If you feel you have good immunity to common viruses, etc...

[Shellydon]

Genetics first.  Then outdoor lifestyle, plenty of sleep and lots of raw fruit and veggies.  Also, bathing daily including washing hair and not re-wearing clothes.  My SIL (who is always sick, she caught the flu 4 times last year) pointed out that her kids bathe twice a week and re-wear clothing a lot.  When she noticed that we did not do that are are not ill often ( a cold once every two years or so), she switched to daily bathing and not re-wearing clothes for 4 months.  No one in her family got sick.  I guess viruses/bacteria don't get washed away and have less time to enter your nose and make you sick?  After 4 months, she felt that it was too hard to enforce daily baths so she quit and they all started catching colds again.

[Bluegoat]

I was remembering that a number of years ago I started getting sick all the time.  I was tandem nursinga toddler and baby at that point, and it only improved when I weaned the baby.  I think it was just too much being asked, plus it created more lack of sleep because the toddler never managed to fully night wean until she was weaned altogether.

 

I ended up with pnemonia and that was hen I finally realized I needed to change something.

[Lady Florida.]

I rarely get sick. Ds had 2 ear infections as a child, and saw a doctor ( other than vaccines) less than 4 times growing up.

 

It was similar with my ds. Only 2 sinus infections and once he was diagnosed with ADHD the only reason he usually went to the doctor was for the required re-eval for his medicine or for vaccinations/well visits.

 

I had a cold, caught from the grandkids, last Christmas, and it was the first one I've had in over a decade. I think it was a typical cold, but it knocked me out for a week because it seemed so alien to me. I don't get headaches or stomach aches.

I've never blown my nose that much in my life.

 

That how I feel right now. This cold has knocked me out and I think it's just because I'm not used to being sick. I don't think it's a particularly nasty strain but just that I don't know how to "be sick". And now that you mention grandkids we saw ours last week and one of them did have a cold. :)

 

I do occasionally get headaches but I can always trace them to something - too much time in the sun/heat, dry eyes, I need a new pillow, etc. Once I find the cause and correct it, no more headache.

 

I've had seasonal allergies since I was a kid so I'm very familiar with tissues but my allergies don't get me down like they do some people. Fortunately I don't get sinus headaches from allergies - just lots of sneezing and itchy eyes.

[creekland]

One of my children and I catch everything that comes around, and I'm pretty sure our bodies also wizardrically conjure up whole new viruses, too.

 

My husband and other son very rarely get sick, and when they do, it's much less severe.

 

For the kids...same parents, same diet, same sleep, same vitamins/probiotics, same level of activity, around the same people, go to all the same places (they are very close in age). And, in fact, the kid that gets sick with me was breastfed slightly longer, and the kid that gets sick less has had one more round of anti-biotics (three as opposed to two) in his life. 

 

DH would love to say it's something he does. But looking at the kids, general immunity is so clearly luck of the genetic draw, even though *I* do have an auto-immune issue.

 

This is interesting because it's totally the opposite of those I know in my IRL circle.  Here it's mainly a family trend to either be healthy (from viruses) or to catch everything.  There is a rare time or two it differs, but then it tends to go along with stress levels at that time (or eating differently or whatever folks choose to assess blame).  Still, that's the anomaly comparatively (again, in my IRL circle).  Usually it's one member getting something first and then everyone else coming down with it or everyone missing whatever is going around.  That's what led us to discussing "family" trends.  My sister and I kept with that trend when we lived with our parents.  It's after we all split apart that my immunity seemed to improve while theirs worsened.  My lifestyle is also quite a bit different than theirs.

[HSmomof2]

We are careful handwashers, and eat yogurt daily for probiotics.

 

I seem to get ill less frequently than dc or dh. I credit that to years of working in medical offices and now a public library. I think my frequent little 'doses' of germs in these settings have built my immunity.🙂

[GoodGrief]

Genes, and working for a couple years in two different rural pediatric units during the winter RSV season. I say genes, because my children don't get ill very often either.

