Immune system and racing

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by peterwright
I have been suffering from more than my share of illnesses such as throat infections / colds etc over the past 6 months. I had two courses of antibiotics initially but although these seemed to cure it at the time I now feel my immune is low. I have two young children and so am exposed constantly to new viruses. I train 8 hours / week and race once each weekend. At present it seems that after a hard race I am likely to be at risk of going down with something and am getting sick every 3 weeks or so. I am really fed up with it and want to regain my former strength (no doc visits or drugs for years at a time)

Any help or advice on how to strengthen my immune ?

Thanks

Peter

Just a few tips - please remember that the your immune system is at a lower level after a hard ride / workout
Take Vitamin C & a multivitamin daily.
Put sweats on right after a ride.
Don't ride home with the air conditioner or heater blowing directly on you.
When you start feeling better - take it easy - it can take up to 3 weeks to fully regain your health.
Cleanliness is next to godliness or so one of my shop teachers said (wash hands, disinfectant spray for when someone sick talks on a phone, dusting, vacuming, etc...)
Let fresh air into your house instead of leaving everything closed up.
Hope this helps

Good advice from SLS. I read that daily fresh fruits and vegetables are supposed to strengthen immune health as well.

I don't race, but I also have problems with a recurring low-grade infection which seems flare on a 3-week basis when I am training a lot and then doing hard club rides on weekends.

Doctor calls my condition "allergic sinusitis", which I believe is a low-grade bacterial infection that is triggered by mold/dust allergies. When it flares up, I get sinus congestion, and feel a little achey and sore with low energy. Other than decongestants, he hasn't got a cure. Often have to skip riding for a day or two. It can take 3-5 days to clear up.

But, aren't these kind of problems linked to overtraining? You might try turning down the intensity on your daily rides, or putting in a rest day every week. Even with less training, I suspect your race performance could be a lot better without this recurring infection.

Just my own experience here. I'm no doctor or pro trainer.

Dan

I have been talking to a friend who swears by Homeopathy (and against antibiotics)

I am keen to look at any angle to clear this problem up in the longer term rather than just for a few weeks.

Has anyone out there got any views on this form of medicine ?

Peter

If you have a viral infection as stated on the other thread then antibiotics will do nothing for you. There's some 'thin' evidence that extra Vit C, Zinc, and ecchinecea (sp?) may help.

There's good evidence, that taking in ~ 1.0 to 1.5 g carbohydrate per kg body mass within 30-mins of finishing a hard ride will help your immune system and increase resistance to some infections.

Ric

Ric is correct: antibiotics are to treat bacterial infections and no have no activity against viruses. If you take antibiotics for a viral infection like a cold or the 'flu, all you are going to do is waste money, risk getting a side effect and promote resistance to those antibiotics in the bacteria that are living inside/on you.

If you are going to take big doses of vitamin C (ie grams) for more than a couple of weeks, you probably shouldn't stop all of a sudden but rather wean the dose down. However, the risk of anything bad happening is very small, especially if you have a balanced diet.

OK, I'm knew to this site so hi to everyone.

In the '90 I had much the same thing going on, every time I'd get sick with a cold or flu it was 3 weeks of the bike. The whole thing drove me mad untill a friend came back from spending a year racing in Belguim and gave me some great advice.

1. L-Glutamine......take it in powder form if you can get it, after training or last thing at night in some warm water.

2. Echinacea......the brand I use is Bioforce (Echinaforce, resistance drops).......this seems to be the one that works for me, there are many others out there but alot depends on what part of the plant it's taken from. Even my mother loves this stuff, works better than anything she has ever taken. You need to take it in a cycle of 2 weeks on and 1 week off as there is alot of "free radicals".

3. As said before, washing your hands is so so important and keeping them away from you mouth,eyes,nose.

One of the best things about taking the above, you'll have no worries about a drug test in a race unlike some other cold remidies......I rode an 8 day stage race in May and took the above to ward of any colds and was tested on the last day, every thing came back clear.....so many riders get caught out just because they're trying to fright of colds.

Hope this info can help.