help...im miserable
 

I am suffering from sinus drainage. (i think) I'm taking some medicine, zimantax or something like that, but I can't tell if it's working. Does anyone know about something over the counter I can take that will clear out my nasal area. I can't breathe and no matter how much I blow my nose it doesn't seem to clear anything out. I feel like I'm about to suffocate and sound like I sucked up a lot of helium. I really can't take it and I don't know if I am forgetting about a product that is known to help.

I always use liquid tussin when my nose is stuffy. it works for a few hours. That, or Nyquil and Dayquil.

:(

Awww Sweetie I'm so sorry that you feel bad. I wish I could do something and make you feel better.

:)
thank you.

Aww hope you feel better. :( I know the feeling...it's miserable for sure!!

A few things you could try:

--boil some water over the stove and lean over and breathe in the steam. Sometimes it helps a little.

--eat something really spicy. Seriously! :) I actually do that when my sinuses are clogged and it helps drain them, at least for a little while.

This sounds really crazy, but it works great for me and my dad, who are both prone to sinus infections: eat some jalepenos, or some hot salsa, or basically any type of spicy food. For some reason they really clear both of us up. It also never hurts to take some expectorant and keep yourself really well hydrated.

Wow, thanks you guys. I will try the hot stuff. Since I can't taste anything, I guess I won't know the difference. Keep 'em coming, this should get interesting.

Ha! Glad to know someone else does that to clear out their sinuses! :) IMO it's the best home remedy for it.

Several doctors I've been to have all said that the Ocean Spray nasal saline solution is one of the best things you can do. I guess if it all dries out in there it's just like glued inside, so if you keep everything moist and snotty (sorry for the gross description there) you'll feel much better. It's always worked for me!

Co-sign on the hot stuff and the saline spray. Saline is good because it isn't medicated, and you can use it all day long.

Also, take a really HOT shower, or just hold your head over a steaming bowl of water (covering your head with towel so that you can trap the steam). That'll at least keep things moisturized so you won't feel quite so uncomfortable...

I hope you're feeling better soon!

ditto on all earlier. hot salsa, green chili or jalapenos will get your attention.
sit in the shower and let it run.

Like others have mentioned, take a warm shower or bath. The steam will make you feel a lot better.

I know how you feel. I had Walking Pneumonia last month and I was MISERABLE. On top of the coughing and ribcage soreness and fever, I was very congested. I couldn't breathe, taste, or smell anything for 2 weeks straight. Also, my ears were clogged from fluid build up. My parents flew me home one weekend so they could take care of me and I knew getting on a plane would not be the best thing for my ears with the pressure change. I highly recommend Sudafed or another well-known decongestant. Within 30 minutes of taking it, my ears popped and my sinuses were cleared. If you are going to take Sudafed, drink a lot of water because it dries your mouth out.

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Sudafed Non Drying Sinus. Any otc medication will use sudafedrin as its active ingredient, but the non drying sinus has an expectrant in it that will help make your phlegm more liquidy, so it will drain out of your sinuses (I know that sounds gross, but the worst thing for you is for that stuff to stay in there and cause an infection).

2) I second the hot foods motion!

3) Take a long steamy shower once a day. Close the baothroom door, turn the water on really hot, and make all sorts of steam.

4) Get lots of rest, drink a lot of water, and pop some zinc drops (Zinc was proven to have a significant reduction on the length of a cold).

Hope you feel better!!!

Get the Vicks Nasal spray...works the best. The Inhaler works well with it too. I'd take some Nyquil (sp?) also. It'll help decongest you, give you good sleep, stop the coughing etc etc etc. Take a couple of hot steamy showers a day. Always blow your nose. Get some halls honey/lemon cough drops. Constantly eat broth based soups. Eat no dairy products ