Ever get really sick or a disease in Japan?

[ghettocities]

I wanted to know if anyone has ever been sick in Japan and i'm not talking about the common cold here folks, i'm talking about like sickness sickness, yeah I said it twice, so everyone post whatever you are takin' meds for, I'd love to hear your stories.

This one time in 2001 I went over to Musashi Koganei to spend the night with the girl I was with that day, well she lived surprisingly far away from any convience store and I had only bought a 1 liter of pocari sweat for refreshments at the store next to the station, so as we approached her place I noticed a vending machine and figured I'd buy a coke. I examined the cocacola and wondered why it didn't have the Harry Potter promotional stuff on it like the rest of the cokes did in Japan, thought nothing of it, did what I needed to do that night and during that time had chugged the pocari swear drink and coke. I woke up some time the next evening and felt mucus in the back of my throat, so I coughed to try to hack it up into the trash bin and it wouldn't seem to remove itself from my throat, kept trying and realized it was making my throat even more sore, well after joining the girl I was with at the time in the shower I was getting ready and prepping myself in the mirror, well at this time my throat seemed to be still hurting so I opened my mouth to give myself a self-diagnosis of what was wrong, well once I opened my mouth I was shocked to see what had been causing me to choke, it was the little dangly-thing in the back of my mouth and it was totally inflamed and swollen to the point it seemed to be stretched and lodged down within my throat, I feared my life for the next two days, ate nothing but soups and it eventually cleared up. I don't suggest you buy drinks out of vending machines in the middle of nowhere.

I was with this girl also back in 2001 and one night I had been with her were laying together and kind of got into this 'dry-act' i'll call it where we rolled around with our clothes on, well I wear belts, keep them loose on baggy pants so there is no point to really wearing them but i wear them, well that night I was wearing my favorite belt which had a built in bottle-opener. As our 'dry-act' progressed, 'stuff' had made it's way over the top of the metal clasp (with the bottle opener) and pretty much out from within my pants entirely. As it progressed even more I could feel that I was rubbing up against the bottle opener but still thought nothing of it, at this time we undressed and started doing 'not dry stuff' , well as that progressed i examined my 'stuff' and realized that the bottle opener clasp had (while doing 'dry stuff") made an incision, a pretty deep cut into my 'stuff' but I didn't let it phase me, just kept on doing the 'not dry stuff') while i felt my open wound become more and more painful, well I was the smartest person in the world and decided, ok, I know I have an incision but I won't wear protection of any kind during the 'not dry stuff' , but not only that, to top things off she was on her period, so really, wasen't the smartest thing to do. I will make a long story short, finished my trip and came home. Two weeks into being home my roomates knocked on my door and said they heard me yelling while they looked at me, in total tears grabbing my crotch as if trying to some how take away from the total pain I was feeling, they knew something was wrong, I was in tears and began to tell everyone what had happened and how lately I haden't been able to go to the bathroom and I had unwillingly wet myself during the past few days a total of about five times, they then told me that I needed to go to the hospital, they carried me to my roomates car and we went to see a doctor. I then was rushed to get diagnoised, they took blood samples and then asked if they could get urine samples too, I managed after drinking almost a gallon of water to urinate 1/8 of the cup they supplied but they said that's all they needed. I sat in the doctors office, kind of laughed to myself realizing that I was actually going to die from having unprotected 'stuff' and that it was how I was going out, doctor came back to examine my 'stuff' to check to see if I had any apparent signs of anything and told me they'd have my test results in a few days and to drink lots of cranberry juice, take time off work and a whole list of things. I then managed to rest in bed at home until I got a phone call telling me to go to the doctors office, I returned to find out my test results had came back, the doctor looked at me and said, "Josh you tested positive for a UTI, thankfully that's all you have" and he suggested it was caused by having the open incision during unprotected "stuff' while the girl was on her period, I questioned what it was more and he mentioned what was wrong in my urethra and all and he filled out prescription forms for pain relief and for Cipro, it was really funny because Cipro was the same antibiotic they had given people whom were infected with anthrax during the whole mail-scare. Eventually it cleared up, I saved one pill (which I was supposed to take) as a momento to my whole experience, it's now still sitting in a bottle in my room, proudly displayed for everyones questioning.

