Sick of being sick
'If you don't slow down, you'll end up getting ill'. We've all heard it at least once! But how often do we take it seriously?
I’ve recently decided that I need to listen to my body more. Now I don’t mean that in some airy fairy, self-help book kind of way. I want to look at things with a practical perspective. I find myself always ‘on the go’ with not much time to relax. I need to fit in as much as I can into my day, but recently, pushing myself has not been paying off. It’s been costing me a fortune … costing me my health.
Our health is probably one of the most important things we have and daily take for granted … until it fails us. Here are some key warning signs I’ve noticed recently:
The Tidal Wave
Symptom: A overwhelming ‘wiped out’ feeling
Solution: Need an early night and lots of sleep
Incredible Hulk Morph
Symptom: Achy shoulders and neck
Solution: Get off the computer/go exercise
Scratchy Throat Monster
Symptom: Sore throat
Solution: Don’t go out in the cold in inappropriate clothing again
Cotton Wool Brain
Symptom: Fuzzy head
Solution: Again need sleep/water/fresh air
Pizza Topping Skin
Symptom: Bad skin
Solution: Need to stop eating rubbish – more fruit and veg
The problem is that I might recognise all the signs but I fail to listen and respond to them. Instead I ignore them, keep going and end up with all 5, with the added bonus of waterfall nose and cackling cough. These symptoms collectively are also known as the common cold!
Six colds in six months
At the moment I’m suffering from my 6th cold in the last 6 months. I don’t quite understand why as I’m taking every herbal remedy including multivitamins with iron, extra vitamin c, and cod liver oil capsules. It could be that I happen to be a medical student and therefore I’m constantly surrounded by sick people. I guess this is what one must endure to ‘build up a good immune response’ - but it’s so annoying. I don’t feel quite ill enough to stay in bed but if I go into placement the patients and doctors really don’t appreciate being sneezed on!
I was worrying about missing out on learning opportunities until the thought crossed my mind … maybe I’m learning one of the most important things in medicine: Listen to your body, look after it well and treat it with respect. If it tells you something … listen and respond, its rude not to.
Photograph by Annabel Goodden
Written by Elin Roberts. Posted on 9th April.
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