I have a chest infection ... probably

[Accy cyclist]

Am i right in assuming that most of you don't smoke,and that you live in draught free, centrally heated houses?

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Am i right in assuming that most of you don't smoke,and that you live in draught free, centrally heated houses?

Yes apart from the draught free bit:

 

[summerdays]

My mum has had a bad cough that left her in her bed most of Christmas (she didn't go to some family gatherings either). Finally she listened to us yesterday and went to the doctors ... flu and a chest infection so she is on antibiotics and hopefully going to improve.

I think you should take it easy when you are unwell - but I've been known to cycle myself. However sometimes I have questioned the sensibility of riding (afterwards) when I've made bad decisions that I suspect I might not had made if I had been feeling better.

I hope you are all starting to feel a little better today.

 

[lulubel]

Am i right in assuming that most of you don't smoke,and that you live in draught free, centrally heated houses?

Don't smoke, but as for living in a draught free, centrally heated house ... er, no. I live in Spain, where they haven't heard of insulation, windows that seal or central heating.

 

[MattHB]

central heating can be a cause of virus's anyway.. and as for draught free, you need air in the house!

 

[lulubel]

central heating can be a cause of virus's anyway.. and as for draught free, you need air in the house!

I agree, but the problem is our electric bill is over €400 a month in the winter just to keep a 3-bed apartment relatively warm and mould free - although the dehumidifiers and electric heaters don't keep the mould completely at bay, and I suspect scrubbing mould off the walls and breathing in the spores may be the cause of this chest infection.

 

[MattHB]

I agree, but the problem is our electric bill is over €400 a month in the winter just to keep a 3-bed apartment relatively warm and mould free - although the dehumidifiers and electric heaters don't keep the mould completely at bay, and I suspect scrubbing mould off the walls and breathing in the spores may be the cause of this chest infection.

no thats certainly not going to help!

 

[Globalti]

I agree, but the problem is our electric bill is over €400 a month in the winter just to keep a 3-bed apartment relatively warm and mould free - although the dehumidifiers and electric heaters don't keep the mould completely at bay, and I suspect scrubbing mould off the walls and breathing in the spores may be the cause of this chest infection.

Spanish buildings are not constructed for cold or damp weather. While living in Huelva I went home for Christmas and when I came back in January I opened my wardrobe to find that somebody seemed to have hung up a load of green furry towels there - only to realise that all my clothes had gone mildewey! The rain water used to run straight in from the patio outside and flood the building because there were no thresholds. Nightmare. I sympathise with your plight; I have been colder than ever on trips to the Med and the Middle East in winter because there's no heating or insulation.

The spores are definitely making you ill, even without scrubbing the walls the air will be full of fungal spores.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

When we had our old sash windows replaced with double glazing they had to fit vents in the tops of the windows so that our house stayed as ventilated as it was previously.

I guess just like the line between clever and stupid there's a fine line between ventilation and draught.

 

[lulubel]

Spanish buildings are not constructed for cold or damp weather.

No, and the thing that makes me laugh most is the estate agents who love to perpetuate the myth that Spanish houses are built to stay, "warm in the winter and cool in the summer." I've lived in 3 different places here now, and none of them fit that description!

 

[Globalti]

I remember when I was doing Spanish at school and they told us how in Spanish houses before television it was the custom in winter for the whole family to sit around a big table with a brazero underneath and a big heavy tablecloth, to keep warm. It always struck me as a desperate measure! Don't suppose they do that nowadays.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Am i right in assuming that most of you don't smoke,and that you live in draught free, centrally heated houses?

don't smoke, live in a converted stable block, opened the bedroom windows when we moved in (7th July) and have not yet (and don't expect to) close them, and central heating is not turned on... so yes, no & no. Most people think we are mad, but neither of us has ever been able to sleep unless we have warm toes & a cold nose. If it drops below -10C I may consider pulling the bedroom window to a touch (it is over the bed!).

 

[MrGrumpy]

Had a wee bt of head cold before Christmas which promptly went to my chest, which does not help my asthma although mine is quite mild I think compared to some of you lot?? Anyway the coughing has been terrible to the point that I have now been put on a course of steroids to calm it down, which it has done. Not ready to jump back on the bike just yet but might try next week.

 

[lulubel]

I remember when I was doing Spanish at school and they told us how in Spanish houses before television it was the custom in winter for the whole family to sit around a big table with a brazero underneath and a big heavy tablecloth, to keep warm. It always struck me as a desperate measure! Don't suppose they do that nowadays.

They do, in rural areas. And they tie newspaper round their shins to protect them from the intense heat.

 

[lulubel]

I've just seen the doctor, and I now have a week's supply of antibiotics, more steroids, and a higher dose inhaler, and instructions to go back immediately if I get worse, or if I haven't improved in 2 days.

He also suggested that I restrict cycling to the valley (rather than up the mountains) until I'm breathing more easily. I have such a great doctor.