I Keep Getting Sick!

ChelzFit

This is my second year teaching kindergarten and I have a 6 year old and a 4 year old at home. Starting in mid October I came down with a five day virus with a fever. I recovered, good for a week then came down with a horrible cold which turned into a sinus infection. A week later my school got hit hard with norovirus and of course I got it. Just got over the norovirus about five days ago and here I am again with an awful cold and I lost my voice. In the past month I have only been able to work out maybe a week straight and I have managed to keep up with light walking. I can't figue out what is going on!

pinuplove

The fact that you're exposed to lots of little people who haven't yet grasped the concept of contagion probably has a lot to do with it. Hopefully the worst is past. If you're concerned, it never hurts to ask your doctor for some bloodwork.

RelCanonical

Sounds like a case of bad luck! You've got kids at home and kids and school and things are going around in general. They are perfect little germ machines because it is their first year at school so their immune systems aren't as built up yet but they're still running around catching everything. Now that your kids are that age as well, it's like double the exposure.

mi_nina_lola

perhaps a visit to your doctor to get some bloodwork done like pinuplove mentioned.

Shortgirlrunning

You’re surrounded by little kids. Elementary schools and day cares are breeding grounds for illness. Hand sanitizer would be my best friend in your position.

cheryldumais

Exposure can definitely affect you but with dieting sometimes we neglect our nutrition. Personally I take zinc and vitamin C daily and rarely get sick. I get the flu shot annually and am generally in good health. You might want to consider consulting your doctor and maybe a registered dietitian for some ideas in improving your health. Hope you feel better soon.

DancingMoosie

Wash hands a lot, remind all the children to wash hands, clean the room thoroughly every day. Maybe take a daily vitamin, rest , and eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

moonangel12

That takes me back to my first time working in daycare - it was horrible! I was sick constantly, for months... But once I got past that, my immune system was amazing! I rarely ever got sick... I feel like it is starting to “wear off” (but also new germs compared to years ago). Bloodwork might not be a terrible Idea, but I think it’s a fairly normal occurrence for your household and line of work.

Theoldguy1

My wife is a speech pathologist in elementary schools so she is 1-1 or in small groups with the little germ vaults all day. She was sick a some level for the first 2-3 years she worked. After that, with the immunity built up rarely sick.

It takes time.

ChelzFit

I visited my doctor back in early October when I had the four day fever/virus. They did take blood and they were concerned because my white blood count was super low (I think it was at 4). They had me recheck a week later and it did rise, so they were no longer concerned. I went back again a few weeks later and they took it again and it was low and they rechecked it a week later when I had battled another vires and was on the mend and it was higher. The clinic that I went to was more concerned so she told me to follow up with my GP and I did, he wasnot concerned and said my wbc count gets very low when I am sick but tends to rise up again once I recover and that is all that matters. I am hesitant to return again and get ANOTHER test, my husband thinks I should get a second opinion. I have been healthy all spring/last summer, this all just hit in the past month and a half and I cant seem to get myself out of it!

Danp

In the hierarchy of plague carriers it goes

Children => Mosquitoes => Rats

PrismaticPhoenix

The first year I worked in an elementary student, I spent basically the entire year sick. It was awful. The second-year was better, even though I caught the flu (for what was probably the first time in a decade or maybe more) and thought I was dying (yes, I got the flu shot, it doesn't always work). Working with little people is a burden on your immune system. I don't know if that's all it is with you, but it's really awful.

lorrpb

In addition to frequent hand washing and hand sanitizer, ask your doctor about getting both pneumonia vaccines, Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23. They can protect against bacteria that cause a lot of illnesses.

On the homeopathic side, I like airborne and oscilliociccium.

kshama2001

When I kept getting sick all the time like that it turned out my workplace had toxic mold from not remediating a flooded basement properly. Your workplace may have Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) issues.

grinning_chick

Speaking of vaccines...

