Sick now, more than ever,,,,

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.

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....

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.

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?

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.

Just "playing nurse" here. 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

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. :)

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.

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 lol....

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

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.

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