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Health anxiety and flu season

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catlady

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Hello,
My husband was diagnosed type 2 around 18 months ago and he's manging the condition really well, hes 43. I, myself on the other hand, am in total panic mode with it being flu season. I'm terrified he's going to become unwell with a cough/cold and due to being immune compromised this will result in his death. I struggle with health anxiety and feel completely overwhelmed. Does anyone have any words of wisdom of support with how to get through this?
 
43 year olds with well managed diabetes and protected by the flu jab simply don’t die of flu unless there’s something else going on.
 
catlady said:
Hello,
My husband was diagnosed type 2 around 18 months ago and he's manging the condition really well, hes 43. I, myself on the other hand, am in total panic mode with it being flu season. I'm terrified he's going to become unwell with a cough/cold and due to being immune compromised this will result in his death. I struggle with health anxiety and feel completely overwhelmed. Does anyone have any words of wisdom of support with how to get through this?
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Hello. In what other way (apart from a T2 condition.) is your husband’s immune system compromised?
 
Satan’s little helper said:
Hello. In what other way (apart from a T2 condition.) is your husband’s immune system compromised?
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I wondered about this (or something similar) and curiosity got the better of me so I asked Dr Google about the link between compromised immunity and type 2 diabetes. The suggestion is that immunity is related to BG level. Therefore, if @catlady ’s husband is has reduced his BG, his immunity will be no worse than if he did not have diabetes.

I believe there is often a confusion caused by people being entitled to flu (and more recently, covid) jabs each year leading to the assumption that we are more prone to getting ill. My understanding which is supported by my personal experience (ok, only a sample of one), is that we get the jabs, not because we are more likely to become ill, but because illness makes it more challenging to manage our diabetes.

In other words if catlady’s husband is managing his condition well, as she says, there is little reason to be any more anxious about the flu season than she was before his recent diagnosis. In fact, now it is is being managed, it is likely that he is less at risk than he was before his diagnosis.

The only caveat I will add is that this is my understanding and I have no medical qualifications.
 
Interesting @helli I hadn’t heard that. I can’t remember where I saw or heard this, but I thought it was because we were more at risk of complications if we got flu?

Edited to add that I suppose they’re connected in a way, with illness causing high sugars which might increase the risk of complications from flu.
 
Inka said:
Edited to add that I suppose they’re connected in a way, with illness causing high sugars which might increase the risk of complications from flu.
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This was my understanding.
High BG = harder to manage diabetes, increased risk of diabetes complications and worse flu (or other lurgy) symptoms which can become something more concerning like pneumonia.
Not that you are more likely to get ill unless your BG is raised.
 
My logic is the immunisation jabs lessen the impact if contracted. From my experience less traumatic symptoms & minimising disruption to BG levels. Which in turn can make the symptoms worse with tricky management . I’ve certainly had worse incapacitating symptoms of flu as a child, in my teens & early 20s before I was offered & aware of vaccinations later on. (& in my youth. BGs were all over the shop.)
 
Before I had the diabetes, I was always offered the flu (and later Covid) jab due to my asthma. I was not more likely to catch the illness, but if I did my risks of serious consequences were higher since flu and Covid both cause breathing issues which for an asthmatic is not something you want.

However, I will be honest, I don't bother with the flu vaccine as my asthma is very well controlled and I rarely (once every 10 years) have a major attack. For Covid I ended up having four vaccinations over two years simply because I was traveling backwards and forwards to Germany and needed the certification to get into both UK and Germany. This year I didn't bother with the vaccine as I think I may already have had Covid a couple of months back :D
 
I'll have whatever is going. I've had my flu jab and covid booster and next week am having my first ever shingles jab.

@catlady, as other people have said, if your husband's diabetes is well managed, there should be no reason for undue worry, unless there are other complications which affect his immune system. Wishing you well x
 
Lucyr said:
43 year olds with well managed diabetes and protected by the flu jab simply don’t die of flu unless there’s something else going on.
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I suspect they do (usually from pneumonia or something, triggered by flu) but it would be rare. He's eligible for the flu vaccine (and one for COVID-19) so he may as well take them if he hasn't already.
 
catlady said:
Hello,
My husband was diagnosed type 2 around 18 months ago and he's manging the condition really well, hes 43. I, myself on the other hand, am in total panic mode with it being flu season. I'm terrified he's going to become unwell with a cough/cold and due to being immune compromised this will result in his death. I struggle with health anxiety and feel completely overwhelmed. Does anyone have any words of wisdom of support with how to get through this?
Click to expand...
Hi cat lady,
In terms of words of support( will leave it to others to decide if wisdom) but if you are truly worried about your husband becoming unwell then the best thing you can do is have him get the Flu Vaccination.
As you are possibly aware the annual Flu Vaccine s are specifically manufactured taking the predicted flu strains by putting the relevant antigens into the Vaccine.
It is these that stimulate the bodies natural humoral and cell mediated immune responses to provide the necessary protection against the circulating flu virus’s.
So not getting a Vaccine makes your husband far less protected and vulnerable to becoming unwell which is what you are anxious against.
The Flu Vaccines only contain enough of the Flu viral strains to stimulate immunity and not cause infection as the viral load is considerably reduced.Flu virus’s are very prone to evolving hence the need for updated protection each year.
Hope this may help but advice would be strong get Vaccinated unless advised otherwise by your Dr..
 
@catlady I had flu when I was 12 and felt awful. I haven't had it since. I paid for a few flu jabs before I became eligible as I had family members who were vunerable. I had already reached an age where I was eligible when I was diagnosed as diabetic. Having spent decades not being vaccinated I shouldn't give advice but in the absence of medical advice against it your husband should welcome the jabs. Indeed unless it is going to cause you stress you may want to pay for a vaccination for yourself to protect the household.
I had assumed with reasonably managed diabetes I was likely to take a bit longer to heal but I don't know that illnesses would hit me harder.
 
dannybgoode said:
I'm just waiting for my records to be updated so I can book in for mine. I know a few people who have had it this flu season and they've been really ill.

I'd rather not be poorly 🙂
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T1 since a child & offered jabs (including swine flu.) since my late 20s? I’m not saying I was invulnerable. But it did minimise the “hell factor” & length of illness with the virus. It used to knock me deliriously horizontal.
 
catlady said:
Hello,
My husband was diagnosed type 2 around 18 months ago and he's manging the condition really well, hes 43. I, myself on the other hand, am in total panic mode with it being flu season. I'm terrified he's going to become unwell with a cough/cold and due to being immune compromised this will result in his death. I struggle with health anxiety and feel completely overwhelmed. Does anyone have any words of wisdom of support with how to get through this?
Click to expand...
I agree with the posts from everyone advising that he should be fine as his diabetes is well managed. My diabetes control is still work in progress,I caught a cold recently but just had the normal symptoms and was recovering within a few days. No difference to colds pre-diabetes diagnosis.
I understand your anxiety as my husband suffers from paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and every time he gets any respiratory infection it triggers one or more episodes. He is well medicated but I do worry about him being hospitalised if it is severe. We both make sure we are fully vaccinated and keep as healthy as possible. As my husband reminds me, if worrying fixed his AF he would have been cured years ago.
 
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