Do You Get Sick at the Same Time Each Year?

Today I came down with a head cold. It’s not a big deal, just annoying. I’ll get over it in a day or so.

In fact, I didn’t deviate from my normal Tuesday schedule of watching American Ninja Warrior with a few friends. While we were watching, one of them mentioned an annual event coming up this weekend, and it hit me: I got sick at the exact same time last year (I missed the event).

Why is this? What does it mean? Is my body on some kind of an annual cycle where it wears down this time of year and needs to reset? Or is it related to the convention I attended a few weeks ago (and at the same time last year)? Normally I would immediately attribute it to “con crud,” but I would think it would strike days after the convention, not weeks.

Have you ever encountered anything like this? If so, have you figured out a way to prevent it? Perhaps I need to spend mid-August each year in an isolation chamber filled with vitamin C and baby spinach.

8 thoughts on “Do You Get Sick at the Same Time Each Year?”

  1. i was self employed in retail and I would ALWAYS get sick at Christmas (not colds but staph infections – EVERY year) cause I was working so hard for so long. I am going to suggest it is not the crud, just pushing yourself extra hard and being a bit rundown could have an effect on your immune system in general. So you come home from con exhausted, and then later get sick. I think we need more than 2 data points, but it is possible I think. BTW – fun fact – one reason you feel so run down when you are sick is that your immune system takes 30% of your energy! After I learned that, I dont feel as bad taking it a bit easy. Nature wants you too! Its a feature not a bug!

    Reply
    • That’s a great point, Candy, and that’s good to know. One of the perks of working from home is that I can take naps when necessary. 🙂

      Reply
  2. I’ve been intending to start a list of exactly when I’m sick each year for a few years, as I’ve had a suspicious feeling that the same ailments have been striking me at the same times annually. It’d be great to be able to test a preemptive dose of vitamins and minerals around the time of an annual illness!

    Reply
      • Self quantifying can be a useful habit! You really do need more data points than less. I have had to do this often over my 20 year career in chronic illness. Good advice is make data collection simple to use, and figure out a format that can analyze it. Yay computers and apps! But for me, I am more pen and paper and can do well with number scales etc.

        Being super OCD as well as looking to save energy where ever possible, I like to make a form and then just circle or writing in numbers, minimal comments, but numbers I can look at a glance say for pain levels. Also for me, I would tend to want to track too many things at once. Better to spread them out and just look at a couple things at a time.

        For something like you guys with the yearly, I would suggest printing out blank calendar pages, and then add the numbers, dont need to match any year, and then just start marking the dates you are sick. Keep the file where it would be accessible and then just remember to use it. Look at me micromanaging, sorry if I am sicksplaining, I have a chart or two on my desk now, one from the last quarter and this quarters goals, so given a chance to talk about it to a sort of interested audience and my on the spectrum takes over.

        Take care!!! And when you are not well, napping IS DOING SOMETHING!

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  3. I found that in the summer months I will get sick when I constantly transition from really cold air conditioning to really hot outside conditions. These transitions shock the body and if your run down the effects are magnified.

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  4. I get “bronchitis” every October and in the first quarter of every year. Does my body remember these things? It has happened every year for the past 3 years. This October when I got bronchitis I suddenly remembered this. I did not think about it until AFTER I got sick again!!

    Reply
    • I’m sorry to hear that, Terri! The last 3 years has coincided with the pandemic–do you think it’s connected? I’ve noticed that due to masking and other precautions, my usual annual sicknesses didn’t happen at all during the pandemic years.

      Reply

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