<p>Hey guys, I just moved in my dorm at the end of August and I've pretty much had a virus or cold the entire time I've been here. Our AC here is circulated through all the rooms so anything airborne from another room comes into mine. What can I do to keep from getting sick? I'm already drinking tons of water, taking multivitamins and trying to eat healthfully. Thanks!</p>
<p>so dont turn on the ac?? crack open a window instead</p>
<p>This is a very important and useful question.</p>
<p>I would try telling the school about this, for a long-term solution. You can also buy an air-filter to put on the air-vent.</p>
<p>what school do you go to</p>
<p>Buy a huge jug of vitamin C pills, and eat healthy. You won't get sick :)</p>
<p>take a brand called wellness formula. it works wonders.</p>
<p>now i'm glad i dont have AC in my dorms..</p>
<p>If it continues, think about buying an air filtration unit from Sharper Image or the like.</p>
<p>We don't have temperature control in our rooms, if we did, I'd turn it off in a second. (I go to Tulane where its 80 degrees out and I have to wear sweatshirts and blankets in my room) Where can I find the wellness formula stuff? I'm going to try the vitamin C as well and maybe talk to the school about it.</p>
<p>Consume a copious amount of vitamin C. Seriously. Somewhere around 2 grams a day should be fine. Maybe you would like emergen-C. If you drink two of those a day, you should be fine.</p>
<p>Yeah, the vitamin C drops were my friends freshman year. Although, in all honesty, after the first couple of months my immune system adjusted to dorm life.</p>
<p>As a medical student I can advise you that the biggest things you can do to avoid being sick are:</p>
<p>1) Wash your hands. As often as possible. It's easy, effective and the number one thing you can do. Be extremely vigilant about it and you will avoid many bugs.</p>
<p>2) Wash your hands. Get some of those alcohol gels (ie Purell) and use often. Keep in mind that you need to wash your hands about every 5 times you use the gel, but they are effective. Many people complain of dryness or rash, so use some hand lotion every so often.</p>
<p>3) Get enough sleep every night. Try for at least 7 hours every weeknight and try to catch up some during the weekends. It won't always happen but sleep can make a big difference. </p>
<p>4) make sure you're getting enough Vitamin C and enough Zinc. These are two key supplements for the immune system and taking adaquate doses helps. Vitamin C toxicity is extremely rare, b/c it's a water soluable vitamin and you'll excrete any excess in urine, so don't worry about how much you take in.</p>
<p>5) If you do start to feel sick drink either Naked Juice's "Well being" or Odwalla's "wellness". They really can help, they taste great, and are a good way to start off your bodies immune response. A bottle a day will shorten your symptoms. </p>
<p>6) Over the counter drugs to treat your smyptoms are good to keep you up to date in your classes. Nyquil and the like will make life tolerable. </p>
<p>7) If you're really sick, then seriously stay in bed, and try to avoid infecting others. A lot of times people try to do too much and end up feeling worse than if they were to really focus on getting better.</p>
<p>It also might be allergies to something that's in the air on campus but not back at home. I'm kinda going through that right now, claritan is helping a bit. Also when you have lots of people suddenly living in close quarters, you're going to have a lot of crap going around.</p>
<p>although it sounds more like an allergy, get a flu shot.
then do a check of your room, vents, carpet, and bathroom, for signs of mold or mildew. maybe, change your pillow/bed stuff to something that's allergen free. if you still feel sick after that, get a check up just to be sure.</p>
<p>get sum green tea pills and drink a lot of green tea... itll make u pee more but its fantastic for ur immune system</p>
<p>I always try to keep surfaces in my room clean....disinfecting wipes...things of that nature.</p>
<p>green tea/vitamin c supplemented drinks/teas in general have worked wonders for me as well. and SLEEP, as mentioned before. My roommate sleeps 5-6 hours a night, and I sleep 8. The difference is HUGE. (and I swear 8 hours is possible with time management/not sitting on aim/not procrastinating!)</p>
<p>Another thing I do when I feel a cold coming on is to take Echinacea tablets. They sell them at places like target and whatnot...you just start taking them every 2 hours for a day or two when you feel a cold coming on. Some people say they're a farce, but I swear by them! lol.</p>
<p>Other than that just wait it out and your immune system will build up.</p>
<p>Take airborne and/or vitamin C, and wipe your vents with lysol wipes. Then, tape bounce sheets over them. I have the febreeze-scented kind, and besides making my room smell really fresh for a week or so, they also help keep the air cleaner, or so I've heard.</p>
<ol>
<li> Exercise more.</li>
<li> Eat better.</li>
<li> If you have a deficiency, take vitamins. Otherwise, save that money for other things.</li>
<li> Wash your hands.</li>
<li> Don't hang out with lepers, sick people, or elementary school children.</li>
</ol>
<p>The fastest way to build up an immunity to disease? Work at an elementary school for a year. I swear, I'm now immune to everything but plague and ebola.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I swear, I'm now immune to everything but plague and ebola.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And the cooties, I'm afraid. xP</p>
<p>start going to the gym. working out is the best way to be healthy, even if youre eating 100 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.</p>
<p>drink at at least a glass of orange juice a day in the morning.</p>
<p>go outside and get some sun before winter hits.</p>
<p>if youre a stressful person, change the way you think. be positive and dont stress out too much on little things.</p>
<p>spray eucalyptus leaf odor in your room, it helps destroy any viruses, and remember to air out your room. oh yeah echnacea is good, plus vitamin C is awesome. Take like 3000-6000 mg if you are getting a cold.</p>