Single Friend’s Guide to Being Sick
If you follow along with me on Instagram, you may know that at the very beginning of this year, I fell into this month-long cycle of being sick, getting better and getting sick again. And it was bad. It was the worst sore throat and entire body wipe out I’d had in a while. As if the months of on an off sickness wasn’t enough for one year I got sick again, and….yes. It was finally COVID. I’ve managed to steer clear of it all these years, it was probably about time. And while it wasn’t the worst compared to the months of on and off sickness and the torturous sore throat I had at the beginning of the year, I finally have the energy to sit down and act on some of my inspiration. One thing that is always hard for me when I’m sick is that I live alone with my cat, so you don’t get that same care you might if you lived with someone you were close with. I thought I’d pass on my best lessons and advice for showing yourself love and care when you are single or just live alone.
*Disclaimer* Keep in mind this is NOT professional medical advice, and you should always speak to your doctor or a healthcare provider to help guide your treatment. These are simply things I did to help ease the pain while waiting for my recovery!
Always have at least a couple cans of soup in the cupboard.
Listen, when you’re sick, and you can’t leave the house and you don’t want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on delivery, and you can’t stomach more than broth…you’re going to want soup on hand. Even if you’re throat is not what’s bothering you, you probably won’t have the energy for much more than heating up a pot of soup. Don’t wait until your sick - have soup at the ready!
2. Hot Baths and Epsom Salts for Sleep
When my fever was in full swing and I couldn’t warm up or stop my body from aching, the only solace and moments of peace I found were climbing into a hot bath with salts. A hot shower works too if you don’t have a tub, but the soaking helps with muscle aches. My tip though? If your rent is all included like me, give yourself permission to take more than one. You don’t have to fill it up all the way, or stay in the shower for a long time, but when I was awake at 3am and couldn’t sleep, the only thing that helped was taking another bath. I also highly recommend heating pads or blankets for those sleepless nights of chills.
3. Throat Coat and steaming is your best friend.
If you have a cough, laryngitis or a sore throat…you need to get your hands on Throat Coat. I have been using this stuff since I was maybe ten years old and I was sick right before my music recital. What makes this stuff amazing is that it contains something called slippery elm. I’m gonna go all “singer” on you for sec and explain why this works. Put simply, when your voice is raspy or crackly, it’s because your cords aren’t rubbing together as smoothly. Think about a violin bow against the strings, the right amount of pressure and lubrication on the strings creates a smooth sound, but a dry bow or not enough pressure of the two pressed together creates a much less appealing sound. That’s why musicians use resin on their bow strings. Your vocal cords work kind of the same way. Slippery elm creates a film or a “coat” on your throat, lubricating and allowing it to rub together a little smoother. The heat is soothing and I like that it’s an herbal tea that doesn’t have menthol or peppermint. While peppermint does have analgesic (pain relieving) properties, it can also dry your throat out even more. Unfortunately most of the lozenges or teas that are made for when you’re sick have a lot of menthol or peppermint. I’ll be honest…it’s not the most delicious tea in the world, but if ten-year old me can do it, I believe you can too!
Okay onto part two of my singer rant…steam steam steam! Especially if you are taking lozenges or drinking peppermint tea. You don’t need a fancy contraption, you just need a big bowl and a towel. Simply boil some water and when it’s cooled for a couple minutes, poor it into a bowl, and lean your head over it, draping the towel on top to create a little steam cave. Not only does this help loosen up stubborn phlegm and keep those cords hydrated, it’s also great for opening and cleansing your pores as a fun little bonus. This was also really nice to help warm up when I was feeling chilled!
4. Make lots of ice.
At some points my throat was so bad (and I had forgotten about throat coat) that even swallowing water hurt like heck. The only thing that felt slightly less awful was ice because of the cold. I went through several cups of ice and ice water and I was constantly running out so I highly recommend making as much as you can right away! It’s also another way to keep your body hydrated that might be more soothing than just water.
5. Follow your body’s new rhythm.
Y’all when I was sick, I don’t even know what my sleep schedule was. Some nights I was in bed by 8pm, then up for a few hours at like 2 in the morning, then asleep again until 10am. I learned to just follow my body. If my body wanted to be awake and take a bath at 3am, I listened. If it wanted a bowl of soup at 5am,I listened. I resisted this at first because I was worried about it throwing me off schedule when I finally had to get back to reality. But when I did listen I learned pretty quickly that my body was recovering and I would catch up very quickly! If your body wants to sleep all day, do it. Sleep is so valuable for recovering and it also helps you forget about the pain for a bit. It’s so tempting to try to drag yourself through work or homework or general productivity, but you’ll be more productive later if you allow yourself to rest now.
I hope at least some of that is helpful and I’m wishing you the speediest recovery so you can get back to joy and love and people.
Take good care.
-B