<p>How bad is it? I bet dorms are just the perfect breading ground for bacteria and a virus's dream. Are colds/flus pretty rampant among students living in dorms? what do u do/where do you go when you're sick? </p>
<p>What can u do to not get sick? or is it just inevitable around a certain time of year?</p>
<p>freshman year i was sick more than i was healthy. i spent nearly all of winter quarter in bed with mono, flu, and a couple bad colds.</p>
<p>soph year i made sure to get a flu shot for the first time, and started multivitamins daily (or at least when i remember)</p>
<p>it's all the same advice as anywhere else, but at least for me, college means not eating or sleeping properly, and sharing lots of germs in a varity of situations...which means much sickness shall ensue.</p>
<p>I'm out of the dorm now, but during my first semester there (and only semester) I wasn't sick with anything. Most everyone else was.</p>
<p>The keys?</p>
<ol>
<li>Wash your hands. Be OCD about it. I carry hand sanitizer in my pocket.</li>
<li>Use a Clorox wipe to disinfect the toilet seat before you sit down.</li>
<li>In the shower, use a new towel daily and use the side that doesn't touch the rack.</li>
<li>Don't share a drink bottle with anyone.</li>
<li>In a tight space, don't breathe much.</li>
<li>Refrain from really close contact with people--I try to stand at least a foot away from their mouth and if I get any closer I just don't breathe that much.</li>
</ol>
<p>I went 1100+ days in a row in middle and high school (starting in May of fifth grade, streak extending up to the very last day of senior year) without missing any days. They call me "Iron Mac" back home and someone dared me to wear a Cal Ripken shirt to graduation when it my streak was announced to the crowd...</p>
<p>You too can be an iron man (or woman) if you follow these simple rules..</p>
<p>Oh, and make sure you drink your milk and eat your greens. You can't be living off pizza and beer. Even in my dorm, I managed to have a salad and milk almost every night.</p>
<p>I got a flu shot this year and haven't gotten seriously sick yet - I did catch a virus which made me cough and get laryngitis for about a week, but it wasn't really serious at all.</p>
<p>Definitely think about getting a flu shot - my school offered them back in November. Also, take a multivitamin, try to get enough sleep, don't eat a horrible diet, and of course wash your hands a lot.</p>
<ol>
<li>In the shower, use a new towel daily and use the side that doesn't touch the rack.</li>
</ol>
<p>^while I think some of MacTech's ideas are a little extreme, i'm OCD about this - at least the 'use a new towel daily' part.</p>
<ol>
<li>In a tight space, don't breathe much.</li>
</ol>
<p>haha.</p>
<p>Hmm, I never got the flu (at least to my knowledge) until a few weeks ago, unfortunately i had 3 tests and a presentation. Anyway, take your vitamins, eat right, keep hand sanitizers handy, and wash your hands.</p>
<p>Get the flu shot. That thing saved my butt this year. My school offered them in November. The $14 and 45 minutes I spent in line were well worth it when I was exposed to it in a week that I had more tests and papers than I can count.
Aside from avoiding the flu I've been sick a decent amount this year, but not like I was my sophomore and junior years of high school. Everything I've gotten has been manageable, I just had to slow down a bit. I still haven't missed a single class this year. And yes, if someone in your dorm gets something, you will too. The Monday before spring break started (so almost two weeks ago) my throat started hurting. When I started talking to people it turned out about half my floor had it, and by the end of the week at least half my building had it. I've had more stomach things than I can count, and the only reason I know it's not from the food is the fever that's gone along with them. My floor has had them too. I'm OCD about washing my hands, but with door knobs everywhere, hand scanners in the dining halls, and stuff like that, you're bound to get sick</p>
<p>Well, definitely get your flu shot, make sure you keep quite bundled up in cold weather and that you're warm when you sleep, and that you eat fairly decently (like milk, fruit, vegetables, protein). </p>
<p>However, sometimes you're just going to get sick. I personally am often washing my hands and always desanitize them before I eat anything and after using the restroom. I eat a ton of fruit, vegetables, whole grain, etc. I drink a LOT of water. I keep warm in cold weather and clean my side of the room once a week-- wet and dry Swiffer wipes on the floor (people track all sorts of dirt and germs and crap in with their feet), Clorox wipes over my laptop, the door knob, my cell phone, my keys etc-- anything I touch a lot and other people touch a lot and could harbor a lot of germs from who knows where.</p>
<p>**And yet I still sporadically get sick-- minor colds or coughs. Its just inevitable when I'm sharing eating, living and sleeping quarters with scores of other people, many if not most of whom usually aren't as clean-freakish as I am.</p>
<p>The best overall advice is to SLEEP. I think that while I was eating and drinking right, and cleaning up after any bacteria or germs I thought were around, I still wasn't getting enough sleep. And the lack of sleep snowballed, causing stress and sickness. So my best advice would be to SLEEP as much as you can. Secondly, to drink a lot of water, which helps you think, feel and look better.**</p>
<p>I'm a commuter, but I still manage to catch stuff while at school. I also work in a computer lab on campus, so I get exposed to alot of stuff there, too.
