Brought to you by my current cold, the exhaustion that accompanies it, and a good strong dose of off brand Mucinex. *taken as directed, just to be clear*
I’m on day 4ish of the sinus and bronchial follies i.e. I’ve gotten over the whole trying to figure out who gave this to me and plotting terrible passive aggressive things I can do to them. I’m now in the ‘this isn’t so bad even though I feel pretty crummy’ phase.
Weird?
Colds used to really freak me out when I was newer to the RA game. I knew my meds suppressed my immune system and immediately imagined that I’d end up in the hospital. I’d end up at the doctor on Day 2 saying do something! And I think the anxiety I had made it so much worse.
I honestly don’t know that changed. There was no ah ha moment, but at some point, I realized that colds are comforting to me.
They make sense. I know why I’m tired. I know why my head hurts. I know why I can’t smell anything and why my ears are crackly. And those symptoms respond favorably when I treat them. Bonus: I never have any joint pain when my body is busy attacking something other than itself.
Sure, I still treat it aggressively. Hot steamy showers, neti pot, hot teas and soup…you name it, I do it.
But it’s so nice, just every once in awhile, to crawl into bed in comfy clothes at 8:30, slather on your vapor rub, and know that you’ll feel better in the morning.
Never thought of it that way. I like that perspective.
I look at it like this: When it hits I take tylenol,have valuable items within arms reach,get in my recliner and call my kitty.I know I’ll be “better in the morning!” LOL!