I was always going to struggle around illness. This part of my life was already mapped out for me the day I was born. My immunity doesn’t work at the rate a full term baby’s immune system works. I have to be careful around stress.
I take supplements that help with digestion, reflux and general wellbeing, but they tend to stop working when I struggle with illness. Although I deal with reflux and digestion problems that take a hold when I’m ill, I have educated myself on ways of reducing both, when I’m not ill and have been pretty successful at it.
Within minutes of having respiratory problems, phlegm collects on my lungs; my digestion takes a knock, as does reflux, making it hard for me to swallow, talk, eat and breathe properly. Conventional remedies are just too strong, so they’re often not an option either.
I tend to cross the dividing line between wellness and illness very quickly. A stressful day can give me reflux and digestion problems with little warning. Because of little warning, I try to take out as much stress as I can. My health issues every now and again concern me.
Given the fact that some of us have with Cerebral Palsy too, it's may be that we have digestion and reflux to deal with too.
I’m sorry that your ill with respiratory problems. I knew about the connection of twins having problems with illness but I was unaware of the birth order having anything to do with it.
My mom is a twin but I think she is the oldest of the two. My mom has had her share of illness in her life, now battling stage 4 breast cancer.
I do believe that stress has a big roll with immunity problems. When we’re under tremendous stress it causes the body to do all sorts of things and our immunity takes a big hit. I take Ester-C daily to boost my immunity and I believe it works well for me.
I didn’t get a flu shot cause I’m afraid of getting the flu from it, which has happened to me in the past. I also totally believe in hand washing. That’s a big one especially if you are out, around a lot of people. People just don’t care how their germs can infect others and there is all kinds of crap, especially on market cart handles to prove it.
Usually twins near to term see to do fine. I think in our case being 6 weeks premature, me being second added to my problems and the fact that I have CP and my sister doesn’t.
I think when you’re already dealing with illness in a family it’s hard to remove yourself totally from not getting ill yourself, as much as we try, it’s never easy. It’s also that time of year of course where illness is rife.
I believe in washing hands when we need to, but I also believe we can do too much to try to avoid illness by washing our hands too much. It’s usually at that point that illness finds us.
I tend to believe in the theory that the less we wash our hands the better our immunity and although that’s not for everyone, it’s something I believe.
I’m working on rest, working on getting better. Thanks Lisa.
Try and take it easy and rest as much as you can. I find getting a good night sleep helps a lot in these situations. What ever you do don’t overdue it!
So sorry to hear that you have to deal with respiratory issues on top of everything else you have to deal with. I know that when I get sick myself, it usually goes from feeling fine one minute to feeling like death warmed over the next!
I know my Daughter has always been very sickly and I hadn’t realized that the CP could affect her health that badly. It must make things very difficult if it ends up coming over you that strongly.
Hopefully you won’t end up getting too sick right now, with so much going on. Hang in there!
Thanks Randy. CP and being premature can cause other problems with our health. I’m fed up of feeling like this and having to deal with so much, but I’m doing my best!
I’m sorry your daughter also has problems. Thanks for your concern. It helps.