Not getting sick in Paris
 

I'm not a germophobe, really I am not. However, I suddenly became aware that a lot of Parisians seem to have a cough this time of year. And several expats here confirmed that.

I RARELY get sick. However, the day that I want to the Galeries Lafayette AND the day I went to the Musee D'orsay, I got cold-like symptoms the very next day - and they lasted almost a week.

What's with that? Getting REALLY careful about handwashing is super important. In fact, now I just keep that antibacterial stuff in my purse and do a quick and discrete handwash before even touching food, drinks, or even my face. That's a small price to pay to keep from losing a couple of vacation days to a stuffy headcold.

And, by the way, if you do get sick, head straightaway to a pharmacy - the big green plus sign - and ask for their homeopathic cure. I got something called Coryzalia - you take it every hour - but it REALLY seemed to help and it's all natural. Apparently the secret is to start it at the onset of the first symptoms.

I absolutely LOVE the pharmacies here. They almost always speak english and they are VERY good at providing inexpensive remedies AND kleenex :).

Hope this helps.
MC

Funny, I went to Paris last month and also noticed so many people were coughing!! Luckily, we did not catch anything. Nothing worse than getting sick on vacation...

Coughing or no coughing, I'd still get on a plane and return to Paris tomorrow if I could.

I have a cough 365 days a year, but I am not ill. (I wish my colleagues would understand that.) I cough when I eat bread or rice, or any other grain product.

I think any time you are in a foreign country you have a good chance of catching a cold. A few years ago we traveled to Paris and then on to several cities and small villages in Italy. I caught a very bad cold. By the time we made it to Pisa I couldn't go out. My husband had to go to the only pharmacy in town and use hand gestures to get me some medication. Funny, but it worked.

Anybody who takes a big city subway or bus is going to be exposed to every germ in the book, even if they wear gloves.

I love Paris but I wish their food handling is a little.bit more sanitary. I went to Gerard Mulot today and ordered a tartin and cream brûlée, the girl used her ungloved hands to get the pastries, the cashier was also handling food and cash at the same time. Same at the crepe stand, cutting bananas, handling cash... I just couldn't get over it and ended up throwing away the food.

Paris is still beautiful rain or shine.

Airborne
Emergen-C

Happy Travels!

Have gotten the following advice from some of my, ahem, germ-conscious relatives:

-wash your hands with some frequency, especially before eating. And when using the bathroom, use a paper towel to shut off the water faucet and open the door to the bathroom when leaving.

-do not touch your face with your hands, especially around the nose and eyes. Some people do this without realizing it (itching noses, rubbing eyes, and such).

-avoid getting run down, which means eat reasonably, drink plenty of water, and get a decent night's sleep.

I've found all this helpful.

Much easier to build up immunity to everything. I have drunk tap water in Egypt and Cambodia. ;) Never a problem!

I was in Paris and Amsterdam last month and, aside from a sinus infection in Amsterdam (no fault of the locals :)), I got a chest cold about a week after returning. However, since Whooping Cough (my grandson has it) and other nasty things are going around locally, I can't think the Parisians are spreading more germs than those right here in Ohio.

Agree with Guenmai on Emergen-C -- good product for just about everything!

On the coughing -- many years ago when we were still smoking, we found a very strange connection between winter and coughing. And once inside where it was warm, the coughing would get worse. We became convinced it had something to do with room radiator heaters found in many older hotels and buildings. Considering this happened to us in winter long after we quit smoking, there may be some connection to our theory. Or the fact that going from sunny southern California to a colder climate may impact on this coughing mystery as well.

If you developed cold symptoms a day after visiting the Musee D'Orsay you did not get it there. Colds have an incubation period just like other viruses - 3-5 days in the case of most colds.

The reason you are more susceptible when travelling is because it is a slightly different cold virus in Paris than in London than in New York, and so you are not immune to it.

You could very well have caught something on the plane on your way over.

kerouac.. are you sure you don't have an allergy?

Here we've used something called "Cold Calm" (available at Whole Foods or Pharmalogica) with great success. You take it when you notice symptoms beginning, and then the cold either goes away or is very mild with shortened duration. Would it be allowed through customs?

