Greg In The Desert

It’s 2 am in Albuquerque. I’ve given up any chance of sleeping for tonight. Every 5 to 15 minutes I get into a coughing attack, this for the second night in a row. Prior to this it was the sore throat that kept me awake all night. I’ve had very little sleep in the last week and it makes for a grouchy boy.

When this started yesterday I was easily able to cough up a large amount of mucus, a disgusting looking substance that sticks to everything. As I coughed it up it would stick to the sink and the very site of it would make me gag more. This morning I’m have very little success, it stays in my pipes and keeps me awake.

NyQuil, you are not my friend. You claim to be the “nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, sleep better to feel better medicine” with your 10% alcohol content. You have not had any effect on my coughs nor have you made me the slightest bit sleepy, despite my attempts to overdose, drinking nearly a quarter of the bottle tonight. I curse your name with every dry, unproductive cough.

I’ve never had an illness like this. I’ve completely lost my voice, the first time as far as I can recall. I’ve had no desire to eat. The internal mechanism that makes my body say it’s hungry have shut down. Not to mention that I’ve lost the ability to smell or taste. At first the sore throat made it completly undesirable to put anything down, now I at least drink water on a regular basis. I force myself to eat something but it’s not nearly as much as I would normally eat. I’ve lost 10 lbs.

Whatever evil has possessed me, please go away.