# Beginning Symptoms
First day after a few hours of sleep I was fine and felt normal, but once night time at the end of the day hit I started getting stomach issue. Figured it was might be from drinking the tap water(yes, I know it’s safe) without any filtering was bothering my stomach from the chlorine as it does have that certain tap water taste or I maybe was sensitive to it. Or possibly also from trying new foods was too much of a shock.
The next day after I got hit hard with a slight fever, strong headache(probably dehydration or sinus headache), dizziness, fatigue, which originally made me believe it might be jet lag. But jet lag I don’t think makes your body heat up, so discounted that. Eventually, started also developing a cough leading to coughing up mucus which once that happened I was sure it was more of a common cold virus than jet lag. Should note on my flight the person behind my seat was coughing their heart out, so that also led me to assume I might get a cold from them.
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# At this time I started looking into recommendations online and here what I found if you’re ever in a similar spot in Japan.
# Staying hydrated
Pretty important and generally eating to get nutrients helps, but can be difficult when you’re sick and dizzy. At my local 7-11(or any local conbini you have), I got 1 Liter bottles of water to keep refilling with filtered water from my hotel to rule out the tap water.
Along with [Pocari Sweat](https://www.otsuka.co.jp/en/nutraceutical/products/pocarisweat/img/index_im01.png) and [Aquaruis](https://en.ccbji.co.jp/upload/images/%EF%BC%91.png) bottle drinks which are similar to sports drinks or vitamin water as they should have electrolytes in them more compared to water. They taste pretty good with a light grapefruit aftertaste. Often also available in pretty much many of the vending machines scattered everywhere too.
# Food
During the worse part of being sick getting something easy to down for nutrients would be best and for that I would say the [jelly pouches](https://asset.japantoday.com/img/store/66/10/ea26794843c605358387abf8869dbf2d8694/game-booster-konbini.jpg) are great. Again, they’re available at any local 24/7 conbini and while not really “food” per se they seem to be decently filling, easy to eat/drink since it’s basically jello, and claim to be nutritious. I got the “in” brand ones as I saw them in a youtube video recommended not sure if there’s a difference between brands though.
Once I was feeling better after resting a lot, started doing only take out from restaurants to get actual food, since of course, I didn’t want to eat at places while somewhat sick. It’s pretty easy to ask if they do take out as the Japanese word is “Teikuauto” which literally pronounced sounds like “take out-o” with an “O” at the end of the english word. Then I just point to an item on the menu and they make it to go. Most are card friendly, so not much hand exchange happening and of course wearing a mask while briefly there is best.
There’s also an option to use Uber Eats or Demae-can or other another food delivery website to order food if you want, but I didn’t feel like setting up an account on either and also since there are many restaurants in walking distance to me. If I already somehow had them set up and used them before probably would consider it more.
# For OTC Medicine & Drug Store
I found a helpful post in this subreddit from u/Himekat about cough medications with pictures and translations which was beneficial to look at [https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/yzoky8/a\_brief\_guide\_to\_otc\_cold\_and\_cough\_medications/](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/yzoky8/a_brief_guide_to_otc_cold_and_cough_medications/). It’s not linked in the FAQ section though, ended up finding it through google reddit searching.
Went to my local drug store that happened to be, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, which seems to be a popular recommended place to shop as they also have snacks, cosmetics, household essentials, and of course OTC medication. Originally I was looking for, [Pablon Gold A](https://i.imgur.com/rVm16ZM.jpeg), from the list in the link above since it has Acetaminophen(Tylenol) as I can’t take Ibuprofen(Advil) with my invisalign. Couldn’t find it since it’s of course all in Japanese and I was still a bit out of it while sick. Was able to find a branded box with bright white english words of Tylenol.
Eventually, went back the next day and after reading an article saw a recommendation for the [Matsumoto Kiyoshi store brand generic](https://fromjapan.info/cms/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/5.jpg) for cold medicine along with some [Vicks cough drops](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71iAoYwu9AL._AC_SX569_.jpg). Actually did end up finding the Pablon Gold A on the bottom shelf since it’s a ridiculous 210 tablets and when comparing it to the Matsumoto Kiyoshi store brand cold medicine I noticed the price is basically the same with Pablon being 1700 Yen for 210 tablets and store brand cold medicine being 1600 Yen for 18 capsules. A worker there mentioned the Pablon was also for fever since it has Acetaminophen, while the other just for cough comes with 300mg of guaifenesin(similar to Mucinex), and since I already got the Tylenol. I decided to just get the store brand cough medicine even if the price is basically the same for less capsules.
