Staying healthy during winter

[Deleted]

My immune system is failing me this fall/winter. I have already had two colds and that is unusual for me. I take vitamins and use a netipot, but I am still sick. I take the metro everyday and am traveling for holidays so I need a booster. Do you have anything you do during winter to try and stay healthy? I'm grateful they aren't worse than they are, but definitely more frequent than usual.

[Deleted]

Wash your hands. A lot. Carry hand sanitizer and use it as soon as you get off the metro. Don't touch your mouth, nose, or face until you wash your hands.

[w2w]

I had a NICU baby, and while he was in the hospital, they were super serious about infection control. Because of that, I wash my hands constantly - and for at least 2 minutes. And I am super cognizant of when I touch things like door knobs, light switches, etc. I either wash my hands immediately, or I make sure I don't touch my face. I also Clorox wipe everything quite frequently - door knobs, faucet handles, etc. I have found these things have really cut down on sicknesses in our house. Also, if I feel like I am getting sick, I take vitamin C.

[rikki]

Have you gotten your flu shot?

[SuziSaysDa]

Hand washing is very important - take the train to work and the first thing I do when I get in the office is wash my hands, if for some reason I cannot get to the sink immediately I use anti-bacteria gel. I also avoid touching my face.

I take my daily multivitamin and drink greens every morning (kyogreen). If I am feeling a little off or have been exposed to someone sick I will take a Zicam chew or an zinc/echinacea/vit C lozenge or drink an EmergenC and try to get to bed a little early.

[Deleted]

I posted something on here about how to ward off a cold and tried some of the suggestions. There are two things I did that I swear got rid of my sore throat - gargling with Listerine (the original yellow one) and chewing on raw garlic (gross, but I really think it helped). It makes sense that they helped as both of these things kill bacteria.

As far as helping with head and chest crap, I don't really know. You can add additional supplements on top of your multi-vitamin, such as daily Vitamin C, echinacea, and garlic pills.

[pamela]

I think Echinacea and B-12 and D vitamins helped me get through a nasty spell at work (2000 extra temp workers + extra long hours + close contact). I wasn't a believer before that, but I typically spent most of my winters sick and I've done really well so far this year.

[Deleted]

I do every single one of these things. I am a germaphobe and keep sanitizer with me at all times. I Clorox everything, take vitamins, had my flu shot, workout daily. I don't know what my deal is.

[magdala9]

When you are sick, give yourself the time to be sick. Go to bed early. Eat lots of soup and vegetables (or vegetable soup), drink lots of fluids and all the other things that have already been posted.

[pitterwoo]

do you take vit D? have you ever had your D levels checked? If you are deficient it may take some larger doses and a few months to get your vit D levels up. Low D can decrease immunity.

[audette]

I get sick a lot less often than I used to now that I work out regularly.

Maybe a strange suggestion, but I think it has helped me. And that's probably good, because I suck at most of the things people here have mentioned (not touching my face, washing my hands super often, using hand sanitizer, etc...).

[Deleted]

In addition to what everyone else has said, be sure to stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep and eat lots of fruits and veggies

[Roc A Bee]

I stay hydrated, try to wash my hands often, and exercise daily. But I work in a school and I know that I get sick once a semester. Once I'm sick I take 2 days off to really rest. If I try to go back to work before I feel better, the symptoms just linger.

[noodleoo]

Ditto to the above (especially washing hands a lot) but also: make sure you are getting enough sleep. I did an internship once where I had to get up really early and was only getting 6 hours of sleep a night. I got sick 3x over 3 months! I have realized for me, not getting enough sleep really compromises my immune system.

My other tip: at the first sign of a cold/sore throat, I start gargling with warm salt water (my colds almost always involve post nasal drip as a first sign). It breaks up the mucus and cleans out your throat. This makes me feel better and definitely shortens the length and severity of a cold for me.

I'd also just wear gloves while you are on the metro.

[mrssandro]

Neti Pot, EmergenC daily, and lots of rest. Sorry your still getting sick.

[froggy76]

Exercise. Now if I could only follow my own advice...