Expats and illness?

Since I moved to the UK 2+ years ago, I have been ill I'd say on average once a month.  Generally, it's just a cold, but I've also had 2 ear infections and what I think was a mild bout of flu.  Currently, I'm fighting off bronchitis and a sinus infection, both of which I've had for several weeks and can't seem to shake.   

In the US, I was almost never sick, and when I was, I recovered quickly and easily.  I've heard that sometimes expats can have trouble with illness because the diseases in their new country are slightly different than what their immune systems are used to.  This seems plausible enough, except I was never sick when I lived abroad before now. 

Has anyone else noticed that their immune system is less effective since they moved?  I suppose the fact that I work in a school with lots of students bringing germs from their countries doesn't help, but I was also ill several times before I started working there, when most of my time was spent in my in-laws house in a small village in Somerset.  I'd be interested to know if this is a common occurrence or if it's just me.

Thanks! 

My first 2 years here were like that. I seemed to catch everything. It settled down though, and now I am back to normal. Hope you feel better soon!

I was pretty constantly ill for the first 4 months I was here - colds, flus, I just never got back to 100%. Since then, though (knock on wood), I seem to be recovering from colds/flus like normal. (That said, my most recent flu was probably the worst I've ever had - but everyone I talked to who'd had it said it knocked them sideways as well, so I don't think that was due to me being new to the country.)

I'm the opposite. I used to get very bad flu once a year regularly in the US, but I've only had it once since moving here nearly 8 years ago. I've had a few colds here and there, but nothing like what I used to get. However, it could just be that I'm changing as I get older. I don't really know.

Feel better soon!

I've not been ill all that much, but I pretty much was never ill in the US, so even the two or three colds and one bout of flu  have been weird.  And I'm DEFINITELY am adjusting allergy-wise, the first winter/spring season was awful! My GP joked that I'm having to build all new immunities to colds and the like.
(p.s. equestrianerd, I also got the flu this year, and it was astonishingly bad.  My DH told me at one point that I "looked like death".)

I've only been here and a half months and I've just gotten rid of my third cold. Luckily this time it didn't invite asthma complications, which is usually my lot. My husband had been living in America with me for the last 9 years and since getting back (6 months ago) he's had a couple colds. I'd say it's probably a higher than usual occurance for us, but we also use public transport pretty regularly and we could just be in contact with more pathogens because of that.

(p.s. equestrianerd, I also got the flu this year, and it was astonishingly bad.  My DH told me at one point that I "looked like death".)

I certainly felt like death! I couldn't walk my dog for a day, and his "walk" consists of me standing in the doorway watching him take himself over to the grassy spot to do his business.

Jennie, that's interesting about your allergies.  Until I moved to the UK, I hadn't had trouble with mine since I left my hometown fourteen years ago.  My dad says that every time someone moves, it takes a couple of years for their allergies to catch up to them.  That was my experience when I moved around the States, but I'd been here less than a year before I started having attacks. 

Glad I'm not the only one who's had trouble with illness, though of course I'm not glad that you all have been unwell . 

Jennie, that's interesting about your allergies.  Until I moved to the UK, I hadn't had trouble with mine since I left my hometown fourteen years ago.  My dad says that every time someone moves, it takes a couple of years for their allergies to catch up to them.  That was my experience when I moved around the States, but I'd been here less than a year before I started having attacks. 

Glad I'm not the only one who's had trouble with illness, though of course I'm not glad that you all have been unwell . 

Yes, for me, I moved out of what was a nearly ideal allergy climate (really dry, hardly any plants or mold--hello desert!)...to the UK. Land of the damp and green. Luckily, I appear to be adjusting (plus I'm pretty sure my allergies will lessen as I get older, my dad's did.)

I was getting sinus infections on average 3 times a year for my first 3 years here (each lasting approx 2-3 weeks). Then they would sometimes develop into a chest infection or tonsillitis. It was terrible.

Since moving to a dry/warm flat 14 months ago (from one with a damp problem) I've had one very short/minor cold. I knew the damp was not good for my health, but had no idea just how sick it was making me.

Funnily enough, I don't suffer at all from seasonal allergies over here, but did in the US.

I guess I am just lucky because I have been here for nearly 2 years now and have only  caught a cold 2 times (knock on wood!) and that was only when it was going around at work. I think like Jennie the big blow to me was the hay fever! It was horrendous those first few months but that was the first summer living here and then last summer I had nothing so...I guess I'm just an odd ball!

My first year here was horrible illness-wise. I was always sick and for very long periods of time. I'd never felt so dreadfully awful from illness! My kids were very sick most of that first year and even caught pneumonia twice. (fun times!) Since that first year of nasty, nasty lurgy I have been mostly fine and only get the odd sniffle or body ache. My kids' immunity settled about year after mine did.

I must admit to being vaguely amused by having "the lurgey" instead of the flu. It made everything seem so much more...UK.
None of it really mattered when I spent 52 straight hours in bed, but I was grasping at anything to make me feel better at that point.

When my husband first said "lurgy" I thought for sure he was joking .

I haven't noticed much difference in myself since we moved -- some colds here and there.  I've definitely noticed a difference with my husband, though.  He's either starting or kicking a cold all the time, and he's had the flu pretty badly a few times, too.  We moved from Boston to London, so not completely different climate-wise.  He's more allergy-prone than I am to start, though, and I'm not taking the tube to work each day, so we tend to chalk it up to a combo of both.  

I'd be hosed if our apartment had mold or damp issues, though.  Luckily, we've been in 2 and both have been dry.  I lived in a few DC basement apartments that had mold problems and that was a disaster until I finally figured it out.