Tuesday, June 30, 2009

As The Horse Sleeps

Way back when my friends and I were young and silly (not that we're not silly anymore, we're just not that young anymore), a conversation of this sort took place:

C: I'm so sleepy I could sleep standing up!
M: Are you a horse?

Now, I brought up this old conversation because I've only had an average of perhaps 2 hours of sleep a day since Sunday. I could indeed sleep standing up (falling over will occur afterwards) if it weren't for me reverting back (albeit temporarily) to my morning coffee, which admittedly has helped me go through the day, but when it comes to night, and the moment my head hits the pillow, violent coughing ensues. I think it is physically impossible to sleep while coughing, (or is it cough while sleeping?) just like how you can't breathe and swallow at the same time.

The point is, lying down causes the cough to start, and the coughing makes sleeping impossible. I so wish I was a horse right now.

On another note, I finally made the visit to the doctor despite the fact that the fever never came. On checking my temperature, the thermometer registered that my temperature was 36C, 0.9 degrees lower than the normal human temperature! This probably proves another theory of mine - that I'm actually not quite a mammal. Long story. Anyway, the only problem I'm apparently facing is a swollen throat caused by irritation, most probably by dust... but I was also advised to not eat curry and certain fruits (not that I care), and a mild flu so yeah... no swine flu, H1N1 or whatever...

15 comments:

  1. poor you.

    You can sleep through coughing but its really hard, and violent coughing fits usually wake people up. I think we cough more when lying down because it puts a different stress on our lungs and other breathing apparatus. I can happily not really notice I'm wheezy all day but then can't sleep because of it.

    Something that might help: Sometimes you can raise your upper body up a bit with a pile of pillows or cushions, so you're at a 45 degree angle or so (as opposed to a 90 degree sitting up angle) which probably is going to be a bit uncomfortable but you might be able to sleep like that out of pure tiredness. It might make the coughing not so bad because it's not the full pressure of lying down on your lungs and breathing pipey bits.

    Also if you're throat is swollen from the dust an inhaler would probably give you some relief, even if it's just taking a puff before bed.

    Also you can water down a spoon of cough medicine with hot water (because I find you take a spoon of it and it works for 3 seconds and then you're coughing again and you're not supposed to take more for 4 hours or something). You can sip this mixture to make the relief last longer.

    There's also the traditional honey, hotwater and lemon juice to relieve your throat, which works about as well as the cough medicine and hot water thing.

    My other trick (have you guessed I'm a veteran of throat infections yet??) is if you feel you've a bit of an infection in the tonsils area - I find particularly if you have difficultly swallowing - you can gargle with dispirin (or whatever over the counter soluble aspirin that's available). Obviously you're still limited to the frequency of dosage that's advised but it can really help clear up a bad sore throat and give you more localised relief than just taking it.

    Also try and rest as much as you can, to help your body fight the thing.

    Hugs and I hope you feel better

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  2. Aunty beat me to it, I was going to say almost exactly what she said. Clearly, throat infection veterans think alike! :D

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  3. Aunty: Thanks for all the advice... I did try the elevated pillow thing the other day... and have been eating fisherman's friend. I have taken medication, and hopefully I can sleep better. Thanks again :)

    Suki: So she did... it's good to know that you all know so much about these things... :)

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  4. I suffered from a very bad cough for almost a month last year.Sleeping horizontally is almost impossible so I had to learn d art of sleeping while sitting on d sofa.Drinking honey b4 sleeping did help me.Tc n get well soon.

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  5. Maybe sleeping up in a recliner? Sorry you feel so bad.

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  6. Jai: That's awful... I mean you can accidentally sleep while sitting but to do that every day!! Oh my. And thanks.

    secret agent woman: I think the medication I took helped a little bit last night... managed to get some sleep.

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  7. haha this remind me of my childhood time... i played kite and slept while standing playing the kite!

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  8. Oh, my.

    Please get well! I don't care what you have I'd still give you hug if it made you feel just a little better :)

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  9. I actually blinked while driving back home on Monday, the first thing I did after i reached home was sleep for 8 hours straight

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  10. Nick: Thank you :)

    Brian: I can imagine... that would have been funny.

    Orhan: I will get well, eventually. Thank you :)

    Tazeen: I bet that would have been rather scary...

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  11. ugh... any way you can sleep propped up by pillows?

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  12. Yup... am doing that for the moment.

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