Josh

 

[thomas]

UTI is hell.

I have never been sick in Japan, but I accompanied my wife a couple of times to Japanese hospitals. First of all, I was very astonished about the fact that private doctors' offices are fairly uncommon. If you're sick you go to public hospitals or private clinics (they seem to be everywhere). As far as I can say, medical services were always excellent, although expensive for European standards. Even if insured, patients had (have?) to pay about 10% of all medical costs which can amount to a hefty sum in case of a big operation. Another thing that puzzled me was the easy prescription of antibiotics. Got a cold? Take antibiotics. Antibiotics only work with bacterial, not with viral infections (which are more common). Secondly, the overuse of antibiotics results in gradual resistance of bacteria. My impression was that they tend to break a butterfly on a wheel in this regard.

Anyhow, just a few personal observations.

 

[Iron Chef]

Re: the issue of antibiotics, Japanese hospitals do have a tendency to want to hook you up intravenously for everything from what I hear, heh. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to never have any real health issues (aside from the occasional common cold) during my time there that warranted a hospital or doctor's visit. I'm a big fan of the old "drink lots of liquids and sleep it off" adage and not really keen on needles. The idea of getting stuck like a pincushion every time I sneezed doesn't really appeal to me. 8-p

 

[thomas]

Lol, I subscribe to the "good old liquids and plenty of sleep" cure. I think we had that topic in another thread, but it seems that Japanese working life does not allow for such time-consuming measures. "Get the labour force back to work as fast as possible" seems to the the prime directive. I also noticed that my wife often fell sick on a Friday night, just to recover on Sunday evening. Hmmm...

:atchoo:

 

[Iron Chef]

LOL, suspicious indeed 8-p

 

[ghettocities]

Why is it that at most convience stores they have more Halls brand cough-drops than they do actual candy and when asked by myself, every single girl I was with who bought it said they were candies rather than cough-drops, is it common place or did I just hook up with girls that all were addicted to taking Halls in Japan?

Josh

 

[Iron Chef]

Heh, yeah--I remember seeing Halls coughdrop "candy" in the convenience stores as well (Seicomart, Lawson, Sunkus, etc.) although I can't remember for certain. Also, i've always found the prices of over the counter medicine brands you might find in a store to be unusually high priced as well, for say like a bottle of aspirin. Maybe things have changed since then in the last few years though so who knows.

 

[Chipi]

Originally posted by Iron Chef
I'm a big fan of the old "drink lots of liquids and sleep it off" adage and not really keen on needles.

Me too
I stay away from doctors and medicines as long as I can, and I have sometimes been accused of it by my boyfriend "I guess you don’t go to a doctor unless you’re carrying your own head in your armpit"...finnish "sisu"

But to the actual topic here. I was just wondering, if it’s allowed to take some own medicines to the country with you, to Japan? I’m talking things such as headache/flu pills, etc. Common pills for common, inconvenient diseases..?
I just tend to trust some certain medicines that I’ve tried.
(and that have the explanation text in a language I can totally understand )

 

[mdchachi]

UTI is hell.

Though seemingly well-deserved in this case. People will never learn from their actions if there aren't undesirable consequences.

My impression was that they tend to break a butterfly on a wheel in this regard.

Translation for anybody who else needs it: http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk/idioms/break.htm

My worst incident was a pedestrian-bicycle accident. I was on the bicycle. I was going down a slope at night on an empty street so I'm sure I was going pretty close to my top speed. The lady I hit got a sprained wrist and a loose tooth. I had scraped and bleeding hands & knees & elbows. Plus I had bounced my face on the concrete which ended up giving me quite a nice black eye. As soon as I found myself on the ground, I got up, asked the lady if she was all right and then had a sudden urge to sit down on the curb. Next thing I knew I was lying prone and an ambulance had come. So I got to ride in a Japanese ambulance but I was in no shape to enjoy it.

