Care for Tanvi toolkit

Generally speaking, if I am ill and you are physically in my space, #

1. Take charge #
2. Don’t be incompetent #
3. Put away things #

Food #

Have I eaten in the last 4 hours? If I don’t have an appetite, #

It’s because I can’t stomach the idea of food. The trick is to get me excited about some food. #

• go through various cuisines #
• go through various dishes from those cuisines that can be delivered to where I am in less than 30 minutes #
• offer to order the food I pick for me (please for the love of god put the thing on splitwise) #

Sometimes I don’t like the idea of anything from outside, or want to avoid the expense. #

• present various taste options to me. For example
  • spicy and fatty, like chilli oil? #
  • how about spicy and nutty and a little sour, like sumac? #
  • earthy and sour and nutty, like zaatar? #
  #
• If I’m at home, getting me to go up to my pantry and suggesting easy things I can make with the things that catch my eye is a great idea. #

I might not want a big meal. Some snack options #

• popcorn (with cheese powder) #
• hot chips (chilli powder extra) #
• boiled eggs (with chilli oil, mustard, or chat masala) #
• Doritoes, Cheetos type cheesy chip things #

It might also be worthwhile to encourage me to leave my location, and walk around to find something to eat. This might be especially prudent if I haven’t left the house so far, if I have spent a lot of time on the screen that day, or if I am being anxious about a specific thing. #

• chaat (masala puri!) #
• pav bhaji type things #
• tea/coffee and nippat type items #
• idli/vada/golibaji #

June 2025 edit: I am off of gluten and dairy for the next two months to observe the effect it has on my inflammation. All food and ordering options will need to be screened for this and I might run out of options and get frustrated faster. All food options in the above categories are indicative. If you could actively suggest items that fit the scenario that are also gluten/dairy free (or can be modified to be so) that would be incredible. #

Pain #

Concentrated around the neck and shoulder #

• cold compress with cotton wrapped around it, pressed to area of pain #
• hot water pack pressed to place #
• dynamic stretches
  • If I have time and haven’t showered yet, my full calisthenics warm up routine - just to get the blood flowing #
  • neck rotations, direction stretches #
  • loose jumps, arm swings, shoulder cars #
  • Yuri’s shoulder stretches #
  #

If you know how to identify knots and can offer to remove them for me, that is very helpful during this time. I will not ask for you to do this unless I’m in a large amount of pain, but if you notice me massaging myself and offer - even if it’s just a thirty-second quick rub - know that it goes a long way. #

Headache #

Hydration is the biggest one here. If I mention I have a headache coming up and you hand me a bottle of electral¹, I will love you forever. #

I could also have a headache if I haven’t eaten. See Food. I am more likely to eat food I am handed than seek it out myself. #

Can I breathe properly? When was the last time I saline cleansed my nose? If I don’t have my spray with me (there’s generally one in the car) can/should I take an antihistamine? #

Sometimes the headache is an offshoot of the neck/shoulder pain, in which case the cold press often really helps. #

Right arm pain #

The right neck/shoulder is disproportionately affected by my redacted, and often leads to pain in the whole arm on flare days² or on high usage days³. It helps to hold hot things (mugs!) or cold things (I will keep an ice pack around) #

Standing IYTW isometrics help a surprising amount. A short note on why is in the blog. #

general pain #

• have I taken a muscle relaxant? #
• I used to take lots of crocins, but I’ve stopped. Strangely, the coffee from caffeine or tea bothers me but in a Crocin or saridon helps with the pain. #

General advice #

On onset of a bad throat #

Perform these steps in the following order: #

1. Ingest 2g of vitamin C (if available, ideally liposomal) or as many chewies as you can tolerate, to give your immune system a boost fighting it off⁴. #
2. Switch to hot water⁵ immediately. Sip every few minutes. Keep your throat hydrated. You have multiple flasks! Use them - one gets regular hot water and one gets hot water with lemon and pepper. #
3. Vicks vaporrub on your throat + chest and a scarf to trap the heat in #
4. Strepsils (orange or sugarfree flavours only) to keep your throat hydrated when you want to lock in to a task #
5. Take your allergy meds. Allergy inflammation will be an additional thing for your body to fight off and we don’t want it. #
6. Betadine gargle every 4 hours. No the salt water thing is annoying and water temp hard to get just right. Betadine best. #
7. Make a large batch of something very soothing for your throat. Pongal with pepper and garlic is best. Soupy stuff. At least 1 cup of rice, ideally 2, because illness is hungry business. #
8. Rest your voice. Please don’t talk unless you have to. #
9. Rest yourself!! No going out, no strenuous activity, no losing yourself in something. Please, all of these things deplete from your meager stores and you really do need to get better as fast as possible. #
10. A spoon of honey (preferably wild) is useful once a day to soothe throat. #
11. Eat every 4 hours even if you are not hungry at all. You WILL have low bp otherwise. #
12. Sleep at an elevation. And do try and nap where you can. Brainrot not the best but a book you can lose yourself into is perfect. #

Laryngitis #

This is unfortunately a recurring issue. In 2024, I had Laryngitis 4 times, and was on voice rest for a cumulative 10 weeks. I had acute laryngitis without realising it for two months at the beginning of the year for over two months. In 2025 I managed to stay away from the throat infections but unfortunately got hit in the first week of February in 2026, and that infection followed me the whole month. #

• no ginger in my food (it is good for a fever or a cold but actually hurts a sore throat). #
• avoid hot spices #
• avoid oily food and cold food (this one is a no-brainer) #
• avoid alcohol, actually (again, a throat irritant. Yes, that means hot toddy also). #
• need to constantly keep my throat moist (which means I need to constantly sip on lukewarm water) #

I know some (very little) ISL, and it would mean the world to me if you make an effort to learn it during this time. I will also aim to minimise my talking as much as reasonable, so keep an eye on your phone - I will text you even if I’m right next to you. During voice rest I will often have long coversations with friends where they are talking to me and I am responding via text. #

Misc #

Here’s a log from when I had to consume exclusively liquid food for 5 days. #

Hot water will make lots of things better⁵. Electral will make better what hot water alone will not.
Ice packs are best wrapped in a bit of cotton cloth - one of my slips from the laundry bag is just fine, or one of the nice kitchen towels. #