Mr Lee Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 I do not know what it is about the Philippines, maybe different germs but while I almost never catch a cold while in the US, I always seem to end up with one when we are here. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem when they first get here or during their time here? and any suggestions on what you do to prevent it if you are not catching any? The really weird part is my wife either does not catch it even from me, or she catches it for a day and it is gone while mine takes longer to go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnb Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 Hi Lee, A lot of people point the finger at there aircons for colds and sniffles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 I do not know what it is about the Philippines, maybe different germs but while I almost never catch a cold while in the US, I always seem to end up with one when we are here. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem when they first get here or during their time here? and any suggestions on what you do to prevent it if you are not catching any? The really weird part is my wife either does not catch it even from me, or she catches it for a day and it is gone while mine takes longer to go away. I only catch colds if I sweat too much and sit in front of an electric fan that's directed at me! I can count on one hand how many times I had the cold since 1998. I definitely can not do without air conditioning during the summer months, our A/C is on 24/7 in our bedroom! Our down stairs area is pretty much comfortable all year round. Since retiring in the Philippines, even all my allergies has gone away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMason Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 Are you sure its a cold and not an allergic reaction? With all the pollution in the air and the different plant life, it might just be allergies acting up. That happened to me when I first arrived here and when I returned from a 2 month visit to the US. I just take loratadine (Claritin) twice a day for a week or so and it goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UZI Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 I do not know what it is about the Philippines, maybe different germs but while I almost never catch a cold while in the US, I always seem to end up with one when we are here. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem when they first get here or during their time here? and any suggestions on what you do to prevent it if you are not catching any? The really weird part is my wife either does not catch it even from me, or she catches it for a day and it is gone while mine takes longer to go away. Hi Lee, A lot of people point the finger at there aircons for colds and sniffles. Hi Lee & John,Aircons are definitely an issue in two areas. One - if not cleaned & maintained they are a breeding ground of bacteria and two - fungal spores can cause real allergy problems. 3M sell good filters for aircons here in most good DIY/Hardware stores. Do these symptoms sound familiar: Symptoms of mold allergies include: Sneezing. Chronic cough. Runny nose. Nasal congestion. Itchy, watery and red eyes. Skin rashes and hives. Sinus headaches. Reduced lung capacity and difficulty breathing. I also think there are particles in the dusty air that cause allergy problems too, made worse by fans blowing at your face. Try what Dee & I find works so well when we get these symptoms - Claritin (Generic = Allerta) AKA Loratadine, which is an anti histamine WITHOUT the sleepy/drowsy side effects. If it is a cold, nothing will happen but if allergy, you will see an improvement & after a couple of days much better. Allerta 10mg are only P22 each from Mercury Drug or similar.Hope this helps UZI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted February 20, 2010 Author Posted February 20, 2010 Thank you all for the replies and I appreciate all the advice. I am on a daily allergy medicine named Xyzal because I can have sever reactions to most medicines and some food preservatives but as long as I am taking the Xyzal I rarely have an attack which can at times be life threatening and almost killed me last year. Oh well, my poor wife almost got to collect my life insurance but decided to give me a shot and bring me back and now it is too late for the big pay off since the policy expired. :whistling: Now she will just have to keep me alive. :yes: :woohoo: As for if it is a cold, my wife just reminded me that our neighbor came in a few days ago and he had a bad cold and was coughing and sneezing, I guess I was too busy looking at his fiancee to notice :lol: (joke lang) and then yesterday he text me and asked me to go down to his unit to look at something, so I probably got a double dose of whatever it was he has or had because the germs were probably still in his unit. The odd thing is that I have been with people who had colds while in the states and rarely if ever caught it from them, yet here is seems I catch them all the time in my first few weeks here. Overall I actually feel better when we are here and I think my body time clock is set more for this time zone than the US because this time zone just feels more natural to me. :541: Also once we are here for a few weeks then I no longer catch colds, so maybe the change over weakens my immune system until I get fully used to being here or there are just different germs here that my body is not used to. :( Oh well, :1 (235): I still wonder how many others seem to have the same problem or is it just me. I know what it is, maybe I need to drink more beer, :tiphat: or have more drinks :shooter: that should fix me up :yes: or at least it is a good excuse to drink more. :558: :lol: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted February 20, 2010 Posted February 20, 2010 Washings ones hands.The prevention of many human viruses is to wash your hands more frequently,I know my self that when in the Philippines I wash my hands more often especially when being out and about, those hand rails on the escalator are a breeding ground for germs.There is a huge percentage of people who don't wash their hands after going to the toilet and I guess in a country that may have less sanity facility's the likelihood of this happening is higher,thus germs being spread to everything we touch.Does anyone else practice hand washing more in the Philippines than perhaps when they are in their home country? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_shor Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 I do not know what it is about the Philippines, maybe different germs but while I almost never catch a cold while in the US, I always seem to end up with one when we are here. I wonder if anyone else has the same problem when they first get here or during their time here? and any suggestions on what you do to prevent it if you are not catching any? The really weird part is my wife either does not catch it even from me, or she catches it for a day and it is gone while mine takes longer to go away. I only catch colds if I sweat too much and sit in front of an electric fan that's directed at me! I can count on one hand how many times I had the cold since 1998. I definitely can not do without air conditioning during the summer months, our A/C is on 24/7 in our bedroom! Our down stairs area is pretty much comfortable all year round. Since retiring in the Philippines, even all my allergies has gone away!You only catch colds if you are exposed to the cold virus. Temprature and sweating have nothing to do with that. Unless the fan blew cold virus into your face. Allergies are often confused with colds because many of the symptoms can be similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sampaguita Posted March 3, 2010 Posted March 3, 2010 It was a cold, I caught it right after Lee. :whistling: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singers Posted March 4, 2010 Posted March 4, 2010 It was a cold, I caught it right after Lee. :SugarwareZ-034: Hi Sampaguita,So it is true!! Lee is A sharing Guy!UK Tom ......... NO ........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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