Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Bronchitis

Well, this is lovely. For several days now, I've been coughing. It wasn't so bad late last week. Even Saturday, it was just a nuisance. That was good, because we had a nice day that day.

It was downhill after that. I haven't had a good night's sleep in a few days. The feeling of congestion in my chest was accompanied by what I guess I could describe as a very disturbing vibrating feeling coming from the center of my chest, from my windpipe--I could feel the congestion partly obstructing the air going in and out of my lungs!

I promised Marc, beginning Sunday night, that I would get checked out when I returned to work (I do work in a hospital, after all). So this morning I went to Personnel Health Services. They checked me out and declared that I have bronchitis and a low-grade fever (a fever apparently is common with bronchitis). They gave me Zithromax, in case it's bacterial (although these things are usually viral, so all the Zithromax is likely to do is twist my guts into knots) and told me to keep taking the over-the-counter drugs I already was using.

I've had bronchitis once or twice before. Let me tell you, it sucks. It's especially troubling when the build-up of... um... stuff (I'm trying not to be too gross here) is noticeably interfering with breathing.

As I sit here, there's a humidifier working next to me. I've taken my Robitussin-DM and had some hot tea. All of this is helping, but I really wish I could just be well.

The next question is whether I go in to work tomorrow. I probably should have been in bed today (that's what everyone is telling me regarding bronchitis), but I really couldn't see doing that unless I was very, very sick. I mean, how would that look? The HR Director calling in sick after a 3-day weekend? Not good!

I guess I'll have to see how I feel in the morning and then decide what to do tomorrow.

8 comments:

Sam said...

Hope you get better soon!

PatCH said...

Get better, Jess!

(arm's-length) hug...

Billy said...

*hug* Get better soon!! I hate having that "stuff" when you breath ;)

epicurist said...

health and your man are much more important than working for the man. Rest and get well. :)

Greg said...

I hope you feel better soon! Bronchitis sucks. :-(

annfromarizona said...

I just typed a huge comment empathizing as I too have bronchitis. Somehow it disappeared when I hit the "I'm not a robot" box and I hadn't thought to save it. I've had it 10 days; got past the copious amounts of phlegm and am finally (I hope) nearing the end of the wrenching dry coughing that has left my trunk and tummy muscles so sore I feel like I did 100 sit-ups after being totally sedentary. I even coughed so hard yesterday, my top dentures landed in my plate. I've discovered several food sensitivities that make mine worse. Interestingly I found your blog while searching for Splenda and Bronchitis, trying to figure out if the Splenda in my diet ice tea was what had me coughing when I tried napping earlier today. I hope we both feel better soon. annfromarizona

annfromarizona said...

I just typed a huge comment empathizing as I too have bronchitis. Somehow it disappeared when I hit the "I'm not a robot" box and I hadn't thought to save it. I've had it 10 days; got past the copious amounts of phlegm and am finally (I hope) nearing the end of the wrenching dry coughing that has left my trunk and tummy muscles so sore I feel like I did 100 sit-ups after being totally sedentary. I even coughed so hard yesterday, my top dentures landed in my plate. I've discovered several food sensitivities that make mine worse. Interestingly I found your blog while searching for Splenda and Bronchitis, trying to figure out if the Splenda in my diet ice tea was what had me coughing when I tried napping earlier today. I hope we both feel better soon. annfromarizona

Jess said...

Thanks, Ann. I hope you get better soon! This actually is an old post, so I got past it.

I have found, however, that stomach issues can irritate my throat. So reflux medicine (Nexium, specifically) helped with breathing-related issues. So if Splenda gives you any stomach issues, it could be causing or at least aggravating things.