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W.T.Carl
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Had the same problem. Got here in late October, got sick and had a sinus infection/cold until April. Imagine having to blow your nose often. This really grossed the Koreans out. Too bad says I. Anyway, when I got over it it wasn't too bad. However, I did avoid Kim Il Sung's revenge, which almost all of fellow westerners didn't. I mean, there is nother better than sitting on the toilet with your head in a bucket for hours at a time! |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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first two months, I had sinus problems and felt sick the entire time, on a varying scale. Next 22 months in Korea I didn't get ill whatsoever except for chicken pox- which I got from an ajoshi. 
Dude, you'll be fine eventually. Your immune system just has to adjust. |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| igotthisguitar wrote: |
>. Good thread ...
Lots of insight & input. Don`t think anobody mentioned the AIR yet though did they ??? Friggin: traffic congestion ... fumes ... cough / hack ... industrial disease. |
Definately a cause, but there's not too much we can do about that. Has anyone tried a HEPA air filtration unit at home? Does it help?
I think it's up to us to improve our immune defenses and cleanliness habits. Or move to a cleaner environment! |
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paperbag princess
Joined: 07 Mar 2004
Location: veggie hell
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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last winter i developed asthma living in seoul. the pollution is unreal here.  |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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oddly I didn't get sick much living on the outskirts of seoul. However I've been back in new zealand for a few weeks and I've got sick as a dog  |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| paperbag princess wrote: |
| last winter i developed asthma living in seoul. the pollution is unreal here. |
I never really noticed the air pollution. Compared to Bangkok, Cairo (breathing there=1 cigerette pack/day), any Chinese city, etc it is pretty nice. |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| paperbag princess wrote: |
| last winter i developed asthma living in seoul. the pollution is unreal here. |
I never really noticed the air pollution. Compared to Bangkok, Cairo (breathing there=1 cigerette pack/day), any Chinese city, etc it is pretty nice. |
Oh yes, I remember Cairo: I always reckoned it was necessary to smoke there to put a protective lining on the lungs.
I lived in Maadi, conincidentally close to the Korean embassy ... where were you? |
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Atkinson
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Location: Land of the Golden Twist-tie
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| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:41 am Post subject: |
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Dunno if this has been covered somewhere on the site already (deserves its own thread, I think), but it's relevant to this thread.
I've been here in Seoul six weeks. Two weeks after I got here, I caught a virus. The norm for me is I run it out, with a bit of Vitamin C and echinacea, in five days. This virus had me constantly coughing and for eleven days, so much I hurt my neck. A small cough lingered for a week...
Until I caught my second virus. I went to my doctor (Korean guy with western attitude towards medicine and a very broad background including rolfing, chiropractic and megadose vitamin therapy). He gave me an I.V. drip of 10,000 mg of Vitamin C, and has had me drinking 12,000 mg a day since then. Within two days, I had no viral symptoms, and the lingering cough was reduced 90%. Three more days, and I'm now completely symptom-free and energetic. I'm now healthier than I was before the virus. Wow.
When I told this story at work, others overheard and shared their own stories of "miracle" recoveries from ailments while doing megadose Vitamin C. I've become a little zealot.
The 10,000 mg I.V. drip was W30,000. The Vitamin C was W45,000 for 270,000 mg (enough for about 20 days, which was 4x what I needed).
If you want info on my doctor in Gangnam, PM me. |
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Blind Willie
Joined: 05 May 2004
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| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| crazylemongirl wrote: |
| oddly I didn't get sick much living on the outskirts of seoul. However I've been back in new zealand for a few weeks and I've got sick as a dog |
Ha!  I had the same problem!
It was like my body went, "What?! This isn't pollution! HOW DO I HANDLE THIS?! GYAAAAAAA! MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN!" |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:45 am Post subject: |
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| Wangja wrote: |
I lived in Maadi, conincidentally close to the Korean embassy ... where were you? |
Oh, I was just there for a few weeks off and on. Stayed downtown by Talaat Harb in a cheap-but nice-hotel.
I checked out Maadi while I was there because I heard it was a rather nice suburb. It seemed all right. |
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hari seldon
Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Incheon
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| Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:02 pm Post subject: Re: 6 Months here and sick half the time |
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| iamdugmoore wrote: |
I've been here 6 months and suffered more colds and flu-like symptoms than I care to count.
I don't drink much or smoke, and I've never had this kind of grief with my health. Is it Seoul? Teaching kids? Why do my co-workers seem to not get sick (with the exception of a couple of other foreigners)? They stay out late, smoke, etc and they seem to feel fine.
If I don't get my regular sleep I'm sick immediately. I think one thing is that children are vectors for diseases and I'm also not used to living anywhere near this cold.
Please tell me that I'm not the only one in this situation! |
It's easy to pickup stuff from the kids and coworkers. Washing your hands frequently helps. And try to avoid sharing food. |
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