Woke up this morning with my semiannual fall flu cold.
For whatever reason, every time the weather changes, I reliably get a cold. Every October and generally every mid-March. I have no idea why, other than the weather changing. It has nothing to do with taking care of myself, no change in sleeping or eating habits, nothing. The weather changes, I get sick. And, I am scheduled to get my flu shot on… Thursday.
Bullocks.
*** Update ***
Flu is my generic word for cold. Sorry to confuse. I have a cold, not the flu.
Dan
It’s God’s judgment upon you.
Davis X. Machina
Might not be the flu as such — still worth getting the shot.
Just remember, symptomatic relief — chicken soup, basically — and you’re better in a week. The best cutting-edge modern medicine, and you’re better in only seven days.
Bey
The worst thing about the flu is you know you’re going to live. Dammit.
Get the shot anyway. There’s more than one kind.
Desargues
Good luck, man. The flu sucks. Bollocks, indeed.
geemoney
A friend of mine I was just talking to says that around this time of year, his allergies kick in. It might not have anything to do with the weather, and everything to do with the annual changes in your environment.
Whatever it is, I hope you get better soon.
Alan
A nasal rinse at least three times a day during these transitions helps keep you from getting full blown sick. I swear by my Neti Pot.
Bey
During next year’s flu you can read all the great books that are going to be written about President Obama’s winning presidential campaign.
I realize that’s not particularly helpful today….
I’m sorry Alan, but those neti pots are just nasty.
Ick, ick, ick.
J. Maynard Gelinas
Does that mean we get to own your blog while you’re gone? Isn’t that what this ‘ownership society’ stuff is all about?
jeff
Get a neti pot
http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/product/neti.html
I’ve used it for the last year. Had two colds. They were much shorter than in the past. I think it was due to using the pot.
EL
John, it’s very unlikely to be true flu, much more likely to be allergies. It’s too early for one, Fluwatch.com isn’t reporting cases yet – which is why flu vaccine is being offered now, before the season starts.
Bey
Someone has to be first. Let the poor man have his flu. Jeeze.
Alan
@Bey: It just takes a little getting used to. :)
South of I-10
So sorry you are feeling bad. My allergies get really bad this time of year and in the spring. Zyrtec-D does wonders. I am going to spend today and tomorrow here doing my very best to forget about elections, my 401K, etc. This festival is always either a dustbowl or a mudpit. Definitely dustbowl this year, we haven’t had any rain in a couple of weeks. That will definitely get the old allergies going.
Bey
@Alan:
Just thinking about it makes me want to barf.
Just Some Fuckhead
John, start with Benadryl. If it makes you feel better (albeit very very sleepy) you’re just having an allergy attack. This time of the year, the leaves are starting to rot on the ground and release mold spores, one of the most common allergens. In the spring, pollen is the likely culprit.
marjo
new strategy for me and my son when we feel a cold coming on:
within the first 48 hours, get some Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel-swabs from the drug store. ($12 for 20) Wipe one into both nostrils about a few times a day over the first two days. They work. For both my son and me: we may get a few signs of a cold, but it’s minor and doesn’t last as long.
The swabs work best. try it…
Polish the Guillotines
Why does your immune system hate America?
But seriously. Annual? I only wish it were so. When my kid started pre-school, I became a charter member of the Cold Of the Month club.
Drink a lot of water. It loosens the snot.
Jeff
Sorry to hear, John. I’m wondering if you get what I get once or twice a year, like you said, when the weather changes. I hesitate to call it a sickness. It seems more like my body starts producing all this phlegm (sorry, folks), and it’s fucks my shit up. Makes me feel a little sick the first few days, but then that subsides and I’m stuck with a persistent cough that could last four days or two weeks.
Either way, hope you feel better.
I was shocked to see that Red Meat had nothing on the findings. Of course, it was conducted by a legislative body (Alaska legislature) that the blog’s authors find illegitimate.
Nothing on Weekly Standard. Nothing other than some news and campaign statements on WSJ editorial page. Drudge also merely has a news link.
I know this sampling in no way represents the machine-gun, right-wing blogosphere.
