Not being able to get sick anymore

[inozz]

Hi!
Recently I posted my story about chronic fatigue here:
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/ms-related-chronic-fatigue.91637/

And fellow member suggested that in this community I could find people with the same symptom.
Copying part of my story:

Another paradox I've observed: over the last four years, as my fatigue has significantly impaired my mobility, I haven't experienced a cold, fever, cough, or runny nose. I haven't had any sick days at all, not even COVID. It appears my immune system is robust against common viruses and infections but not against certain chronic viruses or parasites.

And today I got test results for Lyme:
The results of the EliSpot tests indicate current cellular activities against Borrelia burgdorferi.

So I never though about Lyme - what you could recommend me to start with?

 

[Carl]

Do you have any idea how long ago that you were bitten by a tick? If it has been about over a month then it will probably be chronic and they will be firmly entrenched in your system which makes them considerably harder to eradicate.

There are different treatments available including herbal treatments. Stephen Harrod Buhner was experienced in treating lyme and co-infections which might also be worth testing for IMO because Borrelia is rarely alone. Bartonella, Babesia are fairly common and there are other less common co-infections. SHB has written many books on treating Lyme disease and co-infections and those might be worth looking at. He passed away recently from lung disease and he has a website with information on other things that he contributed to. There is a lot of research done on alternative treatment methods which are fairly effective but treating biofilms and calcification when Bartonella is involved should be done.

There are other forums dedicated to Lyme disease and treatment which might be worth looking at because this forum is not dedicated to it TBH. Reddit, that terrible place, has two subs on Lyme disease and there are other places.

I had ME long before I had Lyme disease and Lyme disease has been far worse for me making my immune system so disrupted which has made my old ME regulation practically useless. BTW you have gotten far further than me with Lyme TBH because the NHS is utterly useless when it comes to Lyme disease. My lousy GP who doesn't believe in ME or Lyme disease repeatedly refused testing or treatment for a very long time and I had to go to another related illness consultant to get a false negative test for Borrelia. ELISA is too unreliable for Lyme disease. I suspect Bartonella in addition.

 

[Dysfunkion]

I recently got diagnosed with lyme but haven't tested for other infections or viruses. When I started drinking cistus tea I got really sick for the first time in a few years, after that I felt overall much better.

 

[Andryr]

I haven't experienced a cold, fever, cough, or runny nose. I haven't had any sick days at all, not even COVID.

The same for me, all except Covid. I did an immunologic study, they found too much medium sized circulating immune complexes in my blood but failed to explain why is that and what it means.

 

[Wishful]

I think this is something that varies with time, and maybe the virus. I think I went for years without catching a viral infection, but have had a flu three times in the last few years.

 

[JES]

And today I got test results for Lyme:
The results of the EliSpot tests indicate current cellular activities against Borrelia burgdorferi.

So I never though about Lyme - what you could recommend me to start with?

This is the ArminLabs test I take it? I got positive from that one as well and many people seem to. Skeptics will claim those tests have not been validated for use, but equally every Lyme test on the market is somewhat inaccurate by the same logic.

Then there is the whole issue of having antibodies or an immune response against Lyme versus whether that is actually the causative agent of your symptoms. Let's say I got infected with Lyme many years ago and that it became chronic, but it was not causing symptoms. Then let's say I caught COVID and now have long COVID or ME/CFS. Now my Lyme test will still show up positive, but it wasn't the cause of my symptoms. This is why unless you can directly pinpoint getting sick after a tick bite, it is difficult to say whether Lyme actually is the cause of your symptoms.

Typically you have two routes to go by in Lyme disease treatment: antibiotics and herbals. Watch out for some of the overpriced stuff that the herbal protocols attempt to sell you as you can often find a cheaper alternative from another brand. Antibiotics, well there are positives and negatives with that approach as well. Good luck!

 

[Blazer95]

I Just wanted to chime in and add that i also dont get sick anymore since i came from mild to moderate-severe.

I have tested positive for lyme aswell as Cytomegalievirus and Chlamydia Pneumonae. Something is going on Here with the ME/CFS Subset that "Just doesn't get ill" anymore.

Greetings

 

[Seadragon]

I Just wanted to chime in and add that i also dont get sick anymore since i came from mild to moderate-severe.

Same here.

Something is going on Here with the ME/CFS Subset that "Just doesn't get ill" anymore.

Greetings

Agree.

Also, when less ill, I would feel a lot better a day or two before developing a cold. Others have also noted this effect as well as the not getting sick anymore effect when moderate-severe or severe.

