Breathe deep

So for the past 5 days now, I've been the miserable host of an utterly fiendish bronchial infection. Any onlookers would probably never guess I was sick. I'm not running a temperature, not coughing at all, just sniffing a little and acting horribly bitchy. What makes this bug so absolutely maddening is the fact that, for 5 days now, I have barely been able to take a breath that's felt "full."

Let me stress that I'm not showing any symptoms of being low on oxygen - no blue lips or nails, no decrease or lapses in mental function, no inability to exercise - nothing at all like that. There's just the near-constant, terrifying sensation that I am very slowly suffocating, that my lungs are not opening up as much as they should, no matter how I struggle to take in air. There are times when I tilt my head back, mouth opened wide, just panting and gasping, fighting to fill my lungs but rarely succeeding, and never before a good chunk of time has passed. Thank god for strong pecs and vocal training, or I'd likely be denied even those few satisfying breaths that come all too far apart.

As far as I can figure, I've got some sort of congestion in my mid-to-upper chest that is slowly working its way upwards, on top of the aforementioned sensation, which I'm guessing is at least partly psychosomatic. I've been dealing with it fairly well at home, with teas, tinctures and lots of steam, but here at work I think I'm mildly allergic or sensitive to something in the air, which is making worse. A LOT worse. It's a good thing this is a slow day, or else customers would be subjected to the sight of me acting all possessed - back arched, mouth gaping, arms flailing, crazy wheezing noises et al - on a pretty regular basis.

But at any rate, I've got the next three days off from work, and I'm going to take full advantage of this. My personal herb stores are sadly quite low in the area of respiratory issues (more focused towards general tonics, pain relievers, sleep aids and herbs for "female complaints"). I got out all my herbalism texts last night, though, and studied up a storm to figure out what should work, and made a shopping list: mullein, coltsfoot, elecampane, echinacea, whole milk and eucalyptus essential oil (which I CANNOT believe I didn't have already!). Add to that valerian, chamomile, kava-kava and lavender oil for Maggie, who's having trouble sleeping, and my grocery budget for this month is pretty much gone. :/ Honestly, though, at this point I don't even care - I'll eat crackers and apples all month if it'll mean I can breathe easy again.

Update on the first week-and-a-bit of Crossfit later today. Yes, I can still exercise without difficulty. I'm not THAT insane.

-N