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so, I started feeling a little tickle in the throat last Wednesday, and thought it was post nasal drip. No big deal, get some psuedephedrine, and carry on with life. Thursday, full on sore throat and runny nose started. Ok, still no big deal, go pick up some over the counter cold meds, and drink even more tea than usual.
Friday rolls around, and my head's congest. "Great," I tell myself, "I've gone and caught a blasted cold. Fan-freakin'-tastic!" So, on Saturday, rather than doing anything of value in my school work, I stayed huddled in bed, doing NyQuil shots in between mugs of tea and mugs of soup, and basically sleeping as much as I could, hoping to sleep off the nasty little bugger I seem to have contracted.
Cue Sunday night into Monday morning. I wake up around 2 am, and breathing is a major problem, as in, everytime I tried to take a deep breath, it felt like someone had their hand around my throat and squeezed. Hard.
Eep.
So, I grudgingly dragged myself to the health center this morning to see a doctor, just to make sure I don't have anything worse than a cold, that apparently seems to have moved from my head into my chest. Should be simple, right? I mean, I've had chest colds before, and I generally know how to take care of myself.
Yeah, 45 minutes, several bouts of forced coughing, breathing, and hacking up mucus, I get told that given that I've had a virus for almost a week, and there's been no improvement with over the counter aids, that general points in the direction of Something Not Good.
I thought all colds were generally Not Good Things. Aren't they?
Yes, well, most colds generally tend to start easing up in severity after 3-4 days, not worsening. Of course, there's also the fact that my lungs don't sound great, and the amount of coughing I'm doing probably isn't all that healthy either. (though I figured that out for myself...really I did.)
In the end, the doctor said we're going to treat the different symptoms I seem to be having, as well as giving me an antibiotic, because there are a few signs this might be bacterial, though we're not 100% sure. (and wouldn't be, without more tests, which I can't afford right now). The big concern, so sayeth my doctor, is trying to ease the breathing issues (Funny, that's my biggest concern, too! How spiffy is that!?)
So, I'm now having to use an albuterol inhaler for the first time ever in my life, and after botching up the first two tries and somehow managing to spritz it out my nose (still trying to figure that one out, folks, but so far, no one can explain how I did that...), I think I've got the hang of it. On top of that, I've got the antibiotic I'm taking, which usually makes me sick to my stomach. (Yay!), and finally, I've got these wonderful wonderful pills called tessalon pearls, which are supposed to completely suppress my cough reflex. They don't 100% do so, because I'm still coughing a bit, but hey can't feel a thing! they also make me really drowsy and woozy, which is making writing this post really fun!
Interestingly enough, reading through all the contraindications and the warnings that come with them, you're not supposed to bite down on them or chew them because they make your entire mouth go numb. Upon sharing this with my best friend, she had a naughty comment about how else they could be of use.
And, now that I've typed up an entire post after taking said wonderful wonderful pills, I should probably go back to bed. I only woke up 45 minutes ago so I could eat some soup, take my next round of meds, and maybe take a bath, then it's more sleep. Sleep is great. Sleep is my friend.
Friday rolls around, and my head's congest. "Great," I tell myself, "I've gone and caught a blasted cold. Fan-freakin'-tastic!" So, on Saturday, rather than doing anything of value in my school work, I stayed huddled in bed, doing NyQuil shots in between mugs of tea and mugs of soup, and basically sleeping as much as I could, hoping to sleep off the nasty little bugger I seem to have contracted.
Cue Sunday night into Monday morning. I wake up around 2 am, and breathing is a major problem, as in, everytime I tried to take a deep breath, it felt like someone had their hand around my throat and squeezed. Hard.
Eep.
So, I grudgingly dragged myself to the health center this morning to see a doctor, just to make sure I don't have anything worse than a cold, that apparently seems to have moved from my head into my chest. Should be simple, right? I mean, I've had chest colds before, and I generally know how to take care of myself.
Yeah, 45 minutes, several bouts of forced coughing, breathing, and hacking up mucus, I get told that given that I've had a virus for almost a week, and there's been no improvement with over the counter aids, that general points in the direction of Something Not Good.
I thought all colds were generally Not Good Things. Aren't they?Yes, well, most colds generally tend to start easing up in severity after 3-4 days, not worsening. Of course, there's also the fact that my lungs don't sound great, and the amount of coughing I'm doing probably isn't all that healthy either. (though I figured that out for myself...really I did.)
In the end, the doctor said we're going to treat the different symptoms I seem to be having, as well as giving me an antibiotic, because there are a few signs this might be bacterial, though we're not 100% sure. (and wouldn't be, without more tests, which I can't afford right now). The big concern, so sayeth my doctor, is trying to ease the breathing issues (Funny, that's my biggest concern, too! How spiffy is that!?)
So, I'm now having to use an albuterol inhaler for the first time ever in my life, and after botching up the first two tries and somehow managing to spritz it out my nose (still trying to figure that one out, folks, but so far, no one can explain how I did that...), I think I've got the hang of it. On top of that, I've got the antibiotic I'm taking, which usually makes me sick to my stomach. (Yay!), and finally, I've got these wonderful wonderful pills called tessalon pearls, which are supposed to completely suppress my cough reflex. They don't 100% do so, because I'm still coughing a bit, but hey can't feel a thing! they also make me really drowsy and woozy, which is making writing this post really fun!
Interestingly enough, reading through all the contraindications and the warnings that come with them, you're not supposed to bite down on them or chew them because they make your entire mouth go numb. Upon sharing this with my best friend, she had a naughty comment about how else they could be of use.
And, now that I've typed up an entire post after taking said wonderful wonderful pills, I should probably go back to bed. I only woke up 45 minutes ago so I could eat some soup, take my next round of meds, and maybe take a bath, then it's more sleep. Sleep is great. Sleep is my friend.
If you don't cough, your lungs can't clear themselves.
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