Stages of a Bad Cold

Not gonna write about food today.  Food doesn't interest me whatsoever right now.  Why, you ask?

Because I ended 2013 and started 2014 with a "bad cold".  That's what we called it when I was a kid.  I don't remember any particular time that I had a cold as being terribly bad, but  then I have never been one to get sick very often, so perhaps it wasn't.  This time, however, was a different story.   

Recently, I was given a prescription for a round of antibiotics...a necessary evil (emphasis on "evil") for various ailments.  I've taken them before over the years with no ill effects.  Not so this time. 

Not only did they weaken my immune system, but I experienced, for the first time ever, "burning mouth" while I took them, which is possibly worse than what I was being treated for.  Instructions were to take the pills with ample amounts of water.  I drank what seemed like gallons of water with them, but it didn't matter. The fire in my mouth raged on.

To make things worse, during this time, my dear husband brought the bad cold bug home from work. This was right before Christmas. 

Lovely.

I am an internet researcher. When I become interested in something, I will read as much as I can on the subject. I also have pharmacophobic tendencies. I do not like taking medicines - in fact, I fear them, especially unfamiliar ones. 

These two qualities are not a good combination when I get sick (rarely!) or need to take a particular medication.  I could give you a science lesson about antibiotics and colds and their causes and symptoms.

Until last year, I could take most any medication, prescribed or OTC, for a particular ill and go on about my business.  Since then, I've had some adverse reactions to a couple of different medications, none of which I care to experience again.

(Kind of like that Parmesan chicken casserole I ate that night back in 1983, right before our daiquiri party began....I have refused to eat Parmesan cheese in any form with chicken ever since.  But that's a different story.)

No thanks.

www.kraftrecipes.com

I do realize that pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to include all known side effects in their product data.  This will include the one guy out of 1,000 who, after taking a particular medicine, reported that it made him quack like a duck and slap himself with a piece of pastrami.  The likelihood of that re-occurring is quite remote, but they have to state it anyway.  It has been written.  Even though I know this, my side-effect-avoiding mind goes into overdrive.

You get my meaning.

Here's how it all went down.

Stage 1. 

I tried so hard to avoid this cold.  What did I do wrong?  I found out. Cold viruses (of which there are

about 200) are airborne, and can live on skin or hard surfaces from 2 to 8 hours! So I either breathed it in or touched something the D.H. had touched or sneezed upon.  The tickle-y cough started on Christmas Day, followed quickly by a scratchy throat.  Within two days, I was headed to the doctor, hoping to squash this thing before it got out of hand.  (I was supposed to start a new job the following week.) 

The common cold virus.  Vile creature!  
 www.cnn.com

Stage 2.  

A quick doctor visit left me with a sinus infection diagnosis.  The antidote?  More antibiotics!!  I was horrified at the thought of adding another antibiotic to the prescription cocktail I was already taking, so I refused to take them.  I decided it was simply a cold (after much reading on the subject) and that I could tough it out.  I wallowed in the bed and bemoaned my fate as the congestion and sore throat set in with a vengeance. 

The next two days consisted of misery: no sleep and possibly the worst sore throat I have ever had. Simply drinking water felt like I was swallowing shards of glass through an opening the size of a pencil.  

My mother suggested a dose of equal parts of lemon juice and honey (minus the whiskey or moonshine that rounded out this old-time remedy back in the old days).  I remember my Granny giving it to me when I was little.  I couldn't tolerate drinking it straight, but found that mixing a few tablespoons of each with some hot water from the tea kettle actually did have some restorative properties.  (I could have said that it was very soothing, but I've been reading British novels this week.)

Helps cure what ails you.

A side note:  Based on the positive experience I had with lemon juice and honey, I will always keep this mixture on hand in the refrigerator from now on, stored in a half-pint mason jar.  Shake it, pour some in your teacup, and add the hot water.  Honey has so many health benefits, I have learned, that it has now become a staple in my house.

My son, eat thou honey, for it is good.  Proverbs 24:13

I finally gave in to the option of an over-the-counter remedy (after researching all of Robitussin's products for the better part of two hours to determine which of them would treat my symptoms with the least risk of side effects).  I sent the D.H. off to purchase a particular elixir, and of course he bought something different. So, I slogged back to the computer for more intelligence-gathering before I finally forced myself to take (half) a dose.

Stage 3.  

By this time, while cautiously taking the half-doses of Robitussin, supplemented periodically by cups of lemon honey tea, I am in full-blown mucus-bogged rattled-coughing misery.  I went through a couple of trees' worth of Kleenex.   (Where does all that nasal stuff come from???  Oh wait...let me look that up!) 

My dog, ever watchful over me, decided it would be fun to play "steal the wadded Kleenex".
Yeah, he ate one or two. 

I didn't want food (and consequently dropped a few pounds).  I watched a lot of TV while huddled under piles of blankets, unsuccessfully attempting to sleep, and trying to remember what it was like to "be well".  I thought of all the things I would do if I felt better, like "go to work", "clean the house", "walk the dog", or "put something tasty in the crock pot".  

I'll take "go back to bed for $200, Alex".  And hand over some of those potent potables while you're at it.

Stage 4. 

Improvement slowly begins to appear, and I actually spend a couple of days on the couch instead of in the bed.  I even changed the sheets!  I can actually taste my chicken noodle soup!  Surely I am on the way to recovery!  

www.weather.com

On the third day of this gradual recovery, I venture back out into the world.  By this time I have not been out of the house in 7 days.  While I think I am feeling much better, I realize I have over-estimated myself.  When I get home, I head to bed.  Somewhat deflated, I realized I wasn't 100% just yet.

Stage 5. 

Today the cough and congestion, though markedly diminished, linger on.  The job, which was postponed another week, looms ahead.  I hope I can soldier through the next few days and put this awful cold (and those terrible antibiotics, which I stopped taking with the advent of the sore throat) behind me.  

Starting now, I will take my vitamins regularly, eat live-culture yogurt daily (to avoid, or at least combat, any future antibiotic regimens), keep my hands clean(er), and never touch a suspect surface again without making sure it's been sanitized.  

www.hotmamainthecity.com

Note to people I haven't met yet:  Don't be offended if I don't shake your hand.