Hi everyone so i know because of our immune systems we are more likely to catch things i was just wondering does anyone else catch a cold as much and as easy as i do? Like i say i know its what comes from having a autoimmune disease its just out of everything i seem to get A LOT of colds and they are always really bad that can last weeks. I had 3 within the space of a couple of months last year around october and im now full with one again i only have to be around someone for two mins who has a cold and im full of it within a day and at times i can catch another as soon as ive got rid of one. I was just wondering if anyone else gets them as much and if so do you take anything to help prevent getting them so much or is there anything that can help the immune system. Like i say i understand its what comes with our condition its just having so many all the time i think its just getting to me to be honest
Colds: Hi everyone so i know because of our immune... - NRAS
Colds
Hello Emma. Yes in previous years I've had a few colds, which I think was often due to working one to one with students when I was tutoring. Some of the colds turned into chest infections and I needed antibiotics. Like you my immune system is suppressed due to the medication I take and the RA. But since last March I haven't had one cold. I live alone and I've been shielding, wearing a mask when out, keeping my distance from everyone and frequent hand washing. No hugs with my family at Christmas either when we just met up for a couple of hours over Christmas lunch. What a difference these changes have made.
I have used First Defence in the past, which is a product you squirt up your nose and is supposed to repel the bugs. My hairdresser recommended it and all her staff use it to try to avoid catching colds from their clients. Other people use Vaseline and put a little up into each nostril to act as a barrier. (Other similar products are available of course!).
Thank you. Anytime i know anyone had a cold i always try and keep my distance but always seem to catch them i think it just gets you down when its a recurring thing and its never just a light cold it always hits me like a tonne of bricks and makes me lose my appetite. Ill try the your advise
Unfortunately, the problem is people can be brewing a cold and be asymptomatic (just like Covid) and pass their germs on to you. So just avoiding people who already have a cold will not prevent you catching one.
I used to get a lot of colds pre-RA, and since I have a history of lung problems they would turn into bronchitis and pneumonia. However I have had RA and been on immune suppressing drugs for 10 years, and have had I think two colds in all that time, maybe 3. And no chest infections.
Since I was diagnosed I have been taking greater care of my health, and I think that has made the difference. I eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fish so I imagine that my vitamin and mineral levels are very good. I use public transport less than I used to, but I am very conscious of things like washing my hands (even before Covid!) which does help. Look at how little flu there is this year!
(I have also had my pneumococcal vaccine, as don’t want pneumonia a third time!)
I am the same with washing hands even before covid its always been a daily routine im a bit ocd with being clean haha i think im just prone to catching colds can just be very draining when its all the time
Hi there, I don't get very many colds at all, never have done, but I probably get fewer since having RD and have noticed that when I do have a cold the RD is less active. Pre Covid, I did use first defence if I came into contact with someone with a cold.
The wearing of masks seems to be cutting down the amount of seasonal flu and colds this year, I wonder if we will see a cultural shift and the good old UK public will take to mask wearing over the winter months in future ?
It must just be me then haha i seem to get them more and more sever since having RA. I think this whole covid will change how people are . well i hope so, hopefully it will make people realise how quick things can spread and how wearing masks and washing hands can help
I worked in the health service so I always had lots of, usually, mild infections from being exposed to other people's germs. Now I'm retired and can avoid people with infection and keep my distance, I hardly ever have any infections. But I've still managed to have pneumonia twice (not pneumococcus which I've had the immunisation). It's a hazard once your immune system is stopped from over-reacting all the time.
Take care.
