An brusque abode for pathogens (Last Plane to the Doctor's Office)

[Em]

I totally had scabies. My boyfriend at the time got it too. Turned out a lot of people got it from the place where we were having our laundry done. It SUCKED. Not only is it gross and miserable, but the medicated cream they give you to get rid of it basically burns off a layer of your skin, so for awhile after you use it you itch so badly you can't tell if it worked or not. BUMMER.

[The_Tourist]

yeah...i was laying in a big pile of blankets and pillows at the place where the scabies seem to be originating. i know the chances of getting them from stuff like that, rather than skin to skin contact, is low, but i'm still worried. i also might have hugged someone who found out they had it the next day, but i can't remember.

yuck.

i'm gonna bathe in bleach.

[DCDave]

What is a good sore throat remedy?

[alex]

Tea is pretty good. Even better than tea-plant stuff, though, is just throwing a piece of fresh ginger into some boiling (or just-boiled) water, adding honey, and letting that steep for at least 5 minutes before drinking it. Also, make some sage tea, let it cool down, and gurgle with that. And, you know, keep warm.

[Maaik]

Gargle warm salt water a couple times a day.

[milesofsparks]

why will no one use my magic sore throat remover?  I just used it yesterday, and no sore throat today.  it is MAGIC.

[DCDave]

why will no one use my magic sore throat remover?  I just used it yesterday, and no sore throat today.  it is MAGIC.

What is it?

[milesofsparks]

goldenseal

http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/forums/index.php/topic,12618.msg700410.html#msg700410

[Em]

Hot lemonade. It's magic.

[morgan]

why will no one use my magic sore throat remover?  I just used it yesterday, and no sore throat today.  it is MAGIC.

I use it all the time now! I actually take a couple of pills once or twice a day when I'm starting to feel sick. It is awesome.

[Bernard]

Gargle warm salt water a couple times a day.

I kind of prefer alex's suggestion to gurgle! It sounds more cute.

[cold before sunrise]

These are all decent suggestions but come on... Ginseng! It's what Cold FX is made of (so legit) but it's even better to go to the herbal counter of an Asian grocer where they have a dozen varieties and buy the finest quality you can afford, from an ancient Chinese lady who speaks no English. Then you go home with your little brown paper package and feel like an alchemist preparing the roots for tea, with honey and a squeeze of lemon.

[DCDave]

I have adenovirus and am supposed to be going on vacation on Friday.  Fuuuck this.

[jm]

Today I noticed two relatively short streaks of... pigment? (concentrated freckles, I guess) on my shoulder.  They're not "coming from" anything, as far as I can tell (that is, I doubt it's a blood infection or anything of the like), but I've certainly never noticed them before.  Should I be concerned?

Also, they are not raised nor do they hurt, nor does the area around them hurt or itch or anything.

New edit: I am a fairly freckley person, so it's not so much the pigment itself but the fact that they are in straight lines.

[elpollodiablo]

Have you put on any weight recently?

[jm]

Not noticeably.  I mean, I probably?  or: insignificant.

[jess]

Could it be a bruise? I've gotten things like that (in fact I have a couple of lines right now, slightly speckly reddish purple ones, on my left shoulder) from lugging heavy totebags full of groceries. Those reuseable canvas totes can make for a ton of pressure localized on one thin line of skin, especially given how much checkers tend to overload them with groceries.

[jess]

Also when I get those, they don't tend to hurt at all.

[jm]

Yeah, when I first noticed them, I thought they were scratches - straight, less than two inches long, etc., - but when I looked at them, the skin hadn't been broken at all.  I don't normally carry anything on this shoulder (and even if I did, this is closer to the shoulder joint itself than the neck), but I do sleep on that side pretty often.  I'm sure it's nothing, and I'm trying to mentally file it away in the "it doesn't hurt so it can't be that bad" cabinet, but I've never had anything that looks like this just show up all of a sudden.

And yes, I'm being paranoid, but I chalk that up to being poor-ish with no insurance.

[jess]

Yeah that sounds exactly like the marks I get. In the dark, one of my current ones looks like a cat scratch and the other is a bit wider/smudgier looking, both a couple of inches long, right on my shoulder. I bet you got them from doing something you can't even remember—I got mine just carrying my bags from my car to my apartment which is a very short distance. If they are in fact bruises, you should see color changes soon enough anyway.

The more awkward/amusing one was when I got a mark like that on my wrist. There it just looks like a bondage injury.

[clare]

I get things like that sometimes just from scratching my shoulders/back/arms/belly whatever, where there's a bit of fat under the skin. The skin doesn't break, but the blood vessels must. Especially in the shower, probably from the hot water.

[jm]

Thanks a million for allaying my fears, all!

[davy]

So, last night was literally one of the worst nights of my life. Around midnight, I started to get that sensitive skin feeling that you get when you're coming down with something, and I thought, well, damn, guess I'm gonna catch this bug after all. Within a half-hour, my fingertips were going numb. I thought that was interesting.

By the time another hour had passed, I was having cold sweats, really bad vertigo, headache, nausea, sore throat, dehydration, and here's the real kicker: fever-induced hallucinations! I didn't sleep at all, I couldn't get comfortable, and I was always on the edge of throwing up...it was FUCKED. For 8 solid hours I endured this. I started to think that I needed to get to the hospital, like right then, but I didn't think I could make it on my own. Plus, I had Finn, and I didn't know what to do with him. I was getting pretty scared. Never before have so many things hit me all at once like that. I was shivering under my flannel sheets and down comforter, but I was also pouring sweat, and that made the dehydration worse. Around 3:30 am, I took a 45-minute hot shower. Turned on the water, plugged the drain, and just sat there in the tub.

After an eternity or two, the sun came up and it was time to get Finn ready for school. That was an adventure. I felt like I was drunk, couldn't talk above a whisper. Finally got him dropped off and checked myself into an urgent care clinic. By the time somebody was able to see me, around 10 am, my fever was still 102.7. They gave me some medicine to bring my fever down and then ran some tests. Turns out it's strep. Fucking hell.

So I got some antibiotics and some painkillers and called in sick to work. Now I'm drinking gatorade by the glassful and hoping I can get myself right by the time Friday rolls around. Big Christmas party.

[Greg Nog]

Yikes!  I'm so sorry to hear that!  I hope you recover swiftly!

Also, I would kind of like to hear more about the hallucinations when you're feeling more up to typing stuff out.

[davy]

I remember lions and lots of rococo.