For some reason, every time I come back to campus after a break, I always catch some sort of plague. By this point, it’s actually pretty routine. I get to campus, class starts, I start sniffling, and then I feel like someone hit me over the head with a rather large, illness inducing hammer. This especially sucks now that I no longer have my mom right downstairs to bring me cold medicine, toast, and a never-ending supply of hugs. So if you’re like me, sick and essentially motherless, here’s some ways to take care of your pesky immune system.
1. Emergen-C
The best way to make being sick less miserable is to straight up not get sick at all. Emergen-C basically just floods your immune system with vitamins and helps prevent you from getting sick. Don’t be like me and wimp out of drinking it because you bought the wrong flavor and don’t like the taste. Trust me on this.
2. MEDICINE
This one is pretty obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people forgo this essential step in a speedy recovery. Being sick is unfortunately one of the few matters that the power of positive thinking has absolutely no effect on. You can tell yourself that you’re not sick all day long, but thats not going to stop you from feeling like absolute crap and coughing a lung out or two.
3. Stay hydrated
This one can actually be kinda tricky, especially if you’re on medicine, LIKE YOU SHOULD BE! A lot of over the counter cold medicine can cause dehydration meaning that it is important to drink even more water than you normally would. On top of this, I at least, usually feel exhausted when I’m sick. Normally this problem can be easily remedied with a medium coffee, but when already under the weather and fighting dehydration, caffeine can just make matters worse. So, as hard as it sounds, try reducing your coffee intake while sick and instead go for some tea to sooth a sore throat or, even better, a cup of water.
4. Sleep. A lot.
As much as I wish I could sleep 12 hours a day, it is often one of the first things to go when my schedule gets too busy. This is especially true when my health is failing. I fight exhaustion all day, getting nothing done as a result, only to make it to nighttime and realize that I have a huge pile of work to do. As Duke students, it can often be difficult to draw a line between not being able to and not wanting to complete work. In cases such as this, I truly believe that it is a lot more beneficial to STINF your classes the next day and go to bed. Don’t set an alarm, don’t make plans, just let your body rest and naturally decide when to wake up. Most of the time, you’ll feel a million times better in the morning and probably a lot more capable of producing adequate work.
5. Eat soup
Normally, I’m not exactly the biggest promoter of soup. Unless it is the divinity school’s tomato soup, I generally believe that soup is not a real meal in any way at all. However, when I’m sick, I always find a strange comfort in eating a bowl of soup. Maybe it’s because my mom always used to make me a bowl of chicken noodle on the days that I stayed home from sick or maybe soup really does have some sort of mystical eating property. Either way, it always reminds me of home and makes me feel just a little bit better.