Thursday, December 20, 2007

it's all about perspective (and minty fresh feet)

Okay. I'm better today. It'll all work out with the car crap, and luckily I have generous friends and family that have been/will haul my sorry ass around when I need it for a little bit longer. I've already promised E-dawg that I will give her one gagillion rides and treat.her.like.a.queen when I finally get some wheels.

Deep breath.

Ugh. That made me have a coughing fit. Several shallow breaths will have to do.

And, speaking of coughing, I got an email from one of the women in my queer book club (who heard me hacking at our meeting last week, and again at the queer dinner on Monday) a couple of days ago. She'd read this thing that she thought might help. It was this article about how the soles of your feet can absorb essential oils very well. And, the article suggested that you could rub a raw garlic clove on the sole of your foot and then "taste" it about 20 minutes or so later. So, anyway, it said that to get relief from a deep and persistent cough, you could slather some Vick's vap-o-rub on the soles of your feet, cover them with socks, and then your cough should cease in a few minutes. Well, I've been coughing horribly for a couple weeks now (seriously, my whole body is sore from the violence of the coughing), so I'm willing to try anything. So, I tried it night before last. And, you know what? Within a couple of minutes my coughing stopped, and stayed stopped for a few hours. Then I reapplied, and had the first full night of sleep I've had since I got this dang cold. And, the really weird thing? After about an hour, I had this taste in my mouth like I'd just smoked a menthol cigarette! Freaky! But, now I'm totally hooked. Yesterday when I got home from work, I took a hot shower (to open up the pores), then slathered that shit on, then covered them in socks and blankets, and watched several episodes of Buffy. Now, that is my idea of a good time. For reals. Thank you, Janice, and thank you, Vicks!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

E-
I've been coughing for a month and after several bottles of cough medicine, I'm willing to try anything. Thank you so much for your information. I cannot wait to try it tonight.
K-

Anonymous said...

another thing i heard about the vicks on the feet with socks...

it will supposedly break a fever...

never tested that though...

Anonymous said...

I wonder if that would help my arch...

Ehrrin said...

I now believe that it will help *everything*.

Karen--if you come up with any other good anti-coughing tricks, let me know. Someone at work just said that Mucinex is the best. Have you tried it?

Anonymous said...

Just this afternoon, I developed a sore throat, fever, chills, and headache. I know what I'll be doing when I get home tonight. Thanks for the tip. The only thing that would make it better is if you came over and rubbed my feet. K?

sheryl said...

Oh boy!
my honeygirl has been hacking like crazy for a week now, and both of us are miserable and cranky from not getting enough sleep.
I will be vicks-ing her feet tonight! Thanks, and glad you are feeling better!