Runny nose

I've had this flu now for over a week, it started last Thursday.

I've only now started to get a runny nose and a cough. It's not the full on runny nose either, it's that annoying drip that's just enough to annoy. Just enough that you have to keep wiping it and you end up with a red, flaking nose afer a couple of days. There's just a hint of a sore throat there too.

Around about Thursday afternoon I thought I was getting better. I wasn't feeling feverish, wasn't quite as sore as I'd been (drying my back after a shower didn't feel like I was using a cheese grater on it) and I wasn't as tired. I even had an appetite. I still had a bit of a headache that I'd had since the weekend, but the Panamax was keeping that under control. Then I woke up about 2am that night and felt like someone had stuck a knife in the side of my head.

I'm no stranger to headaches, but they're usually mild and caused by too much alcohol the night before. This was the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced in my life. I took a couple of pain killers (more Panamax) and lay in bed clutching the side of my head trying to get in a position that lessened the pain, but nothing worked. It actually brought tears to my eyes. I would have woken Donna, but there's not much she could have done and it would have only worried her.

How I managed to get back to sleep I don't know, but I woke again about four hours later and had another couple of Panamax as the pain was still there, just not as bad. When I woke up again at 10am the headache was, thankfully, just about gone.

So I went to see my doctor again yesterday and she said the severe headache may have been caused by my elevated blood pressure. It's usually around about borderline, but while I've got this flu it's higher. She's given me another three days off work and I think I'll spend most of that working my way through a box of tissues.

I'm also on a waiting list now to borrow an ambulatory blood pressure monitor. What that does is check your blood pressure every 15 to 30 minutes over a 24 hour period to see if you really do have a problem. A lot of people suffer from white coat hypertension, which means their blood pressure only goes up when the doctor checks it. I know for a fact that mine is always a bit higher when my doctor checks it, than when I check it at home myself. Actually, it seems to be mainly that particular doctor.

Once I get over the flu, I think I'll have to start using the elyptical crosstrainer (or epyleptical as we like to call it) and start training again. I know from last time I used it that it's the best way to get my blood pressure under control.