Did you stop getting sick before your MS Started?

[mgoerke]

I'm working on a theory.

For all of my life, starting in infancy, I got sick very easily. If anyone around me got a cold, I got it and worse. I caught every stomach virus, flu and respiratory infection I came near.

About two years ago I stopped getting sick. My family living in my house, including my daughter, could cough sneeze and literally wipe mucus on me ( mom's understand that bit) and I didn't get sick.

So I sit here wondering if something in my immune system went into overdrive and that something is also the cause of my MS.

Any of you become illness resistant for a while before your MS started?

[techie]

No

In fact I had the worst pneumonia of my life in 2001 and spent most of the night in the emergency room! in Sept 2001
techie

[SNOOPY]

Any of you become illness resistant for a while before your MS started?

No...........

[Jules A]

Not me either, was pretty darn healthy prior to my unpleasant surprise MS diagnosis.

Seems the one thing we can predict about MS is that it is unpredictable.

[Shashi]

I used to catch everything, especially as a child. I was always sick with a stomach virus or cold and that continued until a few years before I started having these weird symptoms. Now, I almost never get sick anymore. I can't remember the last head cold I had, and I haven't had a stomach virus in forever (knock wood!) My husband had the H1N1 virus a few years ago and was sick for a month, and even though I took care of him that whole time, I never caught it. I can be around sick students and people at work, but never get a sniffle or a sneeze.

I'm not sure if it's because of my immune system being in overdrive, or because I've had every infection known to man when I was younger and have built up immunities to everything, or whether I just am more careful to wash my hands and not touch my eyes or my nose until I do. Whatever it is, I'm grateful! And I hope whatever it is continues to protect me!

[jkuzara11]

Same Here

I have 3 school aged children. I use to catch everything!
The last time I caught even the most minor of cold was about a year before my diagnosis.
The girls (and even my husband) have brought every type of illness into the house in the past 3 years and I have somehow managed to avoid it all.

[terie-tk]

I use to be sick alot too

sore throats, ear infections ( my ear drum ruptured 1x), flu,
sinus infections, had 3 kids - had to stay in the hospital 2x for post delivery infections....& the list goes on..

That was pre-MS. Since my diagnosis...basically nothing. I barely catch a cold. I feel one coming on & it's gone like in 24 hrs. I've had one infection, after bladder surgery, UTI which did send the MS into override it seemed at time.

So I would fit that category.

[1295582458@facebook]

Not me...I have always caught everything going around and still do.

[golana]

I rarely got sick except for the occasional cold that would last a few days. In 30 years, the only time I was off work was with a broken leg in 1999.(In hindsight, this was the start of my MS.

Since then, a cold only lasted a few hours. Haven't had any kind of infection since I was diagnosed and started Copaxone in 2008.

Always thought my immune system must be working too hard. That one day it would start attacking me and I would end up with an autoimmune disease.

Never thought it would be MS.

[a.nukem]

My entire life until 5th grade I was sick easily. I had a respiratory virus when I was a baby that scarred my lungs badly, asthma, and it was guaranteed that every autumn/winter I would be sick for at least two months straight. After we moved to a new town I was sick the first year but rarely ever since then. I rarely ever get colds anymore either. I wasn't diagnosed until April 2010 so I've just put it down to moving from a medium sized town to the country. Never really thought about it before, but it's and intriguing idea.

[maximumlite]

I've has sinus and respirtory infections most of my life and my last flair was brought on by a major infection in my chest where it included an enlarged heart from fluids brcause of the infection

[cosake]

Not for me either.

I am immuno-suppressed to begin with (autoimmune blood disorder with splenectomy at age 7), so I may not be a good one to be answering this.

[502E79]

.... hard to answer since I'm not sure when MS began.

Guessing No.

Been blessed with pretty good health.

Jer

[justacowgirl]

I was rarely sick.

j

[tiffdulla]

nope. i had a really bad sinus infection n ended up in the hospital n diagnosed wit ms. i did get lots n lots of sinus infections growing up. more than most. i remember being on 2 n 3 different antibiotics at once.