Anyone feel better when they get the flu or a cold?

[ramakentesh]

I hope this hasnt been posted already - but when i get a cold or the flu I often cheer because I generally feel better - i have a reason to feel like ive got the flu - but I think i actually feel better for a while. Weird eh?

Wouldnt that almost suggest an autoimmune thing?

 

[serenity]

i always thought i just "had a reason to be sick" therefore could just relax & be sick for a dang day or so. i feel the cold / flu, which i rarely get anymore anyway, but i just thought "ahh i am sick & i can relax". that is what made me feel better, being able to actually have a reason people would understand to be able to go at the pace i really wanted to be at all the time anyway.

 

[jessjb79]

The Why We Don't Catch Colds Thread aka The George/Gerwyn Tag Team - has a lot about this.

 

[Mark]

I hope this hasnt been posted already - but when i get a cold or the flu I often cheer because I generally feel better - i have a reason to feel like ive got the flu - but I think i actually feel better for a while. Weird eh?

Wouldnt that almost suggest an autoimmune thing?

Yes it's weird ramakentesh, especially to doctors I find, and a phenomenon they have never heard described. Here, on the other hand, it's pretty bog-standard now, and has been much discussed on many threads, it is a very common experience, and the thread mentioned in the previous post is I think the best introductory explanation although I think there are a few much older threads talking about the TH1/TH2 axis stuff in more detail. We could do with a consoildation of the best material on this if you do go through and search for it all: would be nice to index all this info a bit better.

Danib, we have a lot of things like that where we had a psychological model of why we observed something and then when we discuss it with others we discover (sometimes together) that it is more real (ie physical) than that, and a real phenomenon. Another part of it, that a lot of people have experienced, is when they are taking some kind of anti-virals or anti-biotics. One of my relatives always seems to get a small but welcome remission when she gets 'properly' ill and gets the right kind of anti-biotics. Of course none of this suggests we have some kind of virus thingy oh no...

 

[Dr. Yes]

Personally, I feel like I'm dying when I have the flu, and I try to avoid getting it like the... plague. And sometimes it takes months to recover. I thought this was a fairly common phenomenon with ME/CFSers so was very surprised to see so many on this forum having very different experiences (I also catch em easily).

I would guess (total guess) that if you have somewhat low immunoglobulins, or some other mild immunodeficiency, the immune stimulation provided by a cold or flu could boost your ability to fight off opportunistic infections that may have been contributing to your overall condition. There are all the other speculations out there too, as mentioned previously.

If on the other hand you have bad symptoms due to excess cytokine production (either systemically or in the brain), a cold or flu would further increase inflammatory cytokines, making you feel even worse. This sounds more like my case, I suppose.

 

[strawberry]

I feel much worse when I get a cold. Everything gets worse, not just fluey symptoms but the brain stuff like cognitive and automomic as well, for example circulation to my hands, feet and tip of nose worsens. The one exception is that I sleep slightly better for the first two nights which I presume is due to a shift in peripheral cytokines having an effect on the hypothalamus.

 

[InChristAlone]

I dread getting a cold or the flu because it makes me feel so much worse than I already do. I would take just my CFS symptoms any day, over having them plus a cold or flu.

But it's interesting that you feel better when you do have a cold/flu.

 

[Bob]

That's really interesting... I didn't know other people had similar experiences with colds...
I get both the experiences that people have described above...

For the first week, it feels really nice and cosy to have a cold... I wrap myself up in my duvet, lie on the sofa, and give myself time out to totally relax and watch day-time TV with hot lemon drinks and cough medicines... It feels lovely to be cosy inside while everyone else is busy doing boring stuff outside... And it feels like I'm a normal person again, with just a cold to deal with... All my usual brain symptoms seem to disappear... Feeling 'normal' again is such a nice and rare experience to be savoured, that it's almost worth having a cold just for this feeling... All the usual ME feelings seem to disappear for a while. I really enjoy it.

But then after the first week, if often turns ugly, and I get a lingering horrible illness, with extra-fatigue, extra pain, extra brain fog and a lingering depression. All these extra symptoms can linger for a month. I really struggle with it, and it really gets me down. I really struggle to do even one productive thing each day for about a month.

I get colds really easily, so I've learnt to avoid touching door handles when I'm in town (I think this might help), and if I hear anyone coughing, sneezing or sniffing, then I hold my breath, drop everything and run!!! (But unfortunately this method of germ avoidance doesn't seem to work!)

 

[helsbells]

I feel much better - my best ever day is the day before and it feels like fairy sleep compared to my normal sleep - but it happens so rarely

 

[Starlight]

I also feel better just the day before coming down with some other infection like flu or kidney infection . Ifeel as though I am getting better like my old self ,it lasts about a day or less then I get clobbered even worse but I feel it is good to have a glimpse of feeling kind of normal .I know not to trust it now, I think it is some change in immune response. I wish it lasted a bit longer for me .hope we will all get answers to these mysteries soon.

 

[camas]

I also feel better the first week of a cold. It's the only time my muscles feel normal -- relaxed and reliable again. But after my immune system has vanquished the virus, it turns around and sets its sights on me. That's how it feels anyway -- like an autoimmune attack. It can take several months to get back to my pre-cold state. I dread catching colds.

 

[andreamarie]

I feel like hell, am sick much longer than other people, but my interstitial cystitis gets better;however when I get better it's much worse. I noticed this this twenty five yrs before I got CFS. I do ANYTHING to avoid colds and flu. My former CFS doc said her patients do get sick, sometimes sicker with CFS. Also I live in fear of a flu turning into something that would require antibiotics, which really do a job on me.