If I make any errors in this entry, I cannot be held accountable. 15 minutes ago, I took an adult dose of Tylenol Cold night edition. As you can infer, I have a cold. In terms of nastiness, I do not think it is any better or any worse than any other cold I or anyone else may have had in my life. But when I cannot remember the date of my last official head cold, I fear that it could lead to misguided expectations.
If I had to estimate, I would say that my last official cold took place in 2008, at least judging by the expiration dates on my old medicines. Thankfully, my mother preceding me in this present ailment, so a new and unexpired batch was purchased and was used tonight. The effects are already apparent in my sinuses and should shortly be felt in my alertness level.
Unfortunately, when one has a head cold, one must deal with a good deal of phlegm and mucus. It is just part of the process. This is not such a problem when one can hide in the safety of a house or bedroom, but when one should be strolling the aisles of an office building and sitting in an open cubicle surrounded by other humans, it is a bit more disturbing.
What is also disturbing is being told by two of one's coworkers that one should go home because one "looks awful." So after three hours of constant nose blowing, hand washing and mind clouding, I gave in and went home. I feel like a bit of a wimp using valuable sick time on something as trivial as a cold, but when I consider that a full day of exposure could render some of my coworkers vulnerable, I am happy to be relieved of their potential blame.
Sadly, this illness also led to my absence from Norwegian class last night and the cancellation of pedicures with my friend tonight. I should probably add that the Norwegian class meets in close quarters and my friend is 8 months pregnant. It makes my lack of attendance seem a bit noble. Or so I will tell myself.
Before I succumb to the drugs, I would like to take a moment to issue a drug-related warning. Back in the day when I had colds on a yearly basis, I developed a "go-to" cadre of medications. First there was Nyquil and Sudafed. Which led to night hallucinations and racing heartbeats, so I moved on to Tylenol Cold in both day and night formulas. Eventually I discovered Theraflu, a powdered mix that one heats with water and drinks before bed. It was highly effective most of the time.
So when I discovered that I still had some packets, I eagerly prepared a cup for myself last night at bedtime. My normal time frame for effectiveness ran about 30 minutes from ingestion. Imagine my dismay to find that 90 minutes later my sinuses were completely closed and I could not breathe. Always one to take drug warnings seriously, I lamented that I could not avail myself of any other medications due to acetaminophen overdose possibilities. Yikes, right?
But late at night when one is getting up for work in the morning, one gets a bit frantic. Desperate, even. So I arose and made a bold decision to take Sinex, a sinus medication around midnight. It was effective in clearing my nasal passages to allow breathing to occur and sleep to arrive. Unfortunately, around the 4 hour expiration time, I awoke with frenetic thoughts and crazy dreams. I was able to finally fall back to sleep until my alarm went off, but it was not a restful sleep.
So tonight it is my hope that my lack of mixing will lead to a better and more solid sleep. I really need my rest for work in the morning and I also need to build up my stamina for the Brooten Pavilion Fundraiser Dance on Saturday night. One can simply not attend with wads of tissue up one's nose. It is just not done.
Now that 28 minutes have elapsed sine I took my nightly meds, I think it is safe to attempt bedtime. Thank you for reading through my drug induced ramblings, and I hope that you all have a safe and healthy Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment