Influenza Comes To Stay
It would seem that I have gone my whole life without ever once getting influenza. I have been known and prone to getting one cold a year. Except for when I was 17 and got sick 5 times. And then for the first five years after having a baby I got sick anywhere from 4-8 times a year. But never with influenza. Bronchitis, tonsilitis, colds, stomach flu (rarely), and strep once or twice. I know that in Max's whole life he has gotten the flu once. ONCE. He gets colds which have turned into bad coughs. But the flu is so different.
We are lucky lucky people, it turns out. I kept saying to Philip that I've never had a cold like this one before and finally my friend Cam says that's because I don't have a cold I have influenza! So I looked it up on WebMD and what d'ya know? She's right!
I now understand why the flu kills off the very young and very old. I totally get why people shake in their boots when word of the flu coming their way starts circulating. What I totally don't understand is why more people don't just kill themselves when they're on day 6 of it. Because that's what I kind of feel like doing right now. Except- just in time- I got my sense of smell and taste back just in time to get to taste (and smell) at least three sips of my coffee this morning. Which gave me a false sense of hope. Just enough of a reminder of how much coffee makes life worth living not to grab some rope right now.
Don't anyone call me a big baby either! I've had five fractures in my acetabulum and didn't take any pain pills for it the whole three months I couldn't walk. I'm no woosie when it comes to pain.
While I don't think I would choose to break my hip again over getting this flu thing- it really is a close call. The saving grace of the flu is that it really can't last for more than two weeks supposedly before it either kills you or moves on.
So on day six we have arrived at the dry hacking cough. Which brings back echoes of the sore throat. And exacerbates the ear problems. I can't go to the doctor because I have no insurance and it we'd have to use what little money we have to pay off our old doctor bill before they'd let me make a new appointment, but then I'd have no money until next week and so I wouldn't be able to go until next week which does me no good right now. It's all well and good to be freaked out about socialist medicine when you either have health insurance or can afford your doctor needs without them. I for one, am completely in favor of universal health care.
Anyway, here are the symptoms I have been experiencing:
Body ache
Chills
Ear ache
Head ache
Stuffed head
Dry painful cough
Lack of hunger
No sense smell or taste
Leaky eye which may be conjunctivitis
The good news is that lack of hunger has led to a 4lb weight loss in the six days I've had the flu.
Here are the remedies I've been using:
Elderberry syrup
Chestal (homeopathic cough syrup)
ginger, lemon, and honey tea
lots of water
endless hours resting but not sleeping (because the discomfort makes sleep impossible)
Wellvitamins
Nasal Spray (to attempt to breath easier)
Advil (should have been on it all this time but only took twice- idiot girl!)
Eucalyptus oil steam
The truth is that none of these things have really seemed to help much. The ice cream and beer were the things that offered me the best immediate relief but it goes against all common wisdom that that should be so.
So I have come up with an idea: never get the flu again!
I don't believe in getting flu shots (I do believe that the very young and the very old probably should- but not someone my age) though having gone through this I understand the appeal. My suspicion that the best thing we can do for ourselves is to take the best care of ourselves before we get sick is our best defense against getting sick. My mom taught me this and she also taught me that no medicine really fixes colds or flus but can only help ease the symptoms is so true. While I've had all this weird non-sleeping/non-waking time to hang around in purgatory I've given some thought to what that means to me. What I haven't been doing for myself to help strengthen my immune system. What haven't I been doing to care for myself and keep myself really strong?
I don't believe in doing anything really EXTREME. So I won't be taking tons of supplements every day or running marathons because if I did that I would have a serious identity crisis. Here are some things I plan to work on harder than ever:
Not over eating (hard on the body)\
Drink more water.
Drink more herbal teas that nourish*
More daily exercise
More down time to reflect quietly
Take regular hot baths**
Enough sleep
Periodically drink stronger immune boosting teas
Uh oh. My poor kid is hacking his brains out downstairs. Time to go and give him some cough medicine. Time to call the husband to see when he might come home. Time to eat another bowl of soup I can't taste. I'll call it the lost soup. I think my will to live is directly linked to my ability to smell and taste. I guess the only good part is that I can't smell my unshowered sweaty body right now. Yay. Now, I hope you all stay flu-free. Go take care of yourselves. And the next time you get the flu I will understand better the awful misery you are in and give you more sympathy than normal.
