Hi Jason.
Thank you for your confidence in me. I have heard your complaint quite commonly over the 33+ years that I have been a family practice physician and there are two common threads in most of them
1) The time of year
2) A father (or mother) who has school age children at home.
We had all four of our kids (all grown and in their 30s) and their spouses and our eight grandchildren over for our annual Christmas celebration last night and half of them had upper respiratory infections (colds), and the others that didn't had recently had one.
Parents of school-age children are very susceptible to all of the crud the kids bring home. This occurs much more often throughout the fall and winter months, especially during the holidays it seems. The stress of the holidays also is a huge factor at opening us adults up for this bugs.
I would bet that you are merely a part of this sector. Some adults are lucky and never get sick. My wife Barbee is one of them. I, on the other hand, get a cold probably 1-2 times per year, but I see a lot of sickies at the office as well.
I highly doubt that you have any sort of immunodeficiency disease or serious problem. If you did, you would be sick all of the time throughout the year with no let up. To be sure, you could always make an appointment with your doctor and get a blood test to check your complete blood count. But I HIGHLY doubt it.
I have seen your photo, and you appear to be a very healthy guy. AND the fact you eat a whole food, plant-based diet is the best medicine and prevention one can do. But once in awhile we DO need an antibiotic to kick something completely out of our bodies that has been lingering too long, even us plant eaters!
I have found something that seems to work most of the time for heading off a cold or at least greatly shortening the duration and severity. Zicam I wear by. They are over-the-counter zinc tablets or lozenges that you start taking at the onset: when you feel a slightly scratchy throat or other symptoms letting you know a cold might be coming on.
If I am not even completely sure I am getting a cold, but feel a bit under-the-weather, I start on the Zicams! They seem to work very well. You may want to get some to keep on hand for the next time you may feel one coming on.
I hope that this information has been helpful for you. We wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and prosperous New Year.
Let me know if you need any additional information. If you ever get out this way, let us know!
Best wishes,
Ted
