Sick day

My god, what's happened to me? Yesterday I felt fine, except for the effects of caffeine withdrawal. I'm trying to kick caffeine--again--and yesterday was my first day clean after a long tapering-off period.

Today I had a headache early. I figured this was just my body crying out for java. But the headache got worse and worse. I still have it. It seems like a sinus headache--a dreadful throbbing below my right eye. But there also has been nausea and a concomitant inability to keep food down. This suggests a bug of some kind, or food poisoning.

At any rate, today was a total wash. I lay in bed, dozing fitfully and, when not dozing, reading fitfully (Susan McDougal's memoir, The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk: my Clinton obsession persists). But I discovered that I couldn't read in my usual position, on my side, because this made my face hurt more. Upright was better. I sat in bed that way for long periods, not reading, not doing anything, just contemplating the throbbing. During one of my few trips out of bed, I read on the Internet about sinus headaches and, following some advice, tried alternating hot and cold compresses on my face, with mixed results.

I hate sinus headaches and get them from time to time, but I'm still not convinced this is one. (You sinus headache sufferers: has one ever made you pukey?) Today reminds me of a malady I suffered immediately after returning from Cambodia about five years ago. My face throbbed then as it does now. It might have been sinuses, or it might have been something I picked up in Siem Reap (or at O'Hare). But it sucked. So does this.

Perhaps my physical being has launched a full-scale protest over the caffeine thing? Will my coffee-starved body next start to jettison limbs?