*I want to find some good herbal combinations that are safe to drink daily and help support the body's natural functions. I will come up with some to try from all my herbal books.
**Our bathtub isn't big enough for a gnat to bath comfortably in. We need to get a decent soaking tub. Must start making regular visits to Habitat For Humanity stores and Craig's List for inexpensive decent condition deep tub. I believe that taking hot baths is one of the most stress reducing, healthy, and best beauty treatments there is. In olden times, back when I actually had a decent tub, I always hit the bath tub when feeling run down. Sometimes with bubbles, or herb teas I'd blend myself, sometimes with oils- and it always rejeuvenated me in a way that nothing else can. I need that back in my life.
We are lucky lucky people, it turns out. I kept saying to Philip that I've never had a cold like this one before and finally my friend Cam says that's because I don't have a cold I have influenza! So I looked it up on WebMD and what d'ya know? She's right!
I now understand why the flu kills off the very young and very old. I totally get why people shake in their boots when word of the flu coming their way starts circulating. What I totally don't understand is why more people don't just kill themselves when they're on day 6 of it. Because that's what I kind of feel like doing right now. Except- just in time- I got my sense of smell and taste back just in time to get to taste (and smell) at least three sips of my coffee this morning. Which gave me a false sense of hope. Just enough of a reminder of how much coffee makes life worth living not to grab some rope right now.
Don't anyone call me a big baby either! I've had five fractures in my acetabulum and didn't take any pain pills for it the whole three months I couldn't walk. I'm no woosie when it comes to pain.
While I don't think I would choose to break my hip again over getting this flu thing- it really is a close call. The saving grace of the flu is that it really can't last for more than two weeks supposedly before it either kills you or moves on.
So on day six we have arrived at the dry hacking cough. Which brings back echoes of the sore throat. And exacerbates the ear problems. I can't go to the doctor because I have no insurance and it we'd have to use what little money we have to pay off our old doctor bill before they'd let me make a new appointment, but then I'd have no money until next week and so I wouldn't be able to go until next week which does me no good right now. It's all well and good to be freaked out about socialist medicine when you either have health insurance or can afford your doctor needs without them. I for one, am completely in favor of universal health care.
Anyway, here are the symptoms I have been experiencing:
Body ache
Chills
Ear ache
Head ache
Stuffed head
Dry painful cough
Lack of hunger
No sense smell or taste
Leaky eye which may be conjunctivitis
The good news is that lack of hunger has led to a 4lb weight loss in the six days I've had the flu.
Here are the remedies I've been using:
Elderberry syrup
Chestal (homeopathic cough syrup)
ginger, lemon, and honey tea
lots of water
endless hours resting but not sleeping (because the discomfort makes sleep impossible)
Wellvitamins
Nasal Spray (to attempt to breath easier)
Advil (should have been on it all this time but only took twice- idiot girl!)
Eucalyptus oil steam
The truth is that none of these things have really seemed to help much. The ice cream and beer were the things that offered me the best immediate relief but it goes against all common wisdom that that should be so.
So I have come up with an idea: never get the flu again!
I don't believe in getting flu shots (I do believe that the very young and the very old probably should- but not someone my age) though having gone through this I understand the appeal. My suspicion that the best thing we can do for ourselves is to take the best care of ourselves before we get sick is our best defense against getting sick. My mom taught me this and she also taught me that no medicine really fixes colds or flus but can only help ease the symptoms is so true. While I've had all this weird non-sleeping/non-waking time to hang around in purgatory I've given some thought to what that means to me. What I haven't been doing for myself to help strengthen my immune system. What haven't I been doing to care for myself and keep myself really strong?
I don't believe in doing anything really EXTREME. So I won't be taking tons of supplements every day or running marathons because if I did that I would have a serious identity crisis. Here are some things I plan to work on harder than ever:
Not over eating (hard on the body)\
Drink more water.
Drink more herbal teas that nourish*
More daily exercise
More down time to reflect quietly
Take regular hot baths**
Enough sleep
Periodically drink stronger immune boosting teas
Uh oh. My poor kid is hacking his brains out downstairs. Time to go and give him some cough medicine. Time to call the husband to see when he might come home. Time to eat another bowl of soup I can't taste. I'll call it the lost soup. I think my will to live is directly linked to my ability to smell and taste. I guess the only good part is that I can't smell my unshowered sweaty body right now. Yay. Now, I hope you all stay flu-free. Go take care of yourselves. And the next time you get the flu I will understand better the awful misery you are in and give you more sympathy than normal.