You’re not alone. This is my first 12 months diagnosed and medicated, although I’ve had RD for about 20 years. I’ve been shielding since March other than medical appointments, but my daughter had been going to school between September and December of last year. Although I have quite a few health problems, I’ve always been pretty robust, and if I got a couple of short-lived colds a year, that was literally it. Since October, despite only having close contact with one other adult and my 12yo, I’ve had 5 colds. All of them have lasted weeks, and all of them have gone to my chest. My white cell count remains just within normal, but it started off at the top end of the range when I started on treatment, and I’ve watched it steadily decline with every blood test I’ve had; I strongly suspect this is reflected in my newfound ability to catch every virus I come into contact with despite following good hygiene practices and keeping my distance from everyone except my kid. As my daughter has been shielding alongside me this lockdown to try and keep me safe, literally the only way I could have caught the last one was from my food shopping delivery. How pants is that?!?! 🤦♂️😂
Rather boringly I wash/sanitise all the shopping that is delivered here and comes into the house. I’ve become a little obsessive about avoiding other peoples germs because of Covid 🙄
Yes ... totally prone ... I ask everyone who feels in any way achy or feeling like they may have something not to come to see me. Have you had the flu and pneumonia jab. That helped and helps me enormously and I don’t end up in hospital because of a cold and asthma. The best thing you can do is ask anyone who is ill to just go away until they are better. It isn’t fair in you at all. My brother always used to take his gorgeous children (my nephews who I love dearly) full of snot over to see my Dad. Once my Dad caught anything he was very ill for the duration of the entire autumn winter and spring. It used to make me so cross.
I used to have one at least once a year, more when I was in working in retail & a GP Practice but nowadays I have fewer colds. Actually can't think when I had one last, I think it was when my h returned from a business trip abroad, he usually comes down with a cold when he's been away so that would be 4 or 5 years ago. He says it's aeroplane air. My diet probably helps, plus I take vitamin D every day as part of my twice daily Adcal-D3. The dose is 400iu (10mcg) Vitamin D & I take it twice daily so 800iu or 20mcg daily. My vitamin D level is checked every winter too & has never dipped below 50.
Have you had your level checked at all? If not & you don't already supplement it I’d ask if you should be checked, especially now we're in winter & lacking the natural form from sunshine, or if you don't heat oily fish regularly. It's just added to my normal drug monitoring bloods.
No ive never had my levels checked. On all my letters from the government about covid they have offered me a few months on vitamin D i wasnt too sure if we can just take it or if you have to be checking with your doctors
Vitamin D can definitely help fight off infections (there have even been claims that it *may* help improve outcomes in Covid patients - though don't quote me on that one 
) and if you've been shielding or even just staying more indoors over the last year then the chances are quite high that your levels may be low...
As far as I am aware, it's safe for most people to take (according to my rheumy, it's certainly not contra-indicated with Mtx) but obviously if you're at all unsure do check with your medics first... then if all OK, maybe worth accepting that nice(?) Mr Hancock's offer of a few free months' worth and just see if it makes any difference?
Sorry Emma, I missed your reply, didn't receive an alert. This is taken from NRAS info re diet, it might help
Vitamin D. Vitamin D is needed to help the body absorb calcium. Approximately 20% of daily Vitamin D requirement is obtained from the diet; the remaining 80% come from exposure to the sun on the skin (Cutolo). Vitamin D plays an important role in the functioning of the immune system and its response to infection. Vitamin deficiency is frequently being observed in RA, where evidence suggests this is associated with a more rapid progression of RA (Vojinovic). It is worth checking vitamin D levels with your GP or Rheumatology team. as those with little exposure to the sun or increased requirements, may require a supplement, e.g. Adcal D3/ Calcichew. nras.org.uk/resource/diet/
I should also have mentioned that of the 3 fruits a day I eat I always include one citrus, that may go some way to helping.
Thank you thats very helpful i will see about getting my vitamin d levels checked if they can do that with whats going on at the minute. Will deffo get vitamin c in me and try the citrus fruit then hopefully find out about my vitamin d levels and if i should and can be taking that as well 
How often do you have your MTX drug monitoring bloods Emma? If you have one coming up you could ask if it can be added to those, that's all my Nurse does. If when the results come back it's lower than recommended levels they should contact you (50 is adequate though higher is preferable), otherwise they'll let you know what it is when your bloods are taken next, or ask if they don't tell you. However it is one of the Vitamins if you have excess of you just wee it out, as long as you're not taking silly high levels that some supplement companies sell, & recommend in some instances (4000iu or 100mcg is considered high). Best to ask one of your team what mcg you should take if your levels are low.
I have my next monthly bloods next week so i will ask the nurse about it and if she can check just to see if they are low as they have never been checked and they have never mentioned anything about them so it will be worth checking even if they come back saying they are fine
Hi Emma
I used to get a couple of colds every year. Not many but always had catarrh through winter.
