UKC

Ok, so I know covid measures can only do so much to protect you, but I would have thought that all the mask-wearing, handwashing, and keeping away from people would somehow mean catching less common colds as well. 

I am currently suffering from my second cold this season and I see many people with the same problem (and yes, I have been tested for with a negative result. Paid for getting it done privately to avoid the backlog).

So serious questions:

1. Are common cold viruses more resistant to handwashing and less likely to get stopped by masks than SARS-CoV-2? My biggest risk factor is probably training with a swimming team in a pool 3 nights a week (very strict measures applied), so maybe chlorine is less effective with this type of viruses? 

2. What can I do to avoid getting ill? I already make sure I get enough sleep, try to live and eat healthily, and, living in Spain, I get a fair amount of sunlight for vitamin D. 

Any thoughts? 

Over training, stress etc..  can also impact the immune system. 

New allergy? I started reacting quite badly to merino wool out the blue this year.

A runny nose is not a symptom of C-19, so no point in getting a test if you've got one of those.  Allergy is a good call, especially if a core symptom is a runny nose.  If you haven't got a runny nose, then no idea, unless you've moved to anew area and are exposed to a whole host of new bugs, but you would have thought that C-19 precautions would have been beneficial.  Maybe you are allergic to your mask.....

You are not alone. I catch a good old head cold or a snotty, wheezy hanky cold every couple of months through the winter.

This year I lasted a week of school term before catching one, covid measures or not.

Very standard cold symptoms. Stuffy nose, a bit of a sore throat, tired. Usually starts with feeling a bit off in a swim session or a run, then just wake up with a sniffle the next day. Gets worse during 3 days, then improves. Initially, got the tests because of the sore throat and to be able to attend training and competitions (once symptom-free).

Doesn't feel like allergies (at least, compared to my annual month of hayfever suffering). 

I am just surprised by the frequency of getting ill, given my lifestyle, and how little effect the covid measures seem to have on avoiding colds.

Mhmmm, actually, I would describe my life as extremely stress-free currently. Working from home and no travel has reduced stress for me.

It's strange. I would describe myself as very healthy, generally. I have never really had much more than a cold, but catch them very frequently (ear infection springs to mind, but that's quite frequent in swimmers).

Is it possible to be more susceptible to certain viruses, even if the immune system is generally working well?

The most important thing is face-hands hygiene, i.e. don't touch the former with the latter.

Are you one of those people who constantly fiddles with your mask?

Do you have children?

I caught a cold pretty much as soon as my partner's kid went back to school, and I've had another couple since.

I imagine my immune system got lazy after several months without encountering a virus of any description...

Not consciously, but touching my face and rubbing my eyes could well be a factor.

Yes. Good point! The kids are in school, so that's another risk factor.

That's interesting! Could living in a bubble for several months actually make us "weaker" in this sense?  Excessive, compulsive handwashing and hand sterilizing was certainly discouraged before covid for similar reasons.

Yeah, I'm guessing we'll need to re-acclimate to real life over this is over.

I'm pretty worried about my immune system getting lazy, in all honesty!

Usually commuting in London and working in an office where people pride themselves on hauling themselves in no matter how snotty or spluttering they are means I get plenty of colds but I've not had one since February. Which has been nice as they used to hit me really hard (no dragging myself into the office for me; I was normally knocked out in bed and breathless for a while after) but I hope they don't hit me with renewed vigour once life returns to slightly more normal.

I usually have 6 to 8 colds per year.  If I'm ever in the presence of someone who has one, I'm near guaranteed to get it.

This year I've had 2.

Nasal decongestant work quite well for me.

See figure 12 and 13 in [1] - the common cold causing Rhinovirus is cropping up a lot in school aged children in what I think looks like any other year.

I don't have any sensible suggestions for how to avoid this beyond usual best practice.

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/...

You'd be surprised how many people with confirmed covid actually report an initial runny nose or nasal congestion. It's not a specific symptom of covid (but then neither are any of the 3 "core" symptoms).

