In this household 50%. Jane hasn’t gotten it. I did.
Respiratory crud. I am so tired of coughing.
I sent Jane off after Theraflu, which is the only thing that seems to give much relief: Nyquil, Alkaseltzer cold relief, meh. Benedryl, Sudafed PE (which is not as effective but thanks to the methheads, all we can get now.)..work kinda-sorta. But Theraflu is the best.
And…I took a Ricola coughdrop and thought for a while I might have to dial 911. I know I’m allergic to an over-the-counter herbal diuretic, uvi ursae, or bearberry—rapid heartbeat and tunnel vision—but I read the list of herbals in this one, seemed ok.
Nope. Of course there was a small crisis with the fish tank, which I fixed, but that little exertion had me seeing ripples all around the edges of my vision. This can signal an oncoming migraine—had that happen once. But this was not as bad as bear grapes, but not the time I wanted to be entering a reaction with Jane out of the house. So…I dial her phone. No joy. Not carrying it. Not charged. So I decided the intelligent thing to do was to sit in my working chair which has a phone right by it—in case it got worse. A check of the mirror said, yep, pupils highly contracted. Definite reaction. So I decided atop everything else I’ve had — a Benedryl might be a good idea: it can stop an allergic reaction.
It did. All’s well. Eyes are back to normal vision. And Ricola is off my list of safe things to take. I KNOW I have to be careful of mom and pop herbal remedies. I’d have thought a preparation as old and widely advertised as Ricola would be safe. Wrong-o! It was a very similar reaction to the bearberry: arbutrin is the active agent, which can convert to hydroquinone, which is used in skin lightening or removal of age spots, of all things.
Whatever it was, I certainly don’t want to do that again. Herbal tea is one of those things I regard with as much suspicion as Bren does.
And lest you worry, Jane is back now, and she brought me orange juice and ice cream.
Here in New York I can still buy Sudafed with real pseudoephedrine—I have to ask for it specifically, but the pharmacies carry it. Is Washington stricter, or do your local pharmacies just not bother?
Feel better!
A real synthetic? 😀 My sister swears she was able to buy actual ephedrine only a couple of years ago, but every store pharmacist I’ve spoken to says no way. Here in NY state we can buy pseudoephedrine, but you have to take a card off the display and present it at the pharmacy window to get the meds. I think you have to show ID (it’s been a while since I bought any, as I don’t take any cold meds anymore, they mess with my head and dry out my nasal passages to the point of fiery pain).
ditto at the Kroger store here in my hometown in West Central Ohio.
I should ask my doc if it can be had by prescription.
Don’t be embarrassed to call 911. If you don’t need them, it’s ok. If you do ….
Ugly and scary! Herbal remedies and concoctions can very definitely have highly active ingredients, as well as ones that you’re allergic to. In the case of Ricola, it appears the ingredients are:
Plantain, Marshmallow, Peppermint, Thyme, Sage, Lady’s mantle, Elder, Cowslip, Yarrow, Burnet, Speedwell, Mallow, Horehound, Peppermint oil, Menthol, starch syrup, sugar and caramel colouring
The low-cal version has Aspartame and acesulfame-k in it instead of the sugar and starch syrup.
Any clue which ingredient was the culprit?
I know it wasn’t plantain, marshmallow, peppermint, thyme, or menthol, and probably not sage. But pinning it to one of the others isn’t easy. I looked them up, and am most suspicions of them is yarrow—related to ragweed.
Yarrow is an aspirin analog…
My momma fixed me full strength, fresh pure lemon juice and honey. Nothing fancy, no drugs, not exceptionally effective but very soothing.
We also had the lemon juice and honey. Not terribly effective as you said, but soothing.
OT: A new DNA study in Britain shows that shows that there has been little population movement between areas of Britain since Anglo-Saxon times.
