Lemsip going cold is the realest detail in that whole thing mate, honestly. That physical misery of sitting there with your throat raw waiting for books that dont deliver — Ive been there, Donbet at 2am, same delusion about "the touch." March 14th last year I had this Cleopatra Gold sequence burned in my head, three near-misses on the 15x then a dead spin, and I remember the room temperature more than the numbers.
Your 3 hours hits different because you *felt* it coming. That's the worst variance — not the quick dead ones, the ones where you earn your hope.
Quick tip since you ride Donbet: their 3am-6am AEST seems to hit my PayID smoother than afternoons, something about the batch processing. Not saying its luckier, just saying if you're gonna be there with cold medicine anyway, might as well optimise the exit.