The Sick Day Thread

[Michele]

Hi, Britt. Hope you are feeling better today. It's hard to be sick when you are used to feeling well most of the time and you are usually an energetic, go forth and conquer the world kind of person.

[smetchie]

I have hives.

[Brittomart]

Oh no, Gretchen! Why do you have hives?

I am in the emergency room now. I thought I was going to be sitting in the waiting room for hours, but they are moving me along

[smetchie]

What's wrong britt? Do you have a horrible flu?

[Jonathan]

Benadryl (either topical or tablets) will usually mitigate hives, Gretchen. But do you know what caused them? Do you have any food allergies or contact sensitivities?

[Brittomart]

No, apparently I just have a cold. They told me to blow my nose.

[Jonathan]

Well, I guess that's good news, Britt--and no harm in their advice either. Feel better.

[Brittomart]

I also have high blood pressure, which is freaking out my mom, and it's something I just can't deal with right now.

[Jonathan]

Oh. I'm sorry to hear that Britt. But it's actually good that they've identified it early. Once you're over the cold, you can see a doctor about developing a plan for managing the blood pressure so that you can avoid long-term problems and complications. Anyway, I hope that your mom calms down enough that you can get some rest.

[Brittomart]

Thanks, Jonathan. Right now everyone (my mom, dad, brother, nice, future sister-in-law, two cousins) have left the house, and I was going to lay down, but I was just going to cry in the dark in my room, and I have WAY TOO MUCH SHIT TO DO, but now I'm out in the den doing spanish homework. I hate being fussed over. If someone asks me if I'm okay one more time, then I'm gonna snap. I haven't been okay for a very long time. I really just want to be left alone right now, but that's the last thing my mom is gonna do when she gets back.

I have a spanish composition and an 8 page paper due next week, and a 5 page philosophy paper due the week after that, and then I have exams. I have to think about that.

[smetchie]

Jonathan wrote: "Benadryl (either topical or tablets) will usually mitigate hives, Gretchen. But do you know what caused them? Do you have any food allergies or contact sensitivities?"

That's exactly what I did, Jonathan, and you're right. It definitely helped. I'm pretty sure they're just from being sick. I usually get them along with a cold/sinus thing but I think any virus can trigger them.

[Brittomart]

I can breathe out of my nose! Hooray!

[RandomAnthony]

BunWat wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "I rarely get sick...I once went 4 years without even a cold. When I do get something, it's from a toddler. Dangerous, dangerous vectors of disease."

Ha!! So true!"

The first time I send freshmen into schools they come back sick within two weeks. If they can survive the first semester they tend to build up a resistance.

[janine]

i have hives.

i did accidentally take an overdose of tree pollen, but that was a week ago.

[Félix]

You eat tree pollen?

[janine]

i am allergic to trees and grass so i take a small dose of tree and grass pollen twice a week as a desensitisation treatment. i took forty instead of twenty drops of tree pollen.

[Félix]

Oh okay. What species of tree -- or just any tree?

[janine]

trees: alnus glutinosa (black alder), betula pendula (silver birch) and corylus avellana (common hazel). grass: anthoxanthum odoratum (buffalo grass), holcus lanatus (yorkshire fog), phleum pratense (timothy-grass), dactylis glomerata (cock's-foot) and cynodon dactylon (bermuda grass).

anything else you want to know?

[Jonathan]

Is tree pollen a big problem for you even at this time of year, or is it mostly a spring allergy?

[Félix]

anything else you want to know?

No that was quite thorough, thanks. When I lived in Texas, cedar (or juniper) pollen was the big issue with most people. And it was this time of year.

[janine]

::checks pollen calendar::

trees: february-june
grass: march-september

i usually have no pollen problems during the fall or winter, but i take these drops the whole year round and when i accidentally take too many i have an allergic reaction.

[Michele]

Janine, is the de-sensitization working?

[janine]

this spring and summer my allergies were worse, but that's normal because i had just started the treatment then. it takes between three and five years to get the full effect and i've been taking the drops for a year now. i haven't been tested again for my allergies yet. i expect to see the first results this next spring and summer.

[Michele]

good luck. I am allergic a bit to ragweed and timothy grass...not drastically but my eyes tend to water.