I get lots of sleep, try not to get really stressed over stuff, eat fairly well (I can't survive with my weekly McDonalds, though!), and wash/sanitize my hands often. I try to avoid sick people if at all possible, but if I know I've been exposed to something I take airborn as soon as I can. I've managed not to get sick this semester, so it must be working.</p>
<p>You don't need to drink milk to be healthy-actually milk really isn't that healthy at all. I haven't drank milk since I got to school in September.</p>
<p>Don't take vitamins, take whole food supplements, they work much better.</p>
<p>Wash your hands, eat plenty of vegetables. Try to incorporate some organic food into your diet. Drink 7-8 glasses of water a day. Eat less meat (or none at all).</p>
<p>thanks guys for all the suggestions!</p>
<p>Get Enough Sleep! That's probably the most important thing</p>
<p>oh also, nobody really answered this, where do u go when you're sick?
Do u just lay in your bed in ur dorm or does your college have some sort of health center? </p>
<p>It's just wierd.. i'm so used to having my parents take care of me and get me stuff when i'm sick, i'm so not looking forward to not having that.</p>
<p>Well, when you're sick at home where do you stay? In your bed, really. When I recently got quite sick at college, I stayed mostly in my bed too, no difference.</p>
<p>My roommate was considerate enough to keep the lights low and the TV/stereo sound down low, so I could get some quiet time and rest to heal up. Also, she didn't mind that I was sniffling and coughing all the time and that I wanted the heater on a lot. Hopefully when you're sick your roommate will be considerate towards your condition. </p>
<p>I didn't go to the health center. I didn't think it was anything worse than your common cough-cold, so I took my Robitusson and had my Vicks rub handy, regular medicine/relievers. But if you're in really bad shape, you should probably go over to your health center for a more professional sizing up of what's the matter with you. They will be able to help you out in terms of getting medicine and treatment. </p>
<p>To the person who said drinking milk isn't healthy-- dude, yes it is. A lot of young women and men (in their late teens/early twenties i.e. college age) are still developing in terms of their bone growth. In general it gives you some of the vitamins that you need (calcium, vitamin D) as well as good calories. Regularly consuming dairy can help you lose weight. Taking good care of your bones is always good, even when you think as a college age person you're already getting at your physical prime. In short, drinking milk IS healthy. And not enough people do it.</p>
<p>to the person who said to stop eating meat-unless you're prepared to eat a LOT of leafy greens in its place, and to be really vigilant about it, that's bad advice. Iron is key to a healthy diet.</p>
<p>I said eat less meat. Not eating meat is good too. People who don't eat meat enjoy a lower risk of heart disease, lower risk of obesity, more energy, and longer lives. You can get iron elsewhere.</p>
<p>Should I even talk about mad cow and all that ****? Do you really want to eat something that has carbon monoxide injected into it?</p>
<p>As for milk, name me one other animal that drinks milk from a species other than its own. Take a look at Jack Lalane, he's friggin' 93 and doesn't eat dairy. You can get calcium from all sorts of other foods. Now I suppose if the milk came from cows not treated with hormones it would be okay, but it's not especially healthy. You want something that's healthy? seaweed and Ezekiel bread. carrots. apples. </p>
<p>If you really want to lose weight, get off your fat ass and exercise. Start eating a healthy diet, ie, low/no meat, def no beef, vegetables, cut back on soda, don't touch diet soda, no artificial sweeteners, and look into no hunger bread.</p>
<p>Militant vegans are funny to laugh at. Calm down. You don't have to lecture about the dangers of milk and beef, especially when you sound like you're yelling at people about the "dangers," instead of informing them. Actually, even if you were nice about voicing your concerns about beef, people are going to keep eating it anyway. </p>
<p>"Take a look at Jack Lalane, he's friggin' 93 and doesn't eat dairy."</p>
<p>Whoop dee doo. Guess what? Most people who are in their nineties have been eating dairy foods. And they are still in their nineties. Guess eating the beef and milk actually doesn't kill you off before you hit the big 9-0. </p>
<p>"If you really want to lose weight, get off your fat ass and exercise. Start eating a healthy diet, ie, low/no meat, def no beef, vegetables, cut back on soda, don't touch diet soda, no artificial sweeteners, and look into no hunger bread."</p>
<p>You know what? I know plenty of people who eat all the bread and meat they want and are still quite thin and happy. Some people's bodies are just different. They don't have to give up drinking soda-- even diet soda-- or beef to loose weight. </p>
<p>"People who don't eat meat enjoy a lower risk of heart disease, lower risk of obesity, more energy, and longer lives. You can get iron elsewhere."</p>
<p>And yet many people have plenty of energy, live until very late years healthily, consume adequate amounts of iron, stay thin AND eat meat. What's your point? If you can eat meat and be healthy, and not eat meat and still be healthy, than what's to fuss about people eating meat?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the "advice." But despite "mad cow and all that ***" I'm still going to the In 'N Out. I'm not convinced, especially if you're going to seem *laughably paranoid about it.</p>
<p>For every animal you don't eat, I eat three.</p>
<p>I eat four! [this place needs a mischief smilie]</p>