HI ....When I am in a relapse ( I have had ME/CFS for 14 years ) that is homebound /bedbound/couchbound, I rarely get anything other than the ME symptoms..as my Doc says that I am protected by being at home..
BUT when I am doing better and out and about in the world then I do get flu,s and colds....last year I had 5 bouts in 6 months of the flu...then straight after 3 months of better health..go figure then 4 months of relapse again ( no sure reason ) then when I emerged from the relapse about a month later I got the flu again and then again ( from my hubby ) and now I am doing ok again and able to get out a little...This illness is crazy...but like you said its either an overactive or underactive immune system..

When i had the worst bout of flu same as hubby,s he was way sicker than me ...and we recovered the same time....go figure!!!!

Sorry Im not much help except to summarise my experiences...

hugz

I haven't heard that. I don't think I am getting sick more or less often than I would before, considering the exposure to people I have.

When I do get sick, it can make my symptoms go really bad. I had a cold that wasn't very bad a few months ago. I was a little stuffed up but I could still breathe out of my nose, even at night. But my cfs symptoms got really bad. I started needing help walking across the room. I was extra fatigued, very worn - as if I had pushing myself unreasonably hard. After a week I started crying because I thought maybe it was permanent and the cfs was just going to be this bad. After the cold went away the cfs symptoms slowly eased up.

So while it feels like the begining of the end, it's just temporary. Feel a little less scared?

If you are having frequent infections, or multiple infections, make sure your Dr is checking for CVID. That was one of the signs of when my CVID was diagnosed. Now with being on IVIG, my infections are alot less, and milder. Prior to the IVIG, I had bronchitis alot, pneumonia frequently. CFS and CVID frequently are disease linked together.

Yes I think julesd, that it our immune systems could swing from being over to under active. I have also heard that there are many sub-categories of CFS, so not all people will be the same, hence Flying Chicklet's situation.
All I know is what happened to me and 3 winters ago I got sick a lot and 2 winters ago I actually got sick every 3 weeks with a pretty bad illness, so I would be sick for a week, well for 2 then sick again.
I went to two Dr's and said there must be something wrong with my immune system! Then at the end of the second bad winter the fatigue kicked in but only last 2 months, again the Dr's did not warn me that this could be the start of CFS and to take extra care of myself, whether or not I would have taken it seriously, I'll never know but I wish I had been aware of how bad it could get.
5 months after that I got full on CFS and 7 months later (present) I have my first cold in over a year. My CFS symptoms are definitely not as bad, I just feel like I have a bad cold. Hmmm fingers crossed that once it goes I will feel normal again!!!

My doctor diagnosed me with "immune activation" before CFS. CFS was only diagnosed after I asked for clarification months later. He said the virus that started all this is long gone, but my immune system is still reacting to it- hence the sore throat, fatigue, aches etc. etc. I have not had a cold or chest infection or viral anything since coming down with CFS almost exactly a year ago. I dread the day I get a cold and am absolutely terrified of the flu... Even if it would mean my immune system has calmed down. Doc specifically said that the flu would be very bad for me, so I assume, even if our immune systems are overactive, it doesn't mean they will effectively fight off some infection or virus. It is more accurate to call it "immune disregulation".

EMilo - or immune dysfunction, or as I like to call it "ffffing annoying'! and thats putting it mildly.
I do have to say that people around me got a sore throat for a day or two and I have been really sick with one day of hardly moving off the couch.

YES! ALL THE TIME, always getting sick! You have to take vitamins that help boost your immune system. Vitamin C helps.

SInce having ME/CFS for seven years, I can say for certain that my bouts with colds, flu, stomach bugs have definately decreased! My body fights off stuff that my husband and daughter get. They are sick, I am not.

The only thing I seem prone to is stomach upset, but I have GI problems from the CFS so that is to be expected. I have never gone so many years without having the flu, since CFS. However, like Julie said, I'm away from other sick people most of the time. I used to work in a doctor's office, so I had a lot of exposure.

I don't think there is one answer to this question, because I really believe our immune systems are so messed up....and behave differently for each of us, that it's really hard to figure out why we do better or worse than the normal population with colds and upper respiratory infections. My experience is a good one. I have less trouble than I did before CFS! PTL!

