Everybody's Sick!

[Calypso]

Help! There's a really nasty upper respiratory infection going around my office, and it seems all the staff who have it are coming in to work sick. I can understand them not wanting to waste their personal time on sick days, but I'm also afraid I'm going to catch what they've got...and I have a vacation coming up in a couple of months. Anybody have any tips for increasing my resistance and bolstering my immune system?

[katharina]

Originally Posted by Calypso

Anybody have any tips for increasing my resistance and bolstering my immune system?

Well... I usually start taking zinc at the first sign of a cold... it really does shorten the length of time of the symptoms. I don't know if it would work for *prevention* or not... I'd suppose not with a viral thing. I wouldn't get really close to anyone's face to talk to them... and you may want to carry hand sanitizer with you. Good luck with keeping away from it!

[RFL1986]

Wash your hands frequently because there are probably a lot of cold germs floating around on door handles, etc.. Also one thing that has always worked well for me is drinking a lot of water to continuously flush out my system. Lots of fluids and rest will do wonders for preventing getting sick, not just helping you once you already are.

Good luck!

[SageMother]

If it is upper respiratory and there are alot of people coughing and sneezing, you might want to wear a filter or surgical mask, and wear it with pride!

The droplets in the air from people sneezing and coughing travel further, hover longer, and linger longer, than most people think.

[katharina]

Originally Posted by SageMother

The droplets in the air from people sneezing and coughing travel further, hover longer, and linger longer, than most people think.

Eeeeew! Well I must say that's enough of a visual to remind me to wear one of those things if *I'm* ever in that situation!

[riskey58]

My best suggestion is to wash hands as often as possible. And I would try the Zinc it might help to build your resistance.

[Liza]

Just reading that makes me nose tinkle, anyway, I hear fish oil (omega 3) is good for your immune system, you could check it out and try it. Hope you have a great vacation.

[tater03]

Make sure you wipe any phones down that you use that others are using. Those are the worst for spreading germs. I hear you though everyone around here is sick with the exact same thing.

[Calypso]

Thanks for the tips. I will try zinc and omega-3 and see if that helps. Wearing a mask is tempting--there is a LOT of coughing and sneezing going on--but I doubt it would go over very well in the office.

So far my health has been good. I'm just hoping to get through this week, and maybe my co workers will rest and get better over the weekend!

[Green-Moo]

If you do feel unwell, I hear that large doses of vitamin C can help to reduce the length of a cold. Not much personal experience I'm afraid, but it's worth trying.

Green-Moo