To be wondering how the sodding hell I get through this drive?

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

I am away from home with the DC. Tomorrow - bloody today now - I need to drive home. It is three hours on a good day.

I have felt increasingly shitty all day - DS2 has thoughtfully shared a stinking cold with me. I have an alternately blocked and runny nose, my throat feels like sandpaper and my head aches. I am already run down because I have been bleeding for two weeks since having the coil fitted. No Corona jokes please - it isn't funny.

How the hell do I get through three plus hours of driving? I don't drink coffee. I have two painkillers saved for the morning. What else can I do to be alert and get back to my own bed?

Stop at a pharmacy and buy some cold medication? Take that plus paracetamol and ibuprofen together (as long as there’s no paracetamol in the cold med).
Coke if you want caffeine and don’t drink coffee?

Oh no you poor thing!

Any way you can postpone travelling until Monday if you and DC are ill enough to be off school/work Monday anyway?

If not... When you say you don’t drink coffee, is that because you can’t take caffeine? You can get paracetamol with caffeine or pro plus tablets which might help?

That aside, what I would do is

1. Not set an alarm for the morning so you can get as much of a lie in as possible. Then leave as soon as you can when you are up to catch that window of feeling better after you have had a good sleep
2. Take it slow tomorrow. Stop for plenty of rests at service stations
3. Strepsils/halls soothers for your throat
4. Plenty of water or squash to drink on the journey
5. Get a take away/partner to cook for you when you arrive home. Don’t unpack or do any laundry. Kids to bed and you to bed.

You need some day nurse capsules.

I'm in exactly the same boat as you, got a three/four hour drive today. Been awake since 1.24am feeling too hot, not in my own bed, stressing about bickering kids in the car, coughing like a sealion. Oh it's going to be fun! Good luck OP, I'll be thinking of you!

Morning, from a fellow unwell insomniac.

Have a hot drink of decaf tea or just hot water and lemon now to soothe you and your throat.

Try to rest and if you can't then potter about getting stuff ready for tomorrow.

tomorrow take sandwiches / snacks for the trip and set it in your head that you will stop at least 2-3 times on the way. Get soft tissues, paracetamol with caffeine and a big bottle of water first thing before you set off. let the paracetamol work for 20+ minutes before you even think of driving.

Drive steadily and mindfully with music on, and chattering to the kids. Don't speed. You'll be home before you know it.

I feel you OP. I've to clean my flat and pack for a long stint away tomorrow. Then Monday morning I've a 4 hour journey to make via bus/underground/train/taxi.

I bought Sudafed today which has caffeine in it. It also has paracetamol and phenylephrine (clears sinuses).
A cup of ordinary tea has a small amount of caffeine in it too.
As it's a once off, maybe a can of red bull? It contains high amounts of caffeine.

I've been utterly zonked for the past 2 days, so have 3 days' work to pack into one. And can I fucking sleep now? Can I fuck! Will I want to sleep tomorrow? Of course.

Definitely get some cold and flu daytime meds as it’ll have caffeine in as well as a decongestant. Lemsip do a good one in tablet form.
Green tea is high in caffeine too if you could drink that?

Just rest when you need to. Stock up on magazines, little toys whatever for the DC to keep them quiet. Stick some happy tunes on. You can do it!

Take lots of medicine and you'll be right. 3 hours is mashable

Mashable?? Manageable, obviously...

Ultra chloraseptic (sp?) spray for your throat. Vicks rubbed into your back and chest. Lots of tissues to hand (and a carrier bag to lob the used ones into. Big hot drinks - I like mint tea for drives as it stays warm for a couple of hours from a Costa-type place. Take yo painkillers first thing and grab more from the chemist before setting off, can take the cumulative effect of a couple of doses to properly work. Engaging podcast/music, windows open occasionally for a quick blast of cool fresh air, and stop as often as you need to.

Oh OP that sounds really grim . Can you pass by a pharmacy on your way home and buy the best of the best cold medicine ? I feel for you, I’ve recently recovered from a horrific complication of tonsillitis and resp infection and I genuinely felt like I was going to die I was so unwell. Sending you lots of healing hugs and strength

Don't buy any medicine that comes with a risk of making you drowsy.

Day nurse helps me - always my go to.

You need to stop at a pharmacy and get the over the counter sudafed, not the ordinary stuff on the shelves. The over the counter stuff has pseudoephedrine in it, which actually works!

Try Nurophen Day & Night , they are amazing and don't make your heart racey like other flu like tablets . They last 4 hours so should get you home .

Argh just lost my post.

Squeezy honey instead of cough sweets - works better, less risk of choking if you cough, possible to squirt some on your tongue as you drive if it’s safe to.

Honey in a jar - if no squeezy honey, can’t do as you drive, need to stop and have a spoonful. Can be messy so have both in separate bags - might need to keep the jar to be your cough sweet replacement jar if you have to use same spoon without washing.

Someone else - anyone that could help? Even if you pay a train fRe for them to get to you or get home?

Postpone for a day?

Water in bottle with a sports cap so you can grab and swig without needing to mess with opening and closing. Make sure before you start that you have space next to you in the car for this bottle and the honey bottle of using to be able to put them down securely and easily.

Get some paracetemol, ibuprofen and decongestant, drink plenty of fluids and get something to suck on the drive. Stop frequently, even if it means taking A roads rather than motorways so you can safely stop in rest areas.

As someone said, you need cold medicine from a pharmacist with pseudoephedrine in it. The stuff you get in the supermarket isn't as good (I think I read years ago that it's not actually better as a decongestant then a placebo). Day nurse has it, along with some other brands.

I made it! Thanks for all of the advice.

Set off at about 10, and fuelled by Greggs breakfast, strong tea, chocolate, lemsip tablets and full sugar coke plus my 'angry' playlist on Tidal I got home about ten minutes ago.

Now intending to stay on the sofa for the rest of the day so that work tomorrow is a possibility...

Good for you. Glad you made it safely. It's 2.30am, I've to get up at 6am and finish packing, taking bins out etc. Turning all electrics off. Coffee, ciggies, shower, then do all the above. Then I've to leave at 9am for 3 months! Had planned to get all done tonight, but ran out of energy. Was sick this morning as managed to pick up a dicky tummy during the week and it's just recovering now. Wish me luck! I just need to see it as a short term necessity I suppose.