Hello everybody, how are you doing?
As you can see from the title (and you might already know if you follow me on Instagram) I came back from my summer holiday 4 days early as Antony (my other half) got covid. I tested negative and honestly thought I had gotten away with it until I woke up the day after we got home feeling unwell and eventually tested positive later that day.
This is my second time with covid and thankfully, this second round was not as bad as the first time, but it still put me in bed for 5 days. I wonder how many of you have had covid? The first time I didn't expect it at all and it happened on Christmas day so there were no shops open and no deliveries from supermarkets being made so we had to barricade ourselves in and suffer without any over-the-counter medication through the worst of it. This time I was more prepared as I had some bits leftover from my last round with the virus and also (thank goodness) was able to order groceries (such an American word) and have it delivered.
Here is everything that made our symptoms more bearable and kept us entertained whilst in our little bedroom hospital (I have linked as much as I could for you in case you are self isolating);
Halls cough sweets - the sugar-free original ones were the best as they weren't too sickly
Corvonia cough medicine for dry and tickly coughs - instant relief from that itchy and scratchy throat sensation
Nurofen liquid plus helped us feel human again for an hour or 2 throughout the day
We took turns making each other Lempsips which felt like a treat, eased our aches and pains and brought down our temperature at the same time
Vicks Sinex nasal spray was essential to unblock those pesky sinuses
Many packets of Kleenex tissues were depleted
A generous slathering of Carmex for those nights where you are too blocked up to sleep with your mouth closed
Thankfully we had lots of love island to catch up on and it was the perfect light-hearted content we needed
Ice lollies and ice creams worked wonders for bringing down our temperature and giving us a little sugar hit, Antony's favourites are Almond Magnums and mine are Soleros
My sketchbook was a welcome companion on my bedside table and helped me scratch my artistic itch whilst being incapacitated.
I have been enjoying sketching with this Faber Castell Polychromos pencil recently.
Hope (our baby doggy) provided many laughs and cuddles throughout and we couldn't be more grateful to her.
If you have covid whilst reading this, please rest and go easy on yourself. I tested negative 5.5 days after and got so excited about my newfound health, I fully burnt myself out by the time the weekend came back around and have felt rubbish ever since. So - don't be like me, watch TV, read books, sleep, drink lots of water and indulge in your cravings for as long as you need to.
I also learned it is important to have a stocked medicine box at home for those times that you get poorly and are caught off guard. It is very difficult to self-isolate and stock up on groceries and medicine at the same time, especially when you live so far away from all of your family and friends and especially over bank holidays, so take this as your sign to top up your medicine box - just in case.
Why do these things always happen when we are on holiday? I did a little research into this and found out that when we are working and stressed, we produce more adrenaline, adrenaline boosts your immune system, whereas cortisol suppresses it. When we take time off and we are feeling more relaxed, our body stops producing as much adrenaline and increases our cortisol levels, weakening our immune systems - crazy!
For the foreseeable future, I am doing more things to help me relax day to day to try and avoid this sickness and burnout in the future. I am adding a new quick exercise into my morning routine and swapping evening TV for reading. I am a person that very much enjoys a glass of wine (or 2) in the evenings but I am cutting out the mid-week bevvies for a while to help me sleep better and heal faster.
I hope you are all well and healthy,
Speak to you soon,
Camile
xoxo
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