I can't take it anymore!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Don't know if anyone's noticed, but I haven't been around the last few days...because I've been curled up in bed at my parents' house since Wednesday afternoon and just came home last night.

I started feeling sick on Sunday night, in the evening I was feeling really tired; I came home from dinner at my parents, and it was all I could do to put the sheets I had just washed back on my bed. I went to work Monday but I was feeling rather icky. Monday night I had a fever. I called out on Tuesday; I didn't have a fever when I woke up but I had a cough and headache and all kinds of fun stuff. Tuesday night my temp was 103.5; Wednesday morning it was 103.8, so I called out again and called the doctor. My mom picked me up (because I felt like death and wasn't up to driving) and took me to the doc, then brought me to their house, then went and picked up the prescription for Tamiflu that he gave me, along with some juice and Gatorade and other stuff. I spent the next few days in their spare bedroom, watching the Olympics and trying to sleep. Thursday night I was coughing so much I didn't sleep at all. My temp was up and down and up and down (though not close to 104 again, thank goodness).

Yesterday afternoon I was holding at around 99.1, and I decided to come home because my parents have a viewing to go to today (funeral tomorrow), which I can't go to because I can't risk getting people sick. On the way home we stopped and picked up something for coughing...which when I opened it I discovered that the bottle had leaked so I couldn't use it.

I woke up this morning with a 102.6 fever again. This is getting really old. I really can't miss another day of work (especially a Monday). My doctor's note excuses me through the end of last week (I've missed 4 days).

I took some Tylenol and my Tamiflu a little bit ago. Now I'm getting all sweaty so I think the fever is starting to break...again...I hate that part.

Please, please, please let this go away!

[Amina516]

Im so sorry BSE. I hope you get well soon. Youre doing all the right stuff.

*hugs and chicken soup*

[JustaCashier]

Hang in there, BSE....


Mike

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Sorry to hear it. :(

I still don't know what was worse from my battle with the flu (possibly swine) last November--actually being sick with the fever, headache, chills and uncontrollable shivering, or the week after all the main symptoms went away and I had to struggle through work feeling all draggy and exhausted.

The flu is a real bitch.

[Food Lady]

I haven't really been on the board, so I missed the absence of your usual hilarity. Sending hugs your way. Glad you have your parents nearby.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Well, so far I am planning to go to work tomorrow...still coughing and a little stuffy, but I don't feel so ... ill ... like I did. At the moment it feels like everything is above the neck - I'm not sweating and shivering at the same time, my temp stayed down through the afternoon, below 99, without meds since about 1:30. It went up a bit in the last hour or so, to 99.4, and I took some Tylenol and cough medicine with my Tamiflu just now for good measure, as I'm getting ready for bed. So fingers crossed that I can sleep through the night and wake up with a normal temp.

And yeah, my parents are great. :)

And so is my roomie - she was going to CVS this afternoon so she exchanged my leaky bottle of cough syrup for me. :)

[trailerparkmedic]

I'm glad you're feeling somewhat human again. I hope you're back to yourself soon.

**sends some more hugs and gatorade**

[BookstoreEscapee]

I'm glad you're feeling somewhat human again. I hope you're back to yourself soon.

**sends some more hugs and gatorade**

Thanks! The Gatorade is coming to work with me tomorrow (It's grape G2 - tastes like Kool-Aid) :p

[Jack T. Chance]

Sounds like a lousy way to spend a week. *sends chicken soup and http://i43.tinypic.com/29auxhc.jpg*

[BookstoreEscapee]

Thanks, Jack, and I second your little user title there...Down with the Sickness!!!

Went to work today...my boss said on the way out that if I still feel bad tomorrow I shouldn't come in. His boss is coming on Wednesday or Thursday (not sure which, yet) and he'd rather I be there then, if I'm gonna miss any more work. I actually woke up with a 102 temp this morning, but I drugged myself up and dragged myself in. The temp came down pretty quickly and stayed down (though I was alternating Tylenol and ibuprofin for most of the day). If I have a fever again in the morning I'm calling out, taking some drugs and seeing if I can't sleep it off once and for all. Still coughing but it has calmed down a teensy bit in the last hour or so (knock on wood).

