telophase | (no subject)

Temperature elevated all the way to 99.1° As I almost never ever ever get a fever, and as my temp tends to run a bit on the low side, I'm declaring that Significant.

Stayed home from work today; not only did I get a not-very-good night of sleep* but I don't think any of my coworkers want me to infect them. Had a doctor appointment for something completely different this afternoon, but they HAPPILY and QUICKLY rescheduled me when I phoned to explain. :)

I went out and got a new filter for my humidifier yesterday, as the old one had vanished and I don't recall throwing it away when I last used the thing. I now absolutely swear by it - I have ALWAYS had HORRIBLE HORRIBLE coughs that linger for WEEKS after colds, the sort that lead to dry heaves from the violence of the coughs, a faint taste of blood in my throat from straining it, the inability to stop coughing for prolonged stretches during which I CAN'T BREATHE, and worried people gathering around me telling me I need to go to the doctor RIGHT NOW and disbelieving me when I say this is absolutely normal for me.**

But I haven't had those kind of coughs much in the past couple of years, and they're not lasting anywhere near as long, and the timing corresponds exactly with me getting the humidifier. And a couple of times during a cold I've traveled elsewhere for a night and not brought the humidifier, and *those* nights I get the coughs. THIS THING IS NOT LEAVING MY POSSESSION EVER.

--
* Punctuated by interesting dreams, in which CLAMP featured. The mangakas themselves. Giving a talk. Not that I remember any of it.

** And the doctor then gives me either codeine, which has no effect whatsoever on me***, or these little pills that sort of paralyze the throat a bit, which have a much better effect, but which I can't take more than 1 at a time for fear of DYING. :)

*** I'm sort of wondering if I'm an opiate nonresponder: Vicoden/hydrocodone don't kill pain for me, codeine has no effect on pain or coughing, and I have no idea what it's like to be stoned from these because instead of getting a profound feeling of well-being, they merely make me ever ever-so-slightly optimistic.

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hmm--I hadn't realized that there's a precise-sounding term one could use ("opiate nonresponder"). Vicodin doesn't do anything for me at the recommended dose when prescribed, either. It's the only codeine form I've had, but it has failed to do anything something like six times.

Curiosity: have you had anesthesia for a surgical procedure (either full or just the dozy sedation), and did it wear off sooner than the anesthesiologist had anticipated? That's the case for me (again more than once), and I am trying idly to extrapolate from too tiny a sample. :P

I've had full anesthesia once, when I had oral surgery, and I did wake up as they were putting the final stitches in, although there was no pain - just a sensation of tugging. And whatever they gave me as pain pills was marvelous. XD It was too long ago for me to remember if it was an opiate or something else, though.

Strangely enough, the last time I had dental work done (a filling replaced), the Novocain failed to work. But I don't think that's opiate-based, and it had worked previously, so perhaps just an anomaly. The receptionist confided to me that the efficacy often varied according to the hormonal cycle.

For anecdotal levels of (non)utility, that matches my experience.... I've heard that hormones can "interfere" with Novocaine, too. Interesting--thanks for sharing a bit. Whether or not the causes are the same, it's nice to know that I'm not the only person from whom pain meds sometimes slide off.

Hi! I was just wandering by and I wanted to let you know that my husband has that SAME COUGH. It lingers for weeks and weeks after he has a cold. So you aren't alone.

Tell him he has my greatest sympathies!

I have the same sort of cough from time to time. My doctor would prescribe those little pills (they're clear pearls, right?) And they would really do the trick!

Sorry to hear you're sick! I hope it's not Hamthrax! (everyone else has it. it's trendy!)

Yup!

I doubt it's the aporkoalypse, as my teeny mild almost-fever wandered back down again. XD Just a run-of-the-mill cold, but I suspect I'll probably be off work tomorrow as well as I'm stuffy, sniffy, and run down and nobody wants to be infected.

I know that cough! And the funky little pills that might kill you are probably benzonatate. I've seen two totally different sets of dosage instructions for those. One set says you can take 2 at a time, and the other one is like "No, no, only one, and don't take more than 6 every 24 hours!"

Yes, that's it!

Ugh, I am your coughin' sister. Any upper respiratory infection does that to me too. Blurgh. Makes sleeping with a sleep apnea mask real fun, for sure! Fortunately codeine cough syrup helps a little for me. Glad the humidifier has helped you!

(Vicodin has never given me a buzz--I can't figure out how it's a party drug. You must have to take a lot more of it for that to happen, I guess. For me it just makes me feel like I'm made out of lead. Very TIRED lead.)

Feel better! I'm getting over the world's fastest cold right now, and one of the only ones ever that hasn't give me a cough to speak of. I hope yours goes away as quickly.

WHAT. How come I have never had these Doom Pills! I have been robbed!

Benzonatate! Remember that! Ask for them! XD Yeah, you get to feel like there's a constant lump in your throat, but you can SLEEP.

Ugh. I hate lingering coughs after URIs. Blaaarg. I hope you feel better soon.

That's funny that you also tend to have a low temperature, though! My temp runs very low too. Last week I went to see the doctor for a sinus infection, and my temp was 95 degrees. My blood pressure was unusually low too. The doctor prodded me a bit and make jokes about wondering if I was actually alive. XD

Mine's never been quite that low! It tends to be in the 97 range, and I once saw it at 96. (Highest it's been: 103, when I was infected with some horrible amoeba thing from a hot tub. I missed the week prior to junior year highschool finals, so took them with no studying or review, feeling rather shaky after almost a week of not being able to keep much down. Ironically, I didn't do much worse than usual. XD)

Ack! Amoebas?! Scary! Now I'm going to be afraid of hot tubs!

Ooh, my sympathies. I get horrible post-cold coughs (that usually turn into bronchitis) too.

I had one case this past February where I ended up bruising my damn ribs (bone bruise -- seriously) from the force of my coughing. Every time I breathed in, it hurt.

Doc gave me antibiotics for the bronchitis and told me to get one of those over-the-counter cough meds that includes a mild muscle relaxant. Worked like a charm and didn't give me a lump in my throat.

P.S. You don't recall what caused that hot tub to have amoebas swimming around in it, do you? Not enough chlorine or something?

Avoidance is the best strategy for not getting sick, so I'd like to be able to ask "hey, did you do such-and-such?" the next time I'm about to step into a hot tub.

The hot-tub-illness was so long ago I don't remember. It was at a party at a classmate's house, I got horribly ill, a couple of others got mildly ill, everybody else was fine. :)

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You might try a cough med with muscle relaxant.

Re: You might try a cough med with muscle relaxant.