Few weeks ago I moved to Japan from tropical country, Japan is way too cold for me. Now I have runny nose, cough, trouble breathing especially at night when I am at the lab (aircon is super cold). This coldness is eating me alive. I want to go to the doctor asap with a friend. Meanwhile, I need to vent. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
EDIT: back in my home country I also have the same problem. Every rainy season, I have trouble breathing, flu, and some cases I got cold urticaria (skin rashes). This few weeks I work fine from 9-9 without fever (as far as I know), but always having trouble breathing and coughing at the lab. Anyway, Thank you for your kind & helpful advices!
19 comments
Don’t worry about it. During the winter you will find that most indoor places are totally tropical, hot for that matter. During the summer they turn the aircon to make indoors like the Arctic and during the winter they turn their furnaces to make indoors like a North African desert.
Sounds like you caught a cold/flu/covid.
It’ll pass. There’s some over the counter medicine you can get to help the symptoms at any drug store. Look for stuff that mention your symptoms on the packaging. Other than that, drink plenty of water and get some rest.
It’s barely the beginning of October. Winter will be brutal if you’re somewhere where it snows.
Get some heat tech clothes, a nice kotatsu, some electric blankets, and some hand warmers (カイロ)
That sounds horrible. I also hate cold but haven’t had anything like what you’re describing.
I really like カイロ (read “kai-ro”) which are these heat packs that they sell everywhere and are pretty cheap. You can put them in your pockets to warm your hands or, I like to get the ones with adhesive and stick them to my clothes (like on the outside of a t-shirt, then wear a hoodie over). If you’ve never seen one it’ll be hard to imagine what they are like, so maybe this is helpful: https://matcha-jp.com/en/5325
I also find wearing a mask is helps with preventing dry and sore throat.
Also taking a nice, long soak in the bathtub! Or visiting your local sentō (public bath) and really warming up in the sauna or bath, then wearing nice warm clothes.
Heat-tech clothing at UNIQLO is also amazing.
As others have said. Acclimatisation takes time. Rug the hell up. Rest up. You’ll soon come right. You likely do have a minor bug as well so take it easy after work.
Go buy heat tech clothing from Uniqlo and wear under your normal clothes. If you’re from the tropics it’ll feel weird but trust me they are amazing.
I’m from a tropical city too. Wearing a mask will help with your sinuses by keeping both your throat and nose warm and maintaining some level of moisture if you dont mind the feeling. Stop you catching everyone elses winter colds too!
Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well OP! It sounds like you may have caught a viral infection (pretty common when you first move to another country, your body may not have resistance to local variants so it does happen— and if your lab is blasting the AC, that’s a perfect vehicle for viruses to spread).
Go with your friend to get some flu meds from the doc and have a good rest. Feeling cold might be related to whatever it is you’ve caught (a fever can make you feel cold for example) and you might start to feel warmer again once your body temp is normal. If not though, Japan has lots of awesome things to keep you warm. Heattech thermals from Uniqlo are great, as are their down jackets. I also recommend fleece tops for the cold season.
You can buy electric blankets at electronic hardware shops, as well as heated kotatsu tables. You can also find lots of different kinds of hand warmers, toe warmers etc. some of them are sticky so you can stick them onto your underwear or thermal layer.
If you’re cold in bed, get yourself to Nitori or check them out online. They have warming bedding made of fuzzy materials. I live in Hokkaido and my god, that fuzzy bedding is just the best in midwinter. It’s like a big, warm hug.
Warm drinks are good, invest in a thermos and fill it with your favourite hot tea, coffee, etc. vending machines will probably start to sell hot drinks around this season too. And finally, visit lots of onsen!
Hope you feel better soon OP, and please keep warm.
Have you got fever? If it’s high it might be Covid because the breathing problem (also at night) is very typical.
What you can do and that might have immediate effect is to put a rolled up blanket or cushions under your mat, in the area of your torso and shoulders so that the upper part of your body is alleviated while you are sleeping. It’s easier to do if you’ve got a reclining bed and it’s a trick we use in elder homes where people have weaker lungs and often stop breathing during their sleep. That’s because the gravity is heavier on your chest when you are lieing flat on the ground. I can’t remember the right angle for the inclination but if you try, it should be easier for you to breathe.
Consider investing in a humidifier as well. There are pretty affordable models out there, or if you’re REALLY on a budget, secondhand should do fine.
Make sure to get it from a reliable source, though. Good secondhand stores, sayonara sales, also communities of people from the same country as you are from should exist. Pay attention to things being swapped/ offered, since this is around graduation time for fall intake.
Have you tried drinking a cup of concrete?
Way too cold? Today it’s a bit cooler but it’s been hovering around 30 degrees for months now.
If you’re struggling with these temperatures then winter isn’t going to be a lot of fun I’m afraid
Go to a doctor .
Oh my, are you in for a bad time in the next few months
It seems that you may have seasonal allergies (flu like symptoms, asthma/trouble breathing, skin issues).
Go see a doctor, if possible nose/throat doctor, explain the situation, get tested if necessary.
You’re gonna have a lot of fun in winter, it’s going to drop about another 20+ degrees more than now.
For being cold: dress, in layers, or just dress, wear clothes.
For breathing, maybe see a doctor. Air conditioned air is pretty dry, but what you describe sounds more severe. Maybe you need bronchodilators or an asthma test. I recommend university hospital (slower, may cost more) rather than a clinic (most would only prescribe you drugs).
Do you have wheezing cough, short breathless?
If so, it could be asthma.
Hey have you tried doing neither? If it’s so hard I’d just say quit and stop being so hard on yourself!
Humidifier, mask, wear heat tech under your work clothes, cover your neck with a scarf or turtleneck, sticky kairo, and miso soup or honey tea in your thermos.