I’m sick, but not severely so. I just don’t know how to describe it.
I would say I get this type of illness 2-5 times a year. It only lasts 1-3 days, and while I’d feel better laying around the house those days, I can get up and go to work when the workload demands it. I’m working half a day today.
It’s not a cold with any nose/throat/mucus symptoms. It occasionally develops into an afternoon headache.
The main symptoms are cloudy, slow thinking, tiredness, and a feeling around my face that I would describe as “cloudiness”. “heaviness”, “a buzz”, or perhaps “flushed” - it feels like blood is rushing/collecting around my face, especially my eyes, though there’s no actual color change. My eyes do feel very heavy and sticky, and increased naps/longer night sleeps accompany this sickness.
I wouldn’t try to run a half-mile or do anything strenuous during this kind of sickness, but I feel like if I did I’d pass out or feel awful (and probably dizzy and lightheaded) very quickly. So general fatigue is definitely present.
What do I call this? Does this sound familiar to others, or does it sound like I’m being a baby? It’s not a cold, and it doesn’t feel like the flu (though I don’t know what that feels like exactly, now that I think about it). I’m definitely a bit under the weather, but I don’t really how to describe it when someone inquires or Mom wants to know if I need soup.
I get that the odd time throughout the year, too - I think it is your body fighting something off. My version is, “Too sick to go to work but too healthy to stay home.”
There is no mention of whether or not the OP has a fever when he (?) feels sick. Fever, as I understand it, almost always indicates an immune system actively fighting infection.
As for what you could call it, saying you’re feeling a bit under the weather is probably as good as anything.
As for what could be causing it: dehydration? deficiency in some essential nutrient? basic tiredness? an undetected allergy? fighting off something, as others have suggested?
I know the feeling. It’s exactly how I feel when I’m getting a cold. Usually, I feel like that for a couple of days before I get the runny nose or coughing or whatever. At which point, I usually feel better but look and sound a lot worse. Sometimes, if I manage to get enough rest, etc., I fight it off before I get the yucky symptoms.
So I vote for “coming down with a cold.” You just never manage to get all the way there. (Yay, you!)
I wonder if those “almost colds” (if that’s what it is) is your body fighting a virus that it has immunity for already - you get clear signs from your body to rest and take care of yourself for a few days while it takes care of bidness.
I didn’t mention a fever because I don’t own a thermometer.
Thanks for the input, everyone. Yeah, I was hoping for something nice and sum-uppable like “The Scum Flu” or “The Brain Cloud”, but I guess “fighting something off” or “coming down with something” is about the best I can do. The blahs.
KneadToKknow, Thudlow: I’ve got some mild allergies, so that is a possibility.
MoodIndigo1: And my home is old and not well-maintained, so I will get it checked out for Carbon Monoxide if I’m going to be there any time longer than a couple months.