The Fall Season Cough

I think I'm finally mostly recovered from around a month of coughing.

It's not entirely gone, but as long as I'm avoiding cold foods and alcohol, I'm good. This battle was probably the usual fall cold, caused by changing weather, stress, and improper diet. 

The last two months were a whirlwind with a few long weekend visits to family in Japan due to my father-in-law's illness and death. I don't regret at all being a part of the family and getting to see him, but it made normal life at home a little harder to keep up with. In addition, my husband has been with his family for over two months and will finally be returning soon.

A normal cold when the weather turns cooler can be extended by stress I found. And just when I thought it had gone, it was back as soon as I didn't get a proper night's sleep a couple nights in a row.

As far as diet, cooking while home alone is usually a pain. Plus it's hard to eat consistently healthy foods while traveling. (My mother-in-law hilariously offered ice cream bars before breakfast. I didn't take her up on the offer, but there is always tons to eat there.)

I kept thinking I should just eat out instead of cooking sometimes, but I never did. I think the bento and  instant foods from the supermarket usually sounded easier than going to a restaurant.

As soon as I started feeling sick, I checked my temperature. I didn't have a fever, but I felt like I did - with body aches. Other than that and waking up with a sore throat, I thought I was okay. I had made it through work in the morning, so I went to the afternoon lessons. Canceling lessons last minute seemed worse than just going. I didn't feel any better as time went on and stopped by the drugstore for a couple things on the way home.

Puburon was actually mentioned by a student. She said she took it when she felt like she was getting a cold and, somewhat like NyQuil, she can still go to work as usual without feeling too bad. There are several kinds too, so I checked them and the above "Sa" tablets seemed like the best choice. This bottle of 135 tablets costs around 1300 yen but the tablets are to be taken three at a time for adults.

This one is for fever, runny and stuffy nose, sore throat, cough and phlegm. It has some pain killer in it so it helps with headaches too.

After work, I did have a fever. It was 39 degrees, so I took a dosage of the Puburon and went to bed early. No fever the next day, but I thought it was better to take a day off and rest.

The other thing I picked up was these lozenges, similar to a type we have at work. They look like the whistle candy. Not your typical cough drops or "throat candy" - they actually contain medicine. I think the box was 600 yen for 24 lozenges. This type is called Torochi and I had never noticed them before this year. They are common medicine for sore throats, coughs, and phlegm. I found them to be really effective, especially in the morning when my cough was the worst.

I'm on my third weekend in a row staying in town, resting at home and eating home cooked meals (mostly). My energy levels are finally getting caught up so I can get to some fall festivals next weekend.