It also shows that the Anglo-Saxons intermarried with Britons rather than displacing them, but the Danish Vikings didn’t intermarry.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11480732/Britons-still-live-in-Anglo-Saxon-tribal-kingdoms-Oxford-University-finds.html
Podcast from Nature with an item about this. The following item about editing the human genome is also interesting:
http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index-2015-03-19.html
Another article about the same study.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/new-genetic-map-of-britain-shows-successive-waves-of-immigration-going-back-10000-years-10117361.html
So sorry your cough continues! Please be careful, respiratory infections combined with allergies can be deadly!
I get the flu shot because my doc goes nuts if I don’t; Proge didn’t this year! No sickness at all so far this year. At times we are laughed at because we wash hands so diligently, particularly if we have been out in the world. We carry wipes and wipe down carts, the seats in movie theaters, you name it. It sounds nuts but it’s working for us!
You should be able to Sudophed by asking. Or is Washington different? I know the ban on putting it on the shelves is federal, but the enforcement may be up to individual states. Here we take a card to the pharmacy counter. Of course it was several years before I discovered why we had to show ID and sign for it. I can be so naive sometimes!
Toes crossed that all is well soon!
DH has come down with something, we aren’t sure if it’s a cold or flu: coughing, stuffy nose, aches. Much hot tea with honey. I hope I don’t catch it, because I have to cover for my boss who will be out next week. A co-worker has complained about the flu shot she was talked into getting, then finding it was probably not effective on the most common strains this year. Best wishes to all who are afflicted!
CJ, you would probably be okay with herbal teas with only 1 or 2 ingredients, like straight peppermint (I actually like Stash’s Moroccan Mint, green tea and peppermint) or chamomile, provided those weren’t one of the herbs that give you collywobbles. When you start getting proprietary blends is where trouble arises; the interactions can be iffy.
“Jane is back now, and she brought me orange juice and ice cream.”
That’s why we love Jane
Oh, there are many more reasons why we love Jane, and those are but two of them…..;)
Here in Texas, one just goes up to the pharmacy counter and asks for generic psuedoephedrine. They limit the amount you can buy at once, and you have to swipe your driver’s license so they can track how much you have bought, but that’s it. 24 12-hour extended release tabs for $5.00. Not bad. Also, I get what my optometrist calls “optical migraines”, where my vision field is interrupted by a herringbone style pattern for 15-20 minutes until it fades. It leaves with a mild malaise, but considering the full-scale migraine type that my Sis gets, it’s more of an annoyance rather than something that lays you out for a day or more. And finally, yes, Hooray Jane! We loves you both, we do…
I get those too. My cousin has the full blown kind, but she’s been able to figure out most of her “triggers” like wine.
My first was 35 years ago. It’s called “aura”. Last was earlier this week. Don’t cause me any pain, thankfully.
Starts off as a vague spot I cannot see clearly in the center of my visual field. Then it starts blinking, then expands. Only one side of the visual field, mine are usually shaped like the classical valentines heart. It’s just a zig-zaggy line–the zigs white, zags black, and they switch about 5 times a second. Makes it pretty hard to see. It grows larger and larger until it finally grows out beyond my visual field. Then I can read or drive again.
I get them as, usually, arcs in the lower right quarter of my visual field. Then they start expanding. It’s like a combination of watery eyes and sun-dazzle. I can usually get it to not become a headache, though. (If it does – and I can get headaches without the aura, too – I lie down and try to sleep.)
Weird. Neither DH nor I have been sleeping that well lately, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, I had a very vivid zigzag glowing yellow and black pattern cutting across my visual field in a semicircle. It gradually faded; my first thought was “It looks like a Acoma pottery pattern.” Power of suggestion, maybe?
Well, the flu part seems done after 5 days, as is the habit of flu, but the sinusitis/rhinitis persisted, so I went to the doc…and got handed a doxycycline prescription plus Flonase and an asthma inhaler. I have never ever had a prescription hit like this one…it lit into the infection and began moving things out: half a box of tissues later, a whole lot of coughing, and I’m beginning to have a brain again. 10 days of this stuff. But Jane wants to see the Pompeii exhibit in Seattle before it leaves (so do I) and I have to do something to get rid of this nastiness. I’m exhausted from the coughing.
