Rambly 4am post

[alias_sqbr]

I decided I was spamming twitter too much, so will put my rambles in one place, all the easier to scroll past :)

This is my second cold since my cfs got Super Bad. The first one was during femmconne, and quickly became Very Nasty and left me with bronchitis and a hacking cough that didn't so much go away as exponentially decay. This one SEEMED pretty minor but has kicked back in this morning with congestion and is making my "You will be sick for a while" warning go off (one advantage of being constantly sick for my whole life is well worn instincts about these things) On the plus side? Femmconne was last October. I used to get colds about once a month. You'd expect my immune system to be more susceptible to virii when I'm chronically ill but apparently not. *wonders if this has anything to do with cutting out dairy, since that gives me cold like symptoms*

I've been reading Pride and Prejudice fanfic. I realise that if I want genuinely feminist plots I should avoid stuff set in sexist times but it still annoys me that modern writers of regency romance are almost all more rigidly heteronormative etc than Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte etc. (Admittedly they still do better than the average writer of that era, I say having been introduced to the plot of Pamela) People, Elizabeth Bennet was not a saucy minx. I am SO sick of the "Heroine misunderstands hero, is feisty but wrongheaded, he forgives her and she realises she should have just trusted him and done what he said all along" storyline. I prefer "Jane Eyre"s plot of "Heroine misunderstands hero and is feisty but wrongheaded, then finds out what is really going on and is justifiably pissed, and goes off to make her fortune before coming back the more powerful partner." I'd steal it for my own fanfic but do not have the heart to burn down Rosings :) *steals bits of it regardless*

Comments

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I used to get colds about once a month. You'd expect my immune system to be more susceptible to virii when I'm chronically ill but apparently not. *wonders if this has anything to do with cutting out dairy, since that gives me cold like symptoms*

I've experienced the same thing.

I think this is partly just a matter of age - people get fewer colds as they get older. And maybe partly because being ill I spend less time in contact with other people, especially in crowded places, and thus have less opportunity to catch things.

Personally I don't reckon I have any connection between any food and how I feel. When I am too tired I can't digest food properly and can get various symptoms as a result, but as far as I can tell this is with any food and it doesn't happen when I am OK, so fortunately I haven't had to cut out any part of my diet. I just concentrate on having a generally broad and healthy diet. I'm just tossing this out as a word of caution, because when I first got ill I used to try to eat when too tired, then inevitably couldn't digest it properly and had all sorts of weird symptoms and used to start to think 'Oh my god, I have an intolerance of X'. And of course this is most likely to happen with your favourite comfort foods since those are the ones you reach for when feeling bad. So I'd say don't dismiss any type of food unless you also can't eat it when feeling well.

One thing that does help with colds is taking zinc supplements. I've staved off/reduced the impact of a few that way. This actually has proper medical evidence for its effectiveness, so its not just 'health shop witchcraft'.

[alias_sqbr]

Oh no I DEFINITELY have a problem with dairy. Have had my whole life, if I was to eat some cream or cheese right now I wouldn't like to think what would happen. All that's changed is that, on my doctors advice, I've cut it out completely rather than having teeny bits here and there. And on the whole I do feel less congested and gross than I used to (cfs aside)

I've started back at work recently which has meant more contact with disease vectors (ie workmates :D)