Under The Weather

We are into the 9th day of September. I am confident in my belief that summer is over in Manchester. In England there is not a whole lot variation between autumn and winter, so the weather is already cold, and so is the rain. All this is leading up to only one thing. Flu season.

In a somewhat disappointing victory, I am the first person to fall ill this season. My throat hurts, my chest is wheezy, and my nose is b-locked. It started on Saturday, and this gave me three days to recover before I had to be back at work. I cannot afford days off. So here are my top tips for a speedy recovery, because aside from the comfort food, there is nothing fun about being ill.

Vitamins

 

The reason I've caught this cold, is probably because I've not been looking after myself recently. My diet has been terrible, and I've been somewhat stressed. As such my immune system is feeling a bit sorry for itself. I like to give it a boost by taking a few supplements. Personally, I go for a multivitamin with iron (I'm vegetarian), and vitamin D with calcium (I have a D deficiency, and I don't get a whole load of dairy). To give myself a better chance at recovery this weekend I have also been using the vitamin C supplements that dissolve in water. Obviously, vitamins from actual solid food will help as well.

Tissues

 

This may be an obvious one, but for the first day I was using toilet roll, because we had no tissues in our flat. Not only, was it making my nose sore, but I was being stingy with it as I didn't want to run out of loo roll. It's important to get any gross germs into the tissue, and into the bin. Reuse is not advised. Pocket tissues are a good idea for if you are out and about, because they can stay uncontaminated by anything you may have in your handbag.

Rest

This is important. Your body is trying to get over this horrible thing that has happened to it through no fault of it's own. It's working hard to do this, it hasn't got time for your obsession with running/zumba/weightlifting/cheese rolling, take a break! However, don't get lazy, still potter about the house if you are out for more than a day, you don't want going back to work to feel like a marathon.

Tablets

Back when I was unemployed, I probably wouldn't have taken any because I had no rush to get better and I prefer not to take medication. However, I am now a worker bee, and needs must. So, take your tablets, take them regularly and with water. If you are like me, and prefer not to ingest animal parts, look for caplets over capsules. If you can only find capsules, it is 100% okay to take the capsule apart and take the powdered medicine via spoon. It will taste disgusting, but it will work just the same.

Water

No brainer, hydrate always. Hydrate MORE when you are ill.

Hygienic Habits

 

Wash your hands regularly, don't share glasses and cutlery. Change beddings, wash towels. You are a walking bacteria ground and you must prevent your germs spreading to others, or even back to yourself!

Moisturise...

 

...your nose. After two days of sneezing and blowing my nose in to tissues, my usually a bit oily nose, is red raw, and flaky dry. Find a quality moisturiser to soothe your skin. Thanks to a freebie from work, I have been using Avent Baby Bottom Balm, and it has worked wonders. It's gentle, yet highly effective.

Hopefully you are all more sensible than me, by eating right and looking after yourself you probably won't catch the cold, but if you do I hope these tips help. A lot of it is common sense, but sometimes even when we know what we should be doing, we somehow don't! Either way readers wrap up warm, winter is no longer coming, it is here.