Sick Roommate--Staying Healthy

<p>Ressurate--
Go to the top of this page & click on Parents or Parents Forum (if that's where you really want to post). When that page opens, near the top, there will be a button labeled "New Thread." Click on that & start your own thread, setting forth your issues and questions. Folks will be able to see it & may respond.
I'd say it's time for a visit WITH your folks to your school counselor, as well as the HS counselor. Good luck!</p>

<p>To stay healthy- manage stress, get plenty of sleep and good nutrition to maximize your immune system. Of course, avoiding bugs would help but not usually practical. Improved sanitation does help; handwashing, not sharing, sneezing into a tissue and all those things we tried to teach our kids bear repeating; making a sick roommate wear a mask compounds his misery. As a physician I cringe at all the folk remedies people spend mega bucks on.<br>
There are many ways to get the known nutrients, standard American foods to health food store gimmicks; there is no need to radically change your diet if it contains enough fruits and vegetables, protein and minerals, etc. Ordinary multivitamins may insure proper intake, some extra vitamin C in pill or juice form may help.
Sleep is probably the biggest factor - hard to convince a young person of the need.
Stress- each person will have their own ways of coping, the trick is finding ways that work for the individual- as parents who know our own kids some suggestions may help. Attempting radical lifestyle changes (in addition to the ones present with the whole college experience) may only increase stress at a time when comfort is needed. So...send the chicken soup, care packages or whatever works for your family; don't suggest yoga to people like me or window shopping to men like my husband.</p>

<p>i got your reply for the message and am very happy to hear that.I must further my Education but there is no enough and Elders here that you are talking about are also fighting for their family.i don't also want to drop out of school too, i must further it.can you help through that and God will Bless you as well.
Hope hearing from you soon if anything contact me through <a href="mailto:destinychild_f@yahoo.com">destinychild_f@yahoo.com</a> or <a href="mailto:romiderisbig@hotmail.com">romiderisbig@hotmail.com</a>.
bye bye</p>

<p>I've had the same positive experience with Airbourne as "patient". I take airbourne at the beginning of a sore throat or sign of cold, continue to have non stop energy, and the cold never develops into a full blown cough, or bronchial cold. My son was a faithful believer, and that's how he got through dormitory life in college without being sick. My daughter and husband are skeptics, but they are the only ones who are sick around this house! I think they like being sick, and refuse to even try it.</p>

<p>Gayle, you and I are soulmates :). Funny, kind of, that the skeptics in our respective families are the ones who get sick. P.S. Did you know that there are now (1) individual packets of airborne in granulated form (like those Crystal Light flavor packets) to carry around and put in water bottles and (2) Hot Apple Cider nighttime airborne? </p>

<p>I am all set for winter!!</p>

<p>Okay. Now I feel really stupid. Here I've been sending my kids Zicam (and used it myself a couple of times), and rlm919 mentions a lawsuit and zinc issues. I haven't heard anything about it. And I'm a news nut.</p>

<p>How did I miss that? What exactly did I miss?</p>

<p>Is Airborne the same kind of thing--a lozenge that you take early on? I just saw some at Sam's Club, and had never really noticed/heard of them before.</p>

<p>Just google Zicam and you will see. It is zinc that you put in your nose. Apparently lots of people say it works and like it, but also people say it messes up their sense of smell. And when I saw folks discussing remedies and prevention I looked it up again and found the lawsuit info. I did not see the lawsuit in the news when it happened. Also apparently you can still buy Zicam, which seems strange.
Now zinc that you take as a lozenge is OK (cold eze is one). Airborne is another thing you ingest (tablet to dissolve in water and you drink it). I may try it but am googling it first to find out more about it.</p>

<p>Well, my younger son caught a cold. When I heard that he sounded congested, I bought Airborne. I did not expcect much. He took it for 2 days. He woke up this morning without any signs of illness! He only had cold symptoms for a 1.5 days. I will try it for myself this fall/winter. I know that my son will take it again. Thanks for the suggestion. I never heard of the stuff until reading about it here! BTW, this was an expensive experiment for us. I did not know if it would work, and it cost $25. After my son's experience, I think that it was worth it.</p>

