still sick, but doing better
2020-Feb-02, Sunday 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellowtiggerI'm doing a lot better today than yesterday, thanks to chemical intervention.
On Thursday and Friday, I would occasionally cough, and I could not figure out why. I didn't have that usual "burn" in my throat from a growing infection or the "tickle" of phlegm in my lungs. I would just suddenly cough a dry cough. That all changed on Saturday. I finally developed a fever, and it rose all day long.
38.1C/100.7F at 12:40pm
38.8C/101.9F at 2pm
39.1C/102.4F at 4pm
39.4C/102.9F at 5:30pm
It felt a little bit like a flu. I kept coughing, even though there was no phlegm to cough up. It made my throat sore. There was also a typical flu headache and aching neck. The weird part, though, was my kidneys and digestive tract. I spent the whole day trudging upstairs to the bathroom to pee and fart, pee and fart. Every 10-20 minutes, my bladder was full again, I'd have to disturb the cat in my lap again, so I could go upstairs to pee and fart again.
A little before 9pm, I started to experience some difficulty getting upstairs easily, so I decided to move from the living room to my bed. I realized then that my jaws were also tightening in anticipation of a cold sore flare due to a distracted immune system. I remembered that I had a prescription for valacyclovir for just such occasions. The bottle says it was filled in 2018 Oct 01, and I hadn't even used it yet. This was a good occasion for it. I was still miserable all night, sweating like crazy and getting up for the usual pee and fart.
Sunday has been much better. My temp has been at or below 37.5C/99.5F all day long. Digestion is finally flowing. Flow is the appropriate word, because it's still far from normal. Still coughing for no apparent reason.
These symptoms seem to match the Wuhan coronavirus symptoms, although I have no clue how I could have been exposed to it. Minnesota has no confirmed cases yet, and I do try to avoid humanity anyway. Now that I'm doing better, though, I don't expect to see a doctor to get their opinion. Still unsure if I'll go to work on Tuesday. Hopefully Monday goes better than today.
Update Sunday 6:40pm: I spoke too soon. My temp is back up to 38.4C/101.4F tonight. Guess I will try to visit a Dr. tomorrow when the appointment line opens for calls.
Update Monday 11:30am: It's officially Influenza-A, in spite of getting the vaccine many months ago. They thought it still early enough in the flu cycle to benefit from tamiflu, so I'm taking those pills now. And avoiding humanity for the rest of the week.
Update Tuesday 11:00am: Last night was good rest. The first in a while, it feels like. The dextromethorphan (specifically "Formula 44 Cough") seems to do great at reducing coughing, allowing me to sleep through the night. The doctor recommended alternating between Tylenol and ibuprofen, and that seems to work on the headache and fever. Now it's just a matter of time until the Tamiflu helps my body through the underlying infection.
Update Wednesday 4:15pm: Nearly 10 hours of sleep last night. Only one cough interruption. Wake up, manage to stay focused enough to play computer games a bit before mind fog sets in, move to the living room to watch tv, then suddenly wake up 2 hours later.
Update Thursday 9:30am: Last night was not as fun. Several bouts of coughing kept me awake more hours than helpful. Only 2 more days of Tamiflu left.
Update Friday 6:00pm: Down to my last Tamiflu pill. I've avoided Tylenol and ibuprofen all day, hoping to get an accurate temperature tomorrow. Still coughing occasionally, so I haven't given up on the dextromethorphan yet.
Update Saturday noon: My temp has been below normal all day. That's a good sign. I have a bruise where they drew blood on Monday, and I'm still coughing (I get the feeling it may linger for weeks), but my body seems to be saying that it's finally over the infection.
Update Feb 22 Sat 8am: Two more weeks have passed since my last update. I'm pretty sure the infection ended then, but I'm still coughing persistently today. I get the feeling it will continue for another month. I remember a flu like this several years ago, where the cough lingered for almost 3 months.
On Thursday and Friday, I would occasionally cough, and I could not figure out why. I didn't have that usual "burn" in my throat from a growing infection or the "tickle" of phlegm in my lungs. I would just suddenly cough a dry cough. That all changed on Saturday. I finally developed a fever, and it rose all day long.
38.1C/100.7F at 12:40pm
38.8C/101.9F at 2pm
39.1C/102.4F at 4pm
39.4C/102.9F at 5:30pm
It felt a little bit like a flu. I kept coughing, even though there was no phlegm to cough up. It made my throat sore. There was also a typical flu headache and aching neck. The weird part, though, was my kidneys and digestive tract. I spent the whole day trudging upstairs to the bathroom to pee and fart, pee and fart. Every 10-20 minutes, my bladder was full again, I'd have to disturb the cat in my lap again, so I could go upstairs to pee and fart again.
A little before 9pm, I started to experience some difficulty getting upstairs easily, so I decided to move from the living room to my bed. I realized then that my jaws were also tightening in anticipation of a cold sore flare due to a distracted immune system. I remembered that I had a prescription for valacyclovir for just such occasions. The bottle says it was filled in 2018 Oct 01, and I hadn't even used it yet. This was a good occasion for it. I was still miserable all night, sweating like crazy and getting up for the usual pee and fart.
Sunday has been much better. My temp has been at or below 37.5C/99.5F all day long. Digestion is finally flowing. Flow is the appropriate word, because it's still far from normal. Still coughing for no apparent reason.
These symptoms seem to match the Wuhan coronavirus symptoms, although I have no clue how I could have been exposed to it. Minnesota has no confirmed cases yet, and I do try to avoid humanity anyway. Now that I'm doing better, though, I don't expect to see a doctor to get their opinion. Still unsure if I'll go to work on Tuesday. Hopefully Monday goes better than today.
Update Sunday 6:40pm: I spoke too soon. My temp is back up to 38.4C/101.4F tonight. Guess I will try to visit a Dr. tomorrow when the appointment line opens for calls.
Update Monday 11:30am: It's officially Influenza-A, in spite of getting the vaccine many months ago. They thought it still early enough in the flu cycle to benefit from tamiflu, so I'm taking those pills now. And avoiding humanity for the rest of the week.
Update Tuesday 11:00am: Last night was good rest. The first in a while, it feels like. The dextromethorphan (specifically "Formula 44 Cough") seems to do great at reducing coughing, allowing me to sleep through the night. The doctor recommended alternating between Tylenol and ibuprofen, and that seems to work on the headache and fever. Now it's just a matter of time until the Tamiflu helps my body through the underlying infection.
Update Wednesday 4:15pm: Nearly 10 hours of sleep last night. Only one cough interruption. Wake up, manage to stay focused enough to play computer games a bit before mind fog sets in, move to the living room to watch tv, then suddenly wake up 2 hours later.
Update Thursday 9:30am: Last night was not as fun. Several bouts of coughing kept me awake more hours than helpful. Only 2 more days of Tamiflu left.
Update Friday 6:00pm: Down to my last Tamiflu pill. I've avoided Tylenol and ibuprofen all day, hoping to get an accurate temperature tomorrow. Still coughing occasionally, so I haven't given up on the dextromethorphan yet.
Update Saturday noon: My temp has been below normal all day. That's a good sign. I have a bruise where they drew blood on Monday, and I'm still coughing (I get the feeling it may linger for weeks), but my body seems to be saying that it's finally over the infection.
Update Feb 22 Sat 8am: Two more weeks have passed since my last update. I'm pretty sure the infection ended then, but I'm still coughing persistently today. I get the feeling it will continue for another month. I remember a flu like this several years ago, where the cough lingered for almost 3 months.
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Date: 2020-Feb-03, Monday 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-Feb-04, Tuesday 10:30 pm (UTC)