I am sooooo fed up!!

Go to the chemist buy a bottle of metatone( dont ask for methadone, you will get funny looks) go home lock the door, take the phone off the hook and drink a slug of the metatone and suck barley sugars after 48 hours you will feel alive again.

I think that dreadful cough virus got me in early August I had a bad throat then a nasty cough. I twinged my neck by the uncontrollable coughing. It's more or less gone now but was horrible.

KatyK I admire your determination but you should start looking after yourself.
The alternative is getting your self so run down health wise you will be no bloody use to anybody. Do be kinder to yourself.

There is only one cure for sore throats and that is the French sypositories specifically for sore throats. I know the English hate the idea, but get over it and get well. My very dear French pharmacy friend thinks it's a hoot whenever I go to her pharmacie to buy them, but hey I am over it in 24 hours. and by the way being specific the blunt end goes in first, doesn't make sense I know but that's the way it is.

Katek - you sound like a wonderful person who has overcome so much! Remember that you do nobody any favours by pushing yourself so hard when you are ill. As someone else said, you could also pass your germs on to others which would be very anti-social. Remember you have a husband and three kids who love you and need you so you should take care of yourself. Time for a bit of self-pampering! Remember that the graveyard is full of indispensable people!

Thanks for all the helpful tips....will work through them and see which one is most helpful. If I could sort out the bronchspasm I'd feel much better-no fun coughing with a sore throat!

Some details about myself which may give an insight into why I'm so determined/driven/mad?! I was born with spina bifida and scoliosis. I won't bore you with details of years of hospital, full body casts and surgeries, but I emerged to have an education, a career, two marriages and 3 wonderful children. Oh, not forgetting to factor in 17 schools due to a peripatetic RAF father and hospital stays! I had to be determined in order to overcome my difficulties and succeed - it's always been that way. The problem now that I'm a little (!) older is working out when it's appropriate to fight on. I know no other way.

A little chicken soup would probably be a good cure....if I wasn't vegetarian! Back to the Heinz tomato!

A double shot of whisky in hot milk with a spoon of honey every half hour for 4 hours works wonders for me. Doesn't do a damn thing to effect a cure, but who cares!! <G>

Oh dear, katek, you are such a glutton for punishment! Doesn't your hubby tell you to stop sometimes?

I do hope you feel better and are better very soon. Please rest

I find juice of a lemon fresh grated ginger and turmeric almost like a miracle cure usually ad some honey as well. Turmeric is very antiseptic . You must also rest and relax and let your body heal itself .☺️Sure you'll soon be better.

Remember: don't rescue people to the extent that you have to be rescued.
Spot on with the Jewish chicken soup.

There seems to me to be so many mad viruses out there today. Years ago i used to get one bad bout of winter flu..few days in bed-sorted..and one heavy summer cold ..ditto..but for the last 15 or so years it's been one long hum of feeling rotten recovering a bit then feeling rotten again without really getting better. Any one else experienced this? Is it mobile phones? Is it alien gamma rays? Is it too big a fondness for pies? What is going on?

I wonder why you "pushed" yourself to go to funeral, I understand she is a close friend who's mother died but if your DH was going at least you would have been represented.

You need to take care of yourself & pick commitments that really matter otherwise you could end up in Hospital in which case you will be no use to any-one.

Last year I had severe Pneumonia & spent nearly 6 weeks in Hospital, I was hallucinating at worst & it took the weeks in my local Hospital to get me back on my feet. Even when I came home it took weeks to regain my normal energy levels (I'm only 61!!)'

Please take care of yourself tomato/chicken soup, lots of fluids & rest

Just read your post about the funeral. I am impressed by your efforts to attend this, due to the logistical difficulties of it all, but I worry that you might overdo things a bit if you don't feel well. A bit of rest is the solution when you're not feeling well, or it will take longer for your poor body to recover in the long run and throw off whatever it was you had/have. You are in all senses a real trooper !

If you overdo things when you're only sort of ill, it could escalate and knock you back real bad for a longer time, so do be careful.

The Jewish Mum's panacea for this sort of thing is chicken soup. Just bung it in a saucepan with some vegetables and drink the broth until you feel up to nibbling at the meat and veg.

The thing with pushing yourself when you're ill and not taking any time off is people become blind to how you are feeling and you'll never get any help. I've lived with a chronic lung disease all my life. A common cold sets me back for six weeks. At the moment I've had no voice for three weeks and no viruses are showing up in tests. Drs have told me that symptoms and aftermath of a virus can last for 6-8 wks and I've found that to be true. I too keep saying Im fine and get on with stuff not wanting to let people down and like the OP I have done stupid things when ill but I now realise that sometimes you just have to give in and for me it means staying in hospital.
I wonder why no one within your family and friends don't put their foot down and tell you to rest. I think as we get older it takes us longer to recover from illness. The fact that you've put up this post means that you do realise you have to slow down and get well. No one is indispensable.

Katek - you hero!

