h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, what a fun few days!
Wake up on thursday with skin rash/blotches, by end of day feeling more than a bit wiped out and can recall standing on the train thinking 'just stay awake and upright till you get home',

friday wake up feeling achy and ill, rising temp through day and off work. Fri night hardly any sleep dull headache, symptoms getting worse.

Sat pretty much stayed in bed high temp, flu like symptoms,

sun bit better but not much.

Monday phone for docs appt at 8.30 when lines open - get through at 8.50 by which time no appts left and argue a bit to get one on tues at 11am (they don't do prebook, but I made the point I had been ill since thurs and wasn't getting better so I kinda needed to see the doc!).

Tues feeling much better but still with the skin blotches. See doc who says 'Hmm, how odd. What could that be?' (always a good sign!). Before deciding it was an allergic reaction to the virus. On allergy tabs (nowt special, just the supermarket ones she recommended). First tab taken at about 12:45. 20 mins later and blotches significantly reduced.

I never knew you could be allergic to a virus? But it appears that I am/was. Tip for everyone else, if you're going to catch a nasty virus, try and get one you ain't allergic to as the combination of flu symptoms and allergy symptoms is Not Fun (tm).

And whilst there also mentioned my shoulder, which I landed on when I had to ditch the 'bike a couple of years ago and now clicks/crunches like a good'un. Doc says "yep, you've done your shoulder in". Cheers doc! "Probably end up with arthritis in it later". Oh good, something to look forward to Keep doing shoulder stretches and exercises to stop it from freezing and that's about it.

this getting older malarky isn't much cop is it?

You're allergic to viruses? That's an interesting one...

I know! Seems very odd to me but just 1 allergy tab has almost completely zapped the symptoms. Who knew, huh?

You don't have to be *old* to get arthritis, I was diagnosed with it at 30.

I hope you continue to recover well

Were they itchy, raised blotches? I'm always suprised at how doctors don't seem to recognise urticaria when they see it, yet so many people have suffered from it at least once.

no, not really. Maybe a bit raised but really not itchy at all.

Hope you're feeling better now.

I hate the way joints don't work so well these days. Or at least they don't half protest at over-use

yeah, so much for intelligent design huh?
I keep forgetting that and squatting down or kneeling down when at someone else's desk without a chair and then stand up - cue old man noises!

--

and just to add to the fun came of my (push) bike this morning and bent my small and ring finger back on my left hand. Queue nice big lump on back of hand and aching hand. Fun. (doesn;t appear to be broken, just badly bruised).

Dude! Ouch!

I've recently taken up weightlifting in an attempt to rehabiliate my right elbow's RSI. Took nearly 4 months, but it seems to have done the job.

I also do T'ai-Chi, which keeps the legs in trim. Lots of low-stance, gentle curving movement loosens 'em up, and builds strength.

Eat as healthy a diet as I can manage, with lots of fresh water. I take cold-pressed hemp seed oil from time to time

Also, I stay away from too much

Gotta stay in shape for

Just to show how well I can sympathize with you for being ill last week... it's taken me this long to feel well enough to post anything. I left work with a fever a week ago last Thursday, spent five days in bed with a temperature around 40°C, and only today has the coughing really subsided. I haven't eaten anything besides soup and popsicles for 7 days, either. Ugh.

I did take a Z-pack last week and have been using codeine at night to help me sleep without coughing, but it's now Day 11 and I'm still exhausted. I want to be well again already!

Hope you, your allergies, and your fingers, are doing better now?

So sorry PC, I missed this post!
Life's been a bit hectic with one thing and another and I'm afraid hootoo hasn't been getting overly much attention. So sorry I never replied!

Health-wise all back to normal, but still get some pain/ache in my hand. I suspect I either injured my wrist (still hurts at limit of movement) or broke some bone somewhere in my hand/wrist. No doubt in years to come I'll end up at the docs and they'll tell me!

Question for you though - what's a Z-pack?

I actually only just shook off the last of whatever I've had over this last week.

You may well have broken something in your wrist or hand, there. I do hope you won't find out by having some horrible aches and pains years from now.

A Z-pack is an antibiotic (azithromycin) administered in a high dose over a course of five days, instead of the usual 10-day course. My GP seldom gives me antibiotics for anything- I think the last time was when I had pneumonia in 1997.

Things have been intermittently hectic for me, too. Work stays busy, which under current circumstances is a good thing, and most of my browsing occurs on down time at the office. I wind up reading a lot more than posting, and I haven't had anything terribly interesting to report anyway.