I have been away for a little bit, sorry about that. I think I came down with the Farr West Nile Malaria Hepatitis Swine Flu C. O.K. maybe not, but I have had a whopper of a head cold that has lasted two plus weeks.
I don’t exactly enjoy getting sick. I don’t imagine there are many that do. Sometimes it is o.k. because it is your body’s way of telling you to take it easy, slow down, and catch your breath. You take a day or two off, relax and you are ready to get after it again.
This was not one of those sick days. This was one of those shut down days. There is no energy, there is no focus, there is no brain power, and there is no joy. When these kind hit, I literally shut down. I don’t bother to do much more than watch T.V. and sleep and occasionally eat. That’s it. I might want to do more but I just can’t. Reading is reduced to looking at the pictures in a magazine with the occasional effort to read the caption but seldom the text that goes with it. How can I? I have tried in the past to read a book only to notice that I am still on the same page after 35 minutes and still don’t know what I have just read.
So rest I needed, and rest I did…for three days at least. Then I started to get a little antsy even though there was never enough energy in me to do anything about it.
If anyone needed an incentive to get better just turn on daytime T.V., if that doesn’t do the trick, then your brain is still in a mushy like state and you should seek further professional help.
So I did. I went to the local health store after the 6th or 7th day to see if they could help figure out a solution, besides anything over three days from work requires a note from your doctor (how does that help me feel like a grown up?). Well, with lucky timing and a long weekend I was able to forgo the doctor’s note but I went to see him anyway because I just wasn’t kicking this thing.
The visit was its typical short quick shot visit. He asked me if my symptoms included coughing, headache, nausea, lack of energy, etc., etc., etc., I said yes and he said you have what everyone has, it is viral so there isn’t much you can do more than what you are doing. He gave me a Z-pack to cover possible bacterial infection, told me to get some Mucinex DM, don’t overdo and continue to get lots of rest. That was it, three minutes tops. I forgot to ask him about my very red and irritated eye so went back in to ask him about it after getting the prescription filled. He said he had noticed it but didn’t think it was too bad and that it should clear up on its own but if it didn’t then come back for more fun and excitement.
I still wonder why I bother with it sometimes except that with all the other things going around I guess I needed the assurance that it wasn’t one of those. Also, if the only way to get rid of it is to get official drugs then you have to go through official channels. I think there might be easier and much less expensive ways to treat yourself for a severe head cold, but then what would we have to complain about. Besides, we only see and think about the tiny co-payment for our treatment and drugs and seldom think about the actual charges for services rendered. It is easier to swallow the medicine in small doses.
So after the visit to the pharmacy for the Z-pack and unwilling to pay their price for the Mucinex DM I headed to the local Wal-Mart to find the Mucinex cheaper and restock up on the 12 hour Sudafed. The only reason I will submit to buying Mucinex is it is the only cough suppressant/expectorant that is in a 12 hour time release formula. Why 12 hour time release? Like the 12 hour Sudafed, it is the only way for me to take medicine before going to bed and have it last through the night. This is worth a lot to a person that is looking for an uninterrupted night of rest without having to wake up every four hours to take another dose of whatever and then try to return to sleep afterward.
By the way, I would buy the generic brands whenever possible and for the Sudafed I can find substitutes but not for the Mucinex. I can get the same medicine in cough syrup but not with the extended time release. The generics are cheaper, sometimes much cheaper and I have had pretty good luck with them so far.
Now comes the sad part. For many years now, you have been unable to buy Sudafed or anything containing Sudafed on your own. You now have to get a card from the shelf and take it up to the pharmacist and request the medicine. They then take your id, and record all your personal information into a government run data base that makes sure you don’t buy too much because that would indicate that you are a drug fiend and are probably running a meth lab. By the way, you are allowed to buy up to 9 grams or Sudafed a month and since I was purchasing a whopping 120 milligrams I was safe to buy my package.
I was feeling a little bit better at the time and thankfully there was no line in the middle of the day so the purchase was not too hard to make, but I have gone in looking for my medication when my head was plugged solid, my nose was running nonstop, and I was coughing up a lung only to find that I still had to pick up the little card and then go to the back of the line and stand for 30 minutes waiting to again hand over my id and go through the background check to see if I was allowed to buy my lousy little pills.
It is interesting to note a few things such as the fact that the original 4 hour pill took two tablets and was 30 milligrams per dose. A couple of years ago I found myself overseas and coming down with this miserable cold but without any of the medicine I usual bring along for just such an occasion. I went to the local pharmacy at the end of the day after our meetings got out in search of some Drixoral (another 12 hour cold medicine that is no longer available) but could not find any. The druggist asked what my symptoms were and offered Sudafed. Limited choice, foreign language and much in need I accepted this as the only remedy available this trip. Besides I was desperate and if I couldn’t find a 12 hour solution to see me through the night then this would be the next best thing.
