Preparing for Winter V

mardatha

Please everybody who had this bug, take care and take time to get better! Looking back now, I realise that's when my ME started - I had a really bad cold/flu that just would not clear up, I remember having it for 5 weeks. At that time I was going to work on a motorbike, in winter. And after 5 weeks it went intO a sinus infection and then I got glandular fever. I kept working most of the time with only a few bad days off.
Looking back now, after that episode I always took 4-5 weeks to get over any wee cold bug, the doc said post-viral syndrome. That was in 1999.... and in 2004 I got ME.

icontinuetodream

mardatha wrote: »

Please everybody who had this bug, take care and take time to get better! Looking back now, I realise that's when my ME started - I had a really bad cold/flu that just would not clear up, I remember having it for 5 weeks. At that time I was going to work on a motorbike, in winter. And after 5 weeks it went intO a sinus infection and then I got glandular fever. I kept working most of the time with only a few bad days off.
Looking back now, after that episode I always took 4-5 weeks to get over any wee cold bug, the doc said post-viral syndrome. That was in 1999.... and in 2004 I got ME.

That sounds awful Mardatha!!

We just never know what is around the corner do we? In lots of ways, getting flu this year has really kicked me up the backside.....trouble is, although my body is showing the signs of wear and tear, my brain still thinks I am invincible!!

I was talking to dh yesterday about it and we have decided that we are going to take our health more seriously next year - once we have got over the holiday celebrations (which in themselves, will be much less indulgent than usual ) we intend to really cut down on the drinking (of which we do much!!:o) and eating rubbish.

My theory is that it's never too late to make a difference - I may not ever be as fit and healthy as I was in my twenties and I can't stop anything that is going to happen, but I don't want to spend the last few decades of my life existing rather than living due to self-inflicted ill-health!!

Just got to make sure that I do it in a OS way!! With that in mind, growing my own veg in the garden will certainly help with increasing my exercise and having plenty of fresh food to eat! :T

greenbee

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

When I had a cold earlier in the season it started about 23rd October and continued for a month, often with a temperature, very fatigued and no appetite. Normally with a cold or similar I find the symptoms start mild get worse, peak and then start to improve, with this cold however I either had a symptom or I didn't but the symptoms were always full force. Coughed myself awake for 10 days! Sorry I can offer no advice except plenty of fluids and bed rest.

This one's been annoying because it's been one symptom at a time. I think I prefer them all at once! However, I think it's done now.

mardatha wrote: »

Please everybody who had this bug, take care and take time to get better! Looking back now, I realise that's when my ME started - I had a really bad cold/flu that just would not clear up, I remember having it for 5 weeks. At that time I was going to work on a motorbike, in winter. And after 5 weeks it went intO a sinus infection and then I got glandular fever. I kept working most of the time with only a few bad days off.
Looking back now, after that episode I always took 4-5 weeks to get over any wee cold bug, the doc said post-viral syndrome. That was in 1999.... and in 2004 I got ME.

I've been very careful as I had pneumonia ?3 years ago and don't want it again (particularly as I have regular general anaesthetics and it makes them more risky. I rested for a couple of weeks, ran a couple of times and then realised I had a chest infection, so have had two weeks off and finally ran again today. It was hard work, but due to reduced fitness, and my chest was fine. So hopefully I'll be fit and well again soon - I've certainly succumbed to fewer bugs since I've been running (despite spending every saturday morning in the swimming pool with small kids, which is probably the best way to develop sickness/immunity!)

SpikyHedgehog

mardatha wrote: »

Please everybody who had this bug, take care and take time to get better! Looking back now, I realise that's when my ME started - I had a really bad cold/flu that just would not clear up, I remember having it for 5 weeks. At that time I was going to work on a motorbike, in winter. And after 5 weeks it went intO a sinus infection and then I got glandular fever. I kept working most of the time with only a few bad days off.
Looking back now, after that episode I always took 4-5 weeks to get over any wee cold bug, the doc said post-viral syndrome. That was in 1999.... and in 2004 I got ME.

& not looking after myself is how I developed asthma - looking back & knowing asthma is more than a wheezing chest, I've had it a long time, but getting a cold when DS2 was a toddler, not taking care of myself & slowing down so I could recover, but pushing myself instead, getting a chest infection but not going to the doctors till it was so bad I needed 3 courses of antibiotics to clear it up, damaged my lungs enough that I need a strong steroid inhaler everyday.

When I saw the doctor a month after he diagnosed the asthma & prescribed my first inhalers, he said I'd been so bad the month before, he'd nearly had me go to hospital. I said that as I'd walked the 2 miles home pushing DS2 in the buggy, stopping at the chemist for the inhalers, it was probably lucky I'd made it home & that he should check another time how people are getting home!

Thriftkitten

Very quiet here, I'm hoping you are all on the mend or at the very least keeping warm and cozy... Rain. Rain and more Rain here in Cornwall over the past few days, temp of 15 outside according to the dodgy weather station, although I don't think it's far off that as I have been out in the allotment all morning refreshing the chickens houses (3rd time this week) as all their bedding gets muddy because of this weather... I must say I came in soaked but was sweating.
Fortunately have managed so far to escape the dreaded colds, well nothing that lasts longer than a day or so... I'm sure I owe that to 3 yrs service on the NHS hospital wards and 20 odd years of care work and exposing myself to plenty of coughs and colds or anything contagious really.
I am trying hard to feel festive, if not just for the kids, I splashed out of a real tree as I love the scent of a fir. The dd's are not amused that the only pressies under the tree have neighbor's and friend's names on them... However, as mentioned, I am trying to be festive and leave it Very early xmas morning that they see their haul....Wish we had snow to geee me up but hey ho.
Stay warm and dosed up all those feeling rubbish... this like anything will soon pass xxxx

good_advice

Quiet here too! Just the dog and I, Everyone is out.
Sad to here of all the colds. A virus we catch from each other. I always say it takes 9 days to go. 3 days comming, 3 days bad and 3 days going as the saving goes.

