[Setekh]

It's been Winter a couple of weeks over here now, and flu season has come right along with it. I'm currently on the recovery from a pretty serious viral infection, and it made me think, what is everyone's standard procedure as soon as they start getting sick? You know, after you start getting that little sore throat, or perhaps you've developed a nasty cough, or maybe your nose is running (a sewage plant, not a race). What steps do you go through?

I tend to step up with the vitamin C (in fresh fruit form if possible, unless I've already started coughing in which case oranges etc. will make me cough more) - so I make lemon drinks or take tablets if I have to. Immediately try to avoid time outdoors and strenuous activity, particularly if it's cold out. If things get better from there, good, but if they don't: head over to the doctor, take whatever he prescribes me, and then stay home and weather the storm.

I figure everyone must be slightly different. A good friend of mine, for instance, makes a note to never take prescription medicine. Just doesn't believe in it. So, anyone with very different routines? Or no routine? Or is anyone sick right now?

[aldo_14]

I immediately start strenuous activity.

[Setekh]

What type of strenuous activity?

Also, Aldo - what on earth was that? You replied 50 seconds after I posted? You remind me of... ummm... me, a bit...

[Flipside]

I whinge about how terrible I feel until someone shows me some sympathy.

Seriously though, I tend to find sweating it out is the best bet. You might want to try Tea-Tree oil in Boiling water and inhaling the steam, that works wonders

[Colonol Dekker]

Sweat it out, go for a jog, Hit the gym, or sexual intercourse whilest sneezing horribly over the female in question. (Girls, if your ever sniffly, i reccomend sexual intercourse with a female also  )

[Setekh]

Seriously though, I tend to find sweating it out is the best bet. You might want to try Tea-Tree oil in Boiling water and inhaling the steam, that works wonders

Yeah, I have a friend who literally tries to induce (or if not induce, simulate) fever. It was a pretty hot day at church and I saw her walk past wearing three or four jumpers on, gloves on her hands. She just said she was sick and left it at that. And she swears by it.

Yeah Dekker, I wonder if that constant horrible sneezing is a bit of a turn-off? I mean, surely it can't be all that good if her wonderful experience is cut short by a significant mass of snot splattering across her entire face? Don't answer that question.

[aldo_14]

What type of strenuous activity?

Cycling.

Also, Aldo - what on earth was that? You replied 50 seconds after I posted? You remind me of... ummm... me, a bit...

It's 9.50 and I'm at work.  Go figure.

[Colonol Dekker]

Thats the thing with HLP, you think, right,....Just one more post then i'll hit that interim account and get it out of the way, Then you click that annoying little "show new posts" link, and you HAVE to reply...

wonder if that constant horrible sneezing is a bit of a turn-off? I mean, surely it can't be all that good if her wonderful experience is cut short by a significant mass of snot splattering across her entire face?

Actually..............

[achtung]

Pop a Tylenol to get rid of the fever, then get right back to work.

[Colonol Dekker]

I dont like anti sniffle drugs, they tend to hide remove the symptoms not the cause in my experience, i heal quicker through excercise rather than bedrest..

[Flipside]

Same here, I tend to avoid taking pills unless absolutely vital. Even headache tablets. I have this fear that the one time I really need them, I'm going to have developed a tolerance to them....

[Kosh]

I just go get some medicine. Medicines in this country are incredibly effective, especially the traditional stuff.

[Colonol Dekker]

We have all the effective drugs you'd need in London, (drugs for health, and the social kind) I just belive that rather than have the symptoms "masked" I prefer to feel myself recover in "real time" anyone else understand?

 (and why the heck am i using animation references??)

[Flipside]

Chinese Medicine is great, it always annoys me when NHS professors say there's no proof it work, as if people getting better wasn't proof....In the mind or not, it certainly works.

[aldo_14]

Chinese Medicine is great, it always annoys me when NHS professors say there's no proof it work, as if people getting better wasn't proof....In the mind or not, it certainly works.

Hmm.  The problem is when you get (for example) people suffering from cancer being charged extortionate amounts by homeopaths, and dying in absolute agony because said people tell them to stop taking their normal medication.  The only actual difference I can see between homeopathy and actual medicine is that the latter is tested, and the former isn't.  That's not to say homeopathy can't work, or doesn't have benefits like reducing presecription rates, but I can fully see the problem in spending NHS money on what could very easily just be a placebo effect - and maybe even a short term one.

[achtung]

Actually, most of the time, I just stick my head in cold water instead of taking Tylenol.  It's surprisingly effective.

[aldo_14]

Actually, most of the time, I just stick my head in cold water instead of taking Tylenol.  It's surprisingly effective.

I'll help hold it down, if you want.  It's not any inconvenience

[achtung]

Yep, that attitude even matches your personal text. 

[Flipside]

Hmm.  The problem is when you get (for example) people suffering from cancer being charged extortionate amounts by homeopaths, and dying in absolute agony because said people tell them to stop taking their normal medication.  The only actual difference I can see between homeopathy and actual medicine is that the latter is tested, and the former isn't.  That's not to say homeopathy can't work, or doesn't have benefits like reducing presecription rates, but I can fully see the problem in spending NHS money on what could very easily just be a placebo effect - and maybe even a short term one.

Indeed, serious diseases are an area of contention I can understand, but certainly in the realm of muscle problems and other minor ailments, I'd rather recieve Homeopathic treatment than take anti-inflammatories or the like (not that I can, the stuff makes me violently ill anyway).

[Colonol Dekker]

Actually a few beers always makes me feel better, Be it a broken nose from playing Rugby, Flu, or even recovering form surgery on my knee.

I always lose my sniffles after six pints, my nose stopped hurting after about three if i remember, and the knee was fine until my hangover wore off.

(Three seperate nights out mind you ...)