What do you do when you're sick? Do you take time off work, suck it up and deal, take certain kinds of supplements, curl up with under blankets and sleep?
It's been a long time since I have been legitimately sick. Even longer since I felt nauseous while being sick, and yesterday was absolutely awful for nausea. This time around, I have TOM and various painful symptoms from that and am dealing with an achy foot from a nail I stepped on. Couple these things with nausea, a sore throat, and a stuffy head? I've been a big pity party pretty much all week.
The thing is, I can't take off work. I started a cleaning job a couple weeks ago after moving to CO and looking for a little over a month, and I simply can't afford to. If I called out, there would probably be huge repercussions considering one of the old managers just left in the midst of training new people.
So I had yesterday off (thank God, no worries) and I was a total zombie. My bf picked up orange juice and medicine and even some pecan clusters because I was craving them amidst all the chaos. Of course I felt better after he was home and I wasn't cocooned in my miserable little world.
Alas, today I had a stuffy head and a runny nose amidst the other things. Much better, but I'm feeling fuzzy in the head. I could probably sleep all day if I let myself, but I have to go to work tonight.
i have been sick so much this school year....i thought being healthier, working out and losing some weight was supposed to make me NOT get sick so often ughh
i cant miss work either...i manage a childcare center and am the only credentialed manager on site so we are out of regulation if i'm not there...so far this school year i've had bronchitis, pneumonia, an ear infection, two sinus infections and a root canal as well as two allergic reactions that i should have used my epipen for...i've never missed work
what i do is REST until right before i have to show up for work, then do the minimal amount necessary at work and then go home and REST some more...luckily i tend to get over things fairly quickly...i also carry all my meds in my bag to decrease/prevent an allergic reaction or asthma attack...if i feel up to it, i will still work out...otherwise back to RESTING...i try to eat on plan, healthy choices, and just do the best i can that way...
I'm a huge baby when I'm sick. You know that "man cold" commercial where the guy is laying in bed whining, and then asks his gf/wife to call his mom? Yeah - thats me. I act like someone just shot me. I suck it up if I have to, but if I am able to shut out the world, I totally do.
I only call in sick if I have a high fever (over 101), or I'm vomiting.
Sleep is very important. I sleep as much as I can when I'm sick, or try to at least zone out on the couch if I can.
Drink lots of water and tea. I like to have soups packed with veggies when I'm sick too.
I "make" a veggie soup with V-8 as a base, add in any frozen veggies you want, some pre-cooked beef tips if you want (I find them in refrigerated section of grocery store), and any other veggies -- potatoes, celery, etc. Cook and stir occasionally until the veggies are cooked. Freezes great too.
medicine/supplement wise: I try and take a multivitamin everyday, and I need to start drinking one package of emergen-c everyday. I think that will help keep my immune system up. When I'm sick, I take more than one package of emergen-c.
Cough drops to help a sore throat -- I try and use natural ones.
If I'm stuffy/congested, I'll try out different things to see what works. Last time I was sick, Alka Seltzer severe cold and flu (the tablets you drop into water) worked really well for me.
AND I use my neti pot at least once a day. If I have to use it more than once a day, I use it with just water vs water and the saline solution.
Along those lines: hot showers work so well for me to break up the congestion and funk.
Rest as much as possible given the circumstances, force myself to drink fluids, take hot showers, and use decongestants to get through the day. If I have trouble sleeping (coughing all the time, or just whatever) I use OTC sleep aids to knock myself out, like unisom and melatonin supplements. Sleep is #1 for me, in terms of getting better quicker!
I still track what I eat, but I don't make a real effort to eat clean or meet my calorie goals. I will placate myself with food somewhat if I get really sick, but I figure the 'extra' calories are going towards a good cause in that case. If a treat will help me get through a long day I will just have it. (This is pretty much the ONLY circumstance under which I'll use food to reward myself.) I never really go overboard when I'm sick anyway, because I can't really taste anything.
I suck it up but mostly because it's a disaster if I don't show up to work. We have 3 people and each person has very dedicated roles. If one of us is out, the other people don't really know how to do that person's job. We can muddle through but usually create more problems than we solve. I just warn people I'm sick and to stay away from me, and hide in my cube.
I have a really poor immune system thanks to having mono twice in my lifetime (yeah, against most scientific theories...) If I feel like I am getting sick, I take emergen-c or use zicam, and then dose myself with nyquil and go to sleep for as long as possible. If I catch it early enough, that serious sleep combined with vit c and zinc is enough to fend it off. If not, I consume lots of hot beverages!
I usually suck it up and keep working. However, that backfired big time last year. I ended up with pneumonia, an ear infection and a sinus infection all at the same time. It was the sickest I'd been since I was child. I actually got sent home from work and ended up staying home for over a week. It was bad.
Hope u r feeling better. When I am sick I am a big whinny baby. Usually watch lifetime all day when I am sick. But I can get away with not doing my job of housewife occasionally as long as I can make a quick meal or hit up a drive through for the kiddos. If I have nausea I make ginger tea. Boil it for a while so its nice and spicy and add some lemon and honey. So soothing for sore throats, upset tummies, indigestion and totally calms nausea. Man a cup sounds good right about now. I usually take vitamin c, olive leaf and cayenne daily and double my dose if I think I am getting sick. Well I haven't been sick since taking that combo. Knock on wood. But I pump anyone in my house full of it when they are sick plus garlic pills too. They usually get bad breath but feel better. Drink plenty of fluids and rest all u can.
Here's to my hoping you feel better and stay better real soon!
I can completely identify with being sick, I just got out of my local hospital for pneumonia which I had after the flu. I have been on so many antibiotics I have lost count.
I think the most important thing is to get medical attention when you are sick! Get good, decent medical attention from a trusted professional and find out what you need to do to get better.
Also, like others have said, rest and fluids are so important too.
If I'm violently ill I'll ask my husband to take the day off work and watch the kids/do the school day so I can sleep, but that's rare. If I'm just exhausted and really cold/cough sick I'll get all my work done earlier in the day, put on a bunch of movies for the kids, and go to bed early once my husband gets home.
Basically moms don't get sick days unless they're completely debilitated. If I'm not bleeding, unconscious, or throwing up to the point I am blacking out, I'm basically on duty. But my family is very sweet in letting me sleep it off whenever they can
I'm living through this right now. It started last Friday night, so while I still had to take care of my son, I could get extra rest over the weekend. He's 8 and is fine to play lots of extra hours of Wii or watch TV on his own now while I napped. I was sick enough on Monday that I should have taken it off work, but I had just been assigned a big, time-crunched project at work, and I couldn't miss that. So I worked Monday and Tuesday, to get that project done even though I felt really lousy all day.
Today, I'm still sick but improving and hopefully, I'll be fine by the end of the week.
Last edited by April Snow; 02-27-2013 at 02:14 PM.
I would not go to work sick..Why give someone else your germs? As far as Cold and Flu goes.. I take Cold FX along with EMERGency packets to boost my immune system. As far as treating the symptoms..I use cold and flu from Tylenol company and stick with easy to eat foods and i usually will take gravol to help me get as much sleep as i can.
How do you get through being sicK?
ughh