If you've got kids then the little incubators are bringing home all the lovely viral goodies for you. There isn't really anything to do except wait for them to get older.

I swear by hand hygiene and not touching my face if I've been in public spaces.

I used to commute by motorcycle and rarely got ill. Started commuting by train and got regular colds. Then i acquired a condition that made me vulnerable to infection, so I got paranoid and became really strict about never touching my face unless I'd washed my hands first. No colds any more, not one. It was great, then I got a child...Our first visit to an indoor play area and I got a stinker. I think if you have small children there is no hope, colds are inevitable.

How's your general diet? Years ago, with no science attached as far as I recall, I heard that omega-3's were important to immune function, so made an anecdotal point of consuming them at a normal level, ie most days. Somewhere else I picked up that fats metabolize best with vitamin and citric acid rich stuff like salads and fruit, so usually eat the two together.

Could be completely unrelated, but I haven't had a cold or even been sick really as long as I can remember, with kids, living in a busy urban area, partner working in a hospital etc.

I figure half of the issue is reducing contact, the other half is having a system fortified for whatever gets through. Omegas and lemons may well do nothing, but not a bad thing regardless.

I like to think of my diet as quite good, but not perfect. It involves a lot of olive oil, quality meat, fish, and vegetables, but probably too many processed carbs (the kids are an easy excuse to have pasta frequently). I am also a bit too keen on spicy sauces. 

Citric fruits could be an easy addition since the orange season is just starting here (I live in Valencia). Thanks for the suggestion!  

Suffered from colds constantly during the winter months, not helped by over training & my active lifestyle. 
started taking taking berocca & immediately noticed a difference, colds still occur but much less frequently or as ferocious.

There are much cheaper alternatives too, the Tesco ones are equivalent.

Valencia? If the stereotypes are true I'd be swinging in a hammock eating fruit and tomatoes, sleeping through the afternoons. Perhaps you're missing the afternoon doze that prevents an entire country from getting only 3hrs sleep at night. That'll run you into the ground.

Without being puerile, having a good dump each day is important. Fruit helps there too, especially figs.

The story about vitamin C is bunkum, it grew up when somebody realised you absorb less vitamin C when you have a cold. 

There is evidence that zinc staves off colds so a zinc tab a day might help. Also rubbing your eyes and picking your nose gives the virus a direct route into your body.

Eat green vegetables. Green, leafy vegetables are rich in vitamins that help you maintain a balanced diet and support a healthy immune system

All true enough. One just needs to eat good amounts of natural foods, avoiding any dramatic omissions. If anything good eating is as much a product of a healthy life as it is a cause. The kids at school that eat lots of fruit tend to also be healthy, whether as a cause or a result.

The matter here seems to be a chronic one rather than just a cold, so zinc Vit C, whatever else is in citrus won't hurt unless in extraordinary amounts.

hah, I think there are a lot of stereotypes in there. Most people don't swing in a hammock and get siestas, but it is true that quality healthy food is cheap and easily available. My own lifestyle is probably less hectic than most people's here since I work from home on my own flexible schedule, but people, general, work very long and unproductive hours and get little sleep. 

Thanks! I hadn't heard of Berroca. I have never tried supplements. 

I started using First Defence nasal spray a few years ago and it has reduced colds a lot for me. There are other brands available as well.

You squirt it up each nostril at the first sign of a cold, which for me was often a sore throat. It is not a medicine, but a sort of gum that traps viruses in your nose and takes them into your stomach where the acid kills them, and stops them getting into your bloodstream. If it doesn't stop the cold 100% it certainly reduces the severity.

I read scientists finding things like First Defence have a similar effect on Covid viruses, though how you know when to use the spray is another question

My money is on the kids. I've a slight cold at the moment which made me wonder where I could possibly have got it from (working from home and barely leave the house other than to climb outdoors) until I remembered the obvious that my eldest (3) had been a bit snotty a couple of days prior. She presumably picked it up at nursery. It came with a fairly dry cough so got a test to rule out anything sinister and it came back negative.

