Many years ago, when I was in my teens, I spent a pleasant afternoon with three friends drinking Tussionex, which is a prescription  cough syrup.  Personally, I preferred to spend my time at the other end of the spectrum, doing amphetamines and staying awake for days on end. But these particular friends liked downers and narcotics, and this was one of rare forays over to the dreamier side.
The four of us shared a bottle of Tussionex that afternoon, consuming maybe an ounce and a half each. I just remember melting into their couch and spending the afternoon in a dreamy haze. I remember thinking it probably wasn’t even possible to get any more comfortable. I still remember that afternoon fondly, although nothing actually happened. Just four people in a room, completely relaxed, not doing anything, not even talking.
It was a one-off. I never did Tussionex again.
Fast forward to this week. I’ve still got that flu that GC had for three days, only I’ve had it for 12 days. On Wednesday I went to see my doctor. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t turning into pneumonia (it wasn’t). Secondly, all the coughing had resulted in me throwing my back out.
She wrote me a prescription for Tussionex, so that I won’t keep hurting my back by coughing. I’m supposed to take one to two teaspoons three times a day. I got it filled on Thursday night, and I took two teaspoons and went to bed. I read for an hour or so, then fell asleep.
Friday morning I was okay till I got out of bed. Then I was dizzy, weak, nauseous and completely depleted. Â Showering took what little energy I had.
I stumbled downstairs, opened the bird cages, and lay on the couch. I didn’t even want coffee. I didn’t have the energy to feed the birds. GC and Rosie came back from their walk and GC fed them. Simon bit GC hard enough to draw blood. He’s a one-person bird, and I’m his person.
Then GC and Rosie and Duncan went off to work and I just slept on the couch for hours. I don’t work Fridays so at least I didn’t have to call in sick. But I did have to cancel a breakfast date with a friend. I finally got up and had a coffee and some dry toast, and then I went back to bed, and didn’t get up again till 5:00ish.
I ate dinner, stayed up a couple of hours, and then I slept all night. Today I feel intermittently icky.
I haven’t taken any more of the Tussionex, in case that’s what caused all this. (Which is really a shame, because the stuff costs $100 a bottle and I only had one dose.*)
Maybe it’s a new virus on top of the old virus, and the Tussionex is just a coincidence? I don’t know. Have you heard of anything like this going around?
*I’ve checked to see if the Tussionex formula has changed over the decades, and apparently it’s time release now.
I think its only time release in pill form though. I would expect it’s viral fatigue Zoom. i’m finding the fewer meds I take the more the ones I do take effect me (I’m weaning off the Effexor right now) so it could be that too. Whatever it is I hope you feel better soon!
A prescription I was given for migraines came with a warning it would make me drowsy for a few days until I got used to it; however, in my case, it meant being so drowsy I lay down on the couch where I slept until my husband came home from work. It could be you are just overly sensitive to the medication.
Alternatives to the cough syrup you might want to try are 222s, tylenol 1, or 2 tsps of honey. Last year I had whooping cough and after 3 days of literally non-stop (non-sleeping) coughing I phoned the doctor who said to try 222s/tylenol 1. He said there is just enough codeine in them to act as a cough suprressant. And he was right. I’ve since discovered that 2 tsps of honey are also an effective cough suppressant — although I can’t say how well honey would work with something as dreadful as whooping cough.
Good luck.
Probably both!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenyltoloxamine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocodone
It’s the opiate hydrocodone that has you stoned. You gotta watch those too because they will also constipate you and then you’ll feel even worse.
It reminds me of the various drugs I had to take during chemo, one of which was:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prochlorperazine
“a potent anti-psychotic”. Yikes. Thankfully, it didn’t do anything about psychosis but only helped my nausea.
All this to say, the fewer drugs the better! But yes, coughing can aggravate all sorts of things.
Hang in there!
I just have to take 1/2 tsp of Novahistine DH or any cough suppressant with codiene and I am totally stoned. I can only take it a bedtime and even then, I still feel the effects the next day.
Hi. This is just a test (another one). The last bunch of comments I’ve left on your blog using my ‘other’ alias have just disappeared. I think they’ve gone into your Moderation Zone. So I’m leaving this comment to see if this email / alias combination works…
It sounds like the plague that I had in January and much of February. The fatigue was terrible: I’d had nothing like this since I had pneumonia when our children were 1, 3 and 5! There was something really nasty going around for sure.
My son is currently an ‘entrepreneur.’ That’s what you’re called whenever you do not have a job.
Real riches will be the riches possessed inside.
PS I can’t tell you how useful it is to have a kid who got into drugs. She is still one term away from being a full-fledged pharmacist but has done a pile of research to help me with questions I have about the stuff we bring home from the drug store.
I am home with much the same thing. Started on Saturday for me. No energy, aches in every joint of my body, no appetite at all (which is really weird for me)and a head cold that has me coughing and sneezing constantly. Tried only taking meds at night (Sudafed and/or Tylenol) but gave up today and took both a few minutes ago. I have so little energy that showering appears to be tantamount to climbing Everest.
Hope you are feeling better and that your vertigo is gone!
I look forward to the drive in I must have that:)