But I do find it telling that none of these major sources of vitriol is rushing to defend the indefensible. I know, not like them, eh?
Maybe they’re capitulating? Or did I smoke something unknowingly?
Prematurely Grey
I had it last weekend. Lay in bed for 2.5 days, head pounding. Not sure if the congestion or the blogoverse commentariat hurt worse.
Feel better.
Jasper
No coverage means the crazies don’t have to think about it.
We’ve seen it work on many issues. Any discussion on the ABC story about the NSA eavesdropping on the Red Cross, transcribing phone sex? Huh, what a surprise.
The economy is bad? NO! It’s fine, no recession, second half recovery, Bush rules! That only didn’t work because the markets went into freefall and even the braindead had to notice the panic.
If it’s not in the news, it never happened.
For a cold and/or allergies, I take a gram of vitamin C per hour for a day or two. Works for me. When your stomach gets a little upset at the high dose, you know you’ve taken enough…
magisterludi
Try keeping a saline nasal spray in your pocket when the weather starts changing. Sounds a lot more like seasonal allergies than a cold.
Keep those sinus passages moistened and maybe you’ll suffer less. And probably won’t get a secondary sinus infection.
And some warm whiskey with honey and lemon is a nice placebo.
tom.a
It’s probably Obama’s fault, but that withstanding, I get the same thing though mine are exacerbated by seasonal allergies. What’s the saying, starve a fever, feed a cold? This sounds like a cold so I say eat up and enjoy a day gorging yourself on the couch.
magisterludi
Also, if you’re anywhere near farmland, spring and fall are crop-spraying times– big, big irritants in the air for miles around.
ThymeZone
Let me say this as a lifelong sinus and allergy suffer:
PRAISE JESUS NMYM(tm). These nasal sprays, plus Zyrtec, are miracle drugs. They’ve changed our lives.
tripletee (formerly tBone)
Echoing what several people said above, sounds like seasonal allergies. I’d try some Zyrtec-D (hands-down the most effective allergy medication I’ve ever used) rather than cold medicine.
The suggestions to use a nasal rinse are right on, too. It really does help. Yeah, it’s kind of gross at first, but not as gross as walking around with a head and chest full of phlegm.
Ned R.
Seasonal allergies — yech. Spring used to be very bad for me.
As for flu shots, I never miss out on them. Better safe than sorry, and over the last few years I’ve been very safe from the Dreaded Flu.
LarryB
John,
This isn’t a complete fantasy (my emphasis added):
P.S. — WTF is up with the html rendering? my blockquote got ignored after a paragraph.
Comrade Incertus
My allergies have bothered me a lot less since I moved to Florida three years ago, but when I was in grad school in Arkansas, I would catch a cold in December and not really get rid of it until April. I feel for you, dude.
Darkness
Oh, Neti pots are wonderful. I just have a cheap plastic one I got at rite aid and I mix 2 parts baking soda to 1 part kosher salt for homemade saline mix. Sinus headaches… good bye, with no drugs. How can that be a bad thing? Better yet, say you’ve been cleaning some dusty area of the house, like the basement or garage and you come into shower and use the neti pot and all this grey crap comes out of your sinuses. Now, I can’t stand the thought of not flushing all that dust out. It’d be like not brushing your teeth after a long day of sugar snacks.
Hillary Rettig / www.lifelongactivist.com
Neti pots are unbelievable. It takes a few seconds and you feel so much better afterwards. I was sure I was going to be the only member of the Great Liberal Pinko Neti Pot Conspiracy to post here, but apparently my compadres are out in force!
magisterludi
All of this allergy talk reminds me that I went in to pick up some generic sudafed on sale, but could buy only one pack. Not because of supply, but because decongestants are used to make meth.
Must not apply to Wasilla, though.
LiberalTarian
Cayenne pepper. Cayenne pepper in hot water with honey, add lemon if you like (I don’t). The cayenne is rich in vitamin C and literally warms you from the inside out, keeps your mucous thin and running (which may be good, I dunno, but it seems like I read that the virus kills the mucous cells and when they start sloughing off your body is kicking them out); the honey is antibacterial and analgesic. The hot water helps keep you hydrated. You only need 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1 tbsp honey.
