Physician, heal yourself

Warning!! This contains a graphic account of the "Houston Crud"!

After days and days of misery, I have finally found the correct treatment for this crud I have been suffering for a couple of weeks. In addition to doing it myself, I saved my $25 co-pay. Had I gone to seen Dr. Snake Oil, he would have diagnosed me as having the "Houston Crud." I love his finite diagnosis. For those of you without such an advanced physician, the symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, hacking cough. In other words allergy symptom that seem to be worse here.

Part of my misery was my own fault. You would think that I would remember to get the pharmacist away from other duties so that they can give me the drug that was once available over the counter but is not now because the drug makers were using it and now the drug makers have no doubt found a new source so we proper users are still made to suffer. (Got that didn’t ya?) Each time I went out, I had the stop on my list, but I would always either forget, or the weather looked too threatening. This specific OTC is not being ordered much, and I have to go to one of two specific stores to get it.

I began taking it on Saturday, but the cough was still taking its toll especially when I got out of bed in the morning. The tickle in the back of my throat was annoying as well. Night before last it woke me several times during the night. I had meant to get cough syrup when I went to the store on Saturday, but, alas, it was not on my list. So I began foraging in my medicine cabinet. Viola - there was a bottle. So today I feel pretty normal. The drainage is minimal, and the coughing is greatly reduced.

The best of all this is that I am $25 ahead!