We were both taken to the same clinic where they patched us up, took an x-ray of my head and determined I had no obvious internal head injury. After we were fixed up, we went together to the police station to make a report. In Japan, there's an automatic pecking order in assigning fault with the person in a vehicle being more at fault than the other. But I was clearly more beat up than her so they ended up saying it was both our faults -- hers for jaywalking across the road in front of me and mine for riding at night without a light. I had only been in Japan for six months at the time so my language ability or lack thereof made the whole process difficult and a little scary at times. The out of pocket cost to me for all the medical treatment including follow up was negligible.

Chipi, some medicines are okay. Other medicines are illegal or controlled. It just depends.

CONFISCATION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND OTHER MEDICATION: It is illegal to bring into Japan some over-the-counter medicines commonly used in the United States, including inhalers and some allergy and sinus medications. Japanese customs officials have detained travelers carrying prohibited items, sometimes for several weeks. Some U.S. prescription medications cannot be imported into Japan, even when accompanied by a customs declaration and a copy of the prescription. Japanese physicians can often prescribe similar, but not identical, substitutes... Persons traveling to Japan carrying prescription medication that must be taken daily should consult the Japanese Embassy in the United States before leaving the U.S. to confirm whether they will be allowed to bring the particular medication into Japan.

 

[Iron Chef]

Chipi-san:
Yeah, if memory serves I used to bring back things like extra-strength Tylenol, Advil, Aspirin, etc, with me from America to Japan as they tended to be a bit expensive (daitai ni-sen yen gurai). Here in the States though, once can find them for around five bucks or so a bottle depending on where you shop. I never had any problems bringing such items with me (then again, they are pretty common and none are prescription so restrictions may be pretty lax).

Mdchachi-san:
"Plus I had bounced my face on the concrete which ended up giving me quite a nice black eye." Ouch! That spill with your bike resulting in a collision sounds nasty indeed. Glad to hear it didn't result in any serious injury, both for you or the pedestrian.

 

[ragedaddy]

Damn Josh, sounds like you almost had a heart attack on that one. I guess that means you will keep your buddy wrapped up next time huh? No one wants to go out like the late Eazy E did...

 

[ghettocities]

Originally posted by ragedaddy
Damn Josh, sounds like you almost had a heart attack on that one. I guess that means you will keep your buddy wrapped up next time huh? No one wants to go out like the late Eazy E did...

Yea, I think about how I'm going to go out, I have a good feelin' i'm either going to get shot up, get skin cancer (from tanning too much and my dad had malignant skin cancer recently from always tanning when he was younger) or from some disease from a girl -- I hope someone can finish the last chapter of my book for me I'm sure the end will be just as funny as the time I took a vibrating lint shaver to my genitals on a dare and got straight cut up like a diced carrot, true story.

Josh

 

[clubvikram]

sick! in Japan? no way

well, iam shocked to see this comment/question. i have been to japan thrice and never experienced any such thing. the only problem i have faced was the food, as iam an india and we have this habbit of eating very spicy food...and eating with chopsticks is something i still need to learn

 

[suz135]

I've heard of several foreigners getting sick from eating raw meat such as chicken. The Japanese stomach is used to these foods but a foreigner's stomach isn't.

 

[nice gaijin]

Anything ghettocities posted here is pretty shocking... that someone so stupid managed to survive this long. Seeing a thread of his again made me worry that the m0ron had somehow been unbanned.

I've heard of several foreigners getting sick from eating raw meat such as chicken. The Japanese stomach is used to these foods but a foreigner's stomach isn't.

I've never heard that, and that's a pretty ridiculous statement. People get used to foods, but you don't get used to salmonella.

 

[bruno]

I had cataract operation on both eyes last year in Tokyo.
4 days hospital,problem resolved ! Very professional eye- specialist,
nice staff. My language skills very poor ! Now I see like an eagle !!

 

[suz135]

I've never heard that, and that's a pretty ridiculous statement. People get used to foods, but you don't get used to salmonella.