[Brittomart]

Over the next couple of days, my biggest challenge is gonna be how to keep snot from hanging out of my nose.

[janine]

i hope you feel better soon, britt.

[Brittomart]

Thanks, Janine. I feel a lot better, and my runny nose is coming to an end, I hope. My nose hurts though. I didn't have Puffs! Just this cheap dollar store tissue

[Michele]

Britt-Britt wrote: "Thanks, Janine. I feel a lot better, and my runny nose is coming to an end, I hope. My nose hurts though. I didn't have Puffs! Just this cheap dollar store tissue"

ouch! your poor nose. First thing I get when I have a cold is 2 boxes of Puffs w/lotion because I consider my nose a valuable portion of my anatomy and worth every cent I spent keeping it as comfortable as possible.

[Brittomart]

Michele, I have a box of Puffs with Vicks and a box of Puffs with lotion back in my dorm room. They are calling my name!

[Phil]

Michele wrote: "ouch! your poor nose. First thing I get when I have a cold is 2 boxes of Puffs w/lotion because I consider my nose a valuable portion of my anatomy and worth every cent I spent keeping it as comfortable as possible. "

And you guys say men are wimps when they get the sniffles?

[Spellbound]

Yesterday I slipped on ice and fell banging the left cheek of my bum, the elbow and the back of the head. Now I am at work sitting on the right cheek, not confortable, and I have a headache. It is just Monday. I think I want to cry.

[Michele]

Spellbound wrote: "Yesterday I slipped on ice and fell banging the left cheek of my bum, the elbow and the back of the head. Now I am at work sitting on the right cheek, not confortable, and I have a headache. It i..."

ouch!

[Spellbound]

Yeah... it has been like a movie scene, if I hadn't cursed like an Italian truck driver, people would still be laughing.

[Michele]

Spellbound wrote: "Yeah... it has been like a movie scene, if I hadn't cursed like an Italian truck driver, people would still be laughing."

Not me. Been there done that. Now that I have osteoporosis the fear of falling down has grown exponentially. Was not much of a problem in san fran or las vegas, but New England is ice/snow country. Will walk very slowly and carefully wearing treaded soles that grip the ground. buy lots of sand/rock salt. Slipped and fell on wet marble floor once too and that hurt a lot. Bruised for days.

[smetchie]

Now I have vertigo!
This is getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous!!
I never get sick! NEVER!
WTF!

[Jim]

Oh Hell Smetchie I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'm still not completely over mine.

[smetchie]

That sucks, Jim. Is it getting less, though? I think it's supposed to slow down over time. I still have my meds for it from last time. YAY!

[Michele]

smetchie, try chewing gum for the vertigo. It helped when I was riding in the car and could not focus because of the vertigo.

[Sally, la reina]

What is vertigo like? More importantly, what are the meds for it called? Do they make you want to lie down?

[Brittomart]

Vertigo is like standing up straight, but the entire room is turning in circles.

[Jim]

Have you ever had the bed spins after a night out Sally. It's kind of like that.

[Félix]

Sounds like an inner ear problem.

[ms.petra]

janine wrote: "this spring and summer my allergies were worse, but that's normal because i had just started the treatment then. it takes between three and five years to get the full effect and i've been taking th..."

Janine, I had sinus surgery last year after suffering allergies for the longest time. My Dr. wanted me to do the desensitization as well, but it just seemed unnecessary to me. After a rough post-op, I had very little trouble during the last spring and fall allergy seasons. I was basically allergic to most trees and grasses and since I work outside and enjoy the outdoors, it was a problem. I am still allergic, but the surgery helped to relieve my symptoms.

[Jammies]

I am feeling very sorry for myself today, due to a combination of earache, depression, and lousy weather. I'll be hiding under my imaginary blanket if anyone needs me.

[Jim]

Knock, knock, knock - Jammies
Knock, knock, knock - Jammies
Knock, knock, knock - Jammies

[janine]

go play somewhere else, sheldon.

[Jim]

:)

[Sally, la reina]

Donnie! You are out of your element.

[Jammies]

Oh, wow. BBT reference and it took me 25 minutes to get it. I must be sick!

[Jammies]

Barb, it's a bit from the comedy Big Bang Theory, in which the brilliant but socially inept Sheldon knocks on his neighbor's door.