Why am I ALWAYS getting sick?

What fruit and vegetables do you eat, and what do you eat and drink besides that. Is there anything else that could be affecting your breathing, such as forced air heating or air conditioning.

Seriously - get an HIV test just to be safe.

I eat tons of asparagus, broccoli, green beans, corn, carrots, and peas. Lots of bananas, apples, oranges, and berries. Other staples include lean meats, peanut butter, cereal, yogurt, and salads. I make sure to eat a lot and drink tons of water and a glass or two of milk and powerade zero a day.

Sleep plenty, nap often, my past blood tests have come back fine....I don't know if I just have a really bad immune system but it is a mystery and very frustrating.

I was going to say this, also. Unless you're sure this isn't a possibility. You might want to get screened for a few other things, too.

SBuckhantz wrote:

Seriously - get an HIV test just to be safe.

Oh and I've had a swollen lymph node on the top of my neck on the right since around December. It goes down in size then gets bigger and swollen when I'm sick...my doctor said it was probably just encapsulated and taking a while to go away...

Get tested for lymes

It can't be Lymes as I live over a thousand miles away from the nearest tick. This ruined my senior year winter and spring, as I was constantly coming down with strep and missing a week or two of training and racing.

I've gotten multiple blood tests for mono, thyroid problems, etc. (not sure if HIV was on there), and they all come back negative.

We thought that my tonsils were really infected and so I had them removed (turns out they were infected and full of bacteria), but here I am a month later with a sore throat and painful, swollen lymph node. Ran through it today and felt horrible...

You just need more consistent training and racing, so that you are putting less stress on your immune system.

look into reishi mushroom and other medicinal mushrooms. go to your local health food store and ask them about it.

I have had the same problem for over a year. Email me if you want.

I had the same problems at your age. They continued for about 10 years until I finally figured out what works for me.

You said you take a vitamin. One vitamin is not nearly enough. You should be taking 1000mg of vitamin C, Co-Q 10, beta carotene, 800mg of natural vitamin E, selenium, fish oil, and a good multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement that provides several hundred percent of the RDA of B-vitamins. One-a-day vitamins only provide 100% of the RDA, which is not nearly enough for someone who stresses his immune system every day by running. Don't buy a drug store, cheap brand. If you're on a budget, go to WalMart. Their store brands are okay. At least get a good multivitamin, vitamin E and Co-Q 10. You should notice an improvement in about a month once your immune system can recover.

If you haven't already, go get tested for allergies. A lot of allergy symptoms can feel really similar to respiratory illnesses and come back repeatedly with exposure to allergens.

I definitely agree with the post above me in that you should be tested for allergies. Fall of my sophomore year and my first-year of post collegiate running were absolutely destroyed by chronic post nasal drip and multiple sinus infections/cases of bronchitis. Sophomore year was the result of an allergic reaction to a dog owned by a person that was subletting in my apartment. Within days of that dog moving out at the end of the fall semester my condition improved.

My first year of post collegiate running was done in by the family cat that was purchased when I moved out. Even though it was the family cat it slept in my bedroom because everyone in the family was allergic to it (shocker). After 2 sinus infections, 3 cases of bronchitis, and a case of pneumonia occurring within 7 months of each other I finally moved the cat outdoors. I've since sheltered it. After a thorough bedroom cleaning, all respiratory problems had cleared about 3 weeks after removal.

All in all, if you've recently picked up a new pet, my first recommendation would be removing it from the home. If that is not an option, make your sleeping arrangement off limits to the pet, thoroughly clean the area, and set up HEPA filters to get rid of any airborne allergens.

Alergies.... I was sick every other week senior year in college Christmss to summer.

I agree with this, at least I can vouch for the 1000mg of Vitamin C. I had similar recurring illnesses like you (always started with a tickle in my throat, turned into sore throat, congestion, sometimes aches & pains." Often after hard training, or nights with short sleep. I probably averaged this about every 4 weeks for 2 years straight. Started taking the 1000mg of Vitamin C daily and haven't had it once in 7 months. They are inexpensive and definitely worth a try.

fisky wrote:

I had the same problems at your age. They continued for about 10 years until I finally figured out what works for me.

You said you take a vitamin. One vitamin is not nearly enough. You should be taking 1000mg of vitamin C, Co-Q 10, beta carotene, 800mg of natural vitamin E, selenium, fish oil, and a good multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplement that provides several hundred percent of the RDA of B-vitamins. One-a-day vitamins only provide 100% of the RDA, which is not nearly enough for someone who stresses his immune system every day by running. Don't buy a drug store, cheap brand. If you're on a budget, go to WalMart. Their store brands are okay. At least get a good multivitamin, vitamin E and Co-Q 10. You should notice an improvement in about a month once your immune system can recover.

I'll look into the vitamins and minerals. I currently take the One-a-day Active and after a quick look it has 100% Vitamin C, and 200% of most B vitamins. Where would I find the 1000% Vitamin C, and the other vitamins/supplements you specified? I'd definitely be willing to try that.

To the allergy posts, that is a big, emphatic YES. I have terrible allergies and it bothers me every spring...this last season I had bronchitis several times and never fully recovered, running well off my PRs because of inflamed airways, despite an inhaler (this in addition to missing training for being sick lots.)

Not much I can do about allergies...don't own a pet and I take an antihistamine every morning. I'm moving across the country for college so maybe that will help (to a much colder and wetter climate.) But allergies usually don't bother me in July/August so I don't think that's it...

Have you been tested for allergies? Look into sinus irrigation. That has helped me from getting my two sinus infections a year that I used to always get.

My personal philosophy is that people try to hard to avoid sickness. I know many individuals and many families that put tons of effort into fighting every little sickness, every little cough, etc and they are sick all the time. When they have a cold they stay inside and drink warm lemon water etc.

I grew up/still live on a farm and unless it's something big my family doesn't do anything- Don't try to do your immune system's job, it just makes it weaker for when you actually need it.

It could very well be that I, along with the rest of my family just have very good genes and because of that are blessed and do not get sick often. However, it seems pretty consistent that the people I know who are sickest the most often are the people who don't let their kids play outside, share cups, make them wash their hands every 5 minutes etc.

Obviously your immune system is already really weak, so I'm not sure how to get it to the point where you can leave it alone and let its do its job, but for future reference people need to just relax and let their immune system do the job.

miserable,frustrated,clueless wrote:

To the allergy posts, that is a big, emphatic YES. I have terrible allergies and it bothers me every spring...this last season I had bronchitis several times and never fully recovered, running well off my PRs because of inflamed airways, despite an inhaler (this in addition to missing training for being sick lots.)

Not much I can do about allergies...don't own a pet and I take an antihistamine every morning. I'm moving across the country for college so maybe that will help (to a much colder and wetter climate.) But allergies usually don't bother me in July/August so I don't think that's it...

I think we have an answer. When you suffer from allergies, you're much more likely to contract a cold, because your body is already busy fighting the allergy.

Do you really need to run in college? If you have to, try to find a coach that is understanding of the situation and allows you to train on the treadmill. Yes, it sucks but you'll feel much better.

Moving cross country is a good idea - even if the new place is also affected by allergens, those may be different ones and it may take a few years until you become allergic to those, too. Take advantage of that. Good luck.