As we get older I think that a bit of self nurture is a wise strategy.

katek, I know that internal message! i've managed to sort out the 'should' from the 'want to' most of the time. I do try to over rule the 'should' messages as much as I can if the outcome will damage me. Don't always succeed though. . When it comes to 'want to' common sense isn't always there. Sometimes it's a case of sort of doing a deal with myself and acknowledging an over active day will have repercussions and accepting that. The day you described was quite frankly mad, especially as you were unwell. There is a huge 'but' in this case, though. I think you were dealing with both 'should' and 'want to', not a combination easy to ignore. You sound to be close to your friend who is not only newly bereaved but the assistant stage manager. Your drive to support her seems to have overridden common sense. Maybe stop giving yourself a hard time and just concentrate on getting better now. Of course you would have advised someone else to behave differently, we are all very good at that. . As bluebelle says you went with your conscience and yes now you will have to manage the outcome. So put yourself first for a bit?

Well that post has just made excuses for everything you did
I think it's fine that you followed your conscience but then you mustn't be surprised that your body and your immune system is in collapse mode afterwards

I used to feel like this Katek but when you do reach a stage when I truly can't do something then I do now say no to people, even an appointment at the hospital last week. It's no use feeling guilty, it gets me nowhere and I really can't help the way I am. Same with taking my son tomorrow, I can't do it, I took his sister but I was able to then, but now I can't.

You need to take reasonable care or else your body will start to tell you that you can't do much at all. I have pushed myself over the years and tried to be all to everyone and it has got me nowhere. My kids are awful to me, my mother would have had me lie down and her walk all over me (and it still wouldn't be enough) and my siblings looked down their noses at me no matter how hard I tried to be a good sister. Even friends have taken more than they have given in the past. So now it's a no and I look after me. With the exception of GN meets, those are on the calendar.

When my son goes tomorrow, my phone will go off for a while while I get my head sorted and have a few hours to myself.

Learn to say "no" into the mirror, it takes practice. And you don't need to say why neither sometimes, just no, sorry I can't do that or I won't be able to get there etc. Try it with small things first and build up. But do take care of yourself, you only have one you. X

I know somewhere in my head that you are all correct in what you say, I just find it so hard not to 'do'. I was brought up with a sense of that old fashioned word 'duty' (thanks RAF) and to see commitments through, to not let people down. I know that I shouldn't have gone to the funeral but had quiet day at home and gone to theatre as there wouldn't have been a show if I wasn't there. ( Asst stage manager was my friend whose mother had died) I would have felt so guilty if I hadn't gone to service though. How to get rid of guilt/discomfort at 'letting people down' that is the question.

And yes Swanny you're probably right about the soup and tissues!

Katek what would you say to a friend who did all that? I wouldn't be surprised if you told her she was mad and should be at home looking after herself

What if you passed on the dreaded lurgy to people on the trains, at the cemetery, at the theatre ...? Although by the sound of it you would probably visit everyone with tomato soup and tissues!! Do hope you get really well soon before panto season really starts

Katek you say you had to do this and you had to do that you didn't have to at all sometimes we chose to listen to our guilty side sooner than our sensible side just sometimes you have to say I m sorry but I can't You will not be any use to anyone if your body cracks up. 100 miles for a funeral when you're ill is silly I m sure your friend would have not want to know you were journeying all that way when you were feeling so poorly The end result is you will have taken twice as long to shrug it off and your immune system will be very open to the next infection flying around Of course we all want to show loyalty and not want to let people down but there is also a more sensible solution that says listen to your body.

Well.....I think you might be seriously mad!!!

I run a singing group and when I am not well enough to take a practice, then we do not have one - end of!

I know that you want to do all the things you feel you should, but you will be no use to yourself or others if you do not give your poor body the time and space to fight this lot off!

We are just about to enter autumn and winter - the prime bug seasons and I really do think you need to take care of yourself and get in fine fettle to face the barrage of bugs that will be honing in on you over the next few months - rest, rest and more rest are what you need.

Thus spake Dr Luckygirl!

Right, I shall tell you all about what I did two Mondays ago whilst in the throes of the virus and see what you all think. To me this was a situation which required a solution and I enjoy the logistical challenge. Problem comes when I push myself to the limit. I think I may have given the outline of this on another thread (but not the detail) so forgive me if this seems vaguely familiar...and lengthy!
On that Monday I was committed to stage managing in local theatre at 6pm for adults with additional learning needs. I have to do this. My best friend's mother's funeral service was also 100 miles away on same day at 2pm. I have to attend this.
I ended up driving to nearest station (28 miles) on the Sunday with DH following in his car. I left mine at the station and we drove to DS's where DH was staying anyway as he was filming(!) nearby next day and it was also.closer to funeral. The following day I got a taxi to the station and then a half hour train journey to next town. I then got a taxi to the church which was out in the country for the funeral. Scrounged a lift to the cemetery and then my friend had space in his car to take me back to the town for the funeral tea. I managed half an hour there for tea and sandwiches (my food for the day) and then crossed the road back to station. Got a train back to station I started off from and where my car was, an hour's journey,nearly precipitated an asthma attack crossing the footbridge, then drove 36 miles to theatre arriving at theatre for 6.30 (bit late but doable) for 7pm start.

Am I mad or just very loyal?

Kate's hope you are taking advice and resting up your immune system as taken a bashing take care of yourself ??