I've been feeling out of sorts recently, with a cold at the start of the year, unfortunate timing. I felt low on energy. When I started to recover in February, I did feel well for about 12 days. I had a lot of things to do and things to catch up with. You probably know how it goes:
- You start to feel better, so you think 'Right, I will get on with a heap of tasks right now'.
- You get behind with domestic chores, so there's a concern about wanting to tidy up the house.
- Missing your friends where had to cancel previously, so you want to see them, and end up tiring yourself out when you do!
- Work = Clients wanting time with me. I like to fit with their schedules as much as I can, so working some evenings as expected. Led to feeling tired (sleeping less well due to a cold)
- Doing more of my 'to do' list, that includes paperwork, meetings, writing social media posts.
- All those events that you believe you 'should' be doing or attending.
- Wanting to be at 100% when actually at about 60% capacity!
However, I felt my head spinning by week 2 after that 'return to work'. I happened to be at a networking event which was quite 'full on' with lots of people being introduced and moved around. At the time I couldn't work out why I felt lightheaded and my temples and under-eye area pounding. I did stop momentarily to take a breath and the organiser saw this, asking me if I was OK. My answer was a question, I asked 'is it hot in here?' and 'I have a bit of a headache.' To be fair, the venue wasn't hot, I was (in an infected sense!).
Going home after that, I snuggled under a blanket and stayed there for an hour or more. That was perhaps a sensible thing to do. It was then I realised I had a temperature and my 'cotton wool' head feeling of confusion and discomfort turned out to be sinusitis (I know the signs as I had it as a child). The whole time I'd kept going, because being self-employed, income only comes in when I am seeing clients. I did cancel a couple of client meetings after that, before I'd got some idea of how to treat the infection, and just in case it was a 'fresh cold' that I might pass on.
During the worst of my illnesses, I still put effort into eating freshly cooked homemade meals, even though I didn't really feel up to making them. I lost weight over this time period too, even though I continued to eat and retained a love of chocolate and Easter. (In moderation: I still have one favourite bar of chocolate left in April). I also did a couple of cheat meals, where I bought a ready meal from the supermarket. It tasted very good and was not really that unhealthy (I regularly check food labels for content).
I also spoke with our herbalist, Tim, at the Norfolk Clinic for a few pointers on dealing with sinusitis. If you are prone to colds and coughs (and sinusitis),Tim has a lot of great advice to reduce symptoms.
I've written before on this blog about returning to work too soon after an illness. It is very easy to think you are clear of a cold, when actually you may have a secondary infection. I had felt 'on the mend', so perhaps this was a separate infection. I don't know. I'm just glad to be feeling a bit more 'me' again. It's quite a relief (and I'm sure my Norfolk Clinic colleagues will be glad to have a more organised Angie back in the room too!) I hope that anyone else who had a cold or illness this season is feeling much better too.
Angie x
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About the Author: Angie works as a hypnotherapist, counsellor and coach at the Norfolk Clinic Complementary Healthcare Clinic, 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich, NR3 4AG.
Call Angie directly on 07773 610816 or email info@angiegiles.co.uk
Angie offers a free initial consultation to find out more.
Angie offers a free initial consultation to find out more.
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