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Do I have the immune system of Zeus?

capEr

Bluelighter
Joined
Oct 16, 2005
Messages
796
Location
Cape Breton, NS
I recently have just gotten over a really gnarly Flu. My roommates who also have it, have been sick for several days to almost a week now, but when I caught it, it lasted for only a day. It seems every time I get sick, it lasts for a very short period of time, even sometimes only half a day (8-12 hrs). I've always been like this, and I've never used any medicines to help, just straight up warm soup and vitamin C. I rarely ever get sick, but when I do it hits me like a ton of bricks and I get "REALLY" sick, but like I said, only for a very short period of time.

So basically what I've been wondering is, could I possibly have a very strong immune system? More so than most? Tomorrow will mark day 7 of my friend being terribly sick with this flu, and I beat mine within 24 hours.
 
I'm sure there are many many variables at play here. For example, what are you and your friends diets like? Do either of you exercise? Have either of you had serious illnesses in the past that have weakened your immune system? Do either of you smoke, drink or partake in drugs on a regular basis? Do you both get enough sleep?

There are so many things to consider when asking a question like "why do I get sicker than my friends". I don't think it's something you'll ever be able to answer with 100% certainty.
 
I was going to mention diet, exercise, drug usage etc...

I'm not exactly asking "why do i get sicker than my friends".. I'm asking is my immune system very strong, considering my roommates have been sick for almost a week, and I was only sick for less than 24 hours.

As far as everything else goes, my diet is pretty moderate, nothing extraordinary. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables, rarely any red meat, but every now and then I'll eat something greasy/unhealthy (fastfood, frozen pizza etc.) about 1-2 times a week give or take. I smoke regularly and drink heavily whenever I can, which is usually only on the weekend with an occasional bender that can go about a week. I could consider myself somewhat of a heavy drinker. The only serious illness I've ever encountered other than influenza, was a real bad case of Mono I had when I was 17 years old (I'am 25 now). As far as my friends go, they're pretty much the same as me, except for one in particular who smokes a lot of weed.

I'm not looking for a definite answer here on bluelight, if I really needed one I would obviously see my doctor and ask. I'm mostly just asking on here to start a general discussion based on my thoughts and experiences with quick recovery from illness and wether or not having a strong immune system plays a part or not.
 
If it literally only lasted a day then you already had anti-body prototypes present from some previous exposure to the strain while your roommate didn't. Having a strong immune system is great when dealing with the common cold but it increases your risk of dying a horrible death via cytokine storm when exposed to especially virulent strains of flu like H5N1
 
You also have no real idea of if you two indeed where infected with the same pathogen. Given the very non-specific nature of it's presentation, it would take some sort of lab workup to determine that.

It's possible you recovered from the same thing he did quicker, it is also possible you two have different infections.
 
Considering we live in the same apartment, share the same utensils, bathroom, condiments, fridge, food etc. and even share cigerettes I'd say it's pretty safe to say we've caught the same thing. Also we have the exact same symptoms.
 
1) Usually people with stronger immune systems feel sicker from milder infections because the immune response is so strong.
2) It is actually possible that your roommates passed you the antibodies as well as the infection. Antibodies can be spread human to human.
 
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