posted September 02, 2003 05:36 AM           

Well.. first off this is a little graphic.

About 3 days ago i went down with what i thought was a cold but the next day it developed into something like a mild flu and it still hasnt gone away.

THe most worrying part is i seem to have some bleeding as there's blood in the mucus (lummey)

I feel extremely tired, not-with-it and generally unable to do much at all.

On top of this every time i wake up in the morning my neck and upper back is so tight and knotted i'm actually unable to lie still because its so uncomfortable. Again this has just been in the past 2-4 days.

Now at the moment im so busy with work that i really dont have time to be ill, so if anyone can recommend a quick fix that'll patch me up for the next week or so, just until i can get this work done, that'd be great - because it REALLY couldn't have come at a worse time.

posted September 02, 2003 02:33 PM         

Sounds like you could use some extra C & B vitamins. Are you drinking enough water to help flush it thru? An anti-inflamatory will help with the aching neck along with a heating pad. Not much help, but know I send lite and love across the pond to you and get some REST!!!

posted September 02, 2003 03:35 PM         

Here's what I do:
Buy two bottles of the liquid, usually they come in two ounces each bottle. Mix up the first bottle in a fruit smoothie and drink it down. It's nasty tasting, be sure there's a banana, some juice and maybe some fruit in there.

The second bottle, start taking several droppersful twice a day till it's gone.

If you can't get tinctures, try something else, teas are ok, pills are ok too. The tinctures are just very concentrated and strong, and once you are already ill you need extra to fight.

Sounds like you have a nasty bug that you will really have to battle. Echinacea helps your body strengthen its own defenses to fight it. The blood, though, is possible cause for alarm. If you see more, then please seek professional help.

posted September 03, 2003 06:24 AM           

The bad news is, im not much better (and echniacia by itself tastes better than bananas IMO! lol) But thanks for the advice, i seem to be pulling through.

posted September 03, 2003 07:11 AM         

I hope you will feel better soon my friend! I have no remedies, I never have anything, just symptoms so I wouldn't know what helps
Sorry...

posted September 03, 2003 01:43 PM         

trillian -- yes, echinacea is excellent -- it's helped me a lot too -- but from what I understand, it's limited in what it can do once a bug of some kind is in full swing -- it stimulates the immune system (by irritating it slightly) in order to prevent a bug from taking up residence, but once a bug has taken hold, the immune system is already gone into full SWAT team mode, so the echinacea can be a bit redundant. So the timing has an impact on its effectiveness. It can't hurt, however.

D'you have a fever, N_wEvil?

* about to get graphic for this paragraph *

Minor blood in the mucus can come from different sources. An irritated, dry nasal passage can bleed, as well as your throat passageways/tonsil area if they are also irritated. From the lungs is another matter (no pun intended).

* graphic stuff ends *

juniperb has a good key -- water, and lots of it, is your friend. A nurse I consulted once said that honey and lemon is recommended for sore throat and colds. Take hot baths, stay warm, lay back and let it have its way with you.

Here's a remedy that's almost a science experiment: take a ginger bath. Prepare your bed to go to sleep, then run a bath as hot as you can stand. Put either powdered or roughly chopped (not too fine) ginger root in the bath -- at least 2 tablespoons. Take bath until water starts to cool off a lot (about 10-20 minutes, depending on your local draftiness ). Leave bath (if you use powdered ginger it's easy to take a quick shower to rinse it off, plus clean-up is easier), go immediately to bed, do not put on any nightclothes, get under the sheets. In a few moments you will feel a * whumph * sensation as suddenly the ginger makes your body's natural heat come on. This will help you sweat out toxins, etc.

It's fairly astonishing.

Can't/wouldn't make any suggestions about what to do about your brain, however... Being sick makes me mad, and I've finally realized that usually I get sick so I won't have to directly express anger at its proper source. I think there really is a choice, at the point where a person is not taking care of themselves and leaves themselves open to infection. So maybe go back to that state of mind, and figure out why you got that bug at all.

