ANOTHER thing I’ve had to learn again and again (I’m picking up this post as if it’s been in the forefront of all our minds since then) is that if I am thinking things such as “It’s really just a matter of making Good Choices—not giving up ALL treats, of course not, but having them MODERATION,” it means I have an infection, and the infection is near my brain. Last time I think it was ear; this time it’s sinus.
I hope you won’t think less of me when I say that once I’d looked it up online and learned that most routine/moderate sinus infections clear up without antibiotics (and that in fact many of them don’t respond to antibiotics), I decided to cruise along with the infection for awhile. It is hard to give up this little temporary time of “I just have to watch PORTION SIZES, that’s all!” and even “Oops, it’s 3:00 and I just realized I forgot to have lunch!”—and meanwhile the pounds leaving one by one.
Being an idle student who has handed in all her essays, I do keep forgetting to have lunch. But that’s probably in part because I forget to have breakfast until about 11 and then I get hungry for lunch around 6 so we just have supper. So I’ve accidentally cut down to 2 meals a day, but I feel okay, I eat when I’m hungry.
Maybe I have an infection, too.
It makes me so happy to know this about sinus infections. I get them all the time and hate taking antibiotics so, maybe I’ll just look at them as Nature’s Diet instead.
I think I have an ear infection (thanks, preschool germs!) but maybe it’s not very severe, because so far I’m still eating everything in sight. I think I’ll continue to avoid going to the doctor so I can test your theory further.
I’m actually not sure I have forgotten to eat ever in my entire life, even when I had mono and had to take a three-hour nap just from getting up to walk to the kitchen.
If the infection also causes you to bake Swistle brownies and then not eat them, please feel free to send some my way. Which reminds me, three years ago at just this time of year, when I was pregnant with Felicity, I won a care package from you and it included Swistle’s Salt Brownies and Swistle’s Mint Brownies, and pretty much the days that those lasted (not many) were among the best days I’ve ever had.
I’ve never had a sinus infection that responded to antibiotics. I need to ask my doc for stronger stuff next time. The squeeze bottle saline helps a lot, but it takes a couple of days of suffering before I’m willing to do it. That freaky “omgwaterinmynoseWATERINMYNOSEOMG” feeling is just a bit too intense for me.
I have also never forgotten to eat. Even right now, home sick with stomach issues, I really want to eat.
It is time to try the Neti pot. Seriously, you must try it. (I actually like the squeeze bottle-type of Neti, only it has a different brand name that I can never seem to remember.) Anyway, you will feel temporarily like you are drowning, but then you will feel much better (even immediately) and then you will feel empowered because “Oh my God, I didn’t actually drown!”
In the meantime think of it as preparing for the eating season that will follow. You are making room for brownies and cocktails!
I’m kind of similarly situated, except that I think I could share my germs by breathing on someone so, you know, if anyone wants ’em (you don’t), just let me know. My pricing is very reasonable and I offer large-family discounts (obviously, since, you know, once you’ve got the germs in your family … well, anyway …). But yeah, I start feeling worried that I’m not hungry and haven’t (for example) eaten dinner and don’t really feel like eating anything and then I realize, I’m definitely not going to fade away to nothing anytime soon.