Survival Sunday 204: What Do When Sick?!

It sucks to get sick when you're a kid, but if you're one of the lucky ones, your parents will nurse you through your illness and make sure you get plenty of fluids and soup and comfort you when your lungs feel like they're about to crawl up your throat.

But what about when you're an adult on your own?! What then? There's no one to pat your head and call you a poor little bunny and get you your Pedialyte and Alphabet Soup! How do you take care of yourself when you're sick?

Specifically, what do you eat and drink?

Well, for beverages, you want clear liquids - preferably water. If you're going to drink something fizzy, it should probably be ginger ale, even though most of it doesn't contain actual ginger. Why? Because it tastes the same both ways. That's why you eat or drink most things while sick - because they won't be too awful on the return trip if that's your illness. Having faced that porcelain beast already in the past six months (thanks, expired chipotle southwest ranch...) I can assure you, you do not want to know the difference.

Tea, water, apple juice, and ginger ale are your friends. Why apple juice? Again - same taste either way. Get the unsweetened stuff. If you're not allergic to honey, then add some of that to your tea. Apparently slippery elm bark works well for sore throats, and I can tell you from experience that chamomile does help you sleep a bit. I'm more an apple juice & water kind of person, though - I prefer things to either be sweet or nonexistent.

Now, food can be difficult. The foods you should eat while sick are determined entirely by what kind of sick you are. Are you: Barfy, Coughy/Sneezey, or just Miserable?

If you're Barfy, then food is going to be pretty far from the top of your list of things you want to encounter. Now is not the time for trying new and exciting meals. Now is not the time for takeout. Now is the time for buying plain soups/broths/stocks and sipping those between runs to the bathroom. Don't bring the cup in with you. Not only is that super weird, you're risking contaminating your tasty broth/soup/stock with poop germs.

You should also try to get your proper vitamins/minerals throughout the day. You want to make sure that you have your soup, yeah, but make sure that you're also getting electrolytes. Barfy sickness calls for sports drinks or Pedialyte. Seriously. Also: make sure your stomach is never 100% empty. It sucks to be continuously emptying your guts. It really does. I know. I've had both the flu and food poisoning. I know how it sucks to be in the bathroom every minute or two. Just. Eat. Something. If you can, get some toast in you. It'll be gross, but solid matter is also important. Miso soup + tofu works. Just get stuff in your belly, because otherwise, it will just be hours of internal hell for you followed by probably an emergency room visit because you've damaged your insides by trying to throw them up.

Ew.

So - hope you're not sicking up all over the place, because that sucks.

If you're Coughy/Sneezey (aka having a bad cold or mild flu), then congratulations, this is the easiest thing to eat for. If you're stuffed up, it's the best time to crack out the stuff that burns your face off. This is when you eat chicken soup with all the peppers. This is when you up your capsaicin intake. Why? Because spicy foods make your sinuses empty like a party the cops are breaking up. You're clogged up? Spicy food will unclog you. If it doesn't, then just up your warm fluid intake and take a shower every night before bed. Also run a humidifier if your house air is all dry.

You can try new things when you're coughy/sneezey, too, with less risk of hating it. My evidence for this is that Z & I both have bad colds right now, and we were graciously given some durian candy. It's... strong. Very strong. I had it when I could still smell/taste. It was... like if someone had some stale stewed onions and mixed them in with some kind of discount bakery plastic bags & all. Not 100% unpleasant, but not anything I'd call "king of fruits", either. Z couldn't taste much of the badness.

Then again, Z thinks that Moxie is the best soda on earth...

Love you Z!

No sickness is good, but Coughy/Sneezey is endurable. It's easy to cook for (anything you feel like eating, kick it up a notch unless you're really sensitive to spices), and it's fairly easy to treat. Most cold medications exist to unstuff your face and suppress your cough, etc. If you're going to suffer through a sickness, you'd probably prefer having a couple crummy days where you're mainlining spicy ramen and Mexican hot chocolate.

You don't want Miserable sickness.

If you've had the flu, Shingles, or any other kind of terrible malady where getting out of bed (or even just lying there) is not just a chore, it can sometimes seem impossible, then you know Miserable illness. And I'm sorry. This is the hardest illness to nurse yourself through. Where possible, enlist the aid of others. Any others you can. And hope they can cook.

You're probably not going to feel like eating.

Too freakin bad. You're (presumably) a living being. Living beings require food (of some sort) and water.

You need to refuel your body as it fights off whatever you're trying to survive. Eat at least three times a day, even if you can barely drag yourself into the kitchen for a crappy sandwich. If you know the illness is coming (for instance, if you suffer from an autoimmune disease that gives you some respite once in a while, or if you recognize the symptoms of your chronic migraines coming on), then stock up on things you can just put in your face with minimal effort. If you're just getting slammed out of nowhere, it can be tempting to just... give up. Do not give up. Go eat.

A spoonful of peanut butter. A sleeve of crackers. A tiny cup of applesauce. Some instant soup you chug from a microwavable bowl. I don't care what you're eating as long as it's food.

Don't stock up on empty calories, though - don't just mainline sodas and candy and cookies and convenience store junk food. It's so tempting, I know - it's right there, there's no prep. Just pop & go. But you need real food to survive. It sucks, but that's the way it goes.

If you are Miserable Sick, my best advice is this: toast & whatever you can get onto the toast. Toast & jam. Toast & cheese (but not if it's a migraine). Toast & butter (again, avoid if you have a migraine). Toast & Nutella as a treat. Toast is easy. Eat toast.

If you can, I'd suggest also keeping some soups or tinned meat products on hand. Spam sounds gross. It looks gross. Lite Spam is actually pretty okay. Toss it in some soup to get you some protein. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, go for tofu or other meat substitutes. Keep some chicken (or chik'n) nuggets on hand for emergencies. Make sure you can run your microwave to keep yourself fed if you don't feel conscious enough to use the stove or oven without burning your house down.

Basically, my only advice for sickness is the advice I give & use for all unpleasant things in life:

Eat. You'll feel better. (Eventually).

Go Enjoy Something
FC