The weekend went by way too fast, but I guess that’s always the case. I’m dreading work tomorrow and I ran out of zoloft. Plus, I’m so itchy right now that I can’t stand it but I can’t decide if it is mental or real. The thing is, before our trip people kept telling me about the bed bug outbreaks and to be careful of hotels. So of course I was worried about that the whole trip. Now that we’re home, I’m still worrying and every little itch or just thinking about itches makes me itch more! I don’t see any bites or marks or anything (yet) so I’m hopeful that this is all in my head. I’d be so disgusted if we stayed at a place with those and ended up bringing home some little bastard hitchhikers.
Another issue I’ve been having lately is head congestion. I think I may have developed allergies. To what, I don’t know. I just hope it’s not the cat. Because of this, my nose has been feeling blocked and I’ve been unable to breathe through it, especially at night. That’s when it’s the worst. I tried sudafed and claritin – neither worked very well. I also tried afrin (a nasal spray) and that worked quite well… but you’re not supposed to use it for more than a couple of days in a row. Something about it backfiring and causing more congestion, so it becomes very hard for a person to stop using it.
Out of desperation, I decided to try a product I heard about on Dr Oz or some other show, I don’t know, but the point is I scoffed at the time. It’s called a neti pot and basically it is a small pot that you use to flood your sinuses with a saline mixture. The idea is to clear it out naturally and this has supposedly been a technique used for many years in India. It is purported to reduce allergens and irritants.
It’s nasty though – you have to lean over the sink and pour this pot into one nostril, and the stream of saline flows through the sinuses and out the other nostril. Then you switch sides to clear the other passage. I was very apprehensive about flowing water through my nose. I tried it and it feels like if you inhale accidentally underwater, kind of like a lot of pressure behind your nose and a strange feeling in your throat. Then it is ticklish and almost unbearable – it summons a sneeze storm. The first few tries for me resulted in saline flowing into my throat and mouth, making me feel like throwing up. It tastes awful.
I was completely frustrated because it seemed to clear my sinuses up immediately afterward, but quickly went back to the congestion by the time I was trying to sleep. But, this thing gets great reviews and recommendations AND my purchase came with 50 packets of saline mix, so I figured I’d keep using it to see if it just takes time.
Thankfully, it appears that my sinuses are open as of this afternoon. I really hope that this neti is working – I’ll definitely keep using it daily as part of my routine despite the discomfort and nastiness factor.
