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Is anyone else getting cold/sick much more often these days?

35 points by sdfgdfghj ↗ HN
I know this is probably due to the pandemic + working from home. However I found that I get cold or sick much more often, specifically in the past year.

I had covid this year in October, but even before that I noticed the pattern. For four years at uni I remember getting sick like twice. This year alone I'm sick for like 5th time alone.

I do try to stay active though, I'm running 5k in the gym regularly, I've been to the gym almost 100 times this year. I'm taking multi-vitamins as well. What else can I do to avoid getting cold so often?

77 comments

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chasenjohnson
You are not alone here. I’ve been sick around 4-5 times a year since the pandemic started. I assume that this is partly due yo working from home. Also, my liberal hand washing and hand sanitizer probably weakens my immune system. I’ve started supplementing with vitamin d and zinc.
kevinherron
Haven’t been sick since March 2020. Never got Covid, unless whatever I had that March was it.
nonrandomstring
No, far less.

Covid and working from home had a significant effect on me. It changed my attitude to health. Before, I would spend too long at a screen, take on too much work, not exercise, eat poorly and inconsistently for "convenience".

The pandemic was a wake-up call that made me rethink my age, habits and vulnerability. With regular long walking, better diet, cold-sea swimming and a refreshed attitude to saying "No" to tasks, I have stayed healthier this winter than previously. I prefer to work on-site mingling with students or clients, catch the train and bus, exposing myself to all manner of bugs. Obviously that's personal n=1 anecdata, and may be down to nothing more than good luck.

ADDENDUM:

Maybe it's also worth mentioning, I kinda got habituated into wearing a mask in transit. Still do it, partly because I feel its respectful toward others, but also I bought a bunch of dazzle pattern camo masks that screw up any face recognition cameras, and I kinda like that idea :) The upshot is that I remain more aware of body-space, air and hygiene than before.

taylodl
I've had the same experience - far less sickness. I've developed better health habits as a result of the pandemic. I wash my hands more frequently. I wear a mask in public now during the flu season. It's all really helped. Other than getting a minor case of Covid (presumably minor because I was vaccinated and boosted) I haven't even had a cold since the pandemic started. It's been a real wake-up call for the easy steps we can take to prevent sickness.
2rsf
Not personally but Sweden is having increased cases of Covid, Influensa and RSU now, all at the same time.
controversial97
Not me, I'v had much less contact with groups of random people.

Months ago I went to an event in a poorly ventilated pub basement, several days later I developed symptoms and had a positive covid test a couple of days after that.

In past years, in December I travelled on trains full of coughing people and caught a cold. This year I havn't.

oifjsidjf
Taking multivitamins means shit: most of it are in unabsorbable forms and unless you have severe nutrient deficiencies they will do jack shit.

Change your diet do a more ancestral/paleo one. There are indicators that the gut microbiome is a important factor in this: as you moved away from you parents you probably started eating different foods which further destroyed your body/gut.

Eg read Weston Price's book Nutrition and Phyical Degeneration for a clear example of what the modern diet did to us (and you).

tonetheman
I still wear a mask unlike most of those where I live.

Masks work so I have not been sick much at all for most of the pandemic.

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mintaka5
ever since i got vaxxed, my body always feels odd or out of sorts. never felt like this ever before in my life. i eat healthy, hike, run, and get out a lot, and still my body feels off.
can16358p
Had the same, it went off after about 3-4 months after the vax. How long has it been for you since the vax?
mintaka5
about the same timeframe as yours. i never tested + for COVID, yet symptoms of just feeling "less" than before the inoculation. i got the 1st 2 shots, then the booster. the most noticeable thing is my leg strength is significantly less. i can still use them athletically, but they seem limited somehow. my body just feels different after getting vaxed is all i can say.
can16358p
I get it. I (also many people I talk to) feel a bit "different" after the vax. It's the same for all of us: feeling a bit "weird" and "off" and slightly less energetic, after the vax (not immediately after, that's expected of course, but I'm talking about the upcoming months).

After hearing all the mysterious side effects and the actual virus not really much dangerous than common cold nowadays, I doubt I'll take another shot after now.

mintaka5
same. i'm not afraid of death anyway so i'll take my risks through exposure immunity, letting my body do the work. life isn't going well for me these days anyway so i'm not very into it anymore.
anenefan
I have always suffered colds worse than most people I know, to the point I avoided being up too close with those who have "nothing really" and they suggesting other ailments or reasons ... of course I'm basically litmus paper when it comes to colds so I soon know or not if they were right.