I took the medicine and it did do the trick. As my head cleared I read the ingredients and noticed that this regular strength Sudafed was 60 milligrams per dose. No wonder it worked. I even shared it with a couple of co-workers that had got some of the same cold. It worked so well for them that they went back for a couple of boxes to take home with them. I kind of wish I had also. Here was grown up medicine, sold by a grown up to a grown up with grown up intentions of how to use it in mind. No hand holding, no back ground checks, no mother may I’s, just a way to treat the same old cold in the same old way with the same old medicine without any fuss or holler. What a novel approach.
The other thing I found interesting about all this is that once the real Sudafed went behind the counter a pseudo Sudafed appeared to take its place on the shelves. It only takes one tablet instead of two and it seems to work fine for the milder cases I occasionally get. But when the really heavy stuff hits then I want the real stuff and now that I know that there is another size regular dose I am not nearly as afraid of overdosing when I really need the help to get over the hump. I don’t take two regular 12 hour together, but I have taken more normal 12 hour dose and then when I have needed it I have taken a pseudo Sudafed as a booster.
I now feel I need to add the disclaimer that I am not advising or recommending this for anyone or anybody, and there is the fact that I am not a doctor nor have I pretended to be one for many, many years now. This is just what I did while practicing to be an adult. It seemed to work for me.
Anyway, after the first week of playing with this, I decided to go back to work. If you are only going to be miserable at home you might as well be miserable at work. I still wasn’t functioning at my best but that is o.k. when you are at work. Just kidding, but it does help with recovery if you can at least attempt to be productive in a laid back if not totally unenthusiastic way.
I did try to be responsible and stayed clear of others, covering my mouth when coughing, washing down my workstation and phone, and washing my hands frequently with Germ-X. No one else at work caught this that I know of so I must have been doing something right.
I did talk to a friend though that said he has had his version of this head cold for the past month. I really didn’t need to hear that. Besides, I think I have turned the corner now. I am feeling much better, can think enough to type a few words and as long as I take it somewhat easy and make sure to get enough rest I am sure I am on the mend. There are two signs that I am over the worst, my appetite for junk food comes back strong, and I have a desire to go out for a bike ride. Both are there. I haven’t gone on the bike ride yet because I don’t want to overdo but I sure have hit the junk food again. I did feel like a bike ride early last Saturday but I didn’t quite make it out. Just as well seeing how after the thought hit me I laid down for a second and awoke two and half hours later. Did I mention how my energy levels were just gone during this whole thing?
As hard as this has been and as long as this has dragged out I am still very grateful that this is all that it was and this is all the longer it has taken. I have had this before many times, and will surely have it again but through it all I know that it will pass and I will mend. I might get worn down from it and I might be disappointed and frustrated from the lack of ability to function as normal but it will pass and I will return.
There are others that I know that are facing a much longer recovery path. I have some very special friends that have had to face illnesses that do not go away on their own, and are not easily cured with a prescription or two. The illnesses that they are living with do not go away in one week or two or sometimes even in a month or year and sometimes longer than that. Some have been dealing with their illness for so long that they can’t remember any more what it was like to be normal. My hat goes off to each and every one of you. You are the ones that make my little periodic bouts with colds become trivial and all my complaining just a whining refrain. You are the ones that teach me what it could really be like.
And you also teach me how to handle it with the master’s touch. It isn’t always easy but somehow you manage to carry on knowing that there are good days and bad, high points and low points, but through it all you carry on. You are the ones that can somehow manage to receive and extend the love all around you in spite of all that you must face. That is the strength and courage that will carry you through anything life throws at you and you will not back down. You stand tall with those around you and carry on.
I have seen it in many of my friends through the years and always hope that I can be counted as friend when they are in need. They have been all ages from toddler to wobbler and each has provided me with lessons I needed to learn. I have gained much by my association with them and I hope that they have also found favor in knowing me. Some have kept diaries of their travails on blogs and I have wanted to site them often but hesitate without their consent.
But I know that they are not the only ones, so I open this up to any and all that want to share your stories with us. Just add comments and web links to this article and let others know what you have faced and how you have coped. This will help inspire us all. And it will introduce a new world of friends, ones that you can share your story with and ones that will in turn share their prayers with you. May your righteous desires be fulfilled as God looks after your needs as I know he has looked after mine.
This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farr West.
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