<p>HImom, did your son stay healthy? Hope all is well.</p>

<p>I catch colds very easily so I am always looking for ways to head them off. I have used Coldeez, Zicam, and Airborne, but I find Airborne the most helpful. I mix it with warm water and I like the pink grapefruit flavor the best. You should start taking it as soon as you suspect you might be catching a cold.</p>

<p>Congrats on Airborne working so well for your child. My son remains HEALTHY, which is an amazing relief! At this stage, I think his room mate's most contagious phase is over (if he's not back to good health). In any case, room mate's mom will be there for Parent's Weekend & hopefully she'll help give him some TLC.
My niece is now suffering through her 2nd cold since she got to Notre Dame in August--perhaps sitting in the pouring rain & cold for the football game has contributed? Her folks suggested that may have been a factor & she was much struck by the suggestion.</p>

<p>HImom, I am so glad to hear that he is fine.</p>

<p>
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I did not know if it would work, and it cost $25. After my son's experience, I think that it was worth it.

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</p>

<p>SO glad to hear that great story!! But how much did you buy??? You can get it at Costco (or whatever the equivalent in your area might be) in two large bottles for not very much. They now carry the original orange and also the pink grapefruit. The other day I got the standard size of pink grapefruit at Trader Joe's for 5.99 for 9 tablets. I have bottles all over the house and at my office. So glad it is working for others!</p>

<p>The way I use it: ALWAYS a dose at the start of a plane flight and if I hear sneezing, again on the plane! Whenever I am going to another crowded venue like a concert, I take a dose before I go. And then whenever I start feeling a bit like I might be getting sick (sore throat, stuffy nose, similar symptoms). When I first gave a bottle to my S in February, he had a doozy of a cold and it was the start of the baseball season: bad time to get sick. I told him to take it when he was going into a place where there were likely to be sick people, and he said, "Okay, like before every class????" But he liked it, and took it regularly, and remained cold-free the rest of the year.</p>

<p>i actually felt like a jerk a while ago when i was sick because i think i was keeping up my roomates by coughing all night. so i went to the bathroom when i started coughing a lot but i still felt bad.</p>

<p>It's tough when you're coughing & it's keeping you & your room mate awake. For us, the only thing that has worked to suppress coughing to sleep is allergy meds (including anthiistimine to stop post-nasal drip which contributes to coughing) & also prescribed codeine cough syrup.</p>

<p>I'm sure your room mate understood, but for the better health of both of you, I'd strongly recommend you ask the student health center in the future about help in stopping the cough at night so you could both sleep better. It would shorten the time for your recovery & help prevent your room mate from getting sick from being run down with interrupted sleep.</p>

<p>Delsym saves my life whenever I have a cough. Its the most effective OTC cough medication that I've found (well, I didn't find it myself, because I usually go straight for the Robitussin, but my doctor recommended it and I'm surprised no one's ever heard of it). Anyway, send your kid a bottle of this stuff and their coughs will be gone. Anyone else try it?
and no, I'm not affiliated with the company :D</p>

<p>Thanks--never heard of it & will give it a try next time there's a need. Prefer not to resort to the codeine cough meds if we can help it, but those definltely do help suppress nighttime coughing.</p>

<p>My younger D is a freshman in college and had strep throat 3 weeks ago and now has a cold. She was tested 2 days ago for a recurrence of mono (rare but possible) which she had a year ago. This is hard for me. My older D was much better at taking care of her health and getting enough sleep. I guess younger D is learning the hard way that she needs to rest and listen to her body. It does help to be able to post about this here.</p>

<p>My niece has also had two colds so far & she's only been in college two months (keeps getting rained on at football games, etc.) You're right that it's tough when kids get sick & we're not there to nurture them. They do figure out how to best balance things & take care of themselves, but some take longer figuring it all out than others. Hope your D is soon better -- maybe she might benefit from a good multi-vitamen & some herbal supplement like EmergenC or Airborne or similar. Good luck!</p>