The misery of illness
5 March, 2012 in Living with diabetes
I’ve been ill for the last few weeks. I’ve been struck down, bedridden and generally miserable. I’ve not been ill with fevers, the bloody flux or brain distemper, but with that most horrific and virulent of viruses – the common cold.
Colds, in my view, are underrated. They make you feel crap for weeks on end but you just don’t get the sympathy associated with having, say, tertiary space bleeding caused by the Ebola virus. No, you manage to tell someone you have a cold through streaming eyes, a pile of snotty tissues and a whole heap of misery and what do you get in return? A shrug and a dismissive comment about man ‘flu. That’s just not fair.
For me colds start with no symptoms but a sharp rise in blood glucose levels for a few days. Of course, it takes me a few days to work out what’s causing the high readings – is it not bolusing enough, slightly negligent self-care or the coming storm of a cold virus?
By the time I’ve worked out it’s a cold then the snot and tiredness arrive. And the tiredness is the worst bit. Colds really, really take it out of me. I don’t know whether it’s because my mal-formed immune system goes mental or because I’m generally struggling with high blood glucose levels. But, whatever the cause, with a cold at its height I can sleep more than an elderly cat on a comfortable, sunlit sofa.
But, kindly readers will be pleased to hear that I’m now well on the way to recovery. I’m down to producing about a gallon of snot and using three boxes of tissues and one packet of anti-histamine per day.
Another week or so and I’ll stop waking Katie in the night with coughing fits and the dog will have fewer snotty tissues to find, capture and eat. This is certainly an improvement. Except for the dog, who inexplicably loves eating snotty tissues. But that’s dogs for you, I suppose. Yuk!
So are there any bright sides to colds? I’ve found one. Coming back into the office after a day off sick and spreading the cold to all my work colleagues. What fun!



