A bit over a week ago I got a tickle in my throat which I thought was a cold coming on. Turned out to be laryngitis. My voice was gone within a day, which didn’t bother me all that much apart from the inconvenience. It seemed funny for a day or two, and I mostly felt fine otherwise.
But then it took a turn. The congestion built up in my throat and upper chest. It wasn’t painful exactly, though it created constant awareness and discomfort. About three days in I found I couldn’t sleep normally. The moment I laid down the congestion caused severe coughing, even with my head significantly elevated. It almost felt as if I were being smothered or drowning. For several days I got no more than two hours sleep at a time and I became despondent and even a little panicked. Just looking at my bed in the evening filled me with dread. I tried sleeping upright, which didn’t work too well.
The doctor said my laryngitis was viral, antibiotics wouldn’t do anything, so I just had to wait for it to go away. So I did all the usual stuff - hydrating, steam, etc. But for a about four days I felt like I was in hell. Last night it began to subside and it felt like an exorcism - as if an evil presence were leaving my body.
This has me worried for the future. I have no firearms at home, but if I did I would have been giving them to a friend for safekeeping, lest I did something rash. I’ve always been strongly in favor of assisted medical deaths for people, and this experience - mundane as it is compared to any serious illness - has doubled the intensity of that belief.
I’m not going through this again when it comes to something truly dire. I will not choke to death in my bed. I will not be kept alive so I can experience lack of sleep and constant awareness of suffering. It’s time to explore options for when the time comes (I’m not getting any younger).
This is the first time I’ve been truly scared by an illness. And again, it was mundane and temporary. I’ve never experienced something really threatening, but I’ve had the barest glimpse of the desperation and despondency it can create. If I ever get really sick I’m not waiting around for the endgame. I think my state provides options, but I’m going to look into other parts of the world that may be more forward thinking about this.
I’m in California and so is my former CO who had pancreatic cancer. I don’t have many details and he was surrounded by close family, but he drank some sort of concoction and just went to sleep… and that was it. He was a young 79.
I’m glad you are past your laryngitis or whatever it was, but that sounded just awful.
It’s nice to know that in California there’s a comfortable option, should it come to that.
California’s End of Life Option Act was enacted in 2016. My wife died in 2014, and if the option had been available she certainly would have taken it. The last month of her life was very miserable for her and for her family and friends. I seriously considered “accidentally” giving her an overdose of the morphine that she had been prescribed. Sometimes death is peaceful and sometimes it just isn’t.
My former CO took that option last November, right after the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday. I wasn’t there when he did it, but his family was and one told me that he drank that potion down ‘like he was calmly enjoying a cool beer on a hot summer day’.
The fear and apprehension that the OP felt may have been because of low oxygen levels. I experienced something similar a couple years ago when I had RSV, although I didn’t think I had trouble breathing, but who knows what was going on inside me?
Right, if it’s viral, all you can do is treat the symptoms. I frequently get symptoms like this in the winter, and have had good results with a combination of Sudafed (pseudoephedrine), and especially extended-release plain Mucinex (Guaifenesin) pills. The latter medication relieves chest congestion and thins mucus for up to 12 hours using extended-release bi-layer tablets.
Both of these are over-the-counter (OTC) medications (in the U.S. anyway). As an aside—in my experience, many doctors are not particularly good at recommending OTC solutions.
Lastly, there’s no need to pay for the brand-name; both medications have generic versions.
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Particularly good advice. I make a point of always having both drugs (as generics) readily on hand for when that cold or cough shows up.
NyQuil and DayQuil aren’t nearly as effective nor do they have the pseudoephedrine, which actually works. They do have Tylenol which you might not need unless you have a fever or body aches and you should limit to when needed, for your future liver’s sake.