what really sucks

[piranha]

is to break out into paroxysms of coughing that make me feel i might not be able to draw another breath, everytime i move.

Must Not Move.

and yes, i am feeling sorry for myself, why do you ask? :)

bacchus and the little black cat are "standing" "watch" over me. (they're lying down on my bed, and they're dozing). cuteness is bound to have a healing effect, eh.

the paramour left some cough medicine in the bathroom. buckley's. their advertisements say "it tastes awful. and it works". i can definitely attest to the first part (and the second part seems also true, as far as it goes -- i am not coughing less, but the cough works to expel stuff from the lungs instead of just making my throat raw). truth in advertising, what a concept. i use the horrid stuff with a chaser of creamed honey.

i wish i had the energy to make a chest rub. maybe if i go about it in stages...

Comments

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

That sounds just awful, and I hope you feel better soon.

If you have a health food store near you, you might be able to get Expec by Naturade. It's mainly guiafenesin syrup, which is probably the main ingredient in Buckley's, but it tastes pretty good.

Honey is the best!

[huashan.livejournal.com]

I love this story.

Once, many years ago, I had bronchitis. I also had either broken or severely bruised ribs. The coughing was amazingly painful. So I tried to not cough, which made my lungs worse, which made me want to cough more. It was lovely.

Then, late in the afternoon, I coughed and sneezed at the same time. Being hit in the ribs with a baseball bat hurt less. Breaking my sternum hurt WAY less. Every muscle in my torso felt like it cramped up, with no air in my lungs.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Oh, owwww. I can almost imagine -- my closest analog was getting the hiccups less than a week after breaking three ribs in a car accident.

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

If you have enough energy to manage it, a steaming hot shower or bath might help. Or it might just make you lightheaded and dizzy, I don't know.

[prairierabbit.livejournal.com]

Many sympathies--I tend to be cough-prone and it is truly miserable to hit the sore everything stage. Lots of fluids will help the expectorant work well--my favorite is hot water with lemon and honey--I go through quarts of the stuff in the winter.

[mayaknife.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Buckley's surprised me. I'm used to cough medication having no effect at all. Buckley's didn't end my coughing but it did reduce it a bit. It also seemed to soothe my throat.

Poor fish: trying to breath mucus instead of water.

[1ginko.livejournal.com]

Sorry you feel so miserable. If you feel up to it, a steamy shower and moving about will help the lungs get rid of the gunk. Hope you get better soon.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yup, feeling better today; thanks!

nope, buckley's contains camphor, menthol, canada balsam, pine needle oil, and capsicum (i gotta love it just for that). i looked up expec -- like so many cough syrups it contains alcohol, alas. i gotta stay away from that when i have a fever; it makes me extra dizzy. it has lots of good additional ingredients though, many of which i am already growing myself. i feel seriously tempted to make my own cough medicine, but i'll need to learn about long-term preservatives first, since i never feel like expending the effort when i am actually sick, of course.

i don't really mind that buckley's tastes bad. it's not truly awful, not retch-inducing. and yeah, honey! i probably ate almost half a pound the last few days, instead of normal food, *snrk*. my throat never became seriously raw, which is a first, so the buckley's/honey combination wins so far.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

ow ow ow. i am feeling better already, just reading how much worse it could be! :)

[huashan.livejournal.com]

Oh, well, glad to have helped! hehehe

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

the latter alas. even when not sick, i don't take well to steamy environments. the only steam i can manage is the one where i hold my head over a steaming bowl, and even that doesn't feel really good.

i'm not buying the woowoo of aromatherapy, but vaporising certain oils (eucalyptus frex) helps me when i have a cold.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

thanks! hope your hand is getting better too.

a steamy shower would make me pass out. i am always amazed at people who can get up and about with a fever; it just knocks me down, and if i exert myself at all (beyond slogging to the bathroom), i will faint. i figure my body is telling me that i should lie down and sweat it out. on the upside, if i sleep/rest as much as possible, and consume some quantity of vitamin-C laden liquids, i never have fever that lasts above 3 days, and usually it recedes to the evening on the third day.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

yeah, this is the first time ever that a bad cough has not resulted in a raw throat for me, and i subscribe that to the buckley's/honey therapy.

really, one doesn't want something that ends the coughing. the body is expelling crap that way, and the crap needs to come out, or it'll fester. so the best one can do is to make the crap more liquid, so it can be coughed up more easily. and the buckley's did a good job of that.

i need to tinker with the chest rub. i made one, but it was only so-so -- not really strong enough. i don't have any straight camphor, and the eucalyptus oil is the mild type. i really like chest rubs because they emanate expectorants all the time towards the nose and into the lungs, even while sleeping. maybe i'll drive down to rexall and see whether they have the vicks stuff; i remember that from my childhood, and it basically contains the same stuff, only in higher concentration.

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

I should have mentioned that I generally buy the children's formulation, which works just as well, and tastes about the same, but has no alcohol.

[lcohen]

sounds like you are doing better (i hope!) but wow, can i relate!