[Joyofsixreboot]

 

This discussion brings to mind all the things we don't fully understand like our personal internal and external biome, the hygiene hypothesis and creepy crawly stuff.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/91689-parasites/

 

If this interests you radio lab has some cool episodes about placebo too.

[Guest]

This is interesting because it's totally the opposite of those I know in my IRL circle.  Here it's mainly a family trend to either be healthy (from viruses) or to catch everything.  There is a rare time or two it differs, but then it tends to go along with stress levels at that time (or eating differently or whatever folks choose to assess blame).  Still, that's the anomaly comparatively (again, in my IRL circle).  Usually it's one member getting something first and then everyone else coming down with it or everyone missing whatever is going around.  That's what led us to discussing "family" trends.  My sister and I kept with that trend when we lived with our parents.  It's after we all split apart that my immunity seemed to improve while theirs worsened.  My lifestyle is also quite a bit different than theirs.

 

Yep. It never fails that two of us get laid flat out by whatever comes around and the other two just don't. Baby is TBD, but the two times we've been under the weather or sick, he did get sick too, so I think he's leaning his momma's way.

 

And, see, DH eats significantly differently than all the rest of us (he tends toward primal eating and I tend toward WAP/Nourishing Traditions style), so while we are both eating ferments and meat and fat and veggies,  given half a chance he'd likely assume it was his lifestyle chioces (less fruit, almost zero grain and no beans) making the difference.

 

But we were this way when it was just us and all we ate 90% of the time was pizza, beer and ramen, and now of course there's the kid that tends not to get sick, or get very slightly sick like him, and the other that's catches everything and gets hit pretty hard every time.

 

  .

[creekland]

Yep. It never fails that two of us get laid flat out by whatever comes around and the other two just don't. Baby is TBD, but the two times we've been under the weather or sick, he did get sick too, so I think he's leaning his momma's way.

 

And, see, DH eats significantly differently than all the rest of us (he tends toward primal eating and I tend toward WAP/Nourishing Traditions style), so while we are both eating ferments and meat and fat and veggies,  given half a chance he'd likely assume it was his lifestyle chioces (less fruit, almost zero grain and no beans) making the difference.

 

But we were this way when it was just us and all we ate 90% of the time was pizza, beer and ramen, and now of course there's the kid that tends not to get sick, or get very slightly sick like him, and the other that's catches everything and gets hit pretty hard every time.

 

  .

 

I think I'm still tending to think it's both at play in various situations.  Genetics certainly can play a part as evidenced by the pp who had a test showing she's immune to norovirus and those who escape measles, ebola, flu epidemics - prior to immunizations - and such things, but there really seems to be a lifestyle factor (or two or three) that assist too (for many people - or perhaps many illnesses) as evidenced by those of us who grew up one way and ended up another (not counting having had the illnesses and getting immunity that way).

 

One other trend we noticed in my prior conversation is that those who seem to worry more about getting sick actually get sick more often.  We debated whether this was due to the stress of worrying about it or the prior experience that they normally get sick vs those who don't (and therefore don't worry).  No conclusion - just discussion.

[The Girls' Mom]

Genetics/dirt.  

 

Dh and I don't get sick very often.  (not catch a bug sick.  Dh has a chronic illness that causes pain and joint problems, but hasn't had a cold in I don't know how long).  We both grew up eating a lot of junk.  We aren't big exercisers.  But we did both grow up in the country and spent huge portions of our childhood outside playing in the dirt with animals.  

 

Our kids get sick way more than we do, although they are still pretty healthy.  They didn't play outside nearly as much as dh and I did, but they did some.  We've always had pets.  I've never been one to sanitize everything.  Our diet during the first part of their lives was pretty typical SAD diet stuff.  It is better now, but still not awesome.