Why would they not allow homeopathic "medicines" through customs? Homeopathic remedies have nothing in them, literally. What a waste of money. What a stupid scam they are.

elnap, Cold Calm and the Coryzalia that mariacallas mentioned are by the same French company, Boiron. Might even be the same product...

In my experience, the onset of the damp cold that Paris gets at this time of year is reason enough for the additional coughing. Surfergirl has a point that this is exacerbated for smokers (and asthmatics like me). ...The cold air constricts lungs, which can make you short of breath/cough; a dramatic difference in air temp/humidity by walking into a warm interior will bring it on again...

Um - cold symptoms take about 72 hours to develop after exposure. and you are more likely to pick up germs on a plane than in more open public places. Althouhg handwashing frequently is a good practice anywhere - not just Paris - and you should always carry a small Purell.

Homeopathic medicines are generally considered scams. Until such time as a doctor or a pharmacuetical company finds out. Then they create a separate medicine and charge even more for it. By their very nature, homeopathic medicines aren't tested in the complicated methods required to get FDA approval.

I've never been gullible about those homeopathic remedies, but this one has worked for me a few times now. Just putting it out there...

Ok, if this thread keeps up much longer we are definitely going to hear about people who traveled and got

cholera

thyphus

dengue fever


I really WISH somebody WOULD finally develop a cure for the cold so we could stop hearing about all these "cures" both homeopathic and otherwise that seem to "do it."

Called placebo effect.

"this one has worked for me a few times now."

It can't. Homeopathic medicine has the ludicrous idea that the more you dilute a substance the more powerful a medicine it is. Utter rubbish. And it's a joke that pharmacies sell this stuff. They do here in Canada too.

Have a look at James Randi explaining this silliness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWE1tH93G9U

PA,
What about my ionic wrist band? I'm being pumped full of positive ions!! ;)

I guess I can ditch the garlic lei around my neck. The hub will be pleased...

Actually apersuader65, pharma companies actually have to do placebo controlled double blind multicenter studies to prove efficacy (must show statistically significant effect above placebo results and more) and safety. They are the ones isolating new compounds not repackaging "homeopathic" compounds, (which many times do not contain what they say they contain or in the correct levels/strengths), there is a reason for doing the appropriate studies to gain FDA approval. I at least want to take the product that has been tested and many homeopathic remedies are quite expensive.

Cafegoddess, I can assure you far worse things happen in any American kitchen any time you eat out; in fact, you are probably even more at risk any time you eat at other people's homes, which are rarely up to food safety standards. People who prepare food do end up touching food with their hands. I'm not fussy about this but people who are should probably only eat at home.

Purell makes a dandy little container that fastens onto a belt loop or handbag. I never leave home without it!

The best way to avoid getting a cold is to avoid flying on a plane. Unfortunately, that pretty much rules out going anywhere.

All I know is that when I came down with a horrible cold on our last day in Paris, I got the best drugs at the pharmacy there! I stocked up on them on our last trip, and the entire family knows that they are a limited quantity so you better be sure you are sick before you take one, lol.

I am with kerouac. The best way to avoid getting sick is to build up immunities by being exposed to "stuff" over many years. I haven't had a sick day in more than 30 years. I HAVE had a day or two when I thought I MIGHT be coming down with something and have used Zicam and similar things from overseas, but I can't say if they actually prevented the illness or whether my own system just prevented it. I think Purellists probably are sick more often than most people because they don't develop immunities.

I do agree that French, and Italian, pharmacies, are wondrous compared to American drugstores.

French drug stores are not better than the US ... they are always out of things, sell you the wrong medicines and try to sell you things you don;t need. Plus they're very expensive. Also they are not open all of the time.

Poor baby. Have you been ill?

They are coughing here in Buenos Aires too ! Could that be because it is the Paris of South America? lol ...
I do like Paris pharmacies.. I always found the best bath products and lozenges and small ordinary things that were somehow not so ordinary because I bought them in Paris.

maria, I've been away and lost track of you. Did you ever find the perfect cassoulet? where?

As long as we are worrying about our health, you will be thrilled to know that the American tourists from the east coast have managed to import the bedbugs to Paris (and London). There are now major infestations in Saint Germain des Prés, so I hope that all you people will continue to stay there and not stray to other parts of Paris.