*I want to find some good herbal combinations that are safe to drink daily and help support the body's natural functions. I will come up with some to try from all my herbal books.
**Our bathtub isn't big enough for a gnat to bath comfortably in. We need to get a decent soaking tub. Must start making regular visits to Habitat For Humanity stores and Craig's List for inexpensive decent condition deep tub. I believe that taking hot baths is one of the most stress reducing, healthy, and best beauty treatments there is. In olden times, back when I actually had a decent tub, I always hit the bath tub when feeling run down. Sometimes with bubbles, or herb teas I'd blend myself, sometimes with oils- and it always rejeuvenated me in a way that nothing else can. I need that back in my life.
Comments (19)
My mother used to make us drink boiled grapefruit.. she'd boil a whole cut up grapefruit (and I don't remember any sugar but who knows) and it was vile but we always felt better. You had to feel very sick to think it was worth while.
Good luck. I just read in the new tv guide at my mom's house that Bones and Booth get together. Hmm. I wonder how that will play out.
Posted by pam | March 11, 2009 5:32 PM
Posted on March 11, 2009 17:32
I agree emphatically on baths being a wonderful release. A nice hot bath can pull out many of the toxins that just don't get released in our bodies unless we're working up a good sweat, which is why I think exercise is a good way to keep the crud away...not that I'd know from experience because I haven't exercised like that in an age. But now I do have a bathtub to soak my big self in so there's my exercise :-)
Posted by Kathy | March 11, 2009 6:04 PM
Posted on March 11, 2009 18:04
Until I had it once about 15 years ago I wondered what all the hubbub was about flu shots. I don't get them myself but I am more sympathetic to those that do. I semi-seriously told my boyfriend at the time if he wanted to smother me in my half sleep state it would be considered a mercy killing. I am so sorry you and Max are going through it. I have, since you started writing about it been taking stock of how I have been treating my body. I am taking elderberry tincture and getting plenty of sleep and upped the walking a bit. Hang in there it won't be too much longer. (Fingers crossed.) -tonia
Posted by Tonia | March 11, 2009 6:51 PM
Posted on March 11, 2009 18:51
Last year I got the flu for the first time in my life. I was what I would describe as "very sick" for a full four weeks. I was really against flu shots, but after months of feeling like shit last year, I figured I'd take my chances with the shot this year.
I'm so sorry you got it! I hope you feel better soon. :)
Posted by futuregirl | March 11, 2009 7:24 PM
Posted on March 11, 2009 19:24
eugh, i thought it might be the flu! at least you're over the hump now and can taste again!
Posted by miss lila | March 11, 2009 7:41 PM
Posted on March 11, 2009 19:41
oh, dude. flu is brutal. That's what Ty had and he was flat on his back for a solid week...then struggling through for another. All those same symptoms. Sounds like you're doing all the right things for it and it's just a matter of resting your way back to health. xoxoxo
Posted by kelly | March 12, 2009 4:59 AM
Posted on March 12, 2009 04:59
Flu is awful, I had it over Christmas for 3 weeks. Feeling so crap is the pits, on the up side I lost 10 lbs. Hope you are both over the worst of it.
Posted by French Knots | March 12, 2009 6:06 AM
Posted on March 12, 2009 06:06
So sorry you have the flu! :(
There were several years in which I was fairly sedentary, and I also had a cold or illness every few months. Times when I ramp up the exercise, I am sick far less. There is a direct connection.
Posted by Jade | March 12, 2009 8:07 AM
Posted on March 12, 2009 08:07
Thanks everyone for checking in to make sure I'm still breathing! hahahahaha! Alice- every moment I think I've turned a corner with this thing the next day brings me fresh hell- I may have to rethink it too. But: how can it work when the flu that comes through each year is different? Oh my god- and four weeks of really sick!? I remember you being sick last year. What a baby I'm being then. This is only day seven for me.
i really do think I've finally turned a corner. My sense of taste did not actually return yesterday- it teased me briefly. Then the most painful dry hacking cough arrived and a fresh batch of ear pain. Oy. However, after a miserable night of everything hurting- at least my cough is productive now and my sense of taste has seemed to really return. I'm on advil for the ear pain (Lisa- I don't have chamomile oil but I wanted to try your remedy.)
