Interesting Stuff

I've mentioned before how interesting it is to be able to come to my blogger account and see how many new page views I've had and where they come from and all sorts of  other neat-o stuff.  But I've noticed lately when I go to check out my most recent stats that there is a trend of one particular page getting a lot of attention.  It's THIS POST from 2009 that is always at the top of the number of page views stats. 

I'm not really sure why it gets the most hits.  It's not even that special of a blog post.  It's mostly a lot of rambling about my time off from the road and subsequent return to the road.  Nothing really stands out about it in my mind. So why does it get the most attention? I have no idea.  Actually I just did a little more digging and to date, that particular post has the most page hits at 2,319. 

Weirdness.

So anyway. 

I've got this cold thing that came on suddenly and quite strongly Wednesday.  I had woken up feeling rather blah but decided to go ahead in to work anyway.  As the morning progressed I began to feel worse and worse.  I had a tickle in my throat and my sinuses were starting to clog up.  I chalked it up that evening to having just forgotten my allergy meds the day before. 

But much to my chagrin that was not the root of the problem, although I'm sure it didn't help.  No, I apparently picked up a nasty little cold bug somewhere.  As of last night my friend and I realized we were both dealing with the same issue and deduced that we must have picked it up at the Mexican restaurant we ate at together the other evening.  Where ever we caught it, it is a doozy.

Yesterday I felt like death warmed over.  I haven't had any noticeable fever, and I've checked it at least twice a day since Wednesday to be certain.  So I doubt it's actually a flu bug.  But I've got the severe sinus congestion, the sore throat and post-nasal drip, a nagging cough, head and body aches and pains. 

Wednesday I beefed up my Zinc supplement intake to my tried and true twice a day dosage.  I take 50 mg of Zinc everyday as a way to keep my immune system strong.  When I start feeling sick or like something is coming on, I go from once a day to twice a day, one 50 mg tablet every 12 hours.  As long as I've been doing this it's helped me out tremendously.  My colds used to last every bit of 7-10 days.  But one I discovered the Zinc miracle the life cycle of my colds have decreased to 3-5 days.

Now, it's not a cure and it doesn't work for everyone.  But for me, it's amazing.  I much prefer the shorter sicknesses than the long drawn out ones I had dealt with for so many years before.  As would any one really.  I have recommended my regimen to several friends and was thanked abundantly when it worked for them as well. 

But you have to be careful with Zinc because you can overdose on it. And it's not like a major drug over dose.  No, that would be much easier to deal with than what a Zinc overdose can do.  When I overdosed once (and it only took one time to learn my lesson), it wasn't pretty.  For me, it lead to spontaneous "anal leakage" to the nth degree which could not be controlled by any amount of willpower whatsoever.  Zero control. 

My lesson was learned taking an OTC cold relief remedy that was pretty much nothing but Zinc in super high doses.  The label indicated that I was to take the chewable tablets every 4 hours until my cold symptoms subsided.  Since it seemed legit, I did just as it said.  But after losing all bowel control for over 12 hours straight after taking roughly 6 doses of that crap, I knew something about it wasn't quite right. 

I did a little internet research on Zinc overdosing and I was then sure that the directions on the packaging of the cold remedy was not anywhere near legit and I stopped taking it immediately.  I did learn, however, that Zinc is a powerful vitamin that can help you boost your immune system when taken correctly. So the next time I found myself at a drug store I picked up a proper bottle of it and began taking it once a day, every day and when feeling ill, twice a day until the illness has passed.

Anyway.  So I'm taking my Zinc and today I called my midwife to see if there was something I was allowed to take along with it to help with my severe nasal congestion.  I was told Sudafed and Tylenol were the best for me to take while being pregnant.  So I showered, dressed and headed out in search of some Sudafed, as I already have plenty of Tylenol on hand.

I ended up going to three different stores before finding a place that had Sudafed in stock.  Since idiots and addicts use it to make crystal meth, it's already really tough to find around here simply because pharmacies don't stock it as much as they used to. Add to that the fact that it's cold and flu season in full effect right now and it's even harder to come by.  But I did manage to find some and was ever so grateful to have it in my hands (and now my blood stream).  It hasn't kicked in yet, but I just know it will in a few hours. 

I buy the 12 hour doses and usually start to feel relief in about 3-4 hours after taking the initial dose.  Right now I'm an hour and a half in... so I've got a little bit of time before it takes effect.  But I do look forward to it, since I've not breathed out of both nostrils in over 48 hours now. 

What's kinda jacked up is the price of even the generic brand of Sudafed, which is actually what I ended up purchasing.  I spent nearly $13 on one box of 20 tablets at the pharmacy counter.  I then shopped for a few other items and checked out at the front registers spending just under $9 for three boxes of tissues, one 12 pk of Canada Dry Ginger Ale and a king size Twix bar. 

But if the Sudafed works like it's supposed to, it's totally worth it. 

Thankfully my sweet little insider doesn't seem to be affected by my being sick.  She's as rowdy in there as ever and seems content to just lay about, stretching, kicking and headbutting my insides.  She does seem to get perturbed by my coughing and occasionally my nose blowing.  If it's particularly loud or long lived she will give me a not so gentle nudging with her legs or rump. 

Comments

Belledog said…
Hope you're feeling much better as you read this.

Interesting about zinc. I'd not known, and it's worth buying a bottle to try out your suggestion. Will let you know.

Funny about the search for sudafed. A few weeks ago, it was hard to find Luden's cherry cough drops in our local stores. Sale pricing plus cold/flu season did the trick.

Have you had some beautiful snow? We've had a little in Northern Virginia. Still waiting on a significant snowfall. Something lovely and isolating for a day or two.

Now off to check out that post with all the page hits.
Angela said…
We had some "beautiful" snow over the weekend. It fell on Friday and stuck around until the sun finally melted it all off yesterday. Here in the city we only got about an inch though, not really all that exciting. But since I was sick and didn't leave the house once it started, I couldn't have cared if it was a foot. I am not much of a snow lover myself. It's pretty on postcards and in movies. But I'd rather be able to move about freely without slipsliding all over the place. ;)

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