is your immune system suffering?

calivianya, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2015

The only thing you didn't mention that I can find is how much you sleep per day. People underestimate how much sleep our bodies really need. I had terrible insomnia when I was younger (still do, really, but I manage it better now) and I was getting sick every other month just like you were talking about. I was running down my immune system like nobody's business because I would go multiple days in a row sleeping less than five hours a night for weeks at a time and I paid for it over, and over, and over again.

If you're not already taking a daily vitamin C supplement, it's not a bad idea to start. I swear that helped a little bit while I was going through the worst of the insomnia.

TriciaJ, RN · Aug 9, 2015

How much stress are you under when you're working? Does your work day have a nice ebb and flow with relaxing break times? Or are you chronically on the hamster wheel? Are you relaxed at home, or does work follow you? Do you have a nurturing home life or are there ongoing problems? And most important: how much quality sleep are you getting?

Handwashing and eating well are only parts of the equation. Unless your body gets regular breaks from churning out stress hormones, you may be a sitting duck.

FlyingScot, RN · Aug 9, 2015

I got sick all the time when I worked in the ED. I nearly died from a pneumonia I picked up in the PICU. I have barely been sick for the last 5 years or so. You know what changed? The grocery store started offering disinfectant wipes for the handles of the carts. I use them religiously. Barely a cold since then. Go figure!

cardiacfreak, ADN · Aug 9, 2015

I wash my hands when I enter a patients room, glove up, do my business, remove the gloves, wash my hands before I leave the room, and then use the sanitizer in the hall. I can't say enough about hand washing.

NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN · Aug 9, 2015

From my own ironic experience, I worked in a hospital that had a plentiful supply of contagious pathogens. I think during the 8 years that I worked 40+ hour weeks there I was sick maybe once every two years with a respiratory infection....fast forward to having a child....who is not in daycare but touches everything and the inability to sleep off an infection now if I catch it, I'm sick every month or so. Usually she brings it home first but sometimes I do the honors. Now I'm not even working with contagious patients most of the time but have been sicker than any other time in my life. I would bet that there's something other than working in patient care causing you do get sick, especially if your washing your hands and following all other standard precautions. I wouldn't change jobs just yet.

nealiiih · Aug 9, 2015

thank you everyone. i'm sorry I forgot to mention that I am neurotic about sleep. I almost always get eight hours uninterrupted sometimes nine on a good day. I usually make sure to be in bed by 9:30 PM even on my off days. I take a daily multivitamin, 1 g vitamin C daily , Fish oil, biotin and Claritin. i'm religious about my vitamins and sleep. my fiancÃ© wants kids right after we get married next year & I'm scared to death because I hear horror stories of how all these parents with small children are constantly sick and can never fight off the infections because they never have time to sleep. ðŸ˜

i'm also critical with my use of hand sanitizer out in the world. I'm always wiping down things, wiping off steering wheels, sanitizing my hands before I get in the car after the grocery store, etc. A friend brought to my attention several articles that blame hand sanitizer as the reason for getting sick/bug resistance which I find hard to believe, saying it's depleting my immune system. crazy.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2015

if you give direct patient care, how often do you get sick?

I have not had the flu since 1995. I catch the sniffles once a year. I rarely become sick. My immune system seems solid.

Then again, I'm not the cleanest person in the world. I live like a slob and my house hasn't been cleaned in years. My work scrubs are washed in the same load as my regular clothes, and I do nothing special to disinfect them. I walk around the house in my work shoes. I take baths and showers using plain soap and/or body wash.

There's such a thing as being too clean. The more we use hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap, and antiseptics, the more we reduce our immunity. Germs are good to an extent because they bolster our defenses.

FlyingScot, RN · Aug 9, 2015

I should say that I do not sanitize everything for that very reason. But after watching multitudes of little two-legged Petri dishes slobbering all over the cart handles the ick factor finally got to me.

MunoRN, RN · Aug 9, 2015

Your immune system is like your muscles, they both only get stronger when challenged. If you've spent your whole life making sure your muscles never have to do any work then they aren't going to be that strong, same goes for your immune system.

brownbook · Aug 9, 2015

I have not had the flu since 1995. I catch the sniffles once a year. I rarely become sick. My immune system seems solid.
Then again, I'm not the cleanest person in the world. I live like a slob and my house hasn't been cleaned in years. My work scrubs are washed in the same load as my regular clothes, and I do nothing special to disinfect them. I walk around the house in my work shoes. I take baths and showers using plain soap and/or body wash.
There's such a thing as being too clean. The more we use hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap, and antiseptics, the more we reduce our immunity. Germs are good to an extent because they bolster our defenses.

Your post brought tears to my eyes.....I thought I would get flammed if I posted my "unclean" actions which mimic yours....except I pay for a house cleaning service:). Only since I've gotten older (63), have I gotten a cold once or twice a year.

A doctor mentioned that during WW II measles would sweep through the work/concentration camps. The better fed, healthier, guards would get sicker and have worse cases/reactions than the inmates. It turns out the immune system kicks into overdrive when it is stressed. I'm very poorly interpreting the results, but you get the idea, which is the immune system is so complex the average nurse and even doctor cannot completely understand it.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2015

I have an afterthought...

I was constantly sickly during childhood with chronic sniffles and colds several times per year. My parents smoked in the house and car. Uncoincidentally, I stopped becoming sick the moment I moved out of their house.

A physician once explained that the children of smokers are more prone to illness because constant exposure to passive smoke causes the child's immune system to literally fall asleep at the wheel. It's interesting...