Seriously- everyone who tells me they have the flu is going to get a lot more sympathy from me next time. Shit. Alright, I'm hanging in there to do my work hours so I better get back to it so I can get back in bed!
Posted by angelina | March 12, 2009 8:54 AM
Posted on March 12, 2009 08:54
If you're still having ear pain a cotton ball with a few drops of tea tree oil taped to your ear can do wonders. I know it sounds strange but it has a load of antibiotic properties to it and really does relieve the ear pain.
Posted by Kathy | March 12, 2009 9:03 AM
Posted on March 12, 2009 09:03
ooh, the dreaded hacking cough... my mom would always make me steam my head over big pot with some rosemary sticks in it, and that was supposed to help break up the crap in my lungs so I could cough it up. I hated it but it did work. she always wanted me to gargle hot salt water and cider vinegar too (for sore throats), but as good for me as it might be, that's just NASTY.
a heating pad does work wonders for relieving earache pain, though. no real healing properties, but everybody else's advice has that covered I think. ;)
Posted by miss lila | March 12, 2009 12:35 PM
Posted on March 12, 2009 12:35
Sorry you're still feeling so bad. Hope you're able to get some of the rest your body is demanding. Get well soon.
Posted by mss @ Zanthan Gardens | March 12, 2009 1:32 PM
Posted on March 12, 2009 13:32
One of the two times I was sick enough to wish for a quick death was last winter when I had the flu (like real, doctor-diagnosed flu... I finally went to the clinic when I realized I could barely breathe). I totally feel your pain! And YES, deep, hot baths are a wonderful remedy.... for just about anything!
Posted by ToilingAnt | March 12, 2009 2:48 PM
Posted on March 12, 2009 14:48
My understanding is that the shots are changed up every year to allow for three different strains. Something like the most dangerous and the most probable, based on the experts' best guesses. That way there is a chance we are up to speed.
Good luck and hope it gets better!
Posted by Danielle | March 12, 2009 7:18 PM
Posted on March 12, 2009 19:18
Run!! Run as fast as you can from those dirty, little bug harbingers, i.e. your hands. The habit I started llloooonnnngggg ago, wash my hands everytime I came home/in the house. It's amazing what lurks out in the "real world" on keyboards, shopping carts, that hanger you just held up to your body and looked in the mirror. EEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!! (just a touch of OCD in this whole idea too).
Also, the tree oil is a great idea, but if you warm it slightly, it really makes the eardrum feel "happy and less painful".
Keep on with the rest of your ideas, like a doctor told me once, long ago, it can take up to 2 weeks, or 14 days to start getting better. What a guy.
Your friend,
Bonnie
Posted by Bonnie | March 13, 2009 7:49 AM
Posted on March 13, 2009 07:49
I'm so sorry that you're sick, and I hope that you are feeling better soon.
I have some gardening questions for you. When you're feeling better, maybe I can ask you?
Posted by MichelleB | March 13, 2009 9:15 AM
Posted on March 13, 2009 09:15
Ahh, sweetie, I hope you're turning a corner.
My bout with the flu, I was 14 weeks pregnant, and it was over our 2nd anniversary and that big Y2K New Year's scare...I understand your hell. It's miserable, miserable, miserable...big hugs coming your way.
And, hey, we're getting closer to the Seattle transition, so look forward to getting better so we can meet up for a coffee and an afternoon of whatever one of these days. Now, doesn't that make you want to get well all the faster?? ;)
Posted by Aimee | March 13, 2009 11:26 AM
Posted on March 13, 2009 11:26
i've had the same flu for 19 days now.This has to be the worst flu ever!On the second day i got to take an ambulance ride because the fever was so high it made my heart beat erratic.Also my eyes are infected and leaking pus and i can't stop urinating. doc says it has to run its course please how long is that!
Posted by DONNA MADIGAN | April 25, 2009 7:19 PM
Posted on April 25, 2009 19:19
Good post, thanks
Posted by Flat Abs Diet | April 29, 2010 11:22 PM
Posted on April 29, 2010 23:22