Pain, Pain, Go Away!

I've joined the quarantined masses, having caught cold with a cough a few days ago. Is it the coronavirus? I don't know. Tests are being rationed and my request was denied. The only thing I'm taking is Umcka cold care. Yesterday, pre-quarantine, I saw I needed more--and you have to start taking it immediately after the start of symptoms for it to work. I ordered a box online and picked it up at the store, where the cashier put it in my trunk while I stayed in my car. I even wore a scarf I could put over my face in case I had to leave my car. After getting home, I tried to get a test. In Indiana, you need a doctor's order to get one, so I called the urgent care center I went to for my bronchitis last year. After completing a questionnaire online and talking to technical support, then straightening out confusion over time zones, I had a teleconference with a nurse practitioner. He said that whether I had the coronavirus or just a cold, his advice was the same: stay h...

I know I've been saying this for three months...but I think I am finally over my bronchitis. Three cheers for adrenal supplements! I kept using 35mg per day of hydrocortisone cream, until one day last week when I became puffy and gained a couple of pounds. That's a sign you're overdoing the hydrocortisone. I backed off, then started taking adrenal cortex extract that finally arrived. I waited until Saturday to take it because I wanted to be home in case I didn't feel well on it. Saturday morning I woke up with a persistent headache, but today, I felt 42 again . I installed a new car stereo, planted some ferns, cleaned up the yard, fixed the fences--and I'm a little sore because it's been awhile since I worked so hard. Much credit to the book Stop the Thyroid Madness, Updated Revised Edition, for its chapters on treating your adrenals.

Popping the Umcka Cold Care pills has made me feel a lot better. I'm still coughing, but no longer wondering if I should see someone. And what if I did see a doctor? According to official websites like the Mayo Clinic, WebMD, and MedlinePlus.gov, you should "wash your hands," "use a humidifier," "wear a face mask," and "stop smoking" if you have bronchitis--which it says is "rarely" caused by infection. Are they writing this for people in Somalia? I already wash my hands and I've never smoked in my life. Use a humidifier? I live in Indiana, where it's so wet that we need de humidifiers. "Wear a face mask"? Why not put some leaches on, too? I work in an office in the US, not a construction site or the middle of a forest fire. Of course, the ubiquitous advice is "see your doctor." Which you'll need to do if you try to cure your bronchitis with hand washing and a face mask. "Stop smoking" ...

I've always been a night owl. Look at my posts and you can see a pattern of them being written late at night. Yet lately it's been more pronounced. Saturday mornings, I can barely function. Today is Labor Day, and it's kind of like a Saturday. After sitting around watching Overboard and  Fluffy , playing with the dog and wondering if I should seek medical help, it was like someone wound me up at 8 PM. I mowed the lawn, finished the ironing and made low-carb cookies. I feel like I could go  "diggin' ditches through an isthmus, and rough ridin' down to Cuba like 'What's up bitches!'"   I'd love to feel like this during the day so I could get more done and then sleep at night. That, and not feel like I need medical help for the first 12 hours of the day. I'm going to take an adrenal function test next weekend and hope that sheds some light on my problems. Maybe part of my problem is that I still have bronchitis I caught July 4. However...