Clearly, you've never been to Japan. I have lived here for several years so its not a ridiculous statement (and maybe you should be less rude in your posts since you don't know what you're talking about). As part of their diet, Japanese people eat many things raw including many types of meat (horse, cow, chicken, etc). Since they've grown up eating this diet, their stomachs can handle the bacteria perfectly. But a foreigner who eats the same meal ends up in the hospital. This happened to a friend of mine.

 

[nice gaijin]

I have lived in Japan, so I'll thank you not to assume things about me. I have also tried all of the raw meats you mentioned and they have not made me sick (or anyone else I know of for that matter, although I know many Japanese people that have suffered from food poisoning, if you'd care to explain that). Raw meat merely has a higher chance of infection; it has nothing to do with whether my Japanese friends or I are "used" to the kind of bacteria that makes you sick. Your friend was unlucky, but that's hardly proof of what you claim.

 

[FrustratedDave]

Clearly, you've never been to Japan. I have lived here for several years so its not a ridiculous statement (and maybe you should be less rude in your posts since you don't know what you're talking about). As part of their diet, Japanese people eat many things raw including many types of meat (horse, cow, chicken, etc). Since they've grown up eating this diet, their stomachs can handle the bacteria perfectly. But a foreigner who eats the same meal ends up in the hospital. This happened to a friend of mine.

LOL, this is one of the funnier posts of today. I have eaten raw chicken, horse, fish, intestines, beef, cow tongue and liver. I must not be a forienger! LOL

Oh and BTW, what makes you an expert in this area?

 

[nice gaijin]

Oh and BTW, what makes you an expert in this area?

Didn't you get the memo? Living in Japan is as good as having a doctorate in Asian Studies. :nihonjin:

 

[Emoni]

Lived in Japan as well, and I've met NiceGaijin in Japan so I'll back up him living there as well.

I've had all sorts of raw meat and never once gotten sick off of the food. However, there are times where excessive oil and changes to diet can cause problems, but I've never seen anything beyond a very minor grumbly stomach. As for "getting used to bacteria" it sounds like a nice little concept, but if it is true or not is another story that can be solved by research in a lab not a forum. I can say eating raw fish and rare meat in Japan didn't ever have my worried like it does in other countries.

This thread mostly seems to be a waste anyway... anything Ghettocities posted was anyway.

 

[bruno]

Emoni !

Not the thread per se is a waste, but most of the reactions !!

 

[suz135]

What does this have to do with being an expert?

This has happened to several gaijin here that I know of. I don't think it was due to unluckiness that these people got sick. If the meat was contaminated, then the whole dinner party would have gotten sick. It was just them, suggesting the illness was due to their own digestive response. However, I guess I shouldn't generalize and say all gaijin will get sick from eating raw meat. But I still put this out as a word of caution. I won't eat any raw meat (actually I'm vegetarian, but even if I did eat meat, I wouldn't eat it raw).

 

[FrustratedDave]

Didn't you get the memo? Living in Japan is as good as having a doctorate in Asian Studies. :nihonjin:

I am sick of being left out of the loop, make sure the next memo comes my way! LOL

What does this have to do with being an expert?
This has happened to several gaijin here that I know of. I don't think it was due to unluckiness that these people got sick. If the meat was contaminated, then the whole dinner party would have gotten sick. It was just them, suggesting the illness was due to their own digestive response. However, I guess I shouldn't generalize and say all gaijin will get sick from eating raw meat. But I still put this out as a word of caution. I won't eat any raw meat (actually I'm vegetarian, but even if I did eat meat, I wouldn't eat it raw).

Eating anything for the first time, can upset the balance in your stomach/bowels (I emphisize can). But just like any othe human being on this planet any type of food can have this effect, not just raw meat like you are suggesting.

 

[suz135]

Eating anything for the first time, can upset the balance in your stomach/bowels (I emphisize can). But just like any othe human being on this planet any type of food can have this effect, not just raw meat like you are suggesting.

Who said it was the first time? This discussion is a waste of time, its like talking to a brick wall. I guess I imagined the whole thing and it was all just a series of spectacular coincidences.