Sick as a Dog - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

futboller · 05-26-2006, 05:48 AM

So I got screwed by the Paris Metro and had to walk from L´École Militaire to République at 2 in the morning--it was fun though, I was with some very drunk architects I´d met in the park--and I woke up the next morning with a sore throat. I would have just slept all day but it wasn´t that bad, so I went to Austerlitz to book my train to San Sebastian (where I´m writing this) and there I just started to feel awful, so I went back to lie down for a while, and that night just took the Metro down back towards the Eiffel Tower to see it at night again before I left. It wasn´t a late night. The next day I felt awful, but it was my last in the hostel and check-out time was around 10:30 so I had to get out of bed. I wandered around with a couple of roommates from D.C. but by the end of the day I felt terrible. The train ride overnight, sleeping badly in a reclining seat, didn´t help. Now I´m in San Sebastian for one night (hopefully, I´m off to the train station to try and reserve an overnight to Madrid for tomorrow) and then back on the train and in Madrid for (at least) two.

Anyway, long story short: I feel terrible, my throat is sore and I have just no energy. I´ve been taking multivitamins since the first day I felt ill but they don´t seem to be helping much. ¿Anyone have any ideas? I really don´t want to feel awful for the rest of this trip, or have to head home early.

Thanks for any thoughts!

**Sabrosa** · 05-26-2006, 06:16 AM

I'de say make sure you give yourself a gooooooood dose of sleep, that's probably the best thing you can do.

**Sabrosa** · 05-26-2006, 06:17 AM

p.s. Hope you feel better soon!!

(sometimes I add my post, when I want to preview!)

**bluepea** · 05-26-2006, 07:33 AM

I second the sleep and lots of non alcoholic fluids. If you don't start feeling better or if you get a fever, I'd recommend finding a doctor that speaks English.

futboller · 05-26-2006, 07:35 AM

Thanks, Kindra! My father actually offered to put me up in a hotel in Madrid for a few days to recouperate and sleep without lockouts and crazy German backpackers -- unfortunately also without cool people like I met and found a ho(s)tel with tonight. Oh well, I´d rather be healthy for the rest of the trip, eh? Off to book a train. Ciao!

futboller · 05-26-2006, 07:35 AM

Good idea on the doctor, Jaime. I may hit that up in Madrid. (It´s rough being sick in the Basque country...)

**Sabrosa** · 05-26-2006, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jamiepeaski@May 26 2006, 09:33 AM
I second the sleep and lots of non alcoholic fluids.
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I think it's funny you have to specify "non alcoholic fluids".

**Sabrosa** · 05-26-2006, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by futboller@May 26 2006, 09:35 AM
Thanks, Kindra! My father actually offered to put me up in a hotel in Madrid for a few days to recouperate and sleep without lockouts and crazy German backpackers -- unfortunately also without cool people like I met and found a ho(s)tel with tonight. Oh well, I´d rather be healthy for the rest of the trip, eh? Off to book a train. Ciao!

[snapback]122766[/snapback]

Definitley take your Pops up on that.....you need uninterupted sleep!

**lauren313** · 05-26-2006, 08:24 AM

Drink LOADS of water and orange juice, so you get lots of vitamin c. And perhaps try and pick up an over-the-counter cold/flu remedy.

Hope you feel better.

**beergal** · 05-26-2006, 09:25 AM

if you have a sore throat boil a glass of lemonade add a teaspoon of sugar and drink while warm and then shift yourself off to bed you will feel like poo that night but it will knowck your fever out and your throat will feel better...my doctor told me to do this because i used to suffer from tonsilitus all the time!

**Jen05** · 05-26-2006, 09:30 AM

FEEL BETTER! That's no fun at all! It looks like everyone's offering good advice to follow - the sooner you're healthy again, the better. If it continues, seeing a doctor might not be a bad plan, or even stopping by a pharmacist. My friend did that when we were in Ireland, and it turns out she had strep throat, and the fastest cure was the penecillin that she got from the pharmacist!

**omisan** · 05-26-2006, 10:01 AM

Hit up a farmacia and grab a box of Strepsils.

We don't have it in the US, so I always buy a few packs of it abroad... Antiseptic throat drops. They work so amazingly well. Pretty much the same thing happened to me in Paris and with some bedrest, tons of water, some tea, and Strepsils I was feeling pretty damn good after a day of it.

**beergal** · 05-26-2006, 10:49 AM

^ wow i thought you would have known about strpsils or i would have mentioned it

**ajb3000** · 05-26-2006, 12:09 PM

Sounds similar to what I had last year, is it painful to swallow? I went to a doctor and was prescribed some antibiotics, three days later I was as good as new.

Cool things was, I was taken straight to the front of a really long queue because I was a "foreign national", and the whole thing (including the prescription) came to about £8. This was in Bosnia though.

**tumblezweedz** · 05-27-2006, 12:05 AM

If sleep and o.j. don't help, or if you start running a fever, definitely visit a clinic. It's probably nothing, but if it is something more serious, the sooner you get looked at, the sooner you'll be up and on the go again.

foofiter · 05-27-2006, 12:06 AM

When I was in Switzerland in 2004 on my study abroad my friend had strep. We could see the white spots on her throat so I pretty much knew what it was. We went to the pharmacy and they all spoke english. She got some good cough drops and ati-bios straight away without a doctor. Cost about $20 usd for all of it if memory serves me.

Just get the meds, the hotel room, and sleep it off. You should be fine in a couple days. Some chicken noodle soup and/or ice cream will help too!

Foo

futboller · 06-02-2006, 10:46 AM

Thanks everyone. Trying to sleep it off didn't work, so I came back to Paris and hit up the American Hospital. The doctor told me it was probably sinusitis (the second or third time I've "probably" had it) combined with a hyperallergy, so he gave me antibiotics, decongestants, and medication for hay fever. I can finally breath, though it's still draining into my throat, but I'm also actually feeling a little better (which is great, after a week being sick). I'm glad I can finally head back to a hostel, too. Hotels are lonely places.

Thanks again for all the advice!

**expatben** · 06-02-2006, 11:05 AM

Glad you're feeling better!

**Brookers13** · 06-02-2006, 11:21 AM

hey james thats what i had like 2 weeks ago!!

i got some nasal steroid stuff and she said i need to be on it year round because my allergies are so bad and when i pick up a small virus they make it way worse than it should be...glad ur feeling better luv!

**Somnambulation** · 06-05-2006, 05:56 PM

Travelling while sick is the worst. Having to lug the backpack around in the heat and never getting any rest. Happened to me in Portugal last year. Paracetemol (I think its an ibuprofin evuivalent for Europe, but Im not sure) seemed to work pretty good at temporarily easing the sympotoms. I just kept popping those and it eventually went away.