Personal Story: What I Learned About Finding Relief While Battling Bronchitis

Bronchitis is a common respiratory condition that can cause inflammation in the bronchial tubes, leading to symptoms such as coughing, chest discomfort, and difficulty breathing. While bronchitis can be a challenging illness to navigate, there are steps you can take and medicines you can use to help alleviate the symptoms and support your recovery.

How I Learned to Better Doctor on Myself

First, a little disclaimer

First, I am NOT a doctor. I'm simply sharing from my personal experience of how I've learned to better doctor on myself (a figure of speech meaning to treat each symptom and play the role of doctor for oneself). My goal is to help someone else to avoid suffering any longer than they have to when dealing with severe colds or, in this case, bronchitis. I’m sharing the things I wish someone had told me before I knew better.

Realizing I Needed to Do Better

(Here is my experience with fighting a virus, such as bronchitis.)

Well, it actually took the example of my significant other. He would still handle his daily duties and go to work while sick. I envied this! So, I studied what he did to remain functional while sick, which was something I, myself, struggled to do. When I was sick, I could hardly think straight. I didn't want to talk or listen. Running errands and going to work was nearly impossible—and sometimes completely impossible. For the most part, I laid miserably in bed or on the couch, trying to sleep off the illness. The furthest I made it was to the kitchen or the bathroom.

The main differences I noticed were that he took medicines early on in his symptoms, took them like clockwork, stayed active, and even went outdoors. He also made sure he ate, stayed hydrated, and kept to a routine—going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. He'd also go to work or about his day as usual. He made sure to go to bed to get his rest—and would even take naps if he felt his body needed them.

How I Handled Being Sick (and What I Learned)

Here’s how things usually went for me:

I'd get the sniffles and wonder if it was just a side effect of being in cold weather, a cold, or allergies. I may or may not take allergy medicine, depending on the severity of my symptoms. Then, I'd come down with a runny nose and a cough and think, "Okay, I definitely have a cold." At first, it seemed minor, but my symptoms would progress. What was just a runny nose became a runny nose with nasal and chest congestion, a sore throat, constant post-nasal drip, tightness in my chest, shortness of breath, and a cough. I'd let the symptoms progress without proactively treating them—before they, of course, worsened.

I also had some habits that didn’t help, like reusing tissue or Kleenex. I would blow my nose, fold the tissue over, and use the other side. I eventually learned it's more hygienic to use a tissue once and toss it. That way you're less likely to spread germs or keep them nearby. But let's be honest—how many of us have ended up with balled-up, used tissues in the bed with us while sick? Uh huh, I thought so.

When it came to being active or going outdoors, I did neither. I was pitiful! I couldn’t even bring myself to go outside for a walk, even though I knew the fresh air and sunshine would help. I just could not get myself to do it. I'd walk to the kitchen to fix myself tea—if I could even do that. I'd walk to the bathroom wishing that I didn't have to use it. I didn't get out of bed much and was disgruntled even at the urge to pee. Notice I said have to—because if I didn't absolutely have to go, I would've stayed in bed or on the couch. I was either hibernating under the covers like a bear in the winter or glued to the couch like a couch potato.

I didn't really eat or drink much until my symptoms were full-blown. Only then would I have some chicken noodle soup (which, by the way, is great for soothing a sore throat—but more on that later) or another meal with a drink. I wasn’t nourishing my body with the nutrients, fluids, and energy it needed to help my immune system fight off the virus. Doing so would’ve also given me the energy I needed to keep going throughout the day.

If I managed to get through the day, I wouldn't take any cold medicine. Looking back, I truly believe this wore on my body, energy, and immune system—especially when I saw that my significant other might be sick for three days to a week, while I was sick for two weeks to a month!

I'd push myself through the day to get things done on my to-do list. There were no naps. I had things to do! I literally prioritized productivity and work over my health. I know—a foolish mistake. As far as sleep, some days I'd get enough. Other days, I had very little. On those days, I was so tired—not only too tired to really get much done during the day, but I also think my body was too tired to really fight bronchitis.

I didn't always stick to a routine either. Not that a less structured day makes you sicker—but maybe, in a way, it does? What I meant is that having a routine seemed to be more helpful to recovery. Each day was a challenge to see how much I could get done. Once bronchitis—or rather, the symptoms—interrupted my daily functioning, then I'd take cold medicine. Somehow, with severe viruses such as bronchitis, I'd always seem to get to the point of feeling near death before I thought of going to the doctor. By this point, I'd have to have a family member take me because I was unable to drive myself.

The Turning Point

It wasn’t until I started my first business that I realized the way I was going about things was not working for me, my life, or my business. I started to become more self-aware of my health and how I treated myself while well and sick. That was the beginning of my journey of learning how to take better care of myself, especially while sick with bronchitis.

I began treating my symptoms and early, instead of waiting and suffering needlessly. As a result, my recovery time shortened, and my ability to cope with symptoms improved drastically.

A Personal History of Dealing with Bronchitis

When I was younger, I wish I'd known what bronchitis was and hadn’t assumed I was just fighting a regular cold. I suffered so much trying to push through this illness without treating it like a severe cold virus. It’s similar to a cold but more intense. I didn’t know it was severe enough to go to the doctor for. I just thought, “Eh, another cold virus". I assumed the doctor would say the usual: "There’s no cure. You can only treat the symptoms. Take medicine for cold or cold and flu, get plenty of rest, make sure you eat, and drink plenty of fluids."

It wasn’t until I was 32 years old that I realized I could have gone to the doctor for bronchitis to get prescribed medicine to help relieve my symptoms and speed up my recovery. I spent years suffering through the symptoms of bronchitis each time I came down with it. I went through bouts of bronchitis from childhood all the way into adulthood, so needless to say, I have a lot of experience combating this illness.

When I came down with bronchitis, I was pitiful and miserable. The truth was that I was not taking care of myself as well as I should while sick. There were ways to alleviate my symptoms, but I felt too terrible to try anything beyond taking regular or severe cold medicine, eating chicken noodle soup, drinking hot green tea with honey, and using some cough drops. These were the main things I did, but there were other steps I took as well. Once the bronchitis was full-blown, I would also use a pea-size amount of Vaseline to rub around my nose to protect the skin from irritation caused by constantly wiping away mucus (I'd learned this from my mom and grandmother).  I also lightly rubbed the leftover Vaseline from my hands onto my lips to prevent chapping. Although rarely, I sometimes used ChapStick. Even with taking all of these measures, I still felt like I was nearly dying.

You could usually find me either glued to my bed in my bedroom or glued to the couch in the living room. Running daily errands was out of the question. I felt so sick that I couldn't even get myself to simply step outside for fresh air or sunshine. I kept a small trashcan beside me for used tissues, medicines within reach, and a blanket over me. I'd blow my nose so much that the skin under it became raw. I'd even use my fist to beat against my chest to break up or cough up any mucus. Finally, I would cry in misery if I felt like I wasn’t getting enough relief from the symptoms.

For years, I didn't realize that I wasn't doing enough and I suffered tremendously. That all changed this year, thankfully. May my struggles serve as an example of the needless suffering you do not have to endure. I hope this story helps change your journey. I hope that this is the year that you, too, become aware of the fact that you can overcome bronchitis with much less suffering.

How have you suffered from the symptoms of bronchitis? Please share your story in the comments below.