Now, rarely catch a virus. I am careful to lead a healthy lifestyle and since starting Rituximab and with the threat of COVID-19, I decided to add 1,000mg Vitamin C and also a Vit D3 supplement. I don’t recall when I last had a cold but I have occasionally been hit with nausea and feeling unwell since November 2020.
Lifestyle does make a difference eg food, and how much we’re mixing with others.
Thank you i may try some vitamins see if they help ive never really taken any tbh so maybe that will help. I try my hardest to keep away from anyone that has anything from colds to sickness bugs but some of the times people dont tell me they have been ill or feel ill until its to late and ive already been around them which is such a pain
Sorry to say many are pretty unintentionally thoughtless and don’t grasp how important it is. I am rather hoping that Covid will mean things change with other peoples hygiene/infection control improves generally going forward 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Hi! I've had one cold in the last three years. I take 1000mg vit C daily, it seems to work 🤷♀️
I have the same problem and like you find that if I'm not careful, it turns into a chest infection. This past year hasn't been so bad, probably because of all the precautions we've been taking. Good luck.
I think they way to avoid colds is much like the way to avoid Covid. Wash your hands well and frequently, disinfect surfaces, avoid touching your face, and keep your distance from others with a cold. If anyone in my house catches a cold I do not let them touch anything in the kitchen at all. May be it is extreme but it works well for me.
I have a severely compromised immune system and in October 2019 I got a bad cold which turned into a chest infection and then reoccurred over and over for six months. I did find that the baricitinib I was taking at that time made it worse and because of the recurrent infections I eventually had to stop it. However before that and during a year of shielding I’ve only had one slight sniffle, when I was first made aware of my severely compromised immune system issues I always wore gloves if I went out and on returning home would wash my hands and blow my nose it did keep me virus free for many years and anyone who knew me knew they weren’t allowed to visit if they were sick but you can’t avoid everything with the general public. The vitamin C and D are a very good idea because I’m pretty sure they help too.
Thank you ill give them a go. I started baricitinib last year just as the lockdown started so maybe thats whats made me immune system worse as well i usually catch them a lot but ive had around 4 now in the space of just over 4 months even tho i am very careful and have hardly left the house
Yeah I found getting colds and chest infections also throat infections and sinus infections were much worse with Baricitinib they do make you more likely to infection. I was also taking low dose antibiotics but they definitely don’t mix with Baricitinib at the same time. They did seem ok on 2mg of Bari but couldn’t tolerate them when I moved to 4mg dose. I think this was my main problem but I did need prophylactic antibiotics because of my severely compromised immune system which was there before I started Baricitinib. The 2mg dose didn’t quite cut it but with the assistance of prophylactic antibiotics I did manage to stay infection free for a year.
Hi Emma, yes do give the Vit D offer from the Dept of Health a go. I did and last week received my 3 months' worth. It is 400 IU (10mg) which is apparently the recommended dose. I haven't had a cold for nearly 2 years now, but put that down partly to the various lockdowns over the last 11 months and social distancing. I also take 500 mg Vit C a day and I too have used Vics 'First Defence' spray in the past, which did seem to reduce the effects of a cold considerably, if not prevent it developing completely. However, the last 2 times i used it, i did get ear infections afterwards and did wonder if there was a connection, although I was having a lot of ENT problems at the time anyway, so maybe not. Other than that i can recommend having a root ginger (just a thin slice, peeled and chopped up, cider vinegar (1 des. spoon) and honey (1 flat t spoon) tea daily. I leave it to brew for about 20 mins. I have been doing that for years and it tastes good too!😀
I've never suffered much from colds, even though I was a teacher and in contact with lots of people at work. I haven't had more since getting RA. I've taken Vitamin C with zinc for decades, also vitamin D, but of course can't prove that has been the reason. After retiring I've done various voluntary tasks that all involved close contact with several people and still hardly ever get a cold.
hi Emma just seen this post. i had a chest infection last February, have a weakness there as had heart trouble 25 years ago. on the whole stay very well on MTX injections, take vitamin D every day. shielding atm but have a walk each day, just had AstraZeneca jab last week. good luck
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