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Wed 9 Jan, 2008 08:35 am
I hate being sick. Normally, I won't take anything for it. Because of my Graves, many decongestants are not good for me to take. But this time, I am practically dying and with the baby I have to feel at least partially human so i am taking medicine to mask my cold until it goes away.
The problem? Nothing works!!
Pharmacist suggested Sudafed. Sudafed is as good as taking Skittles. It doesn't work. So I try Theraflu. Nothing. I think, maybe it's a combo of allergies and a cold so today I bought Zicam Cold and Flu, which has both an antihistamine and a decongestant. It's been 30 minutes since I took and nothing. Well, nothing except feeling a bit drowsy, which is bad since I am at work.
I am practically at deaths door here and I can't find a medicine that will unstuff my nose and make me feel at least a little better.
Do you have any suggestions on meds that might work for me? I have a sick baby right now and I can't be lying around being sick too.
Saline.
Saline.
Saline.
Oh and saline.
Love the stuff. You can do the whole Neti pot thing, I just use a bulb syringe.
Saline lavage:
1 pint purified water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of baking soda
warm up water (not hot, warm), mix in other stuff. Squirt it into your nose (aiming for the back of your head). Blow the heck out of your nose.
I was just reading that antibiotics aren't so great for sinus infections after all. I've had sinus infections for a long time. Since I started doing saline, boom. Helped ENORMOUSLY.
I have a problem shooting things up my nose.
I'll try it but I can't now because I am at work.
I had a huge problem. I'd been doing it to sozlet and saw how much it helped her, then got stuffy and tried it myself. BLECH. Not fun. I got used to it though, as in it actually doesn't bother me at all anymore. If you've ever spent time in the ocean and got salt water up your nose, same feeling. The baking soda helps though, so not even quite that bad.
Oh and to add to "blow the heck out of your nose," keep doing it (squirt, honk, squirt, honk) until you're clear.
Try to get some real psuedophedrine and not that new PE crap. It doesn't work worth poop. You'll have to ask the pharmacist for it because they lock it all up to keep it away from the meth heads.
Another thing that has worked for me is Alka Seltzer Plus Cold.
A neti pot it is.
How did you do it to sozlet?
Ade has a terrible cold with runny/boogie/stuffy nose right now.
I actually prefer the bulb syringe, but that article talks about the benefits of saline lavage.
Like this, kind of:
(Ours opens at the top for easier cleaning -- got it at CVS. We each have our own now.)
I didn't start it with sozlet until she was, hmm, 4 or so? I don't know how much earlier I could've done it. (I learned about it at that point, ENT recommended it.) She did NOT like it at first but got used to it pretty quickly. Asks for it now if she's stuffy. (Being UNstuffy at the end makes it all worth it.)
How does it work if one nostril is almost completely blocked? I can't breathe out the one side.
I've been there, done that with the allergies/cold in the past.
Thanks to all the methheads, there's not much that we as consumers can buy OTC that really works that great anymore.
It may mean going to your doctor, and if thats an option, I would ask him about an allergy nasal inhaler. That mixed with sudafed does work. IT doesn't put you to sleep and helps relieve the symptoms.....
(Those allergy nasal inhalers have such a slight mist to them, you want even notice using it......but they WORK.....)
Put the saline in the other side.
It's all connected in the back. You might have to huff and puff a bit before you get things moving, but you have a pint of saline at your service, just keep squirting. (It's really hard to type about this without getting into pornographic territory -- I already substituted "honk" for "blow," above, but it's difficult... ;-))
Actually put the saline in both sides, the stuffy one too. Makes it even more likely to get things moving.
You can either blow your nose normally or hold one nostril closed -- if you hold the "good" one closed it'll probably get the stuffy one clear faster.
BTW, my doctor always wanted to put me on antibiotics, along with the nasal inhaler and allergy meds. I just hated taking all that crap everyday.
I'm one of those girls that suffered (horribly, till we moved) from inflamed nostrils.....inflamed lungs, green snot, oatmeal like substance being coughed out of my lungs....and constance ear infections...you name it.
It was my child's ped., that suggested the Sudafed with my presciption nasal inhaler to get rid of the ear infections. I was so shocked when it worked....rather quickly I might add.
That after that, when I was inflamed.........I went that route. It seemed to shorten up the length of time I was sick.......
sozobe wrote: (It's really hard to type about this without getting into pornographic territory...)
Sozobe is one sick puppy....
sozobe wrote:Saline lavage:
1 pint purified water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
pinch of baking soda
How purified does the water have to be? Boiled? Filtered? Distilled?
We get it bottled (well, jugged) from the grocery store. I forget how purified it NEEDS to be, but tap water is out, even if boiled.
(Why is everyone always so surprised about the sick-puppiness?)
I just left work long enough to go get this
I am going to try it now.
Back with the results soon.
That stuff is along the same lines but I found it wimpy as compared to the saline lavage. As in, if it helps, great, but if it doesn't, I'd still recommend trying the lavage. (Start with amount -- there's, what, a few ounces in that thing? Sozlet will often go through the entire pint of saline before she's completely clear.)
Good luck!
Ok, so i did it using three bottles.
I don't feel much different. The nostril is still plugged up. In fact, instead of the water coming out my other nostril when I shot it up the good one, it came out my mouth.
I swallowed some of it and it tasted nasty.
How many times do I have to do this before I get some relief?
sozobe wrote:(Why is everyone always so surprised about the sick-puppiness?)
That was more along the lines of admiration.
Bella Dea wrote:Ok, so i did it using three bottles.
I don't feel much different. The nostril is still plugged up. In fact, instead of the water coming out my other nostril when I shot it up the good one, it came out my mouth.
I swallowed some of it and it tasted nasty.
How many times do I have to do this before I get some relief?
I never had much luck with the little bottles. The bulb syringe/ pint works much better IMO.
Make sure you aim towards the back of your head.
DrewDad, OK, thanks. :-D
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