[RavenStarr]

* Sends more chicken soup*

[draggar]

It sounds like you had that flu that was going around here last year.

You feel horrible for a week (or longer) and when you start to get over it, it lingers in your system for WEEKS. No, you won't be sick but you'll feel slightly feverish, you'll cough and sneeze (like a bad allergy attack - my asthma was even kicking up a lot then).

The good news is that it'll get better (although slowly). Keep up with the Benadryl, NyQuil, Sudaphed, etc.

It sounds like you're past the worst part, too.

[Becks]

Thanks, Jack, and I second your little user title there...Down with the Sickness!!!

I've been really tempted to use that as my facebook status. :blink:

[Rine]

I'm recovering from the flu as well! My temps didn't stay that high for that long, but I was in bed for a full two days, having no energy at all (among other things), and have been weak thereafter...isn't tamiflu just so expensive?! I don't have health insurance, so I forked at 90 plus dollars for it, plus I had prescriptions for amoxicillin (double ear infections on top of the flu) and prednisone to take.

The cough is lingering...I hatehatehatehatehate it.

I'm sorry. I can't imagine having temps for that long and it sounds like you have a really nasty case...I hope you feel better soon!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Out sick again today...current temp is 102.4. Spent all day sleeping (on and off). Just dragged myself up for apple juice and jello and advil.

I woke up at 4am absolutely drenched in sweat. That was pleasant...:(

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I woke up at 4am absolutely drenched in sweat. That was pleasant...:(

Maybe that was your fever breaking?

[BookstoreEscapee]

Maybe that was your fever breaking?

No I still had a fever all day. I don't now, though. Going to bed and hope it stays that way.

[r2cagle]

Slather the Vick's(or menthol) vapor rub on the bottoms of your feet, and put on cotton socks for the deep chest coughing at night... I swear, it does help. It even helps on the asthmatic coughs a smidgeon too.

It's miserable being sick for so long, so I hope you start feeling better soon.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Slather the Vick's(or menthol) vapor rub on the bottoms of your feet, and put on cotton socks for the deep chest coughing at night... I swear, it does help. It even helps on the asthmatic coughs a smidgeon too.

It's miserable being sick for so long, so I hope you start feeling better soon.

You know, I've read that trick and I didn't think of it...might have to try it tonight.

No fever today, thank god. I went to work, but I left at 3:30 (my boss called me at around 2 and said "Are you going to go home before you cough up a lung?"...so I took him up on it). On my way home I picked up two cartons of OJ (had a coupon) and some more cough stuff. Slept for a little bit this evening. I'm hoping we get enough snow to close work, but I'm not holding my breath (well, I can't catch my breath in the first place so I can't hold it ;)).

[AccountingDrone]

Please be careful and read the ingredients ... many meds for the flu and colds have tylenol added, and if you start combining tylenol as a solo med, and other meds that include it, you can do major deadly damage to your liver. If you are not certain if you can combine a med with tylenol, or the proper amounts of each you can combine, ask a pharmacist, it is their job to answer. Death by liver failure is a nasty nasty death I would not wish on the suckiest customer you can think of. :(

[BookstoreEscapee]

No Tylenol in this stuff. I've stopped taking Tylenol, now. As long as my temp stays down I won't take any more.

edit: Goddammit. 102.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Gonna call tomorrow.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Just came from the doctor (well, nurse practitioner, but as long as they can give me drugs, it's all good).

This morning my ear started bothering me; feels clogged but it doesn't actually hurt. She took one look at it and said "it should!" That's my right ear, she said the eardrum is about ready to pop. The left ear is not quite as bad; oddly enough, it's not bothering me at all. Also my throat is messed up, but that doesn't really hurt, either (it's a little sore but it seemed to be more from the coughing and the shallow breathing). I'm coughing so much I can barely catch my breath, and she said I'm wheezing a lot on the right side.

She said I am "borderline" for pneumonia. She gave me a prescription for Biaxin, which is a strong antibiotic and should help both my lungs and my ear, and an inhaler (Advair Ventolin HFA - albuterol; turns out Advair and Biaxin don't get along with each other) for my lungs. If I'm not feeling better in 2 days I should get a chest x-ray.