If you work with children, best to booster your pertussis (whooping cough) immunization as well if your latest dip/tet shot didn't include it. For adults who haven't given birth recently and their immediate family who received a Tdap as part of pregnancy healthcare to protect the resultant newly minted infant, it is completely possible it was last done as an infant/little kid themselves. Namely because as it is not routine to give Tdap vaccine as a tetanus booster in US adults for some reason.

Of course I am speaking anecdotally here, but I considered myself to have a *great* immune system at the time, utd on tetanus vax (that was just a Td one it turned out), was juuuust into an overweight BMI at the time, and washed/sanitized my hands routinely yet still caught pertussis working with the general public mix of adults and their children when there was the fall/winter outbreak several years ago. I wouldn't wish that "...up to 10 weeks...or longer" cough upon my worst enemy. And it is currently considered a resurgence disease in the US.

mim619

Yeah, my kids and I have been sick for the last month or so too. Every time we get over one illness another strikes. Sometimes just the kids get it and sometimes it's me also. Unfortunately it affects my ability to work out either way. I'm ready for this to pass!

jh270593

I am a teacher and my first 2 years I felt like I was ill all the time too. After my first 18 months I was hardly ever off. I was off 4 times in 18 months and then I've been off twice in the 3 years since.

maureenkhilde

I was just reading in the newspaper today that for some reason this year there has been a high resurgence of RSV disease in the USA. It does not happen every year, but it has happened this year. And where I live here in Central Florida it is hitting hard. And that was before the Thanksgiving break. So they were putting out alerts for schools, daycares private and public. Because of the impact it can have on very young children.

Not sure if this is still a thing, but years ago if someone actually made it to adulthood without getting it. Parts of their blood was in high demand. Someone who used to work on one of my teams used to be called in all of the time.

youngmomtaz

The year I started college my youngest(at the time) started daycare and my oldest started kindergarten. We were sick every week it seemed. Before that my husband had the tendency to bring home every bug from work but the kids and I were only sick sporadically. My oldest is now 19yo and has been sick once in the past 14years. Really. My middle boy has asthma so tends to have worse symptoms but rarely gets ill. And my youngest is 12 and has been prone to ear infections since he was 9mo. A chiro adjustment early fall and mid winter has a 90% success rate with him and helps keeps his tubes from blocking up and bursting. Antibiotics don’t work anymore.

I really put it down to our surroundings. The kids know to wash their hands a lot, including when they get home from being at school/work. Aside from that our home is not a germ free place at all. I suck at housekeeping. We go out twice a week to shoot archery, the youngest still has sporadic school sports, and the kids get outside daily for chores, hiking, playtime, etc. We eat all except for one or two meals monthly at home cooked from scratch. Including bone broths to make soup and used in sautéing and all the fruits and veggies. We have set bedtimes for the youngest, and the older two moderate well and know how much sleep they need to be at good focus for their days.

When I compare that to many friends and their families who spend 6/7 nights in hockey rinks, among all the germs all the time, eating from boxes both at their sport events and at home. Their sleep hours and down time are shortened to fit in all the events plus homework and home responsibilities.

I use local unpasteurized honey for a sore throat as well as oregano and theives oils when we have colds or stomach bugs. Add in some vit C with zinc and vit D(my fam refuses to take them daily but will when they feel something coming on) and we have mild symptoms for 2 days tops, while the people around us suffer for weeks and end up in the horrible circle of lower immunity and just keep getting sick.

Look at your whole environment. Sometimes, like when I started college; it is unavoidable and something your body just needs to fight a few times. But we can make changes. Sleep, food, stress, exercise. If you can make a small change do it. They add up so much!

earlnabby

I substitute for ages 4-9 so I am also exposed to those little germ factories. Definitely wash your hands and make sure the kids wash their hands properly (water as hot as is comfortable, soap, and sudsing the hands while singing the ABC song one time (about 30 seconds) before rinsing. Also, make sure there are plenty of tissues in the room and that the kids dispose of used ones immediately and properly.

However, I am going to be voice of dissent in one area: hand sanitizer and wiping stuff down with antibacterial wipes can make things worse. You need exposure to mild germs in order to build up immunity so killing everything can be counter-productive.