Wednesday, October 9, 2013

I Don't Do Sick Well, So I'm Better

What a lovely day it has been. I didn't write on this blog yesterday. I was sick as a dog. I was coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose every minute. It was awful. I'm not sick very often, but when I do get sick, I REALLY get sick. I caught one of the myriads of viruses going around right now because of weather changes and such. Viruses seem to thrive on hot to cold...cold to hot...these suckers love it.

The thing is, antibiotics don't work on viruses although when people go to their doctor for feeling awful, they want some medication.  They don't want their doctor to say, "This is a virus. It's going to have to run its course." They want an antibiotic. And many doctors will comply with the request. I knew I had a virus. I don't go to the doctor very often, maybe every four or five years for being sick. It's like my mom's doctor told her, and let me back peddle here a minute. My mom's doctor is younger than my daughter. It's kind of disconcerting, but she knows her stuff. I like her. She'll tell my mom that Mom knows her body better than she does. I believe that.

I don't run to the doctor every time I sneeze or feel bad. That's just plain silly to me. And no matter how many commercials advertise products from pharmaceuticals, I won't get dry mouth, dry eye, restless leg syndrome, or any other such conditions that seem to have sprung up in the last few years. It my mouth is dry, I drink something. If my eyes are dry, I put some Visine in them, and if my legs are restless, I'll just let them be. Who are they hurting?

Here's the whole problem with taking medicines, especially antibiotics for something that the medicines will not cure or even touch. You body may need a good antibiotic sometime. If you take too many antibiotics, your body won't be able to fight the problem and another antibiotic may not be strong enough. I think about these super germs, and I think they come from the misuse of antibiotics.

I do a lot of reading and the magazines are full of advertisements with promises to cure all kinds of medical conditions, but I'm not buying all that. I've just about quit reading all that stuff because it's just so negative. I mean, is everyone going to get sick and die of so horrific disease IF....and I do mean a big IF you eat mashed potatoes and gravy, real butter, chocolate cupcakes, and...gasp...red meat more than once a week? Are all people's arteries clogged beyond repair unless they take this or that? I've never in my life seen so many medications for so many things. I mean people come into their doctors' offices with Walmart plastic bags full of medicine bottles.

Someone told me that his very elderly grandmother got tired of taking all the pills she was supposed to take. She went to her doctor for her sixth month check-up and flat out told him she wasn't taking anymore of it. She's well in her 90s. That was a couple of years ago. She's still alive and kicking. Makes you wonder.

I think that a lot of medical problems are propagated through propaganda and subtle threats sprinkled with fear factors. I had an uncle who put a pat of butter on every bite of corn from his corn on the cob. He lived to be almost 90. He was a farmer and was up on his tractor well into his 80s. He lived a good long life and never once worried about good and bad cholesterol, high sugar, whatever. I firmly believe that worrying all the time can make you sicker than eating butter.

That being said, I believe people need to know themselves. I know people get sick and need medical attention. Hey, I rode to the hospital in an ambulance when I thought I was having a stroke. It turned out to be vertigo, but I was scared and I needed someone in the medical field to tell me I was fine.

I do believe in being aware of your body and any changes, but I'm going to realize this on my own. I mean, have you heard the commercials about the medication for some of these conditions? They may cause a certain form of cancer. They may cause bleeding, dry skin, sudden death. Yeah, I really want to take that stuff.

So I feel better. I feel better all by myself. I never even thought about going to a doctor. I was sick with a cold virus. I'm getting better and I didn't take one antibiotic. I did take some Tylenol and I was a bit leery of taking it. It's not too good for the liver.

Maybe I'll just go back to what my grandmother used to give for coughs and colds...honey, lemon juice, and moonshine. You'll sleep like a baby.


2 comments:

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Your grandmother had it right. How many tablespoons of moonshine was that?.

Coleen Brooks said...

I think it was more like a slug of it. I think I'd skip the honey and lemon these day and just take a shot or three of moonshine. If none is available it will have to be tequila!

And I don't think my grandmother ever measured anything.