How often do you get sick?

I used to not get sick very much. Aside from every year, I would get bronchitis reallllllly bad and end up in the ER for it. I haven't had that for a couple years thankfully,,,,and have been pretty healthy.
Until I started doing daycare...
Now everytime any of the kids I watch have so much as a runny nose, I end up sick. And not just runny nose sick....use an entire jumbo box of tissues, sneeze/blow my nose almost once a minute, can barely move, throat so sore I can't talk or swallow juice, ridiculous headache and my face feels like I have about 400 lbs of pressure on it.
The one little boy I watch had a runny nose Monday but nothing major. I didn't have him again until Thursday when he had a runny nose, and some chest congestion. I started feeling sick Thursday morning before he arrived, so I must have gotten it earlier in the week?? IDK! It just sucks.
And standard daycare procedures with ill children is that if they do not have a fever, and can play and do the typical routine without seeming run down, too sick to play or super heavy congestion that affects breathing, they can stay. He wasn't sick enough for his mom to take the day off work, and she isn't sick, but now I am and so is DH.
If you are one of those people that can be around sick people and stay well, do you have any tips? Are there things I can eat/drink/take that can help so I am not getting these colds/coughs all the time?

Well, always talk to your doctor before taking things, but my DH swears by Echinacea. It's supposed to help build your immune system. Other vitamins help too.

I just rarely get sick. I lived in dorms for three years in college, and I still work on a college campus. It wasn't until I was pregnant that I got my first cold in years, maybe more than a decade, lol. I used to get sinus infections at least once or twice a year, but those were caused by sinusitis.

I do wash my hands regularly, and I think if I were working with young children, I'd probably wash them even more often.

How old are these kids? If they're around 3 and up you can start teaching them about handwashing. It won't help with sneezing and runny nose snot getting wiped everywhere, though.

I've stayed healthier the last few years, at least virus wise, by avoiding sick people or close contact with them. Like you, a respiratory virus can turn into bad bronchitis pretty quickly. Do you have any respiratory problems? I have some lung damage from second hand smoke and air way hypersensitivity/exercise induced asthma (that's about to get worse now the weather is getting cold, bleh). So if it settles into my lungs the inflammation and secondary infections can have me sick for weeks and even months. I've never really found that anything helps as far as supplements. I have found, though, that when I start getting sick and get an increase in the phlegm that mucinex can help keep it from getting worse in my lungs. (for some reason I don't cough phlegm out very well?)
If you feel yourself getting a virus, though, and can get to the doctor early enough there are anti-viral meds.

Otherwise hand wash, try to get the little ones that can understand it to use tissues, and use clorox wipes on everything. Get your flu shots if you can.


Now if you'd said sick and didn't mean viruses I could tell you that I was very sick Wednesday night and yesterday. Food poisoning.

I used to constantly become ill with colds, sore throats, migraines and other kinds of headaches, etc. Ironically, it wasn't until I started to exercise, eat right, and otherwise try to take care of myself that I stopped getting sick so often. Now I might have one cold a year and it's not usually that bad. My headaches aren't nearly as severe either.

I get the occasional cold and every once in a while I'll get an upset stomach but other than that I'm pretty healty.

Originally Posted by emrldsky

Well, always talk to your doctor before taking things, but my DH swears by Echinacea. It's supposed to help build your immune system. Other vitamins help too.

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My grandma had us take Echinacea when we were growing up, and very rarely did we get sick. I did notice when we stopped taking vitamins daily (that, cod liver oil, multivitamin) I got sick more often.

I still am not sick much, maybe a couple times a year. I got the norva(?) virus this year (aka cruise ship virus that hit the area when a "contaminated" ship ported here). Also had bronchitis and a cold once.

I get sick ALL the time, and there isn't a thing I can do about it. It's my work environment. There are many of us in close quarters, with bad air circulation. I take daily vitamins, as well as echinacea, I drink green tea often as well as lots of water, II eat healthy AND exercise and I'm still sick more often than not.

I get sick once or twice a year usually during finals time when I'm under stress. I just get colds never get the flu, I don't really have a lot of contact with people, I don't live on campus and I wash my hands so it must be working cuz I never get a flu shot either.

Up until age 12 I would get sick all the time, I'd get bronchitis and all kinds of flu viruses throughout the year, I was always sick somehow, and one time I even had the stomach virus and I had to have IV's because of dehydration. Supposedly I had pneumonia too and I was told I have chronic bronchitis but I don't think I do because I haven't had any symptoms at all in my adult life. It really wasn't fun at all.

Since I started working out over 10 years ago (wow I can't believe it's been that long), I get sick once a year at most. It's an incredibly good way to cleanse your system. If you can consistently make it to the gym or go for a run or something, you will be extremely healthy.

I work in childcare with infants, and with them it is pretty much impossible to prevent the spread of illness (b/c babies can't cover their mouth when they sneeze, they slobber on everything and put stuff in their mouths, etc...we do what we can but can't prevent everything) so I get sick ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME. In the winter I'm sick pretty much non stop, and I get sinus infections all spring/summer.

very rarely. A couple times a year at most. But I do have allergies often. Its mold/dust/pollen/dander etc. I just take a allergy pill when things are bad. And if I dont get enough sleep my stomach is really upset and I cant eat for a few hours after I wake up. never have figured that one out!!
For the most part I try to stay healthy. I also dont take a multivitamin or anything. May start them soon, but not sure.

I spent my first three months of clinical in nursing school feeling like I needed to be in the hospital. Even though I practiced good hand-washing techniques, I just wasn't used to that environment. I rarely get a cold or the flu, knock on wood.

All the time. I work with the public and sometimes no matter how much you wash and sanitize, you will get sick.

I had three people at my line this week tell me they just came from the doc and were diagnosed with strep. I am careful, but when people cough and sneeze in your face, its unavoidable.

I work with mostly infants....they sneeze, play in the snot before i notice it, cough all over. It's crazy. I sanitize, wash my hands & theirs and their faces...I think I will look into echinachea and some vitamins. I just started working out just about regularly recently and feel better overall since starting but I have still gotten every cold my daycare kids bring into the house

i rarely get 'sick' w/contagious illnesses... i do get allergy things [laryngytis when mountain cedar blows down, etc.] & i have chronic migraines. but not colds, stomach viruses, etc. i never get a flu shot, because i've never had the flu - ever. i never seem to get it - i think the same thing that cause all of my allergy issues [foods, inhalants, etc.] is protecting me from germs - an overactive immune system.
i teach in an elementary school, so i'm exposed all the time. i do take vitamins, but that's only been since my bypass surgery - i didn't get sick before that, either.

I had a period of a couple of years that I never really got well. I'd just get to feeling better, then come down with another sore throat. I think it was the result of the sinus infection Dottie and I got out in California in 1990.

My brother refers to children as "Disease Distribution Units."