I'm currently writing this bundled up in a plethora of blankets attempting to move as little as possible because my whole body aches. I think I speak for everyone when I say being sick sucks. The main reason why being sick us the worst is because you feel nasty all the time. You're groggy and in pain, and even getting off of the couch seems like a major task. I personally hate being sick because I feel so unproductive. I'm someone who always likes to stay busy and do something, so being out for the count always makes me feel pretty bad about myself. I mean, I'm the girl who didn't have one sick day the entirety of the semester. My policy is always to tough it out and push through. However, we always get hit with something sooner or later that we can't just brush off or grab a couple of Kleenexes and hope for the best. So, without further ado, here are some sick tips I'm currently finding helpful as I'm dying on the couch.
1) Don't ignore the symptoms
Before you get sick, you usually start to feel a little less than your usual for a day or two. When this happens to me, I have a tendency to push it under the rug and ignore it (like I do all my problems, but that's another article). I hate being sick, so when I start to recognize that I'm sick, I just brush it off and stubbornly try to convince myself that I'm not actually getting sick...and then I get sick. If I started taking care of myself early, I may have been able to minimize the worst of it.
2) Don't be afraid of the doctor
My parents are both medical doctors. My dad actually works in the Emergency Room, so my living room is basically my own private ER. Seriously, I don't know what I would do without having a doctor to see. Is this a virus or food poisoning? Can I take more of this medicine? Can I mix these two medicines together without dying? If my temperature is always 97.5 and now it says 98.7, does that count as a fever? Listen, y'all, Google can only tell you so much. Doctors are there for a reason; use them.
3) Be willing to accept help
This is a big one for me. I'm extremely stubborn and independent. I hate to admit I need help with anything. I'm always the one to say I can do it one my own. I don't want to seem like a burden on anyone, and I don't want to appear weak. However, we all need help sometimes, and there's nothing wrong with that. Whether the person is a lover, friend, or parent, be willing to let someone take care of you for a bit. But remember, you'll owe them after.
4) Don't try to do too much
When I'm sick, I always still think that I can do everything I do normally while sick. While this works for mild colds, it doesn't work for stomach flus. When you're on the couch with an inability to move, it may be extremely boring and you may feel exceptionally unproductive, but don't force yourself to do anything outside of what you can take. I have a huge problem with this. I always try to ignore how sick I am and work anyway, and I always make myself worse. Kind of breaking this rule by getting up and writing this article, but, hey, duty calls.
5) Be patient
Just because you feel better, doesn't mean you are. This ties into the last one with doing too much, but it's more of doing too much too soon. After you're sick for a while, once you start feeling just a little better, it's the best feeling in the world, and you want to finally do all the things you couldn't do when you were sick. Warning! You're still sick. Your body is in recovery mode, and it may feel better, but it is in a fragile state, and if it isn't allowed to heal here, you'll fall back into being super sick and extend the course of the illness.
Okay, guys, I hope this list helped if you're currently under the weather or will be a good point of reference for the future. My slightly delirious state had a list of articles it wanted to write, but after not being able to focus my exhausted and slightly dizzy brain, it decided to write out my current struggles instead. I hope that my suffering actually makes sense is able to help you stay out of it. Stay healthy.
