Expats and illness?

The word lurgy sounds...I don't know...to much like loogie...it grosses me out!  

The word lurgy sounds...I don't know...to much like loogie...it grosses me out! 

When my husband first said "lurgy" I thought for sure he was joking .

I feel my amusement at this word is closely linked to the hilarity I find in just repeating the word "pants" over and over again to one of our close friends. Gets him every time. I just wander around saying "ooh, pants! Look at those pants! What lovely pants!".  Hee.

I feel my amusement at this word is closely linked to the hilarity I find in just repeating the word "pants" over and over again to one of our close friends. Gets him every time. I just wander around saying "ooh, pants! Look at those pants! What lovely pants!".  Hee.

Haha, I would totally do this, too!

I cannot tell any difference personally. My doctors says that the reason why many expats get ill during their first few years is because of that whole 'stress' and settling in procedures. In Australia i used to get very very ill with tonsilitis and here in the uk its colds more than anything,but it will pass over. Some people who moved to the US were very ill during their first year or so,i dont think its the country,its more of the getting used to it,the homesickness and the new way of living that makes your immune system a bit run down...

Could just be the types of bugs going around lately. I didn't get too sick my first few years here. (That's cold/flu/virus/catching things sick)

But lately, I seemingly have been ill with some kind of cold or flu of all types since August! My current running joke is "It's been 3 days since I've had a cold.Will tomorrow be a 4th day or will I catch the current one that's going around?"  Usually by the 4th day I've moved into something new.  

Not to mention I was very ill with stomach bugs in April/July/early January, all times whilst in America.   And I've picked up tons of bugs travelling around for work/holiday in various places as well lately.  

Need to up my immunity. Or I need to stop licking toilet seats.   

I cannot tell any difference personally. My doctors says that the reason why many expats get ill during their first few years is because of that whole 'stress' and settling in procedures. In Australia i used to get very very ill with tonsilitis and here in the uk its colds more than anything,but it will pass over. Some people who moved to the US were very ill during their first year or so,i dont think its the country,its more of the getting used to it,the homesickness and the new way of living that makes your immune system a bit run down...

Seriously.  Every issue does not boil down to you being much more adjusted than everyone else -- Things are great and really it is just everyone else who is wrong.

I just wanted to say that I was lucky enough not to be really stressed at all because of the move--mostly because we'd been super, super super lucky with DH's job so I didn't have to rush to find work. I think it's more like what happens to new teachers, you get sick ALL the time when you first start because you're coming in contact with all sorts of new bugs. I imagine it's a lot like this here--plus, like you say, stressful for a lot of people, so that suppresses the immune system.

Also, phatbeetle, hee! There was one point where DH and I were just cycling through different types of illness.  We got colds, bronchitis, the flu, and recently we both broke out in hives. Ahh, the joys of marriage.

Could just be the types of bugs going around lately. I didn't get too sick my first few years here. (That's cold/flu/virus/catching things sick)

This is very true. Almost everyone I know (expat and native alike) has had something nasty this year. It's definitely going around. Don't know how DH and I have managed to escape so far <frantically looking for wood to knock!> but we have.

Good grief.  Different climates and locations are...wait for it...different.  They cause different responses in people (and pets!  My cat has different allergies than he had in Boston -- and he had none before that in DC and VA!).  Allergies and illnesses are real and not just a result of maladjustment.    

I think it's more like what happens to new teachers, you get sick ALL the time when you first start because you're coming in contact with all sorts of new bugs.

This was my thought, too!

I don't remember being particularly ill when I first moved here, but I was sick all the time when I first moved to uni. I think living in close quarters in the dorms really made bugs spread more readily.

(This winter I'm catching absolutely every cold going around, but that's because I've got this brand new, infant immune system to cope with!)

I had a cold over Christmas that I probably got from working in the holiday retail madness, but otherwise I've been fairly illness free.  I did manage to get some kind of thing while I was in the US in May, that I must have picked up on the plane.  That could have come from anywhere.  I think I might actually have had less sicknesses, since my yearly norm was usually at least one bout of strep and and an ear infection.

I think part of it is that, since I use a lot more public transit here, I'm much more conscious about not touching my face at all as well as washing my hands more.  That and I sleep a lot more, since I'm not a 21 year old party girl anymore.  

ETA: All of this said, I will now manage to contract every wretched flu going around in quick succession. 

I think living in close quarters in the dorms really made bugs spread more readily.

Same with open plan offices -- things just wipe through my husband's workplace.  Even a cube farm gives you more protection!  

I must admit to being vaguely amused by having "the lurgey" instead of the flu.

DH has always used "lurgeys" as the British equivalent of "cooties".