The Uncommon Cold

[the_gneech]

For the curious, the diagnosis is not strep, it's just a garden-variety rhinovirus, albeit a particularly nasty one. The doc said that I did the right thing to come in and get checked out in case. He told me to take ungodly amounts of ibuprofen, alternating with ungodly amounts of acetaminophen, until my throat doesn't hurt any more. Other than that, let my body do the rest and I should be fine in a couple more days.

In other news, Buddha has been a good kitty all day. :)

One good side-effect of being sick is I managed to get some drawing done; the only cost has been my vacation time, which is now running in the negative. Le sigh!

-The Gneech

Comments

[the-mcp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it seems like there's been a particularly nasty cold virus going around for a while, now; even a couple of the guys at my office, all the way down here in Texas, have been hit with it.

If you'd like to avoid dosing yourself on quite so much of those painkillers, there's a couple other things you can try that I've found effective:

First, the old standby; hot tea with honey in it. A lot of people say honey's good for sore throats, and it does seem to help.

Second, a less traditional but, IMO, highly effective temporary remedy: a bowl of hot chili (preferably Wolf Brand) with a good hit of Tabasco sauce in it. :) It's the same principle as topical capsaicin creams for joint pain; the heat and hot-pepper spice will temporarily overload and shut down the nerve endings. :D Yes, it works.

Also, I highly recommend taking high doses (or at least higher-than-normal) of vitamin E, vitamin C, B-complex, zinc, and echinacea, all of which are good for the immune system. Works for me, anyway.

[arakinuk.livejournal.com]

Aye, seems like a lot of folks have come down with crud this year - at least I'm getting to be ill in the warmth of California, and there's hot-tubs and things here to help.

Hope you're feeling better soon, was super-cool being able to hang out, and I'm still squee over the sketch!