What a week this has been! I had two to three patients every day
in Student Clinic and a couple of them had upper respiratory
infections. Now guess who is suffering from an upper respiratory
infection? ME! It has been a rough weekend with lots of high fever
temperatures, lack of sleep, throat drops, and chicken noodle
soup!
Student Clinic has been an amazing learning experience though,
dealing with multiple personalities, multiple complaints, and
learning from the experienced clinicians. It has been very helpful
that many of the interns on my shift are all very supportive and
caring with one another, which makes the experience even better.
The upper trimester interns and main clinicians are also very
helpful, and their different teaching styles help each of us learn
in different ways.
Through the sickness, I had a chance to spend time with my two
best friends in Chicago. For Christmas, I bought them tickets to
see "Dreamgirls," so we planned a fun night with dinner and a
musical. I was feeling very ill but still had a good time. I spent
the next day in bed all day while my wonderful husband catered to
me. It is always nice to have someone to take care of
you…especially during the ugly and sick times.
Each week, I want to focus my blog on a "determinant" of our
health that sometimes goes unnoticed but makes a big difference
when it is out of sync with the rest of our life. This week, I want
to talk about sleep.
There are many studies about insomnia and all the sleep aids
(synthetic) and all the natural aids that can help. But before
turning to serotonin, tryptophan, or valerian, take a look at your
sleeping habits. Just a tip for you to clean up your sleeping
habits:
- Eat dinner between 5-7:30pm.
- Do not eat after 10pm.
- Drink Chamomile tea or decaf tea with no honey/sugar added
about 1 hour before bed.
- Eat no sugar at all before bed.
- Limit snacking to fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Do not watch any horror movie/TV show or read any disturbing
books before bed - this will cause your brain to be hyperactive and
could lead to distractions during sleep.
- Do not drink lots of water right before bed so that it can
minimize you having to get up during your sleep to use the
restroom.
You can always come in to Student Clinic (DC or ND clinic) to
have someone evaluate your sleeping habits and help you get back on
a healthier sleeping track. If you do not sleep well, most likely a
lot of other systemic processes will not be able to function fully.
See you guys next week and hopefully I will be healthy
again!