I am currently laying in bed, for a combined two days as of this afternoon. Slight chills and an unfortunate mix of ingested cold medicine and prescribed medication got me thinking a lot about the "stuff" that's in these quick and convenient commercial medicines.. all those whacky side-effects we laugh about when we hear on T.V... "tingling sensation in the hands", "explosive diarrhea", "loss of vision"... it's scary to know that the remedies out there to heal us can many times harm us.
When aches and chills set in, I was raised with the old-fashioned method of layering on sweaters, hoodies, socks, and blankets to "sweat it out" (breaking the fever). It would take a lot for me to take over-the-counter anything for a variety of personal reasons... *insert traumatizing flashback*
TRAUMATIZING FLASHBACK: In high school, I had bad menstrual cramps or a toothache, or SOMETHING, and I accepted one of my mom's pain pills that was prescribed following a recent tooth extraction of hers. What I didn't know back then was the fact that prescription pain pills are modified to a persons weight.. so at the time, I was 15, and my mother was perhaps twice what I was. So... take a pill that has double the strength your body could handle at one time... what could possibly go wrong? Doubled-over in pain, I had the worst infliction of nausea with the inability to throw up, I was sent home from school, and possibly lost an inch of lining off my liver.
FLASH-FORWARD TO YESTERDAY: I had a family gathering that I was anticipating, and had to be well no matter what!
Friday evening I felt some body aches and a slight fever, so I sweated out the chills overnight, but still felt less than 100% yesterday morning. I found some Dayquil capsules in my moms' room (yep, did it again) and took my antibiotic before resting a bit. By 4pm, my body was crippled in pain. I was in the city attempting to take a train home at this time, and it was difficult to stay awake. I had about 40 mins to wait, and I was panicking, so I bought a cup of tea and went to the Kmart in Penn Station to find something else to ease the pain. Cold-Eeze is homeopathic, advertised it could cut down the length of a cold, so I bought that and took a tablet. I boarded the train, and as suspected, I fell asleep, but I made sure I set my phone alarm which woke me up before my stop. I got home, undressed, and fell into bed, writhing in agony. I had sharp pains stabbing me in the gut along with a pounding headache, could barely eat anything, and swore I wouldn't take anything else that night or the following day... I would just ride it out.
When aches and chills set in, I was raised with the old-fashioned method of layering on sweaters, hoodies, socks, and blankets to "sweat it out" (breaking the fever). It would take a lot for me to take over-the-counter anything for a variety of personal reasons... *insert traumatizing flashback*
TRAUMATIZING FLASHBACK: In high school, I had bad menstrual cramps or a toothache, or SOMETHING, and I accepted one of my mom's pain pills that was prescribed following a recent tooth extraction of hers. What I didn't know back then was the fact that prescription pain pills are modified to a persons weight.. so at the time, I was 15, and my mother was perhaps twice what I was. So... take a pill that has double the strength your body could handle at one time... what could possibly go wrong? Doubled-over in pain, I had the worst infliction of nausea with the inability to throw up, I was sent home from school, and possibly lost an inch of lining off my liver.
FLASH-FORWARD TO YESTERDAY: I had a family gathering that I was anticipating, and had to be well no matter what!
Friday evening I felt some body aches and a slight fever, so I sweated out the chills overnight, but still felt less than 100% yesterday morning. I found some Dayquil capsules in my moms' room (yep, did it again) and took my antibiotic before resting a bit. By 4pm, my body was crippled in pain. I was in the city attempting to take a train home at this time, and it was difficult to stay awake. I had about 40 mins to wait, and I was panicking, so I bought a cup of tea and went to the Kmart in Penn Station to find something else to ease the pain. Cold-Eeze is homeopathic, advertised it could cut down the length of a cold, so I bought that and took a tablet. I boarded the train, and as suspected, I fell asleep, but I made sure I set my phone alarm which woke me up before my stop. I got home, undressed, and fell into bed, writhing in agony. I had sharp pains stabbing me in the gut along with a pounding headache, could barely eat anything, and swore I wouldn't take anything else that night or the following day... I would just ride it out.
Aside from the abdominal pain, nothing else happened last night... no emergency runs to the bathroom, no vomiting (even though I had mutant gurgling sounds coming from inside my stomach, hiccup spasms, burping, and gas). I played the entire day back in my head and gave suspect to the Dayquil capsules I ingested, which was the correct dosage, but the fine-print advertised it for severe cold and flu (which I did not have) and for it to be taken with a full glass of water (I took only 2 sips of orange juice, enough to get the pills down).. neither of which I noticed until after the fact. So.... another medicine cabinet mishap?
The cocktail of "things" I took - an antibiotic, 2 Dayquil severe cold/flu capsules, and a Cold-Eeze tablet - seemed to have nothing to do with the other, but it's apparent that I made a grave error in choosing to take them all within a short time span of each other. So, infrequent cold medicine users BEWARE: Read labels correctly, listen to your body, and don't take your mom's (or ANYONE else's) medicine! If you can, rest at home (like I should have..) to prevent putting more stress on your system while it's trying to recuperate, and that too can obliterate the need to take more drugs.. when what's needed most is just sleep.
I've managed to eat a brownie bite and half a bowl of broth with a glass of apple juice today, and it was uncomfortable even taking in just that. Another inch off my liver? Probably...
Have you ever accidentally taken the wrong dosage of something?
Do you take or have any personal homeopathic remedies for cold symptoms?
The cocktail of "things" I took - an antibiotic, 2 Dayquil severe cold/flu capsules, and a Cold-Eeze tablet - seemed to have nothing to do with the other, but it's apparent that I made a grave error in choosing to take them all within a short time span of each other. So, infrequent cold medicine users BEWARE: Read labels correctly, listen to your body, and don't take your mom's (or ANYONE else's) medicine! If you can, rest at home (like I should have..) to prevent putting more stress on your system while it's trying to recuperate, and that too can obliterate the need to take more drugs.. when what's needed most is just sleep.
I've managed to eat a brownie bite and half a bowl of broth with a glass of apple juice today, and it was uncomfortable even taking in just that. Another inch off my liver? Probably...
Have you ever accidentally taken the wrong dosage of something?
Do you take or have any personal homeopathic remedies for cold symptoms?
