Multiple viruses this year - is this usual once 60+?

Ah you don't say how much you mix with other people which is a key factor, Are you exposed on a regular basis to children or groups of adults? I don't think you should expect to have virus after virus if you have a healthy e.g.Mediterranean type diet. I know its a cliche but there is a lot going around at the moment. I think all you can do is keep up the fresh fruit and veg, maybe consider a mask if you are going out where there are large groups of people and keep up the regular and thorough handwashing. I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks @BigBerthal. Yes, I have an active social life and work 1 day a week with other groups of adults. I'm just a bit surprised to have caught viruses 3x in one year, that's not usual for me at all. 😟

I think much of it is pot luck.
I am 70
I have a busy social life, several clubs, groups and societies. Young Grandsons that I see regularly. I can’t remember when I last had a virus.

Regard less of your age of you’d have pre existing conditions your resistance to bugs will be lower, so avoiding close contact and wearing a mask if you can’t avoid crowds is a big help.

As we get older our immune system is less efficient, at what age that happens varies with the individual, some are hail and hearty into their 90s, others suffer much younger.

At 75 I’ve had Covid, Flu and the RSV vaccines so I’m optimistic, other years I’ve had one cold after the other I just couldn’t shake them

I think it is just luck of the draw We are both down with a severe respiratory infection requiring home and day hospital visits for DH, and me, just feeling dreadful day after day after day. Two weeks in and counting. Yet for the last few years, COVID apart we have been bug free, or at least free of anything that lasts more than 48 hours. And we are now in our 80s

I must have had about six chest infections over the past year .
I'm older than you , but it came as a shock .
I was about to go out today when I fell fast asleep and woke up with a slight headache , sore throat and chest pain .
I'm sitting quietly with my soup having dosed up on vitamins.
I know how you feel -it's that here we go again feeling .
Don't push yourself .
Take it easy .
Covid is insidious .
When you feel better work on your fitness levels - that's what I'm doing .
And learn to say no to things which are too much - that's what I've had to do .
Get well soon .

Thanks for all your comments/advice.
Get well soon too to @Esmay & @M0nica /her DH. 💐💐

Get well soon. I’ve been the same this year and currently trying to shake off a flu like cold! It is my third this year plus a really nasty ear infection. I do go out and about a lot and mix with school age GC. Im going to start vitamin D and take regular vitamin C to see if that helps. It seems to take me longer to bounce back this last year or so now in my late sixties.

I too have had repeated chest infections.
Am totally sick of them.
😕
Not particularly fit but am vegetarian, have eaten a largely wholefood "Mediterranean" type diet (since the 1970s) and swim 3 or 4 times a week.

No idea where it's coming from. Have also been floored by covid - though didn't actually test positive straight away. I was really pretty bad with it.

This year has been pretty grim health wise altogether I feel.

I've had a full blood count including vitamins as I thought something must be wrong.
All OK.

Not amongst the people I know in the age group.

But, a few people I know have had a big health event in that particular age group.

I think it’s a post-Covid thing.
I had Covid (not badly) in Jan 22. During the next 18 months I had several colds and 3 UTI’s.
I’ve had nothing at all 🤞🤞🤞since September 23.
I’m convinced the virus had a longterm effect on my immune system.
I hope you’re feeling better soon OP.

I seem to catch every cold that's going now and they get a little chesty. Not sure if this is because I've had covid though.
Travelling on the bus every morning taking my GC to school probably doesn't help, may be why I catch more.
I remember my mother gradually got more and more worried about catching things, she said it seemed to take longer to get over them.

It’s only after I got my Covid vaccine that I was diagnosed as having AF and been hospitalised twice because of it up until that I considered myself very healthy

AF comes on unexpectedly for many.
One of the main factors is Age

Unfortunately, we are all getting older. Even the very fit amongst us.

www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/atrial-fibrillation/causes

Age, family history and genetics, lifestyle, heart disease or other medical conditions, race, and surgical history can all raise your risk of developing the structural and electrical issues that lead to atrial fibrillation. Even in a healthy heart, a fast or slow heart rate — from exercising or sleeping, for example — can trigger atrial fibrillation. Sometimes, though, atrial fibrillation happens for no obvious reason.

OlderthanI think - The last 2 Covid vaccines made my heart rate fly all over the place. I won't have another one, either. I've had Covid twice, neither times was it too bad, and have Long Covid. And for the first time, I've just had Norovirus - and that was awful!

My husband was hospitalised in May with the most awful virus. It just came out of the blue. He never gets colds, has never had a chest infection. He was taken to A&E where we had an 8 hour wait to see a doctor. They admitted him and pumped him full of goodness knows what. All good now 🤞

Have any of you heard of Echinacea? It's a herbal remedy that boosts your immune system. I've been taking it for at least 15 years and haven't been ill once in that time. I really do swear by it, it has no side effects and you can't overdose on it. At the first sign of a sniffle I just take an extra tablet. I think I may be blessed with a strong immune system, but even so I do recommend it. I'm 83 by the way

I get chest infections now. Whereas before Covid it was always head colds..And even then it wasn’t a regular thing…but since the Covid vaccines and getting older, Ive been getting the most horrendous chesty coughs..And I haven’t smoked for over 50 years..

I’ve just realised after reading the stories on here..My dad was 100 years old when he died..and I don’t remember him ever being ill…His arthritis would flare up every so often, but that was it..

I have tried echinacea but had an allergic reaction. I cannot remember the exact details, it was quite some time ago

I'm tempted to try Echinacea but, is it compatible with HRT? I can ask my GP at my next review appointment.

Milliedog

OlderthanI think - The last 2 Covid vaccines made my heart rate fly all over the place. I won't have another one, either. I've had Covid twice, neither times was it too bad, and have Long Covid. And for the first time, I've just had Norovirus - and that was awful!

There's certainly a link between palpitations and the Covid vaccine. I think everyone has to weigh up risks vs benefits, bearing in mind that infection can also cause the kind of symptoms I have had.

Kate1949

My husband was hospitalised in May with the most awful virus. It just came out of the blue. He never gets colds, has never had a chest infection. He was taken to A&E where we had an 8 hour wait to see a doctor. They admitted him and pumped him full of goodness knows what. All good now 🤞

Sorry to hear this, it must have been very worrying. Glad all is okay now. 💐