Traditional Fixes For The Sick Shneep

By Elie - 4:00 PM

Hello Shneep-ers! I've got this really big thing to complain about that's been bothering me for a whole week now and it's called being officially sick. How do I constitute myself as being "officially" or "unofficially" sick? That depends, really. Is it just a sore throat or a flu that clears off after a day or is it one of those that sends you through a wave of emotions hoping you were dead than alive?

In my dictionary, being "officially" sick are days when I first develop a sore throat first and then it tends to turn into a flu. Keep up with me here, it goes in chronology every single time. Following the flu comes a fever; one that drives me nuts because if I put on too many layers of clothes, I'd freeze to death but if I don't, I'd freeze to death too. After that comes a ridiculous cough and that drives me nuts as well because I can't sleep and that leads to...me being crazy.

This time around, it has all happened. I knew for sure this had to be the "quota of the year" effect because I somehow will get sick every year no matter how much of Vitamin C I throw into my body. That is what I call the "quota of the year". It sounds stupid but trust me on this, IT HAPPENS. So what happens when I have come to suffer from a sore throat, flu, fever and cough all together yet rush through my assignments like mad? I get to some good old fixes.

Blergh on blergh!

These are bottles of preserved mandarin orange peel in their own Chinese-ey names. I first had this when I felt a tinge of sore throat in me; waiting to arise and my mum suggested that I down some of this with warm water. When made, it turns out like this:

The black hole of death. (Picture taken on a different day hence the colour difference)

And that was my first fix. It didn't help much except give me temporary comfort especially as it trickled down my throat but I still had to go through the flu, fever and cough afterward. Not meant to give any medicinal effect but it's fine for non-permanent solace. It's apparently very expensive and found in only selected shops in KL. These two bottles were purchased by my uncle in Hong Kong.

THIS...is disgusting.

The fat man in the background is my daddy, so ignore him a little. This was a bottle of cough syrup that my uncle had gotten us from Tung Shin Hospital when he went there for acupuncture. Apparently made of Chinese herbs and helps to relieve you of cough, this bottle of syrup is really difficult to swallow. It's got a weird sweet yet bitter after taste that lingers in your mouth and it just boils to a complete blergh for me. It did give me temporary comfort though but the aftermath was still there.

Hi there bundled feet!

Yep! My mother has resorted to putting Vicks on my sole and then made me wear socks to "trap" the Vicks in order to give a supposed relieving effect to my cough. The verdict? Not very helpful...but it was cute enough for me to be happy. I still ended up coughing all night but my aunt swears that this works. Not for me, maybe? You guys should try it too and tell me how it works for you *touchwood* when you're having a bad cough.

And then there's this vile thing.

I have no idea WHAT this is, but it is BITTER as hell. Is it also a Chinese thing to believe that bitter is good for you? 苦口良葯 maybe? Whatever it is, this is supposedly an extremely good medicine for purposes that I am unsure of but my parents definitely lied on the "It's not bitter" part. *Glares* They are however thinking for the benefit of me so...I'm not sure if I'm allowed to get angry here.

It's odd because I've always had to resort to all these herbal medicines as well as bitter and disgusting tablets instead of any of those western antibiotics and what not. I remember falling sick back when I was in Form 4 and I had to be quarantined at home for a whole week in fear that I would catch the H1N1. It was horror and I had the worst time of my life; although I got to skip a whole week of school. That was also the time that I visited a clinic in Bangsar and found that there is a certain Dr.Ng who worked there...for about two weeks. And then he left and the old Indian doctor came back. Boo! ~~Dr.Ng if you're reading this, I think you're very handsome and that was why I went back to the clinic twice in three weeks.~~ I lied, I was just very sick that time. But you're still handsome and I sincerely wonder where you're working now.

So Shneep-ers, it's already been a whole week since I've been sick; completing a whole course of sore throat, flu, fever and cough. I've tried all these traditional fixes and nothing helps. I hardly go to clinics because they are terribly overpriced and all the medicines they prescribe are generic stuff which I don't like. I mean come on, it costs about RM 55 to see a doctor for a flu? So please, if you have ANY fixes for me at all, leave me a comment below and HELP ME OUT. I'm in terrible pain and I beg of you to tell me how I could be rid of this bug! I will love you forever! *Sniffles* Shneep away to bed now...SAVE ME!

P/S to all my friends who are studying medicine: When you guys graduate, will you NOT charge me an arm and a leg just to get some prescriptions for my "quota of the year" bug? Much appreciated!

4 Comments

4 comments

The Yum ListJune 7, 2013 at 1:33 AM
That has been going around! It seems to last and last. Get well soon.
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AnonymousJune 7, 2013 at 10:45 AM
I have tried the Vicks on the feet thing. Didn't work for me. I suspect it's a housewives' tale.

Last year, I had a post nasal drip cough that went for almost TWO months after several trips to nearby clinic. Fed up, my mum brought me to this sinseh in PJ Old Town. The consultation was mostly in Mandarin/Cantonese and paid almost RM50 for a bottle of Chinese medicine he put together (herbs all already boiled, just a matter of ratios). I was cured by the time I finished the HUGE bottle.
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