I live on thera flu this time of year … better living through chemicals! I have tried the saline nose spray stuff, but I always get an infection when I use them, so, apparently that is not the route for me. I have an autoimmune issue and I over-respond to things, kinda like allergies but worse. I don’t know.
I hope you feel better!
PaulW
From what I’m reading, John’s entry at 27) sounds the most plausible. I suffer as well from seasonal shifts, and it’s almost always with my sinuses glarping up first serious cold spell that hits central Fla.
Preventative cure: lotsa vitamins. Wash your hands. And don’t hang out with rodents that have been tested on in the lab for airbornie cold viruses. :)
bad dad
John,
Look into the allergies angle. If it happens at the same time every year, this might be the time of the year when the molds kick up in your house or something.
I usually end up with a two week "chest cold" every fall, brown pleghm and everything. Its really just the allergies and asthma bugging the shit out of my lungs.
ps -PLEASE take RichRod back.
kommrade jakevich
If you still voted Republican these things wouldn’t happen.
Seriously, if you have a cool mist humidifier, start it up. If you don’t, go get one now and stick it in your bedroom and not one of those wimpy little ones they sell at Peoples or wherever. You need something that has a way to set the desired humidity level, requires a separate water tank, and can put a heavy sheet of condensation on your windows.
If your place is heated by radiators, you need one for the bedroom and one for your living room.
w vincentz
I hope you feel better.
One thing I do when I feel a cold coming on is to take zinc.
For some reason, zinc keeps the cold from getting worse.
Also, drink lots of vitamin C liquids. Rosehip tea, orange juice, etc. For a sore throat, chew raw bee cappings. Cappings are what are taken off the foundation so the honey can be spun out. Find a bee keeper and make friends.
Roza Hussein
Chicken soup (the real stuff not the canned crap)
Feel better
Scot
I feel your pain John – I get the same thing without fail twice a year. I know I am due…..
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
I’m sorry to do this to you, but the compulsive word-nerd in me requires that I politely suggest that you meant "semiannual" and not "biannual" if this happens to you twice a year.
Love your blog!
Nikki
John,
As mentioned many times above, you NEED a neti pot. Go to Walgreens and buy one. Your life will be forever changed. It’s a promise.
Zuzu's Petals
‘Nother neti potter here.
Yep, they’re great, but I’ll never get used to the water-in-the-nose sensation.
Be sure to use really good salt, by the way.
Zuzu's Petals
@Johnny Gentle (famous crooner):
I was going to make the same comment, but found out that "biannual" actually is a synonym for semiannual.
Dictionary
Confusingly, it can also refer to something that happens every other year, though "biennial" seems to be the preferred usage.
I learned something new.
LiberalTarian
Plant world jargon: a multiple year plant that comes back every year–perennial; something like a carrot or beet, that blooms the second year and dies, biennial. Biannual is twice annually.
Aren’t words fun??
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
Um…
the compulsive word-nerd in me would like to retreat in shame. I got confused on biannual vs. biennial. John very nicely changed the word in the post to humor me.
As punishment, I will henceforth sequester myself within the user comments at YouTube and correct everyone on their misuse of it’s, looser and alot.
DanJoaquinOz
You’re not experiencing allergies, nor do you have the flu. You’re getting colds. Colds are strong, effective, brief immunological responses to new, often viral, challenges. The reason they happen seasonally is understandable – new atmospheric conditions tend to favour new, unfamiliar viruses. Colds aren’t pleasant but they are positive indicators that your immune system is working really well. People with immuno-deficiency disorders rarely get true colds, Not getting colds is a sign you are immune depressed.
My sister who trains like an Olympian, eats like a nutritionist’s dream, has no bad habits and a sweet nature to boot, gets a cold, like clockwork, every season. I suspect, John, you’re healthier than you know…
Liz
Happens to me every year too… thought it was "a cold" for the longest time until my doctor pointed the pattern out and noted that it’s probably seasonal allergies. Post-nasal drip, coughing, all that fun stuff.