Constantly sick

[globetrotter]

Yellow dust started on Monday and is all but gone for now.
airkorea.or.kr
It's not likely to be the cause of your ailment.

Likely, you are vitamin D deficient after a long winter and caught a spring cold after months of no sun light. Be sure to take a vitamin D supplement next winter. Also stop eating wheat and other refined carbs.

If he was vitamin D deficient he would have rickets and bone-thinning.  Since when has vitamin D had anything to do with catching a cold?

OP, did you go and see a doctor?

Google it. Many illnesses can be linked to a lack of vit. D. The literature is small but growing.

agreed about vitamin D, after blood test doc says mine was low, but also work can be a bit stressful since I work really long hours.  Vitamin D is important for energy and general health.  I'm taking omega 3's and multivitamins I bought from costco which are helping a bit.  But yeah I've been here two years and some days I just feel more tired than usual.  Hope the weather starts getting better and air clearer

[jeane86]

I have sinus problems most of the time too, but what I find helps is to clear out my sinuses every day. Here is how: Take 1 liter boiled water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda. Throw it all in the water, mix well. This will seems disgusting, but trust me it helps. Snort it through your nose (make sure the water is room temperature) and spit it out your mouth. My doctor back in SA gave me this advice after my sinus operation.
hope it helps someone else too.

[cmm1212]

I've been in Korea for over 6 years and have had that same nagging sickness countless times.  You wake up one morning with a sore throat and usually a fever.  It slowly turns into a cough and even sometimes I lose my voice.  A number of my friends have had the same thing and the doctors we've seen have said that it could be the air quality in general (yellow dust too I guess).  It could also be the fact we are around kids all day long who are sick with any number of different ailments.  Personally I think it could be a number of different factors all rolled into one nice sick package.
One thing that has changed over the years is the length of time I feel like crap.  When I first came to Korea, I was sick for I swear, about a month.  Now, it doesn't even last a week and I'm better.  Getting immune to the whole thing, slowly!!!

[conorsean]

I get a bit sick here almost every time the season changes. This time a have a throat infection.

[lb129]

 
yep me too. started with a very slight cough then woke up this morning unable to speak higher than a whisper.
I like it though its the only time the kids are actually quiet! go figure :)

lets hope i'm getting more immune as well last year it turned into bronchitus. yuck!

hope you get well soon

[Jrong]

Thanks for posting this. I'm pretty sure I struggle with the air quality here too. I ran outside yesterday and soon after I stopped running I fell on the ground. My throat began to close up. I tried to vomit several times but it was as if my lungs wanted to vomit. All night I had a persistent cough and my lungs were burning and now I have cold symptoms. I'm in very good shape but am concerned that I may be developing asthma from inhaling this sh*tty air. Time to see the doctor...

[lb129]

it really is a lot down to the pollution and yellow dust, when i moved to London i was sick for an entire year, same thing, its just getting used to the difference in air quality different and germs/ strains of germs our bodies haven't been exposed to and are not immune to. plus I'm guessing the majority of u work with children how are the harbingers of evil! last year one child actually sneezed in my mouth! it takes at least 1-2 years (sometimes more) to get used to all the pollution.
btw i always try to avoid side dishes as they have been linked to spreading hepititus. scary shit !

[eigenfuzzy]

I thought this whole yellow dust thing was overblown, but I'm thinking it may actually be making me sick as a dog.  Is anyone else suffering from body aches, severe sore throat, fever, stuffed up nose, headaches, etc.  Usually the common cold goes away in a few days, but I've been suffering from this stuff for over a week.  It's made going to school really painful every day.  When does this yellow dust go away?

What you describe here is exactly what I had recently--and it was tonsillitis.  Bacterial form, it seemed, because it responded to antibiotics.  Go to a doctor if you haven't already--and check your tonsils.  If they have white spots on them, you DEFINITELY have tonsillitis.  And take care of yourself; I was miserable the whole time.  I found taking Tylenol ER and ibuprofen helped quite a bit with the general pain, but eating and drinking was still a chore.

[Fanwarrior]

I have sinus problems most of the time too, but what I find helps is to clear out my sinuses every day. Here is how: Take 1 liter boiled water, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda. Throw it all in the water, mix well. This will seems disgusting, but trust me it helps. Snort it through your nose (make sure the water is room temperature) and spit it out your mouth. My doctor back in SA gave me this advice after my sinus operation.
hope it helps someone else too.