I agree with Darla on this...since getting CFS 6 years ago I'm like her; but before getting it....I had a viral flu with a high temp. The same year I had the shingles also was still in a depression over my parents deaths. I remember being fatigued and thinking my house was making me sick. Even had an environmental engineer come out and check the house, soil, and water.
It hits us all in different ways ; yet some symptoms are alike.

This year, I've had 5 colds which usually took me 1 1/2 -2 weeks to recover from, a sinus infection which took me 1 1/2 months (had to take 2 different antibiotics) and then I got shingles. I was on tetracycline in addtion to the meds I had to take for the sinus infection and shingles. It knocked me out!! I've been pretty much sick, in addition to CFS, this entire year. Lucky me, lol.

The colds happened like clock work, every 2 months. I had one year where I got alot of colds (again, every 2 months) and other years where I hardly had any. And I was out and about around people when I could all those years.

When CFS was really bad and I hardly left my condo, I rarely got a cold. So who the hell knows how this strange disease works but it sure is frustrating. It is nice to know I'm not alone though!!

The good news is when the 2 month mark came again, over a week ago, I felt a cold coming and my body was able to fight it off. That was a first in a long time. Have to celebrate these small victories :).

I do absolutely everything that I can to prevent getting colds/flu. I don't get them often, but when I do, it is absolute murder! A few weeks ago after my sister and broinlaw both had colds or something like it, I felt like I was starting to come down with it, too, and simply refused to be sick. I absolutely refused to receive it and the next day I was back to my regular level of awfulness.
Colds absolutely do worsen CFS symptoms. When I had one, I was sure I was dying and that I was never going to feel better again. Was quite the scary feeling. But once the cold left, I felt better. So hang in there.

I heard that also I have at least 3 or more colds a year I got one right now.. It right our symtems are not like others . I lost my moom tow months ago and I had a flare what I call them for sverls weeks now . I have to take naps and try resting more . take care of your self praying for all you out there huggskathyjo

Since I replied...guess what? I got a cold! Mostly a sore throat and a fever. This time, I know my cfs symptoms are not worse than before the cold. I caught this from my daughter so it's easier to tell if it's a cold symprom or cfs acting up.

That reminds me of something...if we get sick, how do we know? The tell tale symptoms are the same as cfs symptoms. We can get low grade fever and chills, feel very fatigued, a little achy....and it could just be the cfs. It's quite possible we all get sick often but can't tell the difference. If I can't think of something I overdid or have been upset about (triggers for my symptoms) I wonder if I'm having a crash or am sick.

And for everyone else with a sore throat, I made a wonderful discovery. Dreyers lemonade popsicles (with real lemon juice) works better on a sore throat then drink warm fluids. It works so well for a brief time it goes away. They are also delicious.

If you must go the warm liquid route, this is my family sore throat treatment recipie. Warm grapefruit juice (mug in the microwave is convenient) to temp you drink your hot beverages. Stir in some honey. Drink slowly and enjoy. I have tweaked this recipie - before adding honey, but mint tea in to steep using the grapefruit juice instead of water. Then add the honey. This will help with a stuffy nose, especially if you breathe in the steam in between sips.

Well I think that my CFS symptoms decreased whilst I was sick, and I know this sounds wierd as the symptoms are similar but I can tell them apart. Normally (CFS) I feel a weakness throughout my body that is specific to CFS only. When I had my bad headcold, I didn't have this weakness, I felt like a normal person with a bad h/cold and I felt each day that I got better was leading to a normal exsistance. Well I had two really good days at the end of my h/cold but then crashed two days ago!
So annoyed and angry right now, you know I actually think it's worse having the odd good day as it reminds us of how living a normal life feels like and then it gets taken away so quickly to start this miserable exsistance all over again!!!
I used to think that flare ups were when our body came under attack from a bug?? not sure if that is the case anymore.

I unfortunately don't think it's the beginning of the end, though I am not a doctor. I have had CFS for 5 years and am currently sick with a cold I've had for almost 2 weeks. It has completely knocked me off of my feet.