5 Ways to Fight Off Sickness During Exams!

Exams are coming up, so of course all of us are trying to figure out how to not get sick for exams for once.

Isn’t being sick the worst? I’ve been living on my own for almost 3 years now, and I really do love it.

But whenever I get sick I just want to curl up and have my mommy brush my hair and sing me soft kitty. Yep, even as a married woman. I just want my husband to rub my feet and my mom to sing me Soft Kitty. I’m pathetic when I’m sick.

So yeah. That’s pretty much me today.

Thanks to my wonderful sister, I caught a virus that slowly eats through every organ of your body before leaving what’s left of your human dignity in a weeping, shuddering, exhausted mess. And I have a huge project due on Friday.

So I have jumped into full-on health-mode, and my symptoms are subsiding, thank goodness. Preparing for college exams when you’ve got a head cold is less than fun. Since I know I’m not the only one who gets sick at the worst possible times, I thought I’d share some of my ideas with you so that you, too, can stay healthy this exam season! Obviously I am not a doctor, but these things make me feel better, and I’m hoping they can help you, too, whether you’re looking at feeling better or not getting sick in the first place!

1. Have a housemate who’s in nursing.

Seriously, this part was awesome about living in the condo. Natasha literally has any medication I could possibly want. Losanges? Check. Gravol? Check. Advil? Check. And she leaves it in this box right in the kitchen so I can take some whenever I want.

So the first thing you should do is move in with a nurse. I love living with my husband, of course, but I do really miss having a nurse around.

Alternatively, you could always just make your own drug-box! Become your own nurse! Go to the drug store sometime you’re not sick and buy everything you generally need when you are so you don’t have to walk anywhere when you’re feeling gross.

2. Eat healthy food.

This one is hard for me. When I get sick, I like to console myself with double chocolatey-chip cookies and popcorn, but that really doesn’t help anything. When you’re craving unhealthy food, grab some oranges or make yourself a smoothie instead. You might not be all that happy about it, but hey–you’re sick! You’re already miserable! Do you want to be miserable and feel gross for eating a bunch of junk food? Didn’t think so.

This also means staying away from wine. Wine is wonderful, and can make you feel much better, but it really doesn’t help with the headache or the general fogginess.

Eating healthy is important for making sure you don’t get sick in the first place, too! Fuel your body with what it needs so it can fight off germs!

3. Consume many vitamin-filled beverages. Or tea. Always tea.

As soon as I got sick, my housemate Hillary used to make me tea with honey and then a jug of orange juice to help make sure I got enough vitamins to fight off whatever monster this is. (She’s the best. She has also sung “soft kitty” to me when I was sick earlier in the year. I should really change all of these to just “get awesome roommates”.)

One of the things I hate the most about being sick is the grogginess. A nice green tea with honey really helps with that, and the honey soothes your throat if it’s sore! (I prefer to use raw honey since it’s better at combating colds than the stuff you’ll find at the grocery store in the big teddy bear containers.)

The trick is to stay hydrated. Your body needs to be fuelled to fight off whatever it is dealing with, and that includes vitamins and water.

4. Don’t lie in bed all day!

This may seem counter-intuitive, and really does depend on how sick you are. All I know is that if I lie in bed in a stuffy room all day I just feel worse by the end of it. Do something to get some fresh air–even if that just means opening the window for a little while and stretching to get the blood flowing again!

I like to take quick walks when I’m sick. To the grocery store. So I can buy ice cream oranges, like in tip number 2.

5. RELAX.

Did you know that stress actually suppresses your immune system? Well it does.

Obviously you relax when you’re sick. That’s a no-brainer. I’m not talking about that–relaxing is a preemptive measure against getting sick. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep, and if you’re feeling extremely stressed, do something fun to help clear your mind or take care of your body by pampering it to help the stress die down a little. Your mental and physical health are much more innately connected than we often understand.

Those are my tips for staying healthy during exams! What do you do to help you stay in tip-top health? What are some ways to get over sickness that work for you?