Been Sick

I’ve been suffering so much with allergies the past two weeks that I’ve had to call in sick to work several times. It’s hard to interpret when your nose is running, you’re sneezing, clearing your throat, coughing, hacking, feeling tired, feverish, etc. I’ve been taking Claritin (which I take every day) and generic Mucinex (guaifenesin), which helps with the coughing (and is a lot more pleasant to take than cough syrup). I tried taking cough syrup with the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, but that makes me feel lightheaded and disassociated, as if I’m floating in a bubble– and not in a good way! I don’t even feel safe driving when I’m taking dextromethorphan! Blech! At least the guaifenesin is free of unpleasant side effects, and it seems to help break up the congestion. Anyway, sickness is a part of life; one could even say it’s a part of health. I believe that we need to get sick every once in a while to allow our systems to clean out and recharge– as long as we get the rest our bodies are telling us they need.

I don’t like to call in sick to work, but I do it when I need to. It’s never convenient for the workplace, but you know what? They’ll manage. If I don’t stay home and rest when I’m sick, I won’t get better. If I’m contagious and I go to work, I’ll get other people sick and the business will lose even more money than if I had stayed home. I just try to give my employers and/or clients as much notice as possible so that they’ll have time to find a replacement. I hate to lose the money by not working, but one has to budget for being sick, and that’s what the bank is for.

Looking on the bright side, being sick always reminds me to appreciate being healthy! What a joy it is to breathe freely, feel energized, and be relatively free of pain and discomfort!