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I went to the doctor’s office yesterday. The last week or so I’ve had this water-logged feeling in my lungs and have been suffering from what I can only describe as fatigue and lethargy. In addition, as I explained to the doctor, my throat feels “hairy”. It had become bad enough that I spent Tuesday morning in bed because I felt so bad.
Finally, Jess firmly insisted that I needed to go see a doctor. Pneumonia has been going around and she didn’t want me to put myself at risk for no reason.
So I went.
The doctor did all of the usual things – heart rate, blood pressure, ears, mouth, throat culture. Then, because I was complaining about some shortness of breath and a heavy chest, she ordered an x-ray to make sure I didn’t have anything seriously wrong with my lungs. Everything came back A-OK – aside from slightly elevated blood pressure (a genetic trait I inherited from both parents) everything was not just normal, but better than normal. Even my hacking lungs came back perfectly clear on the x-ray.
***
Some of you may remember a post I wrote back in March about the Hazards of Running. Well, I’ve got one more to add after my visit to the doctor. After examining me thoroughly, the doctor said the reason I felt so crappy was that I was in such good shape.
Huh?
Right. I didn’t get it initially either. The bottom line was that all the running and push ups and healthy eating had created such a well-honed machine that a little bronchial virus threw the whole system off kilter. Essentially, if I were overweight, eating processed foods and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, my body wouldn’t notice a minor virus taking up residence in my lungs, but because my system is cleaner and leaner than most, I got sidelined by what is pretty much just a cough.
Ah, the price for feeling good all of the time.
Maybe it’s time to start eating Twinkies and smoking Camels again.
Run Luau Run 
Wonder if this was my problem when I got the kids’ cold in early November, could not shake it, and ended up with a cough (not in the lungs, in upper airways) that was so intense it made me throw up and gave me sore ribs for 3 weeks. No pneumonia, everything else good. Hope you’re feeling better now, though!
What a surprise to hear that and quite annoying! One would think those healthy lungs could kick some virus ass. Hope you are feeling better soon.
NO to smoking and eating crap!!! And your MD is right. I tell my patients all the time it’s normal to get sick! Remember the lungs are another way toxins get out of the body, the first two pathways of elimination are kidney and skin…..so your body is going the job it is suppose to be doing! Rest, fluids, Vit D3 and voila you will be back to normal in no time!
Do you think it’s that you get sick easier, or that you notice it more? Maybe it’s both. I’ve noticed that since I’ve become healthier I don’t get sick as often. But boy when I do watch out. It seems like it’s so bad. Also, and this might be TMI, I thought I was having worse PMS. Then I realized I’ve always had it, I just didn’t notice because I felt lousy so much of the time anyway. Now that I feel good most of the time, when I feel crappy, I really feel it. Does that even make sense?
That’s bizarre!
I wonder if there isn’t something wrong with you that they didn’t catch though. I suffered three years feeling tired all the time and not knowing why, all blood tests normal…but then I turned out to have a kidney infection. Felt better after antibiotics but my kidneys are damaged now. Seems weird that you can feel bad for being in such good shape, but I hope for your sake it’s the truth.
This is essentially the argument Rob Lowe’s super-super-fit character in PARKS AND REC uses to explain why, when he feels a twinge of illness, he has to hit the vitamins, supplements and remedies so hard. Now it makes more sense to me…