Glad to hear that whatever the doc gave you did the trick; take notes if this should reoccur! Some strain of whatever has been cycling around leaves you with 2-3 weeks of cough after the rest moves out. Not cool!
I wonder if this is the same Pompeii exhibit that was at the Boston Museum of Science a number of years ago, regarding which I commented here on your blog that one of the videos had the howl of laughter/sarcasm-worthy explanatory line, “the Romans had no word for volcano” and therefore no idea that Pompeii might erupt on them. Talk about an extreme version of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis that our language determines how we think.
I remember you too heaped scorn on the line, pointing out that not only did they have words for volcano, but that Pompeii had erupted within living memory also.
If it is the same exhibit, this howler aside, it is quite interesting with some great artifacts. They also have a number of the body casts (heck, I’m forgetting what specific fossil name references a hollow which we then fill with plaster to regain the shape of the decomposed body), which I found both deeply moving and also discomforting because the exhibit doesn’t treat them with much reverence or acknowledgement that these are the ghostly remains of fellow human beings who died horribly and not mere museum objects.
Do give a report on the exhibit.
I have been having exactly the opposite reaction for the past several days. I haven’t been sick or had a cold, but I’ve felt just like one does when the last vestiges of a cold go away–suddenly your sinuses are clear, there’s nothing in your throat, and you can breathe without even trying! Or like maybe when you’ve been all stuffy for days, you’re fed-up, needing sleep and you really give your nostrils a extra large dose of nasal spray? Even when I’m healthy that’s not generally true in the cool months. Touching something cold other than with my hands, sitting on a cold toilet seat, laying a bare arm on a metal surface, stuff like that will usually make my nose run. It’s really dry. I don’t have a good hypothesis.
CJ, look into N-acetylcysteine — it’s a naturally occurring chemical in the body, and is considered a supplement and can be bought OTC. Since I’ve been taking it, my allergies have been much better. I haven’t had to use my inhalers in over a year. (I’m also off all antidepressants, too, and made it through my dad passing away without any major relapses.)
Try lying down to cough. Coughing “sideways” is more “energy efficient” than trying to cough uphill. Cuts your abdominal muscles some slack.
Can you take guaifenisin? (Mucinex) That thins out the mucus and helps clear it (makes it easier to cough up). The thinner the mucus, the better it does its job.
Another thing I’ve found helpful is drinking a hot beverage and cold fruit juice concurrently — I find alternating sips of the hot liquid and the cold juice soothes my throat. The hot liquid also helps loosen things up. The hydration doesn’t hurt either.
Feel better soon, CJ!
And yes, hugs to Jane, who is all kinds of special in her own special way.
Looks like Washington State is consistent with the rest of our experiences. Pseudoephedrine is available behind the pharmacy counter, without a prescription, but you have to ask for it. http://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/FacilitiesNewReneworUpdate/Pharmacy/PrecursorTrackingSystem
That’s WHISKEY, honey and lemon, folks – warmed up.
We add a goodly helping of crushed spearmint to that.
After a bit of that, it doesn’t matter whether it ‘worked’ or not, because you aren’t going to CARE.
Wait. 21% effective against the strains it was meant to combat? If those strains didn’t show up,doesn’t that mean 100% effective?
Isn’t it 21% effective overall, because the main strain it was designed to protect against showed up a lot less than expected?
It usually also protects a bit against other (related) strains, though not as well.
Sorry, I’ll stop answering other people’s questions now; I seem to be in a nattering-on mood. Probably lack of sleep from following all those wikipedia-links about the language tree that CJ linked to. Lots of interesting stuff there that I didn’t know, about my own language and languages in general. Repeat this mantra to myself “I must not surf the internet late in the evening, I mustn’t surf the internet late in the evening” – I get pulled in and forget the time!