12 replies to this topic

[Aquafeet]

Hello,

Basically, I've pretty much been sick for three weeks now. It all started with me getting a "normal" influenza - hit me out of nowhere during the day, had a fever for about 3 days, felt weak and had really sore muscles for about five days. After five days the sore muscles had all vanished, the fever was gone after 3 days but still felt a little off. Just when I thought I was getting better I ended up with a sore throat and felt that I was out of energy. This continued for another 3-4 days.

I usually exercise 5 days a week, but have been skipping the training because of my illness. I did however return 2 days after I was feeling better, which appeared to be a mistake. I actually felt a 100% all up until the training session, felt fatigued and when I woke up the day after the symptoms had returned and worsened. Just a sore throat and a strange feeling of being fatigued. I took another week off to make sure I was getting a 100% healthy, with the fatigue persisting throughout the whole week, I returned to exercise again and the exact same thing happened again. The sore throat came back and the exact same thing of being fatigued. I haven't had a runny nose and haven't been coughing at all, just this feeling when you have a cold and your throat feels thick and dry and it hurts when you swallow. After both training sessions I've also been experiencing swollen/sore lymph nodes.

I visited a doctor about this last week (after 2 weeks of being sick), he subscribed me Mucosolvan for my throat and two vitamin-medicines, Pharmaton and Sulbutiamine to take once a day for a whole month. He also said I could return to training after 3 days without any problems. Is this anything I should worry about or is it just a cold that takes its time?

I apologize for the long text.
Thanks in advance.

[Luminosity]

Something is going on but I'm not sure what. Don't know enough about your diet, environment, or medical history to say.

I would not take any Western medicines designed to suppress symptoms. I think that just causes more problems. There is a Chinese medicine that helps with some sore and swollen throats called Andrographis or Chuan Xin Lian. It works. It might be hard to find. You could probably mail order it.

East Earth Trade Winds has it. They are honest, but a pain in the ass. You can also use the info there to find the pill elsewhere. I prefer the pill form of the two forms they offer. I really don't like the packets.

http://www.eastearth...nxinlian.aspx

I would avoid cold food and drink. In Chinese medicine these are bad, especially now. Drink hot drinks. Avoid dairy, hydrogenated oil, fried food, sugar and junk food right now. Let cold food and drinks come to room temperature. Investigate whether something in your diet, life, environment or home doesn't agree with you and is causing this. What happened right before this began? Do you have hidden food allergies/sensitivities? Some people are allergic to oatmeal. Some people are intolerant of too much dairy. For congestion, Pu-erh tea, a type of black tea is good, but other black or green teas can be helpful. Drink them hot and plain.

If you can find a good acupuncturist, he or she may be of assistance. I wrote a thread about how to find a good one here:

http://www.longecity...inese-medicine/

Beware of being cold, especially if you swim. Keep warm. Change out of wet clothes. Take a hot drink before and/or after swimming. If you don't have a problem with alcohol, putting a half teaspoon of brandy in a hot drink helps prevent colds.

Eat well. Have some hot soup and steamed vegetables.

Edited by Luminosity, 27 August 2012 - 04:07 AM.

[arska]

Hi,

What I would do is to get UVB exposure between 11AM-2PM for 30 minutes. Be advised that some medicines might make you more sensitive to UV.
An other way is to supplement D3 (cholecalciferol) 10000 IU during the symptoms persist. It is a good idea to check your blood 25(OH)D level as well and maintain it at the optimal levels whole year.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

https://en.wikipedia...D_and_influenza

Regards,

Edited by arska, 27 August 2012 - 01:00 PM.

[Godot]

This has happened to me in the past. Sometimes you just get freaky viruses that hang around. Lactoferrin and NAC (+vitamin C) should knock it out within a couple days.

[Aquafeet]

Something is going on but I'm not sure what. Don't know enough about your diet, environment, or medical history to say.

I would not take any Western medicines designed to suppress symptoms. I think that just causes more problems. There is a Chinese medicine that helps with some sore and swollen throats called Andrographis or Chuan Xin Lian. It works. It might be hard to find. You could probably mail order it.