My kids are the only real source of colds for me at the moment. Given that our eldest spends two days a week running wild with a load of other kids at nursery and then comes home for cuddles and kisses I really don't think there's much I could do to avoid getting them!

For me, I've found that Qi Gong really helps: https://flowingzen.com/21150/learn-qigong-online-from-me-for-free-during-th... 

Also, magnesium and zinc supplementation have really helped too. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quantum-Health-Thera-Spray-Ounce/dp/B003EIPCDK 

I started paying very close attention to my diet around a year ago (initially full keto but now just low carb).  I'm a pescatarian eating loads of veg and almost no processed food.  I haven't had cold or cough symptoms since.  Could be coincidence but I think there's been some research published into the effects of this type of diet on colds.

Who's to say he hasn't got both.

Thread: Every cold you've had could just as easily have been Covid, and however strange it is that you have a cold, you could be passing Covid on in the same strange way.

Weird.  I have the exact opposite situation to this.  For the last 3 years i have had the mother of all colds.  Starting late October it carries over to about January.  Results in trips to doctors and even hospital at one point having an ECG to test for stroke.

This year, with kids still going to school and me working all year, i haven't had a cold for ages.  Its been brilliant from my health perspective.  I put it down to better hygiene and the masks.

To give some context to the 'cold' i have had each of the last 3 years.

1) Months of cold like symptoms

2) Coughing all the time.  To the extent i couldn't eat a meal without throwing it up due to coughing.  I would be sick walking the dogs around our housing estate due to out of breath and coughing.  This wasnt every so often, this was every day.  Even leaving work and going from warm office to cold air i would be sick getting to my car.

3) Out of breath walking a single flight of stairs

4) Ended up with a frozen side of my face due to damage to nerves from sneezing and coughing which then ended up in hospital with ECG to check for stroke.

5) Ended up having an x ray as they thought i had damage to my lungs.

Each time they just said i had a cold and to deal with it.  I spent last christmas huddled in a corner at a families party trying to stay away from everyone.  This year, so far has been the best i have felt in ages.

Did you get tested for whooping cough? Sounds EXACTLY like that, my wife and two others I know had it in their forties. Unfortunately the vaccine tends to decline in efficiency over time (as it is directed against the toxoid not the bacteria as such).

CB

Hi there.  I didnt get tested for whooping cough.  Honestly i would love for someone to say it was this or that because not knowing and getting it each year really was getting to me.  Is it something they can test for now while i am not showing symptoms or do i need to be suffering?

Sorry, can't help with that, as I am not a medic but a biologist. Should  in principle be a scientifically answerable question even if you are not currently sick, but no idea whether such tests are available or if so, where.

CB

Yeah it seems this is the root of it. Real food, nothing radical. I'm always happy to see science verify this, but really, there's lots of communities round the world that have just never really taken up the obsession with processed shit and are visibly heathier due to it. Georgians and Okinawans aside, so long as people have enough food and it's unprocessed and their environment is healthy they seem to be healthy too. We all live is relatively sterile environments but seem plagued by chronic malaise, somethings wrong.

I recall travelling to the back blocks of places like China, Russia and the Middle East where life can be hard, but all the food is good and in general people stay healthy well into age, though admittedly the simple absence of obesity makes up for much of it.

Some causes I would advance. 
 

1. Meltdown of polar ice/Greenland ice cap putting nasties into the atmosphere under returning polar maritime air conditions. 
2. Decaying plant materials/spores/bacteria in October November. 
3 Milk - containing malevolent stuff as it’s had to been refrigerated before getting to the consumer. 
4. Clean/tap water born toxins/stuff/bacteria/virus. 
 

I’ll stop now before I say outer space viruses as I must be going lockdown bonkers. These are the only 4 ‘rational’ ways I can explain getting bugs/colds/infections when I don’t come into contact with hardly anyone.