That's a bit complicated really. Nasal irrigation has been around a long time and there are easier ways to do it.
Just mix some room temperature water (about 1 cup) with around 1 tsp of salt, stir it up, then tilt your head to the side, open your mouth, poor the water through your top nostril and let it run out the other side, do it for about 1/2 a cup
then switch. blow out anything left over.

If you're really clogged up, you might try a little warmer water, the warmer water will help open things up and get the stuff flowing. Cooler water might stall on it. Once you're sorted out, you should still do it like once a week, but when I had it bad, I did it 3 times a day for a couple days then I was much better.

[bodonnel88]

Tonsillitis has been going around here lately. I have several friends who have been diagnosed recently. If you have a sore throat, trouble swallowing, or even just overly-tired, I really recommend going to the doctor and getting it checked out.   

[emelia]

hi all
I have been in Korea for less than a month. When I came I had flu but I was in the recovery stage. but now three weeks on I am still coughing. I do not have any other flu symptoms, just the coughing. I am thinking that there must be something in the air but I am not sure. yellow dust perhaps? I wonder if anything similar has happened to anyone else.

emelia

[#basedcowboyshirt]

Yeah, I've had a cough for the past two months. It's pretty annoying, but you learn to live with it. It's probably a combination of poor air quality / maybe mold in your apartment. I know I have both of those.

[Nemo]

Same here I had a cold 2 months ago..got over it then got sick again and have had the same cough for a month, it's gross and gets worse around smoke and exhaust fumes.

[pakman1013]

I've been in korea for about a good year and something that I've noticed is that I get sick more frequently than I did back home in Texas.  I'm not really sure what's the cause but I'm probably guessing the bad air and the crowdedness in public areas induces more opportunities for me to catch something. My advice is to wear those face masks that cover your nose and mouth. It'll make you look like a ninja, but it could help prevent you from geting sick  .

[tfung31]

I've been in korea for about a good year and something that I've noticed is that I get sick more frequently than I did back home in Texas.  I'm not really sure what's the cause but I'm probably guessing the bad air and the crowdedness in public areas induces more opportunities for me to catch something. My advice is to wear those face masks that cover your nose and mouth. It'll make you look like a ninja, but it could help prevent you from geting sick  .

Correction, it'll make you look like a ninja AND it could help prevent you from getting sick. win win

[Davox]

Honestly, if you're sick for more than a week, go to the doctor. Coughs and low level colds never seem to really go away here without actual medical intervention.  At least not for me or anyone else I know who gets sick frequently.  The first summer I was here I got sick, and like many people, I decided to tough it out.  I lasted 2 months with no real change for the better, I was miserable the whole time. Because I had waited so long to go get help, it took a full month of medication and visits before I was 100% again.  If I had gone right away, it would have taken 1 week at the most.  There's a reason Koreans just go to a clinic for any little thing.  It's because while it's possible you'll improve on your own in a few days, it's also possible that you won't improve for a month or two, if ever, without a visit. 

A visit to a good ear, nose and throat specialist costs less than $5 with insurance.  That's a combo meal at Mcdonalds.  If you're sick, just go to the doctor. 

[ohherro]

Check for mold! I can't remember if someone mentioned this yet in this thread.  A friend of mine said he was coughing for a good month before he decided to check for mold in his apartment.  He peeled back the floor tiles and there was a nice layer of mold.  He bleached and wiped everything and put the tiles back.  If you can check your floor tiles, then check.

It's not so easy to peel back the tiles in my apartment, so I haven't checked, but I found a thick layer of mold underneath my kitchen and cabinet area where my stove sits.  It was so gross!  Needless to say, that area is bleached clean now and I'm not coughing anymore.

:)

[chrisinkorea2011]

it could be a number of things really...

lack of vitamins in your diet (not just D but C or anyothers really)
The air quality depending on your region can flucuate with yellow dust GREATLY within an hour or so
Pollution in the air is bad sometimes - seoul changes time from time
you could have gotten some sickness from eating unwashed fruits/food (it happens)
virus/bacterial infection
bad water you drank
environment takes some time to get used to as far as the air, food, etc
also are you drinking enough water? (color of your urine is clear)
and getting enough rest as well??

[joeytressler23]

two weeks ago I had to go the ear nose and throat clinic with an infection in my throat. It seemed like everyone was getting sick around that time. I got a shot and 2 days worth of pills, and I was better just like that.

[jackandalex]

Actually I've been the complete opposite.  Since coming to Korea and eating all that Garlic and onion I swear I've been in great health.