Getting Sick in College and How to Deal With It

This weekend I found myself sick and wanting my bed more than ever. I don’t know whether it’s allergies or the common cold, but I haven’t been sick for years, and my allergies have lessened over the years outside a couple of occasional sneezing fits.

But Friday, after a long day and coming home after grabbing something to eat (chinese food), I laid down to watch the new episodes of The Law & Order series, and after an hour, I started feeling sick.

My nose started dripping.

I was sneezing excessively. My nose continuously dripped throughout the night after falling asleep, waking me up.

It caused me to feel nauseated, which then made my throat feel funny. I also had a little bit of a headache. All these symptoms do sometimes happen when I have a really bad allergy attack.

So, I’m not sure if this is allergies or the common cold; either way, sometimes they both can knock me out, and it is spring, so there’s that.

The downside is school does not stop even when you’re sick, nor does work, and I haven’t done any homework since Friday.

How to deal with being sick in college

Saturday, I spent all day trying to feed my body and give it what it needed. (If you’re sick and in college perhaps this might help you too!)

I went to the store and bought some chicken noodle soup, zero sugar ginger ale, Claritin, and sugar-free cough drops.

I made sure to eat my Greek yogurt with protein, some scrambled eggs, and some shrimp. I had some apple-berry juice with no sugar added so I could boost up my vitamin C.I

I made sure to drink some zero sugar Gatorade  (I always keep this in the home due to issues with dehydration.)

I increased my water intake.

I also got strict with my supplements: garlic, turmeric, and fish oil.

It’s a bit hard not reaching for comfort food, so I did have a bit of cookies and a small amount of ice cream.

I took an Epsom salt bath to sweat out some of the toxins in my body, and I did go for a small run when I felt like I had an open window to move, but I knew it wasn’t long enough for homework.

I got a bit of a workout in later that evening when I felt like I had a little bit more left in me. And then I slept for 10 hours last night, and today I feel way better.

I’m still sneezing, and my throat still feels a little bit funny, but my headache is pretty much gone.

The runny nose has pretty much calmed down compared to how it was.

Today I bought some more chicken noodle soup and honey and ginseng tea.

I like to add a honey lemon cough drop to the cup of tea, put it in the microwave, let it melt into the tea.

The plan is to sit down, study, take my psychology quiz due today, contribute to the discussion board for the same class. Then hopefully get another stastitics homework assignment done so I don’t have so much due tomorrow, which is Monday.

Here is a short list of the things I did to get better enough to study:

• Eat the right food (limit sugar as much as possible even though it’s hard).
• Hydrated with liquids.
• Got some fresh air even if a tiny amount.
• Moved my body to get blood flowing even if small but not overly done. Don’t want to push the recovery date back.
• Soaked in an Epsom salt bath to sweat out some of the toxins.
• Took some medicine, Claritin, because the typical cold medicine never aligns with me and throws off my sleep cycle. Also took cough drops to soothe throat from nasal drip.
• Rested in bed for the most part and went to sleep early last night. Got 10 hours of sleep.
• Hot tea with honey lemon cough drops. Lots of warm chicken noodle soup. (Could be your favorite soup, just make sure to get your veggies in!)

The goal isn’t to feel 100% right out of the gate

If you wait to feel 100%, you won’t get anything done because it might take a few days or so just to feel 100% again.

So the goal here is just to feel good enough to get what you need done so you don’t miss your homework assignments or quizzes.

Thankfully, all my classes are online this quarter, and I normally just go to campus to utilize the library and resources.

I can stay home tomorrow if I don’t feel good, and as long as I’m feeling good enough to sit up and get my homework done, that’s what matters the most to me.

It’s the nasal drip that makes me nauseated, that’s the entire battle.

Also, my chest does feel a little bit funnier today, but I also walked a bit fast with groceries in hand, trying to catch the local link back home.

Asthma + sinuses dripping = no go.

With school, it’s been a bit hard to maintain a schedule of everything

This could be the culprit of my immune system crashing whether from allergies or the common cold.

This month, I found myself eating more processed foods than I normally do and a lot more snacking than usual.

I haven’t worked out like usual and could feel my body changing as I adapted to my new routine.

Fortunately, I was getting back into moving my body again this week before it crashed.

Sometimes that happens before you fully get back on track with things.

Being sick, though, has made me appreciate why I do what I do: working out, eating right, taking my vitamins, not consuming the average college/medical student diet of energy drinks and coffee.

I admit I grabbed some Red Bulls this month, and I haven’t had energy drinks in years.

Not surprising that my body was like, “wait, what the hell?!”

With that said, I look forward to getting a small workout tonight and getting back on track with everything.

Update: I got a 61% on my first try of the test and 84% on the second and final attempt.

What does this lesson teach me?

To never take my health for granted during college because being healthy makes things much easier.

I hope to bounce back this week and achieve higher marks!