shall start this off by saying that i am absolutely NOT sick because that would be admitting defeat.

Last night my neck started hurting like whoa. This is fairly normal. I took a half a flexeril and went to bed early. But apparently the neck hurty is not muscle-related as the flexeril made me really groggy (very unusual) and didn't touch the pain. I spent 12 hours in bed. The first 4 hours i woke about every 30 minutes (highly unusual on flexeril) to wipe drool off my face because swallowing was so painful that it wasn't happenening while i was asleep. Also lots of sweating and thrashing. I suspect there was a fever involved but didn't bother taking my temp. After 4 hours i forced myself to choke down a glass of water (ow!!!!!) and turned on the humidifier (hygrometer said humidity was plenty high, but sometimes it helps) and it helped. More thrashing and sweating but less pain swallowing and no more drooling.

After hauling myself out of bed i feel pretty awful. Throat hurts just enough to justify liquid ibuprofen and soup but not enough to be a serious concern. But the neck? Still super duper ow. Not in the front, but in the back. feels like something large is about to sprout out of either side of the base of my skull. Are there lymph nodes there? Is it just normal cold-crap to have significant pain in the back and sides of my neck? Sorry to be a bother but my gp quit a few months ago and i haven't found a new dr yet :(

Nasal spray helps, but only for about an hour, and then everything closes up again, and you're not supposed to use it more than every 4 hours.

I found saline nasal spray with menthol, and I love it. I stocked up on the stuff. Can you take a behind-the-counter decongestant?

erin, could it be strep?

Well, we all know I'm headed there.

As am I. I know I'm going to hell because I take direction well.

doubt it, most of the pain is on the outside, back of the skull and neck. although a couple folks at work are home w/ the strep...i've never had it.

eta: also current temp, while high, is still under 100 so doesn't seem like a real infection of any kind.

Steph and Erin, hope you're both on the mend quickly. Sucks to be sick at the holidays.

We could buy the building and start our own church. "The Church of Not Being a Wanker," or something....

I came across a lovely piece of Chinese wisdom the other day. Confucius' Analects, 2.12: "The gentleman is not a tool."

Much healing~ma to erin and Steph.

Um. I just got a friend request on fb from KBD. I never thought I'd hear from him again, and I'm eyeing the request with great suspicion. The Great Email/Flight to DC Breakup was nearly a year ago.

I just got a friend request on fb from KBD.

No no no no no.

What Sparky said.