Saturday 22 August 2015

Getting Sick

Since about lunch time today, my throat has been really sore so I am obviously starting to get a cold. Luckily I dont get colds very often now that I am looking after myself so much better and when I do get colds, my body fights them off extremely quickly.

It is really strange, but whilst I was at my sickest I never ever seemed to get sick. Even though everyone around me got viruses or other 'bugs' I never seemed to which I found quite strange. I think that the reason that I never seemed sick was not because I didn't have the viruses, but instead because my immune system was not working properly so I therefore did not have the common symptoms associated with viruses.

For example, when a person gets a sore throat or runny nose, these are actually ways that the body tries to defend itself by fighting off the illness. However a person with anorexia who is extremely malnourished has a poor immune system and there body therefore will not produce these types of symptoms. If you think about it this is actually quite dangerous as it means you could be suffering from an illness without even realising it.

This is my understanding of why I never seemed to get sick anyway but I dont actually know if this is the scientific explanation for it or not. I suppose another reason may be because I became so socially withdrawn I didnt actually spend enough time with other people in order to catch there illnesses. I also think that perhaps the reason why I never really noticed being sick is because I was just so miserable and weak all the time anyway, regardless of whether or not I had a cold.

I have heard from others that they didn't seem to show symptoms of being sick or having 'bugs' until after they started eating more and after ther started to recover. What are all of your experieces of this? Did you find you got sick very rarely whilst restricting and that you actually seemed to be sick more once you started to recover?




9 comments:

  1. This was a really interesting read
    I rarely got ill when I was sick either
    I hope you feel better soon x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I find it really interesting too! Thank you so much. I hope that you are doing well :) x

      Delete
  2. My dietitian told me about this. When we are at really low weights, our bodies can't afford to get sick. We need that energy to keep us alive, so rather than wasting energy on being unwell, our bodies use that energy, for example, to keep our hearts going. It's the same reason we never feel hungry, it is a waste of precious energy that our body needs to keep us alive. I hope I've made sense Karly! Sorry, I'm not very good at explaining!

    I've nominated you for an award today! Check out my latest blog post if you want to find out more! It's quite exciting I think! Hope you feel better soon lovely xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Annie, Yes I find it extremely interesting. I kind of justt want to become adoctor so that I can understand all these types of things as the human body really does fascinate me so much!

      Thank you for the nomination gorgeous. I will answer tthe questions over the next few days. <3 xx I hope you are doing ok gorgeous, keep fighting X

      Delete
    2. I know what you mean!! The human body is just so fascinating!

      You're welcome for the nomination, I thought it was fun!

      I'm doing ok thank you. I've started to change in my head, and it's a lot of thanks to you. I've started eating so much better, like a lot!! And instead of thinking it's a bad thing, I'm telling myself it's a good thing. It's bad not to eat, because that's anorexia winning. You're helping me so much lovely Karly and I can't thank you enough for the comfort you're providing through being such an amazing friend <3 xx

      Delete
    3. You have no idea how happy I am to hear this Annie. Knowing that you are feeling stronger and more ready to fight your anorexia has seriously made my day. You are a wonderful friend and I honestly don'tt know what I would do without you Annie. <3 xx

      Delete
    4. I've been fighting again today. I just think of you and it really helps to make me stronger! Thank you for being so amazing all the time :) I've started a new meal plan and it's going really well, I can't quite believe it! You're a wonderful friend to me too, really wonderful and I'm so thankful to have 'met' you on here! <3 xoxo

      Delete
    5. I am so so happy to hear that you have started a new meal plan and that it is going well. You are currently making so much progress and I am so prod of you Annie. I know how difficult this all must be but you are doing it anyway which shows just how strong and brave you really are. :) Yes it is strange to think that some of the people I consider to be my closest friends I have never even met. Perhaps one day we will meet one another :) x

      Delete
  3. Yay! I feel the same, I consider you a real close friend yet we've never met, wouldn't it be awesome to meet one day! Xx

    ReplyDelete