not a welly girly

annsixty thanks for your concern but the hot lemon drinks are just that - hot water, lemon - and honey! .
The most useful self-help tip staff at the hospital recommended is doing frequent steam inhaling (Albus oil) which kind of blows the cobwebs away!

Oh good I hope you feel better soon?

annsixty do you know what all these little squares are in people's posts?
There is one at the end of yours

It is an emoticon that she can post but you can't see. A sort of "This is where something would be, but it isn't"

It looks like the 'save' icon in Word!

It's a tiny little smiley face!

I am feeling excluded

Like this ☺ but bigger...

Ooh, I can see that!!
But he/she looks a bit pale

It is on my Kindle fire. I am using my I-Pad now so can't post one. Look at me showing off!! I didn't know it showed up as a square on some peoples "appliances" it is an emoticon on mine.

It's gone 3.00am and I'm sat here after another sleepless night. I still have what the hospital assures me is a viral chest infection, so can have no antibiotics, just paracetamol every few hours.

This is over two weeks of constant painful coughing, day and night. I'm trying to sleep sitting up, and so doze fitfully, always to be roused a couple of times over night with a terrifying retching cough that constricts my throat, I can't breathe, I'm exhausted and on my own.

Please, has anyone else gone through this? how long does it go on for?

Oh, I'm sorry you're not able to sleep again, and or get respite from your cough boheminan. Sickness seems worse at night, doesn't it? I hope you call your doctor again in the morning. Even viral infections require close monitoring and maybe some other/different medications for your coughing. Don't hesitate to call 911. They're here to help us through this very thing. Sending best wishes

Call your surgery as soon as it opens and insist on a home visit. You really need to get this checked out by a doctor...it may initially have been a viral infection but a secondary bacterial infection can develop quite quickly. I know it's hard to push past the bureaucracy especially when you feel so unwell but you need to be seen before the weekend. Let us know how you get on

Thanks for your advice Katek I was in hospital last Saturday night/Sunday morning due to breathing difficulties. I had a chest xray and blood tests and have shown as a viral chest infection. I was sent home to 'rest', antibiotics won't help.
After a month of just feeling so rough (the coughing part didn't kick in until about 2 weeks of feeling generally exhausted/run down) now I really could just do with some encouragement from others here that this 'thing' will eventually go. it just doesn't feel I'll ever feel well again, I don't 'do ill' and haven't been near a doctor's for over four years (and I have a sleigh ride to organise here on the 25th)

It's time your doctor's surgery met you, then, and did something to justify the money they are getting just for having you on their books. Phone them and tell the dragon receptionist all that you have told us, not missing out any of the details and definitely not acting as though you "don't do ill" You ARE ill now, so you should act it!

INSIST on a GP visit!! You need a blood test asap. Last March I became ill with a sore throat. It felt 'different' , my glands were swollen and I felt very weak. I was refused a GP visit as I was not deemed to be housebound and just prescribed strong painkillers. Two weeks and several phone calls to the surgery later a GP finally visited. She couldn't give me a blood test at home (?) so my husband had to practically carry me to the pathology lab of our local hospital. Two hour later I received a phone call from the GP - she was sending an ambulance for me as the blood test revealed I had a severe infection. After being admitted to hospital and while still undergoing tests I lost consciousness and regained it three days later to find myself hooked up to intravenous drips in intensive care. I had developed septicaemia and meningitis from the original bacterial throat infection.
I was in hospital for five weeks and was told I was very lucky to survive. It has taken many months for me to get back on my feel but I seem to have come out of it relatively unscathed, apart from a few memory problems.
GET A GP VISIT asap and don't bother with 111.

I don't mean to alarm you but you must be proactive. Rereading your posts I note you HAVE had a blood test. However you must get a GP visit