Sick and tired!

[jswordy]

I have been sick so long I am tired of it, is what I mean!

Started out at the end of October. Got a cold. It lasted a week, but I felt draggy and not right after it left. That continued through November and into December. Mid-December, I caught another cold. It lasted 10 days (long enough for my wife to catch it) but left me with bronchitis, so I did my duty and went to the doc. The antibiotics nailed the bronchitis, but I took my last one yesterday and I began to catch another cold that kept me stuffy and awake half the night last night.

The whole area is like this. I have been surrounded by ill people for weeks. It's worse at the holidays when everyone mingles, sick or not. There was no parking space left at the doc's office when I went. It was packed. They even closed schools for two days due to excessive illness.

What a winter! And hey - I'm not going to the doc for this one!

 

[GreginND]

I feel your pain. I've been battling the colds all holiday season. Enough already!

 

[joeswine]

Colds

NO THE FEELING ,EVERY TIME I GET A FLUE SHOT I GET SICK,YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD STOP GETTING THE SHOT,NEVER LEARN,PREVENTION ISN'T WORTH A POUND OF CURE.

 

[g8keeper]

i know what you need, jim....been battling something on and off for the last few months as well....starts with tingle in the back of the throat, and then get drainage, sniffles, and everything....sniffles haven't really gone away, nor has an ocassional cough....just like with you, when it seems like it's going away, parts linger, and then the other symptoms start again....lol...

 

[grapeman]

Yep this time of year sucks. So many colds and flu aroiund right now it isn't funny. The oncologist had the nurse give me both the flu shot and pneumonia shot in the same arm a few weeks ago. He didn't want me going into chemotherapy with no protection. That smarted like heck for 2 days, but is the least of my worries right now. Keep the faith and you will soon get better!

 

[Sammyk]

We both feel for you Jim. We both have had that crud 2 times since October. We get over it after a few weeks and a few weeks later it came right back. Can't sleep because when one lies down the coughing starts in again. We finally both slept semi upright in recliners to keep away the awful coughing.

It has been 2 weeks now since the last bout and we hope it was the final one.

We both got flu shots early on even though what we had was not the flu. Good thing too because we have had 12 flu deaths here in NC the last I heard before Christmas and we are more of risk for flu because of our age.

Feel better soon!

 

[jswordy]

Grapeman, good luck with the chemo. Puts it in perspective for me...

Sammy, I slept in a recliner last night! I was laughing at myself already because I KNEW I was going to get sick. Boss was at work 2 weeks coughing and hacking (he is still coughing, 3 weeks later) ... then went to a mid-December family gathering, and this kid has bronchitis and that adult didn't make it cuz he was too ill but his hoarse wife did, and this one just got over stomach flu and that one has a cold ... (and out of all the well people there, half of them got sick from being at the gathering within the next 5 days)

Then I DID get sick again and eventually go to the doc, and the place is jammed with sick people.

I was thinking just one thing as I went though all this, you know, with all these sick people around me, I might just - COUGH - might just get - COUGH COUGH - might just get SICK! COUGH-COUGH-COUGH-COUGH!!!

Whew, I feel some - sniff - some better - sniff, sniff - some better now! SNIFF-SNIFF-SNIFF-ACHOO! And so on...

 

[Runningwolf]

Good luck everyone and hope you all get well soon. Sheesh you'all got me so scared I just sanitized my monitor.

 

[grapeman]

Dan I think you use a laptop so this is what you use to protect yourself from the viruses we might all be spreading

 

[Wade E]

Man I've been end so lucky so far. Everyone in my family has been sick twice and do far Ivy only felt a little I'll for about 4 hours after work and went to sleep freezing but woke up fine. Maybe its because most of the time I'm fishing out in the 30* temps for hours at a time? Years ago every time the kids would get sick so would I before I started this crazy fishing in freezing temps, makes you wonde!

 

[JohnT]

Jim,

Just hang in there. Get better and try to stay positive.

BTW, my father taught me the "hungarian cure" for a cold. Not sure if there is any science to it, but experience tells me it works..

Here is what you do...

1) take a screaming hot shower for as long as you can possible stand it. Be sure to breathe in the nice steamy air as you do so.

2) towel off and immediately wrap yourself in a big comforter or quilt to trap that body heat.

3) pour yourself 2 "fingers" of good strong brandy (no more, no less) and slowly sip that for an hour or so. as you drink it, let the brandy coat your mouth and throat.

4) go to bed. With the shower and brandy, you will find that you will sleep like a million bucks!.


I have done this several times and ALWAYS wake up feeling much better! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

 

[jswordy]

The shower and wrap technique helps. I have done that before. Alcohol makes it worse. I think my wine consumption on New Year's Eve helped usher in this third cold I now have.

These are strong bugs. I have not been ill with respiratory stuff for a long long time. My body is great at fighting off garden-variety cold bugs. I only get it if it is very nasty.

