Those of you on immunosuppressants, how the heck do you get rid of a cold/flu???!

I have had this cold for almost two weeks. I shall be completing a five day course of antibiotics today and they have done nothing for me :(

I am better than before but I still have green phlegm coming out and still feel a little rotten and have a awful cough. My colds ways lasted a couple of days before I started imuran and this is the first one I've had since starting imuran. Has anyone else noticed prolonged symptoms of colds flus with imuran?

If its a cold, stop taking antibiotics, it will only make things worse. Ask your doctor if he suspects a bacterial infection. If he says no, never go to them again because they are an idiot.

I would recommend some natural anti-viral substances. Whenever I get sick, I take a few drops of wild oil of oregano and gargle it. Then I eat a few cloves of garlic each day. See if that helps.

Just so you know for future...taking antibiotics for a cold is not a good idea for someone with UC (unless you are on deaths door) in some instances it can cause a relapse of symptoms, which is why I just wanted to reiterate that point...hope you are feeling better soon.

Thanks guys! I was reluctant to take the abx but both by doctor and GI said that I needed them as my cold was bad. My GI said it could make my stools looser which it has and the ones prescribed were the better ones for colitis.

But the abx have done nothing which makes me think it's viral not bacterial. I am going to have some ginger tea with lemon and then a hot bath with some eucultpus oil.

so both the professionals are idiots ! great !

Happychick: try sinus rinses w saline solution. Hot showers are good too but not enough.


To my knowledge if you have to go on allopurinol thats if the imuran is not reaching therapeutic levels in your blood. Which means your white cell count should still be normal not suppressed. So i don't see how imuran could be contributing to your cold.

That's true conquer uc. But I was quite close to entering therapeutic level just not quite there. But I hear what you're saying. I probably just have a nasty cold. Tbh my husband has caught the same cold and his is very persistent too and he is not on imuran or any meds.

Dreadsteal- I was prescribed amoxicillin

Quinolone class Abx?!!! Holy moly!
I reckon unless you have an ear infection, or chest infection then i would stay the heck away from Abx. Just do the sinus rinses atleast x2 per day. Esp since your husband has the same thing i wouldn't worry too much. Viruses are really hardy these days unfortunately and tend to linger long even in healthy people. God help us the immunosuppressed folks :/

Dreadsteel said...

Happychick said...

Dreadsteal- I was prescribed amoxicillin

Thats why you're still sick, that's a weak sauce abx.

Since you already took the abx i would suggest you wait for a few days before taking any further actions, if you condition gets worse in severity ( flu wise ) then you might want to ask your Dr for a Quinolone class abx unless you have past C-Diff infection.

Hang in there, warm wishes.

Really? The reason she is still sick is because she was given a weak antibiotic for a cold? Why would you take an antibiotic for a flu? I give up, lol.

When you're caughing up green phlem that's not a cold or the flu, it is a respiratory infection and antibiotics will work on that. Of course you can have a cold or the flu on top of the respiratory infection, which the antibiotics will not work on. I know exactly what this thing was because everyone around me, including me, had it. They were all badly sick for 3 weeks while I jumped on antibiotics (zpack) immediately and was only sick for a day or two. Antibiotic's reaction with UC is a different animal altogether.

Well the abx did nothing for me :( but I am slowly getting better

I avoid antibiotics unless they are absolutely necessary (the older I get, the more often I have bad reactions to them (not necessarily my gut, but fun stuff like hives and peripheral neuropathy), so I really hate taking them (not counting the Xifaxin I'm on currently)) - green/yellow snot is not necessarily a sign of bacterial infection. I used to get sinusitis following colds at least once every 1-2 years until 2005...now I use a neti pot and that does the trick - it helps me clear all that junk out before it gets the opportunity to fester (I'll add Sudafed if things are pretty bad as well - lots of docs will ask their patients to give Sudafed a try for 4-5 days before moving to antibiotics for sinusitis).

But yeah...some doctors will jump the gun on prescribing antibiotics to immunosuppressed patients (ask me about the idiot who wanted to give me Cipro (couldn't because I'm allergic), gave me Augmentin, and landed me in the hospital...because my guts really hate Augmentin...fun times...my regular GP was less than thrilled).

Anyway. It sounds like you're recovering, but in the future? Fluids, rest, extra time (sometimes a lot of it), and a neti pot (and Sudafed if necessary). I'm getting over a nasty cold, myself, and I just had to accept that I was going to be stuck in bed for awhile.

(And yeah, the worst cold I ever had was when I was on Imuran and tapering off of pred...I was sick for weeks, it was terrible)

even if it is an infection, doesn't automatically mean you need antibiotics -