This morning I have been in the kitchen. I have covered the Christmas cake with marzipan. Now, there is a 24 hour wait and then the icing goes on.

I have baked 30 mince pies. Added brandy to the jar mince.
The oven on made the house seem lovely and warm.

[Deleted User]

mardatha wrote: »

Please everybody who had this bug, take care and take time to get better! Looking back now, I realise that's when my ME started - I had a really bad cold/flu that just would not clear up, I remember having it for 5 weeks. At that time I was going to work on a motorbike, in winter. And after 5 weeks it went intO a sinus infection and then I got glandular fever. I kept working most of the time with only a few bad days off.
Looking back now, after that episode I always took 4-5 weeks to get over any wee cold bug, the doc said post-viral syndrome. That was in 1999.... and in 2004 I got ME.

Mar my mum was badly hit by rheumatoid arthritis, she had to use a wheelchair and had several strokes after being put on very powerful drugs, she had replacement hips, knees and a shoulder. Her RA started after a long persistent bout of sinusitis and her body started to attack itself. She was disabled like this for 17 years and her RA started when she was 60. Her sinusitis also lasted quite a few weeks. Before the sinusitis she was an active and bubbly woman, so yes I wholeheartedly agree with you re colds and flu not being the mild illnesses that they seem and they need to be treated with respect. Best thing to do re any illness is to listen to what your body is saying to you

[Deleted User]

good_advice wrote: »

This morning I have been in the kitchen. I have covered the Christmas cake with marzipan. Now, there is a 24 hour wait and then the icing goes on.
.

I am not putting icing on my cake this year, we are weaning ourselves off sugar. New research out and not yet in public forum re salt and sugar. We need salt, 3-6 g a day and it is not salt that is the cause of heart attacks and high bp but sugar, especially the fructose corn syrup that has been sneaked into almost every produced food. I am gutted if truth be known, we have been very low salt for ever in our house and dh has heart failure, yet we don`t smoke and he cycles 150 miles a week and he is slim but he has always had a sweet tooth. Now I have started to add salt to soups and oatmeal etc, not a lot because 5g is about a teaspoon but as I cook everything from scratch I know exactly how much we are taking

Fruball

kittie wrote: »

I am not putting icing on my cake this year, we are weaning ourselves off sugar. New research out and not yet in public forum re salt and sugar. We need salt, 3-6 g a day and it is not salt that is the cause of heart attacks and high bp but sugar, especially the fructose corn syrup that has been sneaked into almost every produced food. I am gutted if truth be known, we have been very low salt for ever in our house and dh has heart failure, yet we don`t smoke and he cycles 150 miles a week and he is slim but he has always had a sweet tooth. Now I have started to add salt to soups and oatmeal etc, not a lot because 5g is about a teaspoon but as I cook everything from scratch I know exactly how much we are taking

I am cutting right down on sugar due to health reasons too. I have never limited mine or the children's salt (I don't add lots but if it needs it, it goes in. We use the himalayan pink salt or m@ldons sea salt) and am lowering processed carbs where possible too. I just need to get up earlier so we can have a small cooked breakfast daily.

We have been fed a whole load of rubbish verbally and literally for the last few decades but fortunately word is now getting out there.

Margarine, I ask you.. Who would eat that horrible stuff. Real butter in this house for the last 15+ years! yum.

greenbee

kittie wrote: »

I am not putting icing on my cake this year, we are weaning ourselves off sugar. New research out and not yet in public forum re salt and sugar. We need salt, 3-6 g a day and it is not salt that is the cause of heart attacks and high bp but sugar, especially the fructose corn syrup that has been sneaked into almost every produced food. I am gutted if truth be known, we have been very low salt for ever in our house and dh has heart failure, yet we don`t smoke and he cycles 150 miles a week and he is slim but he has always had a sweet tooth. Now I have started to add salt to soups and oatmeal etc, not a lot because 5g is about a teaspoon but as I cook everything from scratch I know exactly how much we are taking

I was told to start eating salt years ago - I didn't eat processed foods and didn't add it to anything myself and ended up with problems. I still find it hard to remember to eat enough - sometimes I teaspoon of marmite is the solution (either that or I end up having to have redydration salts).

As for the sugar - I'm well aware of my addiction, as I developed an inability to digest sucrose properly about 30 years ago. Like a lot of intolerances I can get away with it at times, but can also make myself very ill. As sugar is a contributor to inflammation anyone with any inflammatory illness really should avoid it. It also increases sensitivity to pain (maybe low sugar intake explains my high pain threshold... it was commented on the other day during a waxing appointment :cool:). Interestingly, eating sugar makes me thirsty which then compounds the impact of low salt levels...

I'm with fruball on the margarine thing too. Butter for preference. Or cold pressed oils. And coconut oil for cooking. As I've reduced carbs and increased fats in my diet I'm a lot fitter and healthier (this is NOT my imagination, I have medical professionals to back me up!). And I find that if my nails get dry it's an indicator that my diet is going back to not enough fat and too many carbs. Fats are filling. Sugar isn't.