I thought I ate something wrong, but I’ve been sick for more than 3 days now. Sneezing, nose completely blocked, coughing, vomiting, terrible sleep, muscle pain, stomachache and sharp headaches.
It seems like my partner also got infected, because they started sneezing a day later.
But I don’t even really mind all this physical pain and discomfort. The thing that bothers me the most is that I’m completely useless. Unable to think properly apart from a few moments during the day. Sometimes even unable to talk or properly understand my partner.
I can’t even read or play a game or something because it quickly gives me a painful headache, and I don’t enjoy anything at the moment anyway.
Anyone have some strategies to cope with this? Seems to happen frequently when I get sick and I don’t really know how to deal with it. And it seems like it also drags on quite long because I forget to eat enough, I don’t seem to have enough energy to take care of myself (brushing, showering)
Just know that our immune systems are as unique as we are. Yours is going to do what is best for you and your partner’s will do that for them. Don’t stress about being taken out, but listen to your body and allow it to heal you.
I’m more like your partner and my wife is more like you and I take great pleasure in being able to take care of us when we’re sick together.
You will have to eat though, brushing and showing can pause for a bit. Immune systems require nutrition to operate.
Thanks for the tips.
I’m happy that my partner is still relatively fine and it helps a lot when they help me to keep resting and recover.
I sometimes find it difficult to listen to my body though. It seems like I often have a stomachache which makes me feel like I’m hungry, but at the same time too uncomfortable to actually eat.
I suppose this depends from person to person, but any recommendations for food that is easy on the stomach but would still give me enough energy for my immune system to do its work?
Chicken noodle soup or chicken and rice soup. Very easy on the stomach and has some anti-inflammatory benefits. If even that is too much, just broth is better than nothing.
There’s also the BRAT diet. Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.
Congee is easy on the stomach, too. Basically rice with broth.
Chicken noodle soup or chicken and rice soup
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try that. Usually I feel full very fast from soup. But I suppose I could put it near my bed and just eat it over a few hours.
Yeah, I’ve been there. Just make sure you don’t leave it out too long or bacteria will grow. I like Pacific Foods (I think that’s what they’re called) chicken and rice soup. Doesn’t have a bunch of unnecessary additives and mysterious “flavor” ingredients.
When I feel myself first getting sick, I will often make myself a big pot of chicken noodle soup or pho that I can just heat up to get me through it. Have to do so before you’re really sick, though, of course.
Chicken pho is another good one if you have that available near you.
Oh, saltines are good as well.
I tend to eat muesli, yoghurt, banana and sugar mixed together when I’m ill, it gets the job done.
During the past year, my favorite food has become greek yoghurt with cruesli (and sometimes jam or honey). It’s so easy to prepare and (I feel) still relatively healthy.
Give yourself a break. Your body isn’t operating correctly due to an invasion. It’s ok if you feel like blech. Keep up on eating, but give yourself a pass on feeling bad about feeling bad. Hope you feel better soon.
Thanks. I feel like the most difficult thing to deal with is that while sick, I just can’t shake this continues bombardment of pains and discomfort. It makes it so I can barely think, frequently can’t talk (because I can’t focus on the words people say, or can’t arrange my thoughts to talk)
It almost seems like a lot of activities that I used to dislike (going outside, visiting friends, doing sports) are solely because I have once done them while being sick. And the discomfort I felt was so bad that I permanently associate those feelings with those activities.
I now realise that this is not the case, and I should not push myself too much. But my body still seems to react heavily, even though I rationally know I should just take time to rest and it will pass.
I think it’s pretty normal and okay to be demotivated when you’re sick. It will pass and you will move on.
Your partner should be able to help you get enough to eat. That’s the sort of thing that partners are for. You should be(come) comfortable asking for help with this kind of thing. It happens to everyone sometimes. If they can’t because they’re sick, perhaps there is another friend or family member you could ask to come help a bit. If not, ordering food is a good option, depending on where you live and whether you can afford it.
It’s not the end of the world if you’re a bit dirty for a week or two. If it’s really bothering you or your partner, you can use bath wipes in place of a shower and travel tooth wipes in place of brushing.
As for entertainment, being sick is the perfect time to rewatch a favorite show or binge something low effort to watch.
Usually i’m kinda fine with being dirty for a while. Although being overly sweaty can be a bit uncomfortable. I think my partner is bothered more by this. Especially if the apartment gets dirtier than usual. (I normally do the cleaning and cooking)
It’s a bit strange actually. I know that it’s ok to order food or eat out somewhere nearby when I’m sick. But at the same time, I don’t really have the capacity to make a choice, and even feel like I shouldn’t do it (because it’s less healthy, more expensive) Maybe it’s because anxiety gets stronger when feeling sick? Not sure.
I would love to watch some show or read a bit when sick. But often my eyes become dry and hot when sick. Combined with a headache and suddenly I don’t enjoy it much anymore. Maybe I should consider listening to some podcast or something. But I don’t do that usually, so no idea where to start and searching for something requires looking it up on my laptop, which brings me back to my dry eyes and headaches.
Maybe I can prepare something next time. Any suggestions for things that don’t require my eyes?
I will never miss an opportunity to recommend Welcome to Nightvale, it’s a fiction podcast that takes place in a small desert town where every conspiracy theory is true. anything more than that would be a spoiler, best to just jump in at ep1 completely blind imo.
Thanks, sounds interesting, I’ll check it out!
This is from a month ago, so I hope you’re feeling better now.
I’ve been going through a similar experience, on and off over the last couple of weeks, and I really resonate with this bit;
I don’t even really mind all this physical pain and discomfort. The thing that bothers me the most is that I’m completely useless. Unable to think properly apart from a few moments during the day
It sounds like you got much sicker than I have. But it’s still having a crippling effect on my executive functioning . I’ve accomplished almost nothing for a couple of weeks, and I’m meant to be preparing for a live concert this weekend, and then a 2-3 month trip away in a couple of weeks : /
Hey, doing better already here. (At least no longer sick) Although I still have frequent days where it seems like I cannot get anything done.
I think a big part of the problem for me is that I don’t really allow myself enough rest. Even when sick, I tend to try and rest by playing games, watching movies or reading stuff online. But if I can manage to just stop myself and do nothing (really nothing) for 30 minutes, that seems to help so much more.
I hope you find a way to get up and running again so you can prepare for your concert and trip. But it’s also fine if you don’t, I think. You will get through it either way, good luck!
I feel exactly the same as you. I’ve always been trying to wrap my head around why when I get sick, it knocks me out totally. I try to give myself a pass to get through as I know when I am myself I can pick up the slack.
I think for me the difficulty lies in picking back up afterwards. I’m totally ok letting myself relax and distract myself when I’m not feeling well, but I have to build up all my habits again afterwards.
It’s quite difficult if you want to build up some good habits and every few weeks you are just completely knocked out for several days. It makes everything in live harder, I feel.
