Illness

Hi all

I always find it takes a while for a cold/virus to fully take hold. Does this happen to others too?

For example last Thursday I had a terrible banging headache, along with nausea and generally felt like crap. I’ve been extra tired ever since, but then today I’ve had the same feeling of general illness along with a sore throat. In another few days I expect to have fully come down with whatever this is.

It always feels like my body thinks it’s fought the illness off, but it just never does quite enough. This results in an extra 7-10 days of feeling run down before I actually become visibly/audibly sick. Wondering if this was just me?

Interestingly I get ill much less since I’ve been on Azathioprine, in fact this will be the first time since I started taking it 13 months ago. Prior to that I was frequently poorly, and whenever I got ill no matter whether it was a virus or a tooth abscess, it would always send my Crohn’s into overdrive and I would be vomiting up even the tiniest sips of water for days on end.

Sincerely hoping that doesn’t happen this time [emoji40]

Something similar happens to me, too (though I'm on Asacol). I feel a cold coming on for several days - not quite as long as you - then think I've fought it off and then suddenly it hits me for six. In fact it happened this week, I coughed and sneezed a tiny bit from Tuesday to Friday, but felt I was almost better, then I was lousy on Saturday and spent the whole of Sunday in bed, hardly able to move with the muscle pain, headaches, nausea etc. Not great today but back in the land of the living thank goodness.

I've never associated this with the Crohns, I must admit, though it has only happened since I acquired IBD. I thought it was somehow connected with getting older (I'm 62 now).

Hmmm interesting! All the previous times this has happened was before I knew I had Crohn’s so I always put it down to sickness bugs. You would think that between me and several GP’s we would work out it’s not really normal for that to happen several times a year, especially as severely as it did. Most of them were pretty sure I was pregnant! Haha [emoji23]

Ever since I was diagnosed I’ve wondered if there’s a link with the immune response? If the immune system is already going crazy attacking the gut then there’s less time/energy available to fight off the bug. In turn when the bug fully takes hold it worsens the IBD symptoms because the immune system is already preoccupied in attacking the gut anyway? I hope that makes sense?

I may well be completely wrong, but it’s just something I’ve always wondered!

The last year I was on Azathioprine, 50mg, I was constantly sick. I had 9 colds, oral thrush, strep throat, yeast infections, a bladder infection. I found that my illnesses lasted a lot longer than they usually did. I had a cold once for six weeks before it cleared up. This year has been much better, but I too have a kind of a build up before I get sick. I just got over a bad head cold/cough, and now the cough has come back and is not letting up. Get your flu shot!

You poor thing, you must have been sick most of the year! I luckily got my flu jab a whole month early this year [emoji4]

Sophabulous said:

Ever since I was diagnosed I’ve wondered if there’s a link with the immune response? If the immune system is already going crazy attacking the gut then there’s less time/energy available to fight off the bug. In turn when the bug fully takes hold it worsens the IBD symptoms because the immune system is already preoccupied in attacking the gut anyway? I hope that makes sense?

I may well be completely wrong, but it’s just something I’ve always wondered!

Click to expand...

It's very puzzling, isn't it? I can't decide whether it's a sign of a worse immune system than I had before, or a better one. Am I managing to fight a cold before giving in to it rather than just giving in straight away, as I used to? I do get far fewer colds than I did when younger and sometimes they are milder. However, maybe mild symptoms are a sign that my body's not fighting as hard against the bugs as it used to? The more you think about it, the more puzzling it gets. I haven't noticed any particular worsening of my IBD symptoms with a cold, maybe because I eat less than usual and it gives my system a bit of a rest.

It's an auto immune disease and I catch everything that comes down the line. I had an allergy attack a month ago and it's now turned into bronchitis. I used to never get sick. I had 5 teenagers all with strep throat and NEVER got it. Now that Crohn's has reared its ugly head I am always sick. I rely on probiotics and supplements to keep from getting too sick. GOOD luck I'm praying for you.