The last two years have been a marked change as people my way have isolated at lot more, less was being spread, and I fared better not catching any minor colds. However the last two years, 2020 I prob caught it early (Before tests) and slowly felt better by 2021. (Note: even after testing became available, in Australia one couldn't get tested unless one was already in a hot spot for covid, it took a while for that policy to change.) Strict state isolation meant very little of anything, it was bliss, however once it was open slather, I believe I've caught it again a few months back, only mild fatigue and bother, but bending down pulling out a weed out - I guess my body was pretty soft, and mildly tore a lot of side muscles on one side, still giving a bit of grief.

What I did find help me back in my 20s with a cold that was persistent for 3 years, quite accidentally I started taking a quarter to half a teaspoon a day of 100% pure creatine monohydrate. At that rate I noted a few positive side effects, one being my cold cleared out. The body should have enough from a good diet, mine wasn't and I was a bit over weight, however I was quite active, I was push biking for my main transport so around 60 miles in any given day of the work week. It could be the case less is more, as the significant improvements to resistance to colds and my mood that I noticed, don't seem to be duplicated or reported when the product found it's way into the fitness world. Ultimately I stopped using it because I was became far too mellow and the clowns were taking advantage of that.

Additionally medical research in 2021 pointed out L-arginine was helpful for having a better outcome whilst needing hospitalisation for covid-19 - but nothing concrete as far as I can recall in regard to if it lessens or helps in the initial phase of infection.

throwaway22032
No, I feel about the same. If anything slightly healthier.

I didn't work from home much though. Currently writing this from the pub.

ashokkumarmku
you might be getting old, you are no longer that young that you used to be 3 years back
etempleton
I have had RSV, Covid, and the Flu in just the past two months. I have been sick more than I have been healthy. So yes, this is the worst I ever remember it.
chriskanan
Same here. First illnesses I've had since February 2020. In the past, I'd get sick 3 times per year, so I'm hoping that it just happened in a compressed timeline.
joshuanapoli
I’m getting sick less often, possibly because of still masking in public indoor spaces, or maybe because I began exercising more since the lockdown. I haven’t had Covid (at least not to the extent of symptoms or positive test).
anon291
No change just concentrated more due to the fact many did not leave their homes for several years
robga
No, far less for me.

2000-2019: unwell (flu, cold) 2-3 times a year. 2020-2022: not unwell a single time, 36 months counting now.

Context: I now travel on public transport once a month vs 20 times a month. I work from home and not a busy office with meeting rooms. I socialise less. I exercise less (I walk less per day). I eat about the same quality. I sleep more. I get less sunlight. I'm happier.

My view: it's all down to much reduced exposure to the poor hygiene that the public practice. Whether or not there is "more of it about", I'm only exposed 5-10% as much as I previously was.

secondcoming
I never got covid, and I honestly can't remember the last time I was ill. I got the vax, no longer mask up, but I do smoke. Who knows.
gonzo41
Sleep more. Go camping and try and run in areas with lots of trees. I find I get more sick the more I'm indoors working at a computer. Which is my full time gig, so I have to make an effort to balance it out and be outside and getting into nature.
KptMarchewa
No difference - generally once a year I get sick enough that I need 2-3 days in bed. Covid was more unpleasant, but not really different.
alliao
don't push through with covid rest, listen to your body wear good quality well fitting N95 anywhere indoor/crowded space my hot take is we've been ignoring air for so long, it is the last remaining effective transmission path for a lot of pathogens dosage makes the poison, filter your air and let your immune system recover (last paper i saw said ppl still had weakened low t-cell count 8 months after covid)
Freak_NL
It's really hard to parse what you're writing without sentences (there are at least six sentences in your paragraph, but nothing to mark their boundaries) and capital letters.
marginalia_nu
I think there just seems to be a lot going around this year. We've got common colds, the flu, C-199 and RSV doing the rounds at the same time.
cableshaft
No, but I WFH and still mostly wear masks indoors (except while sitting at my table at a restaurant or at a home with friends or family or the ocassional social function where I feel a lot of social pressure not to wear them, but I mostly avoid the latter).

I haven't been noticeably sick except for the ocassional runny nose (but tested negative for Covid the ones I tested) the past two years. Normally I'd get bronchitis every transition to and/or from winter, after a runny nose leads to a bad cough.

As far as I know, I haven't gotten Covid yet.

Probably about to get sick, though. I've been doing a lot of holiday functions this year (my wife's work, my work, and a reunion with my past coworkers) and feel a lot of pressure not to wear a mask at those things, and there's like 50-100 people at those.

5e92cb50239222b
I've had cold maybe 8 or 10 times since the start of this year. As I've been working from home for some years, the norm before that was twice a year at most.

I attributed this to extreme (and still increasing) air pollution; not sure what to think now.

benevol
Yes, immune systems all over the world have been weakened recently (you may or may not want to "speculate" as to the source of this), which is what explains what you perceive.
astura
Nope! In the last three years I've only been sick once.