Sick now, more than ever,,,,

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.

Before I started nursing, I thought I had a pretty good immune system. I barely was sick and never really had to call off my previous job (as a surg tech) due to sickness.

But now, Oh my God. I cant STOP being sick. Ive been on the floor for about 10 months and have had more colds, fevers etc than ever before. I mean sick to the point where it hurts to leave my bed. Believe me, Im not one to call off for a sniffle. I usually just try to grin and bear it. Now, Ive just been told I have pleurisy! PLEURISY! What?! It literally hurts to breathe. This is insane!

Did anyone else experience this? Does it get better? Is this merely a breaking in period for my immunity? Ive started with Vit C supps but they can only go so far.

:uhoh3::eek:

:p

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Before I started nursing, I thought I had a pretty good immune system. I barely was sick and never really had to call off my previous job (as a surg tech) due to sickness.

But now, Oh my God. I cant STOP being sick. Ive been on the floor for about 10 months and have had more colds, fevers etc than ever before. I mean sick to the point where it hurts to leave my bed. Believe me, Im not one to call off for a sniffle. I usually just try to grin and bear it. Now, Ive just been told I have pleurisy! PLEURISY! What?! It literally hurts to breathe. This is insane!

Did anyone else experience this? Does it get better? Is this merely a breaking in period for my immunity? Ive started with Vit C supps but they can only go so far.

:uhoh3::eek:

:p

If it makes you feel any better, I was just told I have pleurisy, as well......It just plain sucks, doesn't it? I am on my last day of antibiotics....

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Usually r/t stress. I got sick the first year from September to December non-stop, and again from Feb - Sept the one year. I now get the usual illnesses here and there.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OMG - I can so identify. I can vividly remember contracting all the 'cooties' that came my way when I was in nursing school. I had one resp infection after another - always had cough syrup with me in class & couldn't take the stairs because I didn't have enough resp capacity for my last 2 semesters. I even had to wear an eyepatch for a while due to a corneal infection - as I look back, it was pretty funny because I was wearing it during the time I was rotating on a surgical ward that did a lot of eye cases. My immune system didn't 'toughen up' until I had been working for a couple of years.

I blame 2 major factors: 1) we're exposed to much more than most people & 2) we are actively discouraged from taking sick time when needed - so we infect our co-workers.

Crazy, huh?

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OP, just wait till you get something super special. I got Norovirus one semester. Had to go to the ER and get fluids too. Totally embarrassing -- but can truly say I've never been so sick in my life, the short duration was the only blessing. Thought I was going to die.

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Specializes in ED.

Just "playing nurse" here. :D Could it be allergies? I was sick, non-stop, from January to April last year and was on three different antibiotics and nothing worked. One day, all the coughing, stuffy nose, and headache just went away.

I got the same death-rattle cough and all the other funk again in January of this year. It seemed so much worse than before too. A new CRNP clinic opened around the corner from me and she said all i had was allergies. She gave me a nose spray and Xyzol (almost like Zyrtec) and in three days I was symptom free! It was amazing how much better I felt!

It might at least be worth a shot. What do you have to lose?

Hope you feel better!

meredith

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It does get better. Stress of new job, ridiculous long hours we work, subjected to all the germs in the hospital, I'm happy as long as I stick to having flu, RSV, and strep. As long as I don't come down with MRSA and cdiff, I consider myself blessed. :)

But once you've acquired a few more antibodies and the job gets a bit easier, it will be better. Focus on getting plenty of sleep, drinking lots of water. The "wellness" stuff we preach to our patients but ignore ourselves. :)

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

cold after cold after cold after cold after ..... :eek: oh, and despite having had chicken pox when i was four, i had a milder bout of them when i was 27.:uhoh3: sigh...

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw:

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

My first year was spent sick with everything. Then years later my first few months of ER nursing.... woa, I caught everything!. Now 15 years later, knock on veneer paneling, I rarely get anything that goes around.

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I won't even start school until next week and I've already gotten everything!!!! From the time I started applying to school in Jan until now I have gotten: The Flu, strep throat, stomach virus, a UTI, and drumroll please....MONO. This all coming from someone who has rarely been sick my entire life. I told my husband it has to be some kind of Nursing School curse; that or something is trying to stop me from becoming a nurse :uhoh3: lol....

Maybe by the time I actually become a nurse my immune system will be rock solid!?!?(probably not)...

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I have worked in the ER for a year and a half before starting nursing school, never got sick.

as soon as school starts I got some nasty URI with a cough that just linigered.

I am now in my second year, last term I again had some horriable cough carried cough drops in my scrubs had to move my NICU rotation to the last weeks of the term when I was finially symptom free.

Now I am in my last term I have had a cough for 2 weeks finally went to the doctor yesterday and I have pnunmonia.

so you are not alone, many of my fellow nursing students in my cohort also have stress induced sickies.

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Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

Same thing happened to me when I transferred to the ED. I was sick all the time.

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