To begin with, I agree with Anne. This has to be the broadest topic we've discussed here... But then again, it is a very interesting one, seeing as each one of us is different and has a body that responds to similar conditions in completely different ways.
I have never been the kind of person who rushes to the doctor the minute I feel sick. I always wait and see if it will go away on its own and - if it doesn't - then I do something about it. That goes contrary to what a lot of Greek people do (and I am referring to Greek people because that's the environment I grew up in). They tend to overdramaticise everything and rush to the doctor's, even if the only symptom they have is an sore throat and a bit of a cough. It's pathetic really. My ex-boyfriend was one of the worst of the lot. If his body temperature so much as went over 37 degrees Celcius, off to the doctor's office it was...
The thing about Greece is that it actually used to have a pretty good health system (and I'm saying used to because of all the budget cuts that have been happening with the crisis, the health department has been suffering quite a bit). We used to be able to go to whichever doctors we wanted, get all our money back from the government and also get back about 75% of the money we spent on prescribed medication. Things nowadays aren't really that bad, but they're definitely worse than they used to be, so I think that people are going to (out of necessity) stop going to the doctor for every silly little cough and irritating runny nose.
But anyways, I digress.
I have to explain the title of this post.
I am generally a rather weird person when it comes to health. There have been many years when I haven't been plagued by a single cold (not one case of the runny noses all year round!), but there have also been years when I have had colds back to back to back to back etc etc etc. Well, the really bad case has only happened once, when I was actually full of cold for all the three months of winter (maybe even a little longer). Let me tell you, it was not fun.
But there is one thing that I can count my body to be consistent upon. Stomach problems.
Ever since I was little, I distincly remember having more bouts of gastroenteritis than anyone else I've ever known. Seriously. It was ugly, people. My stomach really is extra, EXTRA sensititve and very, very unreliable. As soon as someone I know gets gastroenteritis, I usually get it myself. As soon as I get anxious, I cannot eat, feel sick all the time, am actually sick sometimes and have to take pills to calm my stomach down. I am an awful person to have on a long drive, because windy roads make me sick. I'm okay when I'm driving, but that's only because I have to focus on the driving part. I also get sick when I sit in the middle seat in a car. I have to be able to have a window next to me, so that I can open it the minute I start feeling queasy. I also get indigestion pretty easily.
Yep! Wonderful things, I know! One time, I actully didn't participate in a competition because I made myself so sick with worry and anxiety (over something that I was just going to do for the fun of it!) that I could not go in.
And to end on a positive note, I also have a pretty weird cough, due to the fact that I contracted the "Whooping Cough" disease, despite having been vaccinated against it. For those of you who do not know what it is, you can see HERE. It's also called Pertussis, or the "100 Days' Cough". Yes, I assure you this is correct. I was on cough medication for four months (and I absolutely refuse to take that particulat cough syrup ever again), I kept choking and I even coughed in my sleep. Now, wasn't that a positive note?? *winks*
Phanee, out.
PS: 'Scuse the extremely long post!
I have never been the kind of person who rushes to the doctor the minute I feel sick. I always wait and see if it will go away on its own and - if it doesn't - then I do something about it. That goes contrary to what a lot of Greek people do (and I am referring to Greek people because that's the environment I grew up in). They tend to overdramaticise everything and rush to the doctor's, even if the only symptom they have is an sore throat and a bit of a cough. It's pathetic really. My ex-boyfriend was one of the worst of the lot. If his body temperature so much as went over 37 degrees Celcius, off to the doctor's office it was...
The thing about Greece is that it actually used to have a pretty good health system (and I'm saying used to because of all the budget cuts that have been happening with the crisis, the health department has been suffering quite a bit). We used to be able to go to whichever doctors we wanted, get all our money back from the government and also get back about 75% of the money we spent on prescribed medication. Things nowadays aren't really that bad, but they're definitely worse than they used to be, so I think that people are going to (out of necessity) stop going to the doctor for every silly little cough and irritating runny nose.
But anyways, I digress.
I have to explain the title of this post.
I am generally a rather weird person when it comes to health. There have been many years when I haven't been plagued by a single cold (not one case of the runny noses all year round!), but there have also been years when I have had colds back to back to back to back etc etc etc. Well, the really bad case has only happened once, when I was actually full of cold for all the three months of winter (maybe even a little longer). Let me tell you, it was not fun.
But there is one thing that I can count my body to be consistent upon. Stomach problems.
Ever since I was little, I distincly remember having more bouts of gastroenteritis than anyone else I've ever known. Seriously. It was ugly, people. My stomach really is extra, EXTRA sensititve and very, very unreliable. As soon as someone I know gets gastroenteritis, I usually get it myself. As soon as I get anxious, I cannot eat, feel sick all the time, am actually sick sometimes and have to take pills to calm my stomach down. I am an awful person to have on a long drive, because windy roads make me sick. I'm okay when I'm driving, but that's only because I have to focus on the driving part. I also get sick when I sit in the middle seat in a car. I have to be able to have a window next to me, so that I can open it the minute I start feeling queasy. I also get indigestion pretty easily.
Yep! Wonderful things, I know! One time, I actully didn't participate in a competition because I made myself so sick with worry and anxiety (over something that I was just going to do for the fun of it!) that I could not go in.
And to end on a positive note, I also have a pretty weird cough, due to the fact that I contracted the "Whooping Cough" disease, despite having been vaccinated against it. For those of you who do not know what it is, you can see HERE. It's also called Pertussis, or the "100 Days' Cough". Yes, I assure you this is correct. I was on cough medication for four months (and I absolutely refuse to take that particulat cough syrup ever again), I kept choking and I even coughed in my sleep. Now, wasn't that a positive note?? *winks*
Phanee, out.
From Killer Immune System Anne to At Death's Door Phanee. God. I feel positively normal between you two :)
ReplyDeleteAt least you haven't had anything majorly serious
Good God, things are bad, aren't they?? To think that I got so sick on the two hour train to London (which goes pretty smoothly for a train, not rickety-rackety), I was physically sick 3 times (yes, in 2 hours!).
DeleteI like to think that I am not at death's door though... Nothing as sinister as that!