SoWal's got the Crud

[Lady D]

A report from the infectious disease frontline in Miramar Beach:
Yes, the crud is here. The typical story is that there is initially a runny nose, followed by a scratchy throat, followed by sinus fullness and then a non-productive cough and sore throat due to post nasal drip. There may be some fever thrown in as well as a general feeling of malaise and aches. A few tips-get a NeilMed sinus rinse kit;about $13 at CVS, Walgreens or Publix. This will get the mucus and surface irritants out of your nasal passages and sinuses much more efficiently than any prescription or OTC remedy. Keeping sinus and nasal inflammation down is the key to quicker recovery-flush, flush, flush.

I have battled the crud for about 5 weeks now. Had every symptom Skunky is listing here plus teeth pain and earaches and headache. Finally ended up in the doctor this past Friday because the stuff never went away totally, a sinus infection. Am on an antibiotic now plus saline spray.

My cough lasted about 3 weeks and I had gotten what I thought was a little better. Then early last week I got scratchy throated again and started feeling bad again. Not to mention the yucky stuff that was coming up out of my throat and nose for the 3 weeks prior. Started off with a lot of sneezing. But I have allergic rhinitis also.

I am a firm believer in the NeilMed sinus rinse kit. Skunky told me about them last year. I used it a good deal during the worst of my symptoms. I have already gone and bought another one. BTW, Walmart has the NeilMed sinus kit for $10.00. Well here they do anyway.

A co-worker of mine has been sick for longer than me and had complained of a swelling on the side of her neck. Hers turned out to be an abcess on her pharnyx and after a sinus cocktail shot and another stronger penicillin shot and antibiotics she had to go to an ENT today as she is worse. So I think she brought all of that into the office to us as one other besides me has this stuff.

She has missed two days of work this week, I hope she stays out the rest of the week. She says I was sick first but I wasn't. She had that swelling for two weeks before I got sick. So if you are as sick as she is please stay home. We've been using the Lysol over the past week or two in the office.

 

[30A Skunkape]

I didn't get to finish, a certain Obamafann stole the computer.

Anyway, I have seen many kids over the last two weeks with strep throat. It is pretty easy to differentiate from 'the crud' as these kids look sick;high fever, vomiting and extreme pain with swallowing. Luckily, the bacteria is highly sensitive to penicillin which is free at Publix.

There is also good old fashioned influenza virus out there which is a bit different than 'the crud' in that it totally wipes out the victim. High fever, chills, fever, sweats and any combination of gastrointestinal and respiratory distress. You have a 48 hour window to start Tamiflu if you want to try that route, so if you go from feeling well to feeling like you got run over by a truck in the course of an afternoon, call your physician. Luckily I am not seeing many kids with influenza and I attribute that to flu shots.

So yes, the bugs are out there. Wash your hands, avoid the walking dead patronizing the cough and cold remedy aisle at the drugstore and keep your fingers crossed!

 

[Lady D]

I didn't get to finish, a certain Obamafann stole the computer.

Anyway, I have seen many kids over the last two weeks with strep throat. It is pretty easy to differentiate from 'the crud' as these kids look sick;high fever, vomiting and extreme pain with swallowing. Luckily, the bacteria is highly sensitive to penicillin which is free at Publix.

There is also good old fashioned influenza virus out there which is a bit different than 'the crud' in that it totally wipes out the victim. High fever, chills, fever, sweats and any combination of gastrointestinal and respiratory distress. You have a 48 hour window to start Tamiflu if you want to try that route, so if you go from feeling well to feeling like you got run over by a truck in the course of an afternoon, call your physician. Luckily I am not seeing many kids with influenza and I attribute that to flu shots.

So yes, the bugs are out there. Wash your hands, avoid the walking dead patronizing the cough and cold remedy aisle at the drugstore and keep your fingers crossed!

How do you avoid the walking dead in your office??? And the sick walking dead sits right across from me. She is always coughing as she smokes also, never mind that she has a spot on her lung. And I mean walking dead. You are talking about someone 5'7" and only 115 pounds. Thank goodness there is a cubicle around her desk so when she coughs hopefully that stays behind her cubicle, but probably not. I have noticed a low grade fever with this stuff I have on occasion, just around 99. No chills or sweats though. I didn't think any drug was free, especially penicillin.

 

[Matt J]

How do you avoid the walking dead in your office??? And the sick walking dead sits right across from me. She is always coughing as she smokes also, never mind that she has a spot on her lung. And I mean walking dead. You are talking about someone 5'7" and only 115 pounds. Thank goodness there is a cubicle around her desk so when she coughs hopefully that stays behind her cubicle, but probably not. I have noticed a low grade fever with this stuff I have on occasion, just around 99. No chills or sweats though. I didn't think any drug was free, especially penicillin.

Cubicles are disease spreaders. Everywhere I have ever worked with cubicles have been like death camps. The more cubicles the more crud floating around.

Publix has some anti-biotics for free. Of course they are the old fashioned 2 pills, 2 times a day, for 2 weeks kind. I'd gladly pay for the Z-pack next time.

 

[30A Skunkape]

Cubicles are disease spreaders. Everywhere I have ever worked with cubicles have been like death camps. The more cubicles the more crud floating around.

Publix has some anti-biotics for free. Of course they are the old fashioned 2 pills, 2 times a day, for 2 weeks kind. I'd gladly pay for the Z-pack next time.[/QUOTE]

There is nothing 'wrong' with older antibiotics that are generic and no longer enjoy an advertising budget. I promise you, you can pick up an antibiotic for free at Publix that will be just as effective as a Z-Pak or any other 'latest and greatest' cure for just about any infection that is treated as an outpatient. I promise...

 

[Miss Kitty]

sarafunn's fever has broken and she is starting to feel better!

 

[aggieb]

just left the dr.- flu here.
hope you ALL are well soon.

 

[Matt J]

Cubicles are disease spreaders. Everywhere I have ever worked with cubicles have been like death camps. The more cubicles the more crud floating around.

Publix has some anti-biotics for free. Of course they are the old fashioned 2 pills, 2 times a day, for 2 weeks kind. I'd gladly pay for the Z-pack next time.[/QUOTE]

There is nothing 'wrong' with older antibiotics that are generic and no longer enjoy an advertising budget. I promise you, you can pick up an antibiotic for free at Publix that will be just as effective as a Z-Pak or any other 'latest and greatest' cure for just about any infection that is treated as an outpatient. I promise...

I understand they work the same, I just prefer the 5 day course over 2 weeks.

 

[30A Skunkape]

I understand they work the same, I just prefer the 5 day course over 2 weeks.

Yes, convenience and increasing the odds a patient will actually finish a course of antibiotics are factors to consider. There isn't always a long course for Publix stuff; I give my bronchitis folks doxycycline once a day for 7 days and UTIs bactrim twice daily for three days-not too bad of a regimen especially considering it is free

 

[2bohemians]

Cubicles are disease spreaders. Everywhere I have ever worked with cubicles have been like death camps. The more cubicles the more crud floating around.

Publix has some anti-biotics for free. Of course they are the old fashioned 2 pills, 2 times a day, for 2 weeks kind. I'd gladly pay for the Z-pack next time.[/QUOTE]

There is nothing 'wrong' with older antibiotics that are generic and no longer enjoy an advertising budget. I promise you, you can pick up an antibiotic for free at Publix that will be just as effective as a Z-Pak or any other 'latest and greatest' cure for just about any infection that is treated as an outpatient. I promise...

Do you have to have a prescription for these freebies or do you just walk in, tell the pharmacist your symptoms and he gives you the meds .... what antibiotic is best for strep throat? We appreciate your time and help !