Thursday, March 14, 2013

Sick and Tired!


When you're sick in bed with a stuffy nose, horrible cough, aches and pains everywhere and a fever of 39c, four days can seem like a lifetime. I seriously feel like my brains are going to come out my nose if I blow any harder! And my lungs must have some kind of permanent damage from the force of this cough! I have absolutely no time for the flu right now and by day two I was already getting incredibly impatient. But a lot of good that did me because I wasn't going anywhere! Good thing I have a super fat kitty to cuddle with and a very loving (and patient) husband to take care of me.


Of course I don't like to take medicine unless I absolutely have to and for the fever it was of course, tachiparina, the be all end all of fever relief for Italians. Personally I'd never heard of it before moving here, I'd always stuck to good ol' Tylenol or Aleve, but I must say, even though I had some ups and downs with the fever, tachiparina works wonders.

Aside from that, I did some searching around for natural decongestants and flu remedies and thanks to Pinterest, I found some good stuff. Most ingredients include copious amounts of honey, which is very helpful at appeasing a stubborn cough, lemon, ginger and garlic and my personal favorite, pepperoncino!

Here are a few ideas on how to fight your cold or flu without harsh chemicals:



This photo comes from the Health.com article Superfoods that Fight Colds

The Italians take health issues very seriously, for this I am extremely grateful. If you are in Florence and feeling like you need to see a doctor there are several options for you. For free walk-in services the Misericordia just outside the Duomo is easy to find and the staff is very nice and most of them speak (at least a little) English. Its very similar to the American idea of urgent care. Otherwise if your feeling especially awful and you just want someone who understands you, you can visit the British Dr. Steven Kerr near the porcellino market. You will also find pharmacies on almost every corner with their flashing green cross, and if that one isn't open, you will find a sign next to the door with the next closest open pharmacy. The pharmacy in Piazza Della Signoria is the only one I know of that is open 24 hrs. The pharmacists are very well trained and will happily help you find the right meds.

This afternoon I was finally able to peel myself out of bed for the first time all week and start moving around a bit. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be feeling well enough to go out for a little walk and take in some fresh air and SUN!!!!! because, yes, it as finally stopped raining (at lleast until Sunday) Take care of yourselves ya'll! This stuck at home in bed stuff is no fun at all!


Do you have any recommendations or feel better recipes that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments section below!






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