What do you all do to avoid getting sick?

zmiller4

zmiller4

Well-Known Member
I just called in sick for the first time. I tried to be heroic once last month and flew with a cold and ended up coughing the whole time and getting the captain sick as well, so I bailed this time around. It feels like I'm getting sick way more often than I ever have before, and while I know there's common sense things I can do, I'd be interested in specific stuff you airline guys do to avoid getting sick.
 
purell EVERYTHING....the yoke, the throttles, the door handle everytime you get into a different cockpit....

take a multivitamin everyday and try Airborne (the powder type that you can put in a bottle of water works really good).

yea.. don't fly with a cold, that's how you end up spreading it to other pilots and you can really hurt yourself (esp your eardrums)...

Hope you feel better soon!! :)
 
Thats what I was going to say too....That Airborne stuff is a miracle...Just dissolve it in a glass of water and down it.....It will chase off any thought of a cold developing
 
You will get sick as a pilot. Often. You're exposed to the masses on a daily basis, and subject to germs by the metric butt-load.

The good news: After about 2 years, you will build up an amazing immunity. The constant colds will stop, and you will get sick FAR less often.

The bad news: For the first 2 years, you will be sick. A lot.
 
Yep... I use the alcohol wipes on every surface I expect to be touching when I first enter the flight deck. Starting with my hands, then on to the throttles, flap lever, gear handle, yoke, etc... takes all of 30 seconds and is a decent prevention measure.

I always drink OJ on the flights... that and water. In fact... that's all I drink on my flights.

I also follow up with a multi-vitamin or lately I've been using the AirBorne and am happy with it. I felt real sluggish one morning... glands were starting to swell... So I took 3 airborne tablets over the course of the day along with my usual OJ and water... took three tylenol before I went to bed that night and woke up feeling 100%!

Don't know if it was the airborne, the OJ and water, the tylenol, or the rest I got... but it worked... so I'll be using that same "cocktail" solution the next time I'm feeling something coming on.

What Amber said is correct to... You will get more sick at first... but then you will build up an awesome immunity. Although... I have two young children... so... I'm battleing the germs on more than one front these days! ;)

Bob
 
i always thought you weren't supposed to drink more than 2 airborne's in a *day*...i drank two straight after each other once and it seriously made me sick to my stomach.

i bet it was the cocktail combination!! i find that if i'm starting to feel icky during the day, a tylenol PM with some good sleep usually does the trick!
 
to ward off a cold, I do the multivitamin/oj/lots of water combo.......a little exercise on the road helps too.

if i'm feeling a little under, I up the water intake to obscene levels, pop at least one airborne a day, and try to up my intake of vitamin c, b and echinacea.....works pretty good..........
 
People that wipe down the cockpit as part of their preflight setup make me laugh. I'd rather get a cold than look that anal. More power to yeah, though, if that's yer thing...

I like to wait until my F/O's done with the alcohol wipes, then, sneeze into my hand and reach over and make sure the flap lever is still there. Great fun...

And I do use the in room coffee machines and I don't worry about the stains on the bedspreads.
 
Don't forget the bedbugs Don... I bet you love them too! ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedbugs

250px-Cimex_lectularius.jpg
 
I give it the ole college try then i dont worry about it. If i get sick, oh well, i call in and I stay home. See how easy it is not to worry!
 
I wear a surgeon's mask when I'm on the road. People look at me kind of funny when I'm in the terminal.
 
Dude Ive been wondering and going through the same thing. This airline thing is taking some getting used to.
 
Ralgha said:
It's been known to permanently destroy some people's sense of smell. To me that risk far outweighs the benefit.
Click to expand...

Don't use the cotton swab Q-tip thingies. It comes in pill form, too. Didn't think it'd been on the market long enough to determine that yet....
 
I also wipe down the cockpit with wipes. But I still get sick. I've never been sick so many times in my life. In 2006, I was sick a total of 15 days. In 2003, I was sick 0 days.
 
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