I am not happy with my immune system these days. This is the second cold I've had in the past two months. I used to NEVER get colds. I think I went three straight years without getting a cold. I was getting more sleep back then though.
Fortunately, this cold is not nearly as bad as the last one. I thought the last one was going to kill me. I had it mid November. That cold was strange, because it hit me every other day. It's like I had a day off from my cold and then the next day it came back with a vengeance.
Because I'm fairly new to the cold, I am completely ghetto when it comes to meds. My two old roommates introduced me to Airbourne and Cold Eeze lozenges. I've had the NyQuil conversation with many people. Most people love it...I hate it. I have this memory of me sitting at my bed when I was about 14 years old, holding a little 1 oz plastic cup with bright green syrup in it trying not to gag at the sight of it. I stared at it for a good ten minutes before I finally took the shot. I hate that feeling of alcohol going down my throat and then having it linger there. I swore I would never drink the devil's poison again.
And then last November, I drank some. My cold was bad. My head felt like it was going to fall off my body and I needed to get through a day of work. I'm a grown up now, it was time to grow up and drink the nasty stuff. It wasn't as awful as I feared but it wasn't good. And I tasted that stuff for the next two days. I've sworn it off again.
Anyway, again, last November I called my sister who seems to be sick all the time now that she has a kid, and told her I had a cold. She said to take Zycam. But apparently it was too late for Zycam. I was past the sore throat stage. Now it was time for Mucinex. I popped one of those right before going out to dinner with friends. I felt great. But the next day I started to act loopy and was told I wasn't answering questions.
Now, about six weeks later, I am currently on Zycam and Mucinex. Only this time I am drinking ALL THE TIME because I figured out the last time I took Mucinex I didn't eat or drink anything that day and so I was SEVERELY dehydrated. I'm feeling a little better, but still kinda dizzy.
Because I'm not used to being sick, I'm not used to all the remedies people have for the common cold, but I'm open to try them. The last time I was sick, Annie gave me some tea that was supposed to soothe my throat. Eh. She also gave me this eucalyptus ball that you're supposed to throw in a pot of boiling water and then hover over it with a towel over your head. I tried it. It did clear up my sinuses for a little while. Some girl in my choir told me to gargle with Listerine. She said the alcohol kills the germs in your throat and that's where the cold starts.
Everyone seems to have different ones. We just had people over for ward prayer. My plan was to stay upstairs and out of the way, but I ended up staying downstairs and talking to people. Here is what I got tonight:
Gargle with salt water (tried that when I was little, made me gag)
Drink the caramel apple cider at Starbucks.
Airbourne.
Here's my thing with airbourne and zycam and cold eeze and anything else that is supposed to "shorten" your cold. I use this stuff, but I'm not sure if there's any way of knowing if it works or not. You're only supposed to take a certain amount of airbourne within 24 hours or else it will damage your liver. I will watch the clock, counting down the minutes until I can take the next one. I can take zycam every four hours. I've been taking airbourne AND zycam for the past 24 hours and I'm feeling ok. My throat is still a little raw. I think what's mostly making me feel crummy right now is the effects of Mucinex. Maybe I just have a less severe cold, or maybe if I haven't been taking these remedies, it would be way more intense, I don't know. Here is what I do know: NyQuil makes me gag and say things I wouldn't normally say. Mucinex makes me dizzy, nauseous, and incoherent.
Oh look, it's 10 PM and it's time for another Zycam.
13 comments:
I wish I had a remedy for you. Nyquil works for me. I understand not loving the taste - but the burn? It just feels so good!
Couple things:
NyQuil has liquicaps nowadays... so you don't have to drink those little cups of that green, nasty juice.
Also, I think Zycam and Airborne are a crock. It's like someone telling me that drinking Tropicana Twister will make me fall asleep within 24 hours of drinking it. Uh... I'm pretty sure I'll be sleeping within 24 hours anyway you dork faces.
Finally... you seem like an open and honest person, so what could NyQuil make you say that you normally wouldn't? Do you, like, ask boys on dates or something?
Cold-EEZE is great to start taking when you first feel a cold coming, and is clinically proven. There are lots of flavors to choose from, so I'm sure you'll find one you like -- strawberries and cream is my favorite. Good luck and feel better.
Cameron,
I've taken the liquicaps. They're so huge, it's a different hurt going down. But the alcohol from them still rises up in my throat and makes me feel strange.
I'm going to channel my mother for a moment and ask, have you taken Vitamin C? Jamba Juice has a Cold Buster drink that I really like when I have a cold. I think it's just a lot of orange juice in smoothie form, but if drinking Starbucks is a cure than this could rank up there too.
I guess this means you aint coming to work today.
Annie, I haven't taken any Vitamin C per se, but each Airbourne tablet has 1000 milligrams which is plenty, so I think I'm good. Jambas tend to have to much sugar for my taste, but the cold buster drink does sound intriguing...
Hey Anonymous, do you want to do the weekly report or should I?
Gah! Get better NOW! You've got a birthday to celebrate tomorrow! And New Year's after that!
Carter and I are big proponents of the Listerine gargle at the first sign of a sore throat. It really does work, I swear!
I'm with Cameron on those Nyquil caplets. They are genius. I just had a cold earlier this month and almost cried because I couldn't take them (all the good medications are off limits to pregnant ladies, including good ol' ibuprofen).
If you're anything like your brother, you aren't taking enough pain medication with your colds. I highly advise some tylenol or ibuprofen to go along with your other meds (Zycam, Mucinex, and airborne definitely don't have anything like that in them! But, obviously, check the packaging to see if there is some time of pain medication in anything else you're taking).
And Happy Birthday!
well i gotta say that im just getting over a cold and i feel for you.
ive heard avoiding sugar helps alot but id stay away from the zycam nose swab. some tests say that itll ruin your sense of smell. scary.
uh, heres something most people never think of, a priesthood blessing. itll shorten the cold if not get rid of it and itll give your hometeachers a chance to magnify thier callings.
good luck.
-clint
First of all, everyone, Zicam is spelled with an "i". Secondly, Airborne is to boost your immune system to avoid getting colds in the first place, they won't help any cold you've already got. It was invented by a teacher who always got sick because she taught so many kids. They tell you to take airborne before you get on a place, in the case that someone is sick, and you are breathing in that germy pressurized air.
The way I tell if Zicam works, is when I DO use it in time, the symptoms aren't nearly as intense and debilitating as usual, they usually feel like the END of really bad symptoms like a bruised throat instead of a sore throat, and the cough that comes AFTER the gross deep mucusy cough. Anyway I like Zicam. Which is to be taken at the FIRST sign of symptoms, and to CONTINUE using it till 36-48 hours AFTER symptoms subside. So that may be a few days. But oh well. Do it anyway.
"before you get on a plane" ...not place. I wish you could edit comments.
Wow. I never thought so much about cold medicine before. And I never knew there were so many opinions about the remedies. I have nothing for you. Dan likes zinc cough drop things for his throat. Riveting stuff. I like hot chocolate and a good movie or book.
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