I really hope these drugs work, because next week is a really bad week for me to miss more work. :(

[trailerparkmedic]

I'm so sorry that you're still sick!

**hugs and chicken noodle soup and extra white blood cells to fight the infection**

[AdminAssistant]

This morning my ear started bothering me; feels clogged but it doesn't actually hurt. She took one look at it and said "it should!"

Heh. At one doctor visit, the NP looked in my ear and just said, "Ewwwwwww". "That bad, huh?" "So what kind of antibiotics can you take again?" :lol:

Glad you've gone to the doctor, and try not to stress yourself out about missing work. If you're borderline pneumonia, chances are they don't want you there.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Glad you've gone to the doctor, and try not to stress yourself out about missing work. If you're borderline pneumonia, chances are they don't want you there.

Yeah, I know. It's just that next week is the first week of the fiscal month, which means a ton of stuff to do to close out February. It can't wait a few days and my coworker can't do my stuff, and my boss can't do it all himself, either. So it'll really screw them if I can't be there.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Just took my first antibiotic pill. Of course I had to look it up on the drug website so I know just what to expect if it's going to kill me :rolleyes:. I'm a little paranoid about drugs...I've taken this before, several years ago, I'm pretty sure, and had no problem (nor have I ever had a problem with any drug), but that doesn't stop me from freaking myself out. (Though I didn't do that with the Tamiflu, mostly because I was feeling too crappy to care. I just took what my mom handed me.)

Had to wait until 8 because it's twice a day and I wanted to make the morning pill at a reasonable hour.

Can't really tell if the inhaler helped...took some Mucinex, which does help, but it's really gross coughing up all that junk. :(

[JustaCashier]

As gross as it is, you gotta keep coughing that crap up, to get it out of your lungs.

When I was in the hospital 1.5 years ago, with pneumonia, one thing they impressed upon me was if I had an urge to cough, do it.
Cough hard, and get rid of that crap.

A bit of a funny related to that, one particular day, I just wasn't having any productive coughs. I was coughing alright, but the crap just wouldn't break free and clear out of my lungs, whereas on previous days, I'd be coughing up a pretty fair amount. Finally, about mid-afternoon, I coughed, and coughed up a big ol' hunk of crap.

When I was telling one of the nurses about it later, I described what I had coughed up as a "thick goo". The nurse replied, "Thank you for describing it that way. Most people describe it as some type of food, and I can never bring myself to eat that food again!" :lol:

Hang in there, BSE. I hope you shake this once and for all, very soon.

Mike

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I was telling one of the nurses about it later, I described what I had coughed up as a "thick goo". The nurse replied, "Thank you for describing it that way. Most people describe it as some type of food, and I can never bring myself to eat that food again!" :lol:

I would never describe this stuff as anything I would ever consider food..! Ick.

Thanks for the good wishes. I seem to be getting better. Even spent most of the afternoon reading a book...which I was in no condition to do last week. At least I have a good excuse for it being late, since it was due back to the library a couple days ago.

[BookstoreEscapee]

So it's Saturday; I started the antibiotics on Thursday night, and while I'm still coughing a bit it's not nearly as bad. I was even able to sleep most of the night (not sleeping too heavily, though, since I wake up very easily when my mom comes in). Also not bringing up so much stuff (a couple of times I actually threw up a little from gagging on it). I don't think a chest x-ray is going to be necessary. I'm not so out of breath, even after coughing; taking too deep a breath triggers a coughing fit but I'm not sitting here panting like I just ran a hundred-yard dash, which is what I was like on Thursday. The junk in my lungs is definitely looser.

My ear was feeling less clogged yesterday, though today it is a little more, but my nose is also stuffy on that side so that's probably part of it.

I'm even hungry..!

My roommate texted me yesterday to tell me that she had opened all the windows, including in my room, to air out the apartment, and sprayed down wherever she could with Lysol, to get rid of the plague (I've been sick for two weeks, and she was sick the week before, too). She also built a snowman on our balcony, which she has wanted to do every time it snowed, and either there wasn't enough snow actually on the balcony (we're on the second floor) or she just didn't get around to it last time. He has a scarf and a smiling twig mouth and he is facing the sliding glass door; he looks like he wants to come inside. :)