Influenza, flu, catarrh, grippe. No matter what you call the bug, it ain't no ladybird. A few of these bugs are making the rounds, and over two weeks ago, one visited me. Like the proverbial Armenian visitor, this one hasn't left yet.I hate those viruses that take weeks to manifest themselves. You start out with a slightly scratchy throat, maybe you feel a bit "off". You function normally, but you decide to take it easy for a day or two, just in case. After that, you feel fine for days, except for the rough throat in the morning. You think maybe you just slept with your mouth open. "Was I snoring last night?" you ask your husband. You carry on with your life as usual, and then two weeks or so after stepping over your threshold, BAM! Your unwelcomed guest becomes really hostile. Now you can't swallow at all (horrors, you find yourself drooling!) and your head has become a drippy cinder block. "All right already, let's be done with this!" you scream. You wished you would have had the insight to stick your head in ice water two weeks ago, chased out the baddies, and gotten over the "worst part" sooner. (Don't try this at home.)
Okay, so now I'm stuck indoors for the most part, supporting the tissue companies (imagine runny noses before the advent of Kleenex!) and drinking lots--hot lemonade is especially nice. I haven't had chicken soup yet, but it's next on my menu. Snuggled in a blanket on my sofa, I'm happy to say I've read a lot. I've written a lot too. So, really, this virus-induced quarantine isn't all bad.
When you've been bitten by the flu bug, what do you do to make yourself feel better?
Photo by L. Trecroce.
2 comments:
I'm sorry you're down with the flu, Lydia. I wish I was there to make you chicken soup.
I don't know if these work as well for the flu as they do for colds, but the over-the-counter lozenges that are supposed to shorten the duration seem to work. I had hastily picked up honey-lemon "Cold-Eeze" which I thought were cough drops. A day or so later, I was surprised to discover my cold was gone. I looked at the package and saw that they weren't cough drops after all, but a homeopathic combination of Zinc, Gluconate and Glycine to reduce the duration of a cold.
This proved to me that it wasn't "mind over matter"!
NY-QUIL!! (Of course, I can't take it anymore now that I'm preggers, but boy is that stuff handy for getting a good night's sleep!)
Hope you feel better soon. And keep writing girl! When it's flowing, go with it, no matter what the reason! :)
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