Posted by Anonymous on 2018/11/25 under Life Okay! As of yesterday evening I started sneezing for no other reason than the cigarette smoke irritating my sinus from the raw smoke that burns at the lit end. Then it was not long that I realized the back of my throat (at the roof and addnoids area) was feeling raw and scratchy. so forgive me if this is full of typeo's I am feeling miserable! Damn family get together, Thanksgiving! Perfect time to catch every germ from 4 states, thats if you have out of state/town relatives visiting! But that was 2 days ago as of 2018. Wait a minute! Did I mention this was the first time I have had these symptoms in over 7-10 years? So why this year? Hummm? At age 55 I have two sets of rules! Now with Kid avoidance, its a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. If you dont pay the kids any attention then you are a irritable miserable old bastard that hates kids as their feelings are easily hurt if you don't give them a hug. Thus they will huff and puff and go into some tearful fetal position of insecurity over your avoidance. On the other side of the coin, you could make up the excuse that you think you (yourself) are getting the bug and dont want to give it to them out of your deep compassionate love. But the problem with that is the fact that even a week or two later, if the kid gets the flu or ANY BUG, everyone will blame it on you even though you were telling a lie. (2) Personal Rules: This year I didn't follow my #2 rule and look what happened! So to speak! Here’s my logic on the two #2 rules above. First is the cold room effect! When you are asleep at night you do a tremendous amount of deep breathing! If you are breathing deeply, you are cooling your body down just like the after effect of when you run a distance; you need more oxygen and the heavy breathing also cools you down. But what happens in that aspect? You get thirsty due to the heavy breathing! Now think about how you contract pneumonia, cold air, breathing deeply, wet air, wet body/clothes. Spite all the doctors and scientist in the world, I do not see much difference in the flu or pneumonia these days. Fever, scratchy throat, trouble breathing, snot, stuffy nose, sore muscles, chills, sweat, weakness, etc… All the same no matter what you call it! Ahhh, that gross snot factory, we sniff, we blow, we sneeze, cough, we even drip and try to clean it before it happens. My advice is let it drip as its attempting to wash away your sins. Whatever you do DONT SNIFF! Once the flu/cold sets in it becomes infected in your nasal cavity and when you sniff (or attempt too) you are sucking a very fine mist of the infestation into your lungs. Even one molecule of misty virus infected snot in your lungs is going to multiply very quickly! Faster than worms in a dog! (To paint you a picture of Dog Worms: Round worm eggs can gestate into worms in 2 weeks (they hatch), and within another 2 weeks they are laying eggs! Not just one or two eggs, 1 worm can lay thousands of eggs per day! Get the point?) Many Viruses and infections have a short life cycle in most cases, they die out quickly, but not before they multiply as to ensure the next generation in greater multitudes. When you sniff one molecule into your lungs, it will quickly grow, become infected, and now your lungs are congested. Its harder to breath and get the oxygen you need so you get out of breath. Etc… Sleeping with a cold, flu is nasty business and most will keep a box of tissues beside the bed. Not me, well sort of! I have tissues, but I more so rely on two soft Bath towels draped over my bed pillows. Most people sniff because they don't want snot covered pillows and sheets, so my towels are the answer! I let the snot run all night long, if it gets on my face (from the towel) so be it! Time to change the towel anyway. That deep breathing, well in your sleep there is nothing you can do about that, but at least I dont have to worry about sucking a pint of infected snot down into my lungs, nor do I have to wipe my nose raw with fluffy tree pulp till my nose is raw. But all the above can usually be avoided if my room is a nice toasty 80 degrees. Usually! Part Two of #2! What happens when something that is always moist dries out? It cracks and/or shrinks! In the case of the mouth, throat, nasal cavity, the dryness will cause mild bleeding as the tissue is very thin. Likewise, the moisture in such areas also have a certain protecive property to it as it creates a thin layer of moisture that collects much of the impurities in the air as we breath in. That mucus is not just there so we can see who can blow snot. But when the air outside is already drying out, inside we are heating the air which is pushing the moisture up and out due to the heat. So we must compensate for the moisture loss in the air else we will dry out. Our mouth, nose and throat dry out, crack start to bleed every so little and cause open sores. Thus creating a raw feeling in the back of our throats and this is one of the reasons the snot kicks in. Our body’s natural defense to a dry mouth is to try to slaviate. Likewise, our nasal cavity wants to stay moist and creates mucas. The back of our throats are a combination of the two. I have to end here as I am starting to feel it even worse. Who knows maybe this is my last months thoughts and I will die of the flu this year and joint the satistics. Hopefully someone can pull something out of this and realize there are other factors than the Rhino Virus flu scenerio at play.
(1) Social Rules:
The common rules are, hand sanitizer or wash your hands after everything!
Keep away from any sniveling sneezing moron that just has to share the same air and space with you! And lastly, limit your body to body contact with parents and their kids! With parents, its easier to avoid contact as it can be said for setting physical contact boundaries. But kids are another story. Outside of being labeled a pedophile, we all love to hug and smother kids with love and affection, but kids are a germ infested, bacterial overload, virus incubator! Your asking for disaster when you interact with kids. No matter how much of a CDC A+ tested and certified, health free “Buda” of a child the parents claim, they are a germ infestation.
One of the many things I always preached to others for over 20 years was that if you want to keep the bug away, (outside of #1), keep your house warm at night. More accurately “KEEP YOUR BEDROOM(s) WARM AT NIGHT”! Then I preach one more rule: KEEP THE AIR HUMID to about (at least) 40-50%!
I don't even think about the rhino virus itself!
No! This year, I am tight on money so I am trying to keep the Electric and Gas bill down to a minimum! I don't believe in that keep every room at a comfortable doctor recommended 72 degrees (f) and all is fine rule, Bull S**t! My rooms are a nice toasty 78-82 degrees! Just like when I grew up and was in charge of the wood stove! That reminds me of the need for humidity as a wood stove (heating with firewood) will dry out the air and house quicker than boiling water in a cast iron pot!
There are two parts to this so let me be blunt to the first part. You can dehydrate quicker in the winter as the air is dry’er. Cold air causes moisture to drop (fall) to the earth. So if the flu virus lives in the outer limits of the amosphere 10 miles up, in the winter it will surely start to fall as the warmer air is no longer keeping it afloat! If you dont belive me boil some water and see which way the steam falls (UP), then put that same boiling water inside the freezer and see which way the steam starts to flow (down).
In the wintering months: The warmer a house usually means that the air is also going to be dryer so the humidity can drop to below 25% and you will know it as the back of your throat and your nasal cavity will get dry. Think about this! Your mouth, your throat dries out! Except for when you die, when exactly is that suppose to occur? NEVER!