I wish researchers would look into these phenomena.

I feel understanding what is happening here is key to understanding ME.....but I guess the immune system is complex and very complicated, maybe the knowledge isn't there yet.

 

[SlamDancin]

I don’t seemingly get too many viral infections anymore but I was at a friends’ place a couple years ago where a few of us got COVID. It affected my lungs badly unlike anything I’ve ever experienced

 

[cfs since 1998]

Are severe patients not getting sick because of something with their immune systems or is it simply because they socialize less?

 

[Blazer95]

I definitly dont get sick anymore for immune system reasons. My girlfriend gets sick all the time because she works at an elementary school and i dont get ever get it even clearly Exposed.

I have 0 doubt.

 

[Dysfunkion]

After that episode of being sick from the cistus I went back to never getting normal sick. I at most can get some nasal drip. I feel far worse if I go out somewhere where I'm in close proximity to large amounts of people but it's more like an immune reaction than normal sick because it presents itself like my multiple chemical sensitivity symptoms which I suspect is from all the beauty products and perfume/cologne many people use.

 

[dplaut]

It's my understanding that most of the symptoms of being ill (fever, headache, congestion, soreness, fatigue) are the result of the body's immune response to the antigen, rather than the direct damage caused by the antigen itself. If so, not experiencing symptoms could be due either to an unusually strong immune response (preventing the initial spread) or to an unusually weak immune response (not evoking the associated symptoms).

 

[Seadragon]

Are severe patients not getting sick because of something with their immune systems or is it simply because they socialize less?

I think it is something to do with the immune system. My husband and other members of my family get colds but I never catch them.

I definitly dont get sick anymore for immune system reasons. My girlfriend gets sick all the time because she works at an elementary school and i dont get ever get it even clearly Exposed.

I have 0 doubt.

My husband works in an office where people are always sick and he gets colds etc but I don't catch them from him anymore. Have never had Covid either and not vaccinated. So agree with @Blazer95

 

[Seadragon]

It's my understanding that most of the symptoms of being ill (fever, headache, congestion, soreness, fatigue) are the result of the body's immune response to the antigen, rather than the direct damage caused by the antigen itself. If so, not experiencing symptoms could be due either to an unusually strong immune response (preventing the initial spread) or to an unusually weak immune response (not evoking the associated symptoms).

I have had blood tests in the past indicating some autoimmunity/inflammation but no cause was found so I am in the camp of thinking over reaction of immune system.

 

[Blazer95]

In case anyone interested in this topic, i kinda have tested the cytokine stimulations and well, my th2 (IL-4) and th17 (IL-17) immune response was very very low. that could theortically point towards immune system is under reactive but its probably more complex then that.

also notworthy in the "not-getting-ill" context is the fact that the first time ever I got a cold was after injecting myself with thymosin alpha-1, wich is said to be a t-cell stimulative peptide.

its sad that forums all over the world are dying out as patients move away from taking responsibility and just pushing everything up their doctor. this forum is dying and slowly every other one is and i just hate it.

imagine if we were loads of me/cfs people on here. we could easily build groups like:
"oh you get ill often? here go into group A"
"oh you dont get ill at all? here go to group B"

for OP:
I'm currently in the chronic infectious bubble treating with herbs for babesia and bartonella. Also I'm taking stuff like Reishi and echinacea that ramps up immune system answers of both th2 and th17. (I am aware that reishi and echinacea also stimulate th1, but both are broad spectrum immune boosters and boost th2 and th17 aswell)

I have tolerated the abx very well up until recently. I started to do another course of minocycline from wich i started to develop severe side effects. because of those i decided to switch to a herbal protocol wich is often found useful aswell. "Buhner", a very famous herbal guy has found many herbs active for infectious diseases like chronic lyme, bartonella, etc so you might wanna look up his work if you fear taking antibiotics for more then 6 weeks (wich is the "classic medicine" maximum for lyme). Lots of people improved from heavy abx treatment and I dont wanna talk everyone out of it - sometimes abx are just needed - I am just implying that they can have side effects and we should always whey out pro's and cons.

hope you get better man. tell me how your journey is.
- i'm always interested in the "not-getting-ill" guys.

cheers!

 

[lngnstrng]

The results of the EliSpot tests indicate current cellular activities against Borrelia burgdorferi.

i had the same test done some years ago before i knew what was going on. it was positive (later turned out i never had lyme though but another bacterial infection). afaik this test can be positive if you have another bacterial infection which i did.