at least 2deg hotter than normal. Is this a sign I am on the mend?

 

[helios]

Revisiting an old thread because I have my first cold in years! Feel horrible but the aches and pains seem very different from ME CFS aches. And I have a fever! (37C) for me is at least 2deg hotter than normal. Is this a sign I am on the mend?

The results of the majority here, match my experiences. Since CFS/lyme hardly any colds, and in a number of times I'd be the only person in the office to not get the flu which I found bizarre given how I was run down so often. I can appreciate the TH2 dominant theory accounting for this. I am also highly reactive to lots of chemicals, mold, foods, pollution but at the same time the blood tests I had on my immune system had me at HIV equivalent. All markers (CD4/CD8, nuetrophils, T cells, NK cells, etc) were down at bottom of the range or below normal.

Recently though things have changed. I have had 4 colds/flu in the last 6-7 mths more than in the prior 18 yrs and I really want to know why. Something has shifted in my immune system and despite the succession of colds I am seeing this as a good thing, though I'll get tired of it by year end if I have to go thru 20yrs of colds that have been dormant in my body. The only things that I can think has changed me has been working outdoors and a spell on high dose Vit D and Vit K which sent me down hill badly earlier in the year. I am going to see if my lymphopenia has changed, but am looking online to see if others went thru this as part of a recovery process.

 

[Wolfcub]

I'm only coming up to 6 months but haven't caught anything yet. I hope I won't. I'm not in the mood for it.