When I went to buy the medicine they had to ask me a couple questions from a sheet which they fortunately had an english version of. Seems you’re limited to one box purchases, not sure the other limits.
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# Closing notes(this was way longer than I expected)
I was going write a week 1 Japan trip report, but since getting sick didn’t really do much besides hole myself up in my hotel room.
Figured this might be more useful anyways in case any beginners also are worried about getting sick in a foreign country solo. I am fortunately here for a couple more weeks, so losing out on a few days to week isn’t too bad though of course isn’t ideal. Not sure how this post will be received or if people think there are better options i’d be interested in hearing them. Of course, if you have something more severe than a cold or it last way too long best to seek actual medical help and medicine. Ambulance is 119 I believe too which I made sure to remember just in case.
One thing to note when it was night time and I was sick with a pretty killer headache. I tried going to the conbini since it’s the only thing open looking for medicine expecting them to maybe have a very small section for Tylenol or cold medicine, as I believed them to be a one-stop shop kind of place. Both 7-11 and Lawsons I checked have absolutely no sections for any medicine and so I had to wait until the drug store opened up at 9am. I would say next time I plan on just bringing my own, which Customs I believe will be okay with them as long as it’s clearly personal use amount and not like 1000 tablets. Along with they can be pretty expensive in Japan compared to when I bulk buy them from Costco in the states along with allergy medicine too.
Also Google Translate camera function is very handy and works really well with transcribing the medication boxes. You can also search the words then after transcribing if you don’t know what the ingredients usually are for.
9 comments
I’m sorry you got sick, but I really do appreciate the tips and information you provided.
I do, however, have one question about Japanese tapwater; do foreigners (I am from the US) need to use a sterilizing pen/device, or buy only bottled water, to avoid getting sick? I do not believe the Japanese water quality is bad, just that the normal acceptable bacteria, minerals, and trace contaminants in Japanese tapwater, may not agree with my foreign digestive system. It was highly recommended to sterilize our own drinking water during previous trips to China, and most of those people in our group who chose to forgo that precaution suffered a bout of flu-like symptoms for a day or two.
Ugh sorry this happened to you. I traveled during peak cold/flu season in late November and having my trip ruined by a cold was one of my biggest fears. As it turns out, I managed to get through it without getting sick, only to catch COVID back home two weeks later (right on Boxing Day).
Here is my take on your tummy issues , did you have something to eat at the airport ? Before flying out to Japan? Because I did the same thing when flying to Ireland and two days later I was on the toilet for a week!! I chased it down to a rare hamburger at the airport ! To this day I never eat rare hamburger!
First time i went to japan, i ended up with something wrong with my stomach from the flight over. I ended up getting massive cramps in my guts to the point where i couldn’t walk we went to the chemist and did a good pantamime about my stomach and they gave me some stuff which helped. I ended up going to the toilet and it was all black soon as i finished that. I was fine. But before that i almost thought i would be in hostpial. I assume it was dehydration or food poisoning in the end.
Hey! Glad my guide was at least a little helpful. I’m in the process of revising the FAQ, but I’ve been going through it top-to-bottom and I’m not at the illness section yet. I’m going to make a note to add it in quickly once I’m back at my computer, though.
Hope the rest of your trip goes better!
Thanks for sharing this. I got here on Monday from the states and the first few days were hell from the lag. I could tell by the end of the day yesterday that I’m feeling much better. Now I can really enjoy this amazing city!
Vit C protocol. Megadose and hydrate. Bullet proof when traveling if you do this.
Pablon Gold A is god tier cold medication and I’m mad I didn’t know about the tablet version until now because the powder one tastes like poison. Why does it exist?
Unless I’m missing something it sounds very much like you caught covid from the person coughing behind you?