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237053 tn?1258828426

GOOD OR BAD IMMUNE SYSTEM?

Doesn't lyme normally lower ones immune system making them more suceptible to other illness?  This may seem weird, but I consider my immune system to be very strong.  I hardly ever get sick with a cold or flu.  I've only had one very minor cold in a year.  It lasted maybe 2 days and I recovered very fast.  Is this possible with lyme?  How can I be so sick from "lyme" yet never get sick with the common stuff?

????
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237053 tn?1258828426
Nope I have 2 small children.  I NEVER get their stuff.  I can't figure out why if our immune system is so weak why we aren't getting the easy catch stuff?
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Avatar universal
OMG this is way to weird...I also have not been getting sick...
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535822 tn?1443976780
A lot of getting colds is due to what children you have in the house or if they have flown the coop' they usually bring all the germs in, folks with small school children and even older ones are always sick especially in the winter,one cold after another , the little treasures are veritable germ 'bags' but it is still a fact that I also dont get many colds if at all, and I do have kids around...sometimes.
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Avatar universal
Always wondered that myself. By some accounts, my immune system is a wreck: my CD57 is 42, I have high antibody response to bacterial/viruses implicated in CFIDS and Lyme. But same thing, I don't get the cold sickness any more than the people I know. Bizarre in a good way.
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428506 tn?1296557399
I really don't know.

During the 1.5 years in which I was obviously sick, but undiagnosed, I didn't get any colds/flu.

But shortly after starting treatment, I got two colds, one almost right after the other.

Not sure what this means, if anything!  
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Avatar universal
I rarely get sick either.  
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904511 tn?1251219733
Wow, that is so weird that you mentioned that! My immune system has always been super strong! I have never really gotten sick much! EVER! My whole family had strep throat and they have all gotten the flu and really bad colds and I never get anything. The only thing that I can think of getting that no one else did was a few weeks ago I got that common virus in my mouth from a swimming pool. The doc said it was just a simple virus that i should have been able to fight off but couldn't.
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Avatar universal
In the 5 or so years I've had Lyme, I haven't (knock on wood) even had the sniffles.  My CD57/natural killer cells are somewhat suppressed, but I would expect that since they are being used up in battle against the bugs.

Everyone is different, I would guess, depending on the existing strength of the immune system and other ailments which the person may already have and may acquire over time.

I do have concern that at some point my immune system will just quit, but all the more reason to get well soon.
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Avatar universal
I think our immune system is so stressed from the lyme disease that our bodies can't stand up to the flu or colds.  After a few months of treatment I got my seasonal allergies back and a whopper of a cold.  I would brag to my family, who would get sick in the flu season, How I may be sick with some unknown disease but my immune system is tip top shape because I never seemed to get the colds or flu anymore.  

Just a thought.

Jena
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666921 tn?1254990618
good question! - maybe our immune system just hasn't got the equipment to fight the lyme bacteria - but can still handle the stuff that we have built-up a natural immunity to.

the spirochete thing seems a very 'clever' organism - look how it behaves when it comes to 'syphillis' the other spirochete disease - goes dormant - there are 3 stages to syphillis too - if left untreated - also the 'cure' involves 'herxing' - there are a lot of similarities with these two diseases

I haven't looked into it too much but I think 'syphillis' seems to have a clear-cut progression - from stage one to three - if left untreated - where as lyme appears to be more complicated/elusive - something I have pondered over is - how does lyme effect the animals that it 'uses' - do deers get lyme disease - if not they must have an immunity to it - is it something in their diet of vegetation, etc, etc,  -  I guess we all have a lot of unanswered questions - thankfully we have each other - I know I am 'rambling-on' here - but hey 'it's good to talk'

gorbsx







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