Wade, the outdoor life is good for immunity. You get sun, which helps with Vitamin D, and you are in the open air a lot. By contrast, I spend 5 days a week in a windowless office with dry heated air, 90% of which is recirculated through the building.

My biggest mistake is that with all the hits I took in life since September, I slipped up and did not get a flu shot. Big mistake. First year I have skipped it in awhile, and here we go... I will not do that again. Second biggest mistake was going to the doc and sitting with a bunch of sick people packed in there. I got treated to get rid of the bronchitis, but that's how I caught this current "head cold," which is driving me nuts.

 

[Rodnboro]

I don't know if some of you could do this or not, but about 2 years ago, I started jogging. I wasn't overweight, but wanted to get in better shape and be around a long time for my kids. (I'm 51 and have a 13 and 14 year old) I used to get 2 or 3 really bad colds a year. Since I started jogging, I've had one cold which lasted about 4 days. I've never felt better in my life and I'm sure it has boosted my immune system. Just a thought.

 

[grapeman]

Yeah Rodnboro, when I turned 50 I lost 50 pounds from walking, jogging and cycling and then went on to lose almost another 50 pounds, putting me at my ideal weight for me of 165 of pure muscle. I also lifted lots of heavy weight to help the joints.

That went well for a couple years and I was off all medication. Then I ripped a rotator cuff, had to have a hernia repaired with a mesh and my knees and feet went to heck. First to go was the running, then jogging and eventually going to a recumbent bike instead of a regular 10 speed. I lifted weights as I could but my weight started to come back( a lot as muscle). I have a feeling the follicular lymphoma I have now is the result of chemicals I used in farming for years and years. Some of them get tied up into the fat cells in you belly. What happens to them as the fat gets burned up? All of a sudden you are dumping all those toxins back into your system. I suspect the lymphoma first got its start when I lost all that weight 8-9 years ago. The doctor says I have likely had this for years since it is such a slow growing cancer, yet has grown so far.

This should be another warning to lose weight at a controlled pace, keeping it at a pound or 2 a week tops, not the 10 pounds a week I was burning through.

 

[GreginND]

Yes, jogging is great. In 2004 I was topping in at 300 pounds. I dropped 85 pounds by biking and jogging. I also hardly got sick. I've run 9 full marathons since then and lots of other half marathons and smaller races. But one year ago I slipped and broke my ribs. I haven't been on the road or back to the gym since and feel like a sloth and gained some of that back this year. Working hard now to get back on track.

 

[rezod11]

Go get a massage!!! Not while you're sick, but once you're healthy again. One 60 minute massage every four weeks has amazing immune boosting properties, and it feels good!

Grapeman, if you can stand to be touched during your chemo, and are interested, find someone who is certified in oncology massage in your area, it may do wonders for you mentally, if not physically.

I haven't been sick in about seven years, and yes, in case you haven't guessed already, I am a massage therapist.

Exercising is also a great way to keep yourself healthy. I wish I could jog or run, but I have to be very careful with my knees. Already had one ACL replacement and will eventually need both of them done.

 

[jswordy]

It's funny but folks always seem to think they have the preventative.

We take EpiCor, a clinically tested and proven immune booster, every day here. It works fabulously, but not 100% of the time.

I jog every morning. Haven't for 6 weeks, though. Been sick.

As far as washing hands, we are handwashing fools around here. My wife ran around the house with a spray bottle of disinfectant, constantly spraying and wiping everything when I got sick. She still got it.

The bugs all around me in our region are extremely nasty, and I just realized one day I was completely surrounded by sick people. I have not been sick for 3 years. It has to be nasty for me to get it. Schools closed 2 days in a row because 25% of the students had bugs. That's never happened before in my 23 years here, not even for one day.

I'll get that flu shot next year! This is not the ideal way to acquire immunity. Live and learn.

 

[joeswine]

Down for the count

ON FRIDAY MORNING I GOT UP ,HEAD FELT LIKE STUFFED TURKEY,COULDN'T BREATH,AND THROAT SWOLLEN SHUT,(LIFE THROUGH BETTER CHEMISTRY)BY MONDAY ANTIBIOTICS INFUSED AND SINUS MEDICINE EN -JESTED- SLEEP LIKE i WAS DEAD,MONDAY BACK TO THE GRAINED................LIFE TROUGH BETTER CHEMISTRY

 

[the_rayway]

We have been sick here with the never ending head/sinus/chest cold since the end of September. It just circulates round and round (and we have all had the flu shot!) we've all been on antibiotics several times. I have to say though, we recently discovered the Neti Pot, and it has changed our lives.

This is the longest I have been able to sleep though the night being able to breathe since Sept., and my husband (who is horribly allergic to our cat) hasn't snored since. It's incredible! The colds we started getting again when we bought it never got any further and were stopped dead in their tracks.

I can't tell you that it's the best preventative, but damn! It worked for us!

 

[grapeman]

Short of googling it, what the heck is a Netti Pot?