2007-03-22
no antibiotics in sight
|This cold/flu combo I have finally seems to be breaking up. Most of last week was spent nursing a volatile stomach. I did lose a couple of pounds -- perhaps the equivalent of a newborn kitten, the runt of the litter -- but now that my stomach is back in commission I'm sure the runt has returned. Today, the cold actually seems to be waning.
Which brings me to my point: After many go-rounds over the years with our doctors, I have learned that it is pretty much useless to see the doctor for a cold unless you can say you have been hawking up green stuff for a solid ten days. Or, if you have a fever. Since I can say none of those things, I have not visited ye olde doctor.
I don't remember my mom or my dad really visiting the doctor when I was a kid. They never seemed to take medicine, but as I think of it I remember the cabinet in the kitchen was full of prescription bottles. I know part of it was that they didn't seem to finish the prescription and then never threw away the half empty bottles.
Side note: do most people store their medication in the kitchen cabinets? I don't have a real "medicine cabinet" in my bathroom, just a flat mirror on the wall and an actual cabinet over the toilet. I have always read on the informational sheet that accompanies my prescriptions that one should never store medication in a bathroom as the steam from the shower will affect the efficacy of the medicine.
So I keep everything in the kitchen cabinet, like my parents did. Plus, I have kids to consider. I don't want to keep medication in my bedroom drawers, as they like to rifle through there whenever the mood strikes them.
Just one more side note within a side note: my sister-in-law was showing me the thyroid medicine she was on recently and she took me into her bedroom. On her night stand was the medicine bottle, sitting open with the lid next to the bottle. I almost had an aneurism just looking at that. She lives alone and doesn't have any kids.
I do remember my mother liberally using Vick's Vapor Rub all over her nose, inside and out. When I was in my mid-20s I actually read the back of the bottle and it said under no circumstances should one put Vick's Vapor Rub inside the nasal membranes. My mom has been doing that for the last 50 years or so.
Okay, so now I am left with this rattling smoker's cough and a plugged nose. I've wanted to exercise at the Y, but a couple of things prevent me. The main reason is that I cannot go for more than 10 to 15 minutes without having to blow my nose. A typical workout on the elliptical machine lasts 33 minutes. This is a vigorous workout that results in a soaked T-shirt and lots of perspiration by the time I am done. Somehow, when I am sweating profusely I seem to have a runny nose that is in dire need of being blown.
It's all clear (when I am healthy) and I am left to surmise that my excessive perspiration is causing a runny nose. Has anyone else ever experienced this? I have deduced it is akin to crying. When I cry, my nose runs. I suppose intense sweating can cause a similar response? Maybe I'll throw that on my list of questions for my annual physical.
So while I do not have the "all clear" signal in my nose right now I am thinking I should stay away from the Y. Yeah, I know. Another reason to stay away is to avoid infecting the other people who are working out. And I know two wrongs don't make a right, but I have seen my share of sick people on the ellipticals and treadmills. . .
I could, and should, do my Kathy Smith DVD in the privacy of my own home while I am sick. As I have stated before, that woman knows how to make a hamstring beg for mercy. But somehow it feels like that's not as good of a workout as 33 minutes on the elliptical, so I guess right now I am fooling myself into thinking no workout is better than a half-assed workout.
Just go with me on this.
2007-03-22 at 6:44 a.m.