East Earth Trade Winds has it. They are honest, but a pain in the ass. You can also use the info there to find the pill elsewhere. I prefer the pill form of the two forms they offer. I really don't like the packets.

http://www.eastearth...nxinlian.aspx

I would avoid cold food and drink. In Chinese medicine these are bad, especially now. Drink hot drinks. Avoid dairy, hydrogenated oil, fried food, sugar and junk food right now. Let cold food and drinks come to room temperature. Investigate whether something in your diet, life, environment or home doesn't agree with you and is causing this. What happened right before this began? Do you have hidden food allergies/sensitivities? Some people are allergic to oatmeal. Some people are intolerant of too much dairy. For congestion, Pu-erh tea, a type of black tea is good, but other black or green teas can be helpful. Drink them hot and plain.

If you can find a good acupuncturist, he or she may be of assistance. I wrote a thread about how to find a good one here:

http://www.longecity...inese-medicine/

Beware of being cold, especially if you swim. Keep warm. Change out of wet clothes. Take a hot drink before and/or after swimming. If you don't have a problem with alcohol, putting a half teaspoon of brandy in a hot drink helps prevent colds.

Eat well. Have some hot soup and steamed vegetables.

Thanks for your reply! Well, basically I start everyday with a bowl of oatmeal+2f fruits, my lunch, dinner and snacks are pretty healthy. Chicken/fish and lots of vegetables with rice/boiled potatoes. I'm always trying to make sure I get all the nutrients I need from my food. I will look up that chinese medicine.

Well it is interesting that you say that, two weeks before I got sick I was training very hard, 7 training sessions per week within 5 days with sat and sun as rest. But I felt it was getting me exhausted so I cut it down to just 4 classes a week to build my intensity up. I have heard about overtraining before, but feels a bit strange that it'd be it since I already cut down the training by almost 50% two weeks earlier. I haven't had any allergies except for dry skins during the winter and being a bit sensitive to apples (my mouth usually gets dry after eating it), but I have been eating alot of oatmeal for the last 2-3 months, perhaps something may have developed from it. Will stay away from it for a while. I drink 3-4 cups of ginger tea a day to sooth my throat, will look for some green tea aswell. I rarely eat junk food and sugar and have been laying off the alcohol for about two months now due being more serious with my training, so thats no worry. Thanks again for your reply!

Hi,

What I would do is to get UVB exposure between 11AM-2PM for 30 minutes. Be advised that some medicines might make you more sensitive to UV.
An other way is to supplement D3 (cholecalciferol) 10000 IU during the symptoms persist. It is a good idea to check your blood 25(OH)D level as well and maintain it at the optimal levels whole year.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

https://en.wikipedia...D_and_influenza

Regards,

Thanks alot, I will do so!

This has happened to me in the past. Sometimes you just get freaky viruses that hang around. Lactoferrin and NAC (+vitamin C) should knock it out within a couple days.

Yeah, really strange. Never have I been sick this long before and it is really frustrating. Will read up on Lactoferrin. Thanks!

[niner]

Sounds like a secondary infection. Often these are bacterial, though your description doesn't sound obviously bacterial. Did your doctor rule out a bacterial infection? Whatever it is, vitamin D wouldn't hurt. It will probably get better in time, but I'm sure you'd like to speed up the process.

[Aquafeet]

Well to be honest with you I do not know for sure. I am in a foreign country and do not speak the language on a total fluent level. Basically he said that he thought my "tiredness" was because of my previous flu and would go away after a while with these vitamins and that I just had caught a cold while my immune system was lower than usual. Yes, will make sure to get some extra vitamin D in my body. Thanks!

[Luminosity]

A number of health conscious people are getting zapped by hidden oat allergies because they eat oatmeal every morning in an effort to be healthy. Their symptoms are hard to connect to the oats. They can be a consistent hacking cough with mucous in the lungs, or mimic a cold or flu.

An alternative to oatmeal is brown rice cereal also called farina or cream of rice. You can buy this. It is made by Red Mill or Lundberg in the US, among others. You can also grind up brown rice in a grinder. I prefer long grain. I use eight times as much water as cereal and a little salt. I bring the water to a boil, add the rice a little at a time while stirring. Stir for a few minutes, turn down to medium while stirring periodically, then low. Cook thoroughly until it reaches a porridge-like tendency. Watch for exploding bubbles. It's best to make a large pot at one time and freeze some of it in individual servings.The directions on the packages are wrong, it takes more water and time to cook. I eat this with unsweetened almond milk. I like Blue Diamond Brand in the US.

You can also eat steamed barley as a breakfast cereal. In Chinese medicine it is believed to rid your body of excess mucous. I would again, use more water and time to cook this than recipes say. It tastes like cardboard, buy you can doctor it with ginger, citrus peel, cinnamon, vanilla, etc.

