Sod it

[desperance]

And once again I wake at the start of a week wherein we have to perform my play - four times! - and I wake with all the symptoms of a heavy cold. Which I know I survived it last week, but that may have been a false dawn; and I know that other people have survived more complicated performances than mine with worse conditions, but they didn't have to lie without moving for an hour and a half. Which is really hard if you have to keep sneezing and coughing and blowing your nose. Ick.

Two days to recover. Drink more toddies.

Anybody got any miracle cures - or even drug recommendations, just something to dry up the symptoms reliably for a couple of hours a night - they would be most welcome.

In other news, I am also supposed to be finishing a novel. Urgh.

Comments

[julesjones]

Pseudoephedrine is very good at drying up the mucous membranes. You can get rebound if you take it for several days, but that's probably not going to be an issue if you only take one dose a day an hour or so before the performance. Biggest problem is likely to be that some people can get wired on it, which is not a happy situation if you're trying to sleep afterwards. (You can also get drowsy, but that's probably less of an issue in your situation.)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

As it happens, I've just taken two doses of Sudafed improperly close to each other, just to see what does happen...

[davidbarnett.livejournal.com]

Lemsip Max tablets - the new capsule ones. They clear all the papers off a desk, throw the cold on to it, and bugger it into submission. Day and night capsules in the same packet. can't recommend them enough.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

*goes to pharmacy*

*looks forward to 48 hours of buggery*

*rather wishes he hadn't said that*

[davidbarnett.livejournal.com]

It would make quite a good TV ad, now I come to think of it. With a little animated Lemsip Max box and a coldy germy thing thrown across a desk.

[julesjones]

This is the point at which I think about stealing tharain's "I am using you all for material" icon...

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I have always assumed that there would be somebody out there rewriting my life; this edition that I have is so dull...

[xnamkrad.livejournal.com]

Have found the Day and Night tablets to be effective in the past.
Failing that, there is an Irish whiskey mix called Snug, which is whiskey with cloves, lemon juice and spices. Just add hot water. It doesn't cure, but after a few, who cares (seriously a glass does clear the head very well, of course I would not mix with strong medications)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

This is more or less what I call a toddy, I think: whisky, honey, lemon and hot water, spiced up at whim (I usually add a dash of bitters). Do we think cloves actually have a medicinal function, or are they just for flavour...?

[littlebutfierce]

My partner swallows whole garlic cloves when he's sick, & it tends to kill off whatever bug is ailing him most of the time. I've done it too & it seems to work. Although, not to be indelicate, but the drawback is that you'll be pretty, ahem, fragrant.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Over here we have something called MUCINEX, which comes in 12-hour timed doses - it's really a hi-tech version of Guaifenesin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaifenesin
and it works a treat. I found that if I keep taking it at maximum dose over a 24-hour period, for a couple of days, even, the phlegm does clear up enough to disperse some.

And I won't hear a word against oral pseudophed - again, the 12-hour version is your friend as long as you're not trying to sleep (and if you are, take a nice harmless anti-histamine - that's what they put in those overnight compound syrups to put you out and counter the effects of the pseud).

My sympathies - as I know you know, I just did a whole week of performances with similar symptoms. The weird thing is that your voice (and focus) come back to you for exactly the time you need it onstage - leaving you a miserable husk right after, but what of that? The show must go on!