Thank God for Sudafed and Vicks Vap-O-Rub

[beatrice_otter]

I have terrible sinuses. I get them from my Dad. I spent most of high school sick with one sinus infection or another. I'd get sick, get antibiotics, recover be healthy for a couple weeks or a couple of months and then get another one. Thankfully, I grew out of it; my Dad never did, and pretty much lives on Sudafed to keep his sinuses clear. I haven't had an actual sinus infection in years, although my sinuses are still the canary in the coal mine of me getting sick,* and sinus headaches are an unfortunately regular occurrence.

Tonight's headache was a doozy. Last night, I cried a lot just before bedtime (nothing bad, just hours spent reading really sad fanfic). Which dehydrated me, which is a sure-fire route to sinus pressure and headaches for me. I thought I drank enough last night and today to fix the problem, but apparently not. It crept up on me and went from "nothing" to "holy cow, there is so much pressure in my sinuses I feel like my head is going to explode."

But the old cure of drinking lots of water, spraying a bunch of saline up my nose, taking real Sudafed, and rubbing Vick's under my nose** has led to things breaking up and draining. It's still not great, but it's so much better than it was even ten minutes ago, holy crap. Thank God I live in the modern era, I don't know how I would have survived without Sudafed.

*True story, I once had aches, chills-and-fever, a cough, and an upset stomach, and didn't realize I was sick because my sinuses were fine. It never occurred to me that it was possible to be sick without sinus problems.

**Yes, yes, I know, you're not supposed to do that, but it works and I've never had any problems with it. I only break out that trick when it's really bad.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

Ignore me if you've already tried this, but I had similar sinus problems (worse as a child than now because I'm allergic to pine trees and lived 2km downwind from a huge pine plantation!) and my doctor put me onto mometasone nasal spray in 2018. I've had sinus headaches but no sinus infections since.

And hooray for Sudafed!

[beatrice_otter]

I don't know that I've tried that one, but of the nasal sprays that I've tried, the only ones I can tolerate are pure saline and the one that smells like Vick's. The rest, the smell is more disturbing to me than the headache is. (Don't know why, my sense of smell is not particularly strong, but that's life, I guess.)

I haven't had a sinus infection in years myself, just headaches.

[resonant]

Its not Vick's, but did you know there's a moisturizer you can put in your nose? Lok for Ayr Saline Nasal Gel. Life-changing for me. I just wish that my friend had never uttered the words "nose lube."

[beatrice_otter]

"nose lube," augh!

My problem is that I have tried a wide variety of nasal sprays, and the only one I can tolerate is pure saline or the one that smells like Vick's. The rest of them, the smell is more disturbing to me than the pain of the sinus headache is. (I don't know why, my sense of smell is not very strong otherwise, but there it is.)

[senmut]

Sinuses are a bane.

[beatrice_otter]

THey are!

[sulien]

Ugh, sinus headaches can be as bad as migraines and I'm truly sorry to hear that you have so much trouble with them. By any chance does a steam with eucalyptus oil and a smidge of menthol help? If you haven't tried it, it might be worthwhile. I use that when I get a head cold and it helps immensely.

[beatrice_otter]

Vick's and a saline nasal spray work just as well, and are a lot easier and don't require the purchase of special equipment. When I was in North Dakota (where the winters are dry) I did have a humidifier for the house that could infuse stuff like eucalyptus oil in it, but now I live in the Pacific Northwest where 9 months out of the year is wet and humid, so there's no need for special equipment.