You seem very intelligent and I'm sure you will figure this out.

[Luminosity]

I can't edit my last post, but it is best to use a heavier pot to make the brown rice cereal or barley. Blue Diamond Brand refers to almond milk.

You can decaffeinate any tea. You just steep the tea bag in a little hot water for about a minute and discard that water. Then you make tea with the tea bag as normal. Based on what you've told me, hot plain black tea might be helpful, especially Pu-erh tea. You can mail order Uncle Lee's Pu-erh tea from Vitacost. East Earth Trade Winds might have it as might any mail order source of Chinese medicines. Uncle Lee's is a good brand. Pu-erh is a Chinese tea from the Yunnan province and it isn't that easy to find, but it can be found if you try. Possibly in Chinatown or wherever Chinese Medicines are sold. I always like to keep it on hand if I start coming down with a cold or flu or am exposed to certain toxins or too much greasy food. It breaks stuff down.

Edited by Luminosity, 02 September 2012 - 06:07 AM.

[mitomutant]

two weeks before I got sick I was training very hard, 7 training sessions per week within 5 days with sat and sun as rest

It could be over-training syndrome. Do you train endurance or weight lifting ?

[Matt]

Quite normal if you've had the real flu. You can feel fatigued for a month or even longer. I know I was feeling like absolute crap and no energy at all for a month. Post viral fatigue. I've only had the flu once in the last 10 years and what you describe is similar to how I was.

Edited by Matt, 13 September 2012 - 08:59 PM.

[Aquafeet]

A number of health conscious people are getting zapped by hidden oat allergies because they eat oatmeal every morning in an effort to be healthy. Their symptoms are hard to connect to the oats. They can be a consistent hacking cough with mucous in the lungs, or mimic a cold or flu.

An alternative to oatmeal is brown rice cereal also called farina or cream of rice. You can buy this. It is made by Red Mill or Lundberg in the US, among others. You can also grind up brown rice in a grinder. I prefer long grain. I use eight times as much water as cereal and a little salt. I bring the water to a boil, add the rice a little at a time while stirring. Stir for a few minutes, turn down to medium while stirring periodically, then low. Cook thoroughly until it reaches a porridge-like tendency. Watch for exploding bubbles. It's best to make a large pot at one time and freeze some of it in individual servings.The directions on the packages are wrong, it takes more water and time to cook. I eat this with unsweetened almond milk. I like Blue Diamond Brand in the US.

You can also eat steamed barley as a breakfast cereal. In Chinese medicine it is believed to rid your body of excess mucous. I would again, use more water and time to cook this than recipes say. It tastes like cardboard, buy you can doctor it with ginger, citrus peel, cinnamon, vanilla, etc.

You seem very intelligent and I'm sure you will figure this out.

I can't edit my last post, but it is best to use a heavier pot to make the brown rice cereal or barley. Blue Diamond Brand refers to almond milk.

You can decaffeinate any tea. You just steep the tea bag in a little hot water for about a minute and discard that water. Then you make tea with the tea bag as normal. Based on what you've told me, hot plain black tea might be helpful, especially Pu-erh tea. You can mail order Uncle Lee's Pu-erh tea from Vitacost. East Earth Trade Winds might have it as might any mail order source of Chinese medicines. Uncle Lee's is a good brand. Pu-erh is a Chinese tea from the Yunnan province and it isn't that easy to find, but it can be found if you try. Possibly in Chinatown or wherever Chinese Medicines are sold. I always like to keep it on hand if I start coming down with a cold or flu or am exposed to certain toxins or too much greasy food. It breaks stuff down.

Thanks alot for the advices Luminosity, very appreciated!

two weeks before I got sick I was training very hard, 7 training sessions per week within 5 days with sat and sun as rest

It could be over-training syndrome. Do you train endurance or weight lifting ?

Endurance-orientated. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing. That thought have crossed my mind, cause I highered the amount of training significantly within a short period of time, not really letting the body adjust to the training slowly...

Quite normal if you've had the real flu. You can feel fatigued for a month or even longer. I know I was feeling like absolute crap and no energy at all for a month. Post viral fatigue. I've only had the flu once in the last 10 years and what you describe is similar to how I was.

So it could have been a 'real' or 'bad' flu. I am however feeling a lot better now.

[Luminosity]

Glad you are feeling better.