 

That said, I still have a kid that is allergic to pretty much everything.  However, that allergic to everything kid very rarely gets sick outside of her allergies.

P.S.  I have two kids fighting off strep this week.  I wish we had immunity to THAT.

[Guest]

 

 

One other trend we noticed in my prior conversation is that those who seem to worry more about getting sick actually get sick more often.  We debated whether this was due to the stress of worrying about it or the prior experience that they normally get sick vs those who don't (and therefore don't worry).  No conclusion - just discussion.

 

LOL and my DH is constantly worried about getting sick (because he works and lives in close quarters with a bunch of dudes) and I never worry about it, because I feel like it's just expected when you have kids. Plus what's the point of worrying about it ykwim? Either I get a thing or I don't.

[flyingiguana]

Vigorous exercise.  Once I started exercising to the point where I was putting on obvious muscle, I stopped getting as sick with every little cold that came through.

 

Unless that just happened to coincide with hitting an age where my immune system has seen most of this before.

 

Keeping away from little kids has helped in that I'm exposed to less, but even the colds that do come through now don't hit me nearly as bad as the rest of the family.

 

The flu shot is also helpful, although I suspect I don't have to get it myself.  I just have to make sure the rest of my family gets the shot so they don't bring the flu home to me.  I haven't caught the flu from someone outside the family in years.  

 

I started eating better a long time ago and it didn't have much affect on how often and how badly I got sick.

[EKS]

When my older son was in daycare, he was literally sick every other week (I kept track).  I got probably every other illness.  Since that time, I've rarely gotten sick.  The other thing that caused a further drop in illness (for everyone in the family) was when we started taking vitamin D.

[creekland]

 

Unless that just happened to coincide with hitting an age where my immune system has seen most of this before.

 

I've wondered a little how much this comes into play.  It was the opposite for my mom, dad, and sister, but they also have other stressful health issues.

 

The other thing that caused a further drop in illness (for everyone in the family) was when we started taking vitamin D.

 

I wonder if this correlates with those of us who mention quite a bit of outdoor time.

[EKS]

I wonder if this correlates with those of us who mention quite a bit of outdoor time.

 

Probably, assuming you live in an area that gets enough sunlight.

[Meriwether]

My dh has what used to be called a good constitution. When he does get sick, he is sick for no more than 2 or 3 days.

[lynn]

When I was about2.5 I went to the hospital for what was a 10 day virus. This was on 1970 while there I got meningitis. So I was there quite a bit longer. I am hardly ever sick. When my siblings all had chickenpox I never got it. I believe I built strong immunity during that time or it's just good genetics.

[TravelingChris]

None off us ever have had the flu.  We all get flu vaccines every year. 

I was getting a lot of sinus/bronchitis infections when I was doing volunteer tutoring at a public school.  Since I have stopped doing that, I am no longer getting sick very often. Last year, I got one sinus infection after one of my dd's came home and got me sick. I am more prone to get sick since I am on strong immunosuppressants but since being home most of the time, I am not getting sick anymore.

My dh gets sick very rarely.  My youngest has been getting sick the most.  SHe is my only kid that got various childhood viruses- fifth disease, hand foot and mouth disease, mono,  and she has been getting either sinus or bronchitis infections numerous times last year and this ever since she went away to college.  A few weeks ago she got a cold and last week ended up in the ER and the hospital overnight since she had a very bad asthma attack.  I worry about her since she really seems to get anything that goes around.   Oh and she was getting those childhood diseases as a teenager but from the swimming pool where she was on both swim and dive teams and helped the little ones (who would get sick) with swimming.

[madteaparty]

some things kids just outgrow. I went to such great pains to breastfeed DSand yet he had chronic ear infections. I was so upset as a new mom until the specialist explained that it had to do with the physicality of his ear, nothing we did right or wrong. Anyway we don't deal with it anymore (knock wood)

Edited October 2, 2016 by madteaparty