<p>horrible huh?</p>
<p>Tell me about, I have been useless this last week. I am screwed this coming week now with important midterms coming up.</p>
<p>In general, ibuprofen or tylenol are your biggest friends - they'll give you the greatest gains in symptom relief.</p>
<p>For ibuprofen, you can take up to 800 mg (4 tablets) 3 times a day. You should take it with food to avoid getting an upset stomach.</p>
<p>For tylenol, you can take 1000mg (2 extra strength or 4 regular) up to 4 times daily. </p>
<p>If you drink alcohol, it's just a good idea to stick with ibuprofen. </p>
<p>If you have a stuffy nose, saline nasal sprays and rinses are extremely helpful if you can tolerate them (the rinses can be a little rough I'm told). </p>
<p>You can also use sprays like Afrin twice a day for up to three days. DO NOT USE MORE THAN 3 DAYS - these sprays are subject to "rebound", and you'll end up more congested than you started when you stop using them if you continue for three days. These can be VERY habit forming (not addictive though).</p>
<p>If you're having really thick secretions, mucinex can help. It's one of the few things that thins secretions.</p>
<p>It's a good idea to have a thermometer handy to take your temp - everyone should have a small first aid kit in their stuff, otherwise check with your floor or dorm healthaid. If you spike a fever over 100.3, that's when doctors tend to start paying attention. Go to your health center ASAP, especially if it's higher (keep in mind that tylenol and ibuprofen help fevers break). Going to the health center is also warranted if you have really nasty green drainage throughout the day (it's really common to have green stuff in the morning when you wake up b/c the mucus gets oxidized overnight, so if you have a productive cough in the afternoon that's more significant). </p>
<p>Don't discount the benefit of loading up on Vitamin C or the immune boosting juices from Odwalla or Naked Juice - they can help. Some people have a lot of benefit from them, others don't, but if you do, there's certainly no reason not to take them. Same thing with Zicam or Airborn products - if they help you, then great, if they don't, don't worry about them. The variability of response from person to person will prevent any resounding widespread data on their efficacy but that doesn't mean people shouldn't take them.</p>
<p>being sick in college is the absolute worst. e-mail your teachers right away and let them know, they will appreciate it and many will give you a break while you deal with things. </p>
<p>a hint, though - if you have professors who want to see a doctor's note (as opposed to you showing up, pointing to your throat and saying "I'M FREAKING SICK YOU MORON"), just get one. a sentence on a piece of official paper that says he saw you and that you should take a break from class/assignments is usually enough to excuse you from a lot. </p>
<p>it is important to stay up to date on work and class notes but it is more important to get rest and let your immune system handle it. i spent the entirety of last week in bed, unable to eat or swallow, literally begging my roommate to suffocate me with my pillow to end my misery. it was awful, but i worked my ass off this week and have made up for it, so it's all good.</p>
<p>being sick sucks anywhere</p>
<p>
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being sick in college is the absolute worst. e-mail your teachers right away and let them know, they will appreciate it and many will give you a break while you deal with things.
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How'd you come up with this idea??? I don't think they really give a darn if you're sick.
[quote]
just get one. a sentence on a piece of official paper that says he saw you and that you should take a break from class/assignments is usually enough to excuse you from a lot.
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Which school do you go to? The only leeway you get at my school is if you're sick on an exam day or lab day, you can take a make-up if you have a doctor's note. You have to do it ASAP, though and it is MAJORLY frowned upon. Next day, preferably. Aside from that, you are expected to do everything normally.</p>
<p>What school do you go to Central? I've never had a problem dealing with my professors if I was sick. I've always just e-mailed them or a TA explaining why I can't turn in a problem set/paper on time...and in extreme cases why I will be missing a test (but that's only in "I can't even get out of bed" situations, because making up tests are always a *****) and they've always been really nice about it and told me to finish the work on my own time and turn it in when I feel better. My professors have always been really understanding and accommodating...and I've never needed a doctor's note...which is a good thing, cause I would not go within a 100 feet of our student clinic.</p>
<p>from my experience, professors seem to be really nice about it. at Duke they honor the fact that only you can tell when you are not feeling well enough to go to class. we just send in an electronic short-term illness form, and that's it.</p>
<p>wannabazn88: the student clinic is not that bad, i've been there many times and the nurse is really nice, plus she will give you free OTC meds.</p>
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Which school do you go to?
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</p>
<p>Some zany school that wants sick kids to stay in their dorm rooms rather than come to class and sniff and cough and infect everybody in a 10-foot radius. Pretty nuts, huh? LOL!</p>
<p>yeah, being sick at school just makes me want my mom haha</p>
<p>when my daughter was a freshman taking her exams right before Christmas, she got stomch bug. She has acid refux, so on top of vomiting, she was in excrutiting pain.
Top it off with an insensitive suitmate who thew a wild party, keeping the other girls up past 3 am during exams and it made for a rough time....</p>