Light sent to wEvil -- out, out, begone, virulent bug!!

posted September 03, 2003 04:51 PM           

*graphic alert*

I stopped coughing up blood sometime yesterday, now my body seems to be scraping the barrel (IE 4 years of smoking non-filtered rollups!) out of my lungs! lol. Chesty cough, still feel very "out of it"

*graphic alert terminated*

In terms of what i'm mad at..
ehhh, just about everything. Its not nice for an aqua to be trapped. It's even worse for a cancer moon aqua to be trapped in a place they don't feel comfortable at. And its even-even worse for a cancer moon aqua with their moon squaring mars/pluto to be trapped in a place they dont feel comfortable at - it's a pretty pickle.

Of course, the most irritating thing is being essentially housebound right now (i almost fell down the stairs earlier) i can't DO much of anything at all.. which doesn't help the frustration any.

I will try the ginger thing tomorrow, as i just had a really hot bath (i think i burned my feet...lol)

posted September 03, 2003 11:32 PM         

De-tox Central, huh? Mother Nature's way of clearin' ye oot, man... ye must be destined to be Pure.

* graphic interlude begins *

Are you avoiding dairy? It'll generate a _lot_ of our good friend Mucus. Good thing to avoid whilst sick.

* graphic interlude ends *
(okay, that wasn't so graphic)

Yeah, my CancerMoon insists on being comfortable at home, too. It grouses when the environment is lousy, or when kept inside too long (another CancerMoon conundrum -- loves home, loves short trips). I had a schizophrenic Scorp room mate once, who decided I was "morally bankrupt" (she was upset that we had become friends -- it threatened her world). It was a barrelful of demented menacing monkeys living there after that, with both of us too stubborn and broke to leave. Why I told you that I don't know.

It's good, but not always easy to address the anger/illness thang. I suspect resentment plays a part. As a friend once told me, resentment is like p*ssing down your own leg. Maybe you should just fill a water pistol with paint and redecorate your ceiling instead.

I know a guy who swears that as long as he pays his taxes and doesn't violate any laws, that he has a right to act as crazy as he wants. That's his version of freedom.

I'll give you another cold remedy. It's Ginger-Cayenne tea. Fill a pot with lots of water, add chopped fresh ginger root or powder. Add a few shakes of cayenne. Boil down for 20 minutes. Turn off. Add honey and lemon juice to taste. This is one of those "kill or cure" remedies. Drink often, almost constantly. You can leave it on the back of your stove or refrigerate it, just reheat when needed. I've tried it and it stopped some bugs in their tracks, although maybe it was the "fear of cayenne" factor that did it.

posted September 04, 2003 10:17 AM           

re: the room mates

been there, done that, got the T-shirt.. although i moved in with a bunch of schizophrenic monkeys to start with and was too broke to leave the moment i paid my security deposit.. such is life as a student in the UK

Oh, and the scorp (the "from under a rock" type)had a nasty habit of screwing around with my stuff until i threatened her with a metal pole one morning after i got back home from a club to find my computer had been...fiddled with.... she left me alone after that.. i can't fathom why

posted September 05, 2003 01:44 PM         

Maybe you should write your own "Shallow Grave" flat mate story, and animate it. It would be cathartic, at the very least. I see very bauhausian shadows, lots of growing tension, and incendiary devices.

You need to call for reinforcements. Ask a friend to bring you ginger. If the fever is high, maybe you need a -- cool -- bath to bring it down. And keep eating, your body needs nutrients. Dr. Lunadic here says so (all advice arbitrary).

posted September 05, 2003 03:00 PM           

Public healthcare? seeing the doctor is free, prescriptions are subsidised.. i think other things vary but aren't so bad.

Generally speaking i dont like overloading the health service though... or maybe i just dont like going to doctors for some reason.. i used ot be indifferent to it.. hrrm. Im going to have to think about "why" actually..

posted September 06, 2003 12:55 PM           

Either way.. its certainly stopping SOMETHING in its tracks.. whether thats the virus, my taste buds, or my pulse im not sure

posted September 06, 2003 06:36 PM         

It's made me the woman I am today. Oops, should I have mentioned that before?

posted September 07, 2003 01:13 PM         

Your body IS de-toxing!!!

Brilliant, wEvil, keep at it.