I've been lucky enough to have only had the 'flu badly once in my adult life. Some people have never had it; they're the ones who think you can soldier on through a full on influenza attack, when really all you can actually do is lie in bed and feel awful.
I had this bout of 'flu in 1991 or thereabouts. It lasted a week, and ended at 6:30 on a Friday evening. I know this because I was watching Thunderbirds when I felt the fever lift.
I felt fantastic. I could move around without dying, and I felt like I had some appetite again. It was amazing.
The next day, Saturday, I felt almost as bad as I had earlier in the week, but this time it was just because I was exhausted. I had tried to do too much the night before with my new-found energy, and my body was still recovering from the beating it had taken when all I could drink was water and all I could eat was Complan.
There is a very strong parallel with how things have gone for me over the last few days following my starting the ulcer meds.
Thursday and Friday last week I felt great. I was energised, the sickness was past, and I was getting more done than I have been able to for months.
Saturday and Sunday were no better than the weekend before - I was very tired, and I was utterly unmotivated. The difference was that beneath the drifts of sleep I could feel a stratum of strength that had not been there before - I was no longer suffering from bottomless exhaustion, I was just recovering from it.
This week is better than the weekend but I am still not in any way energised. The bad thing is that I still have an enormous amount to do over the next two weeks, so I can't take things anywhere near as easy as I would normally choose.
Still, the keel is there. I just need to put the boat back together again.
Posted by Dunx at February 8, 2005 10:24 AM
Hey Dunx - glad to hear things are on the upswing for you, even if you aren't able to be as mellow as you'd like! Maybe you'll even be able to get back to running soon?
I hear you on the influenza thing: I had it once in 1995 and made the mistake of trying to practice the piano: I almost fell off the bench I was so woozy from it! NOT fun. I recommend the flu shot; that is, if you can get one!
There's definitely something in all this, about the inability to accurately judge energy levels and exactly what doing different things takes out of us. It's so easy to get carried away when you're not feeling quite so horrendous. Do we ever get it right?
Three weeks for me, now, although admittedly only half was the flu itself, the rest has been complications and the start of recovery.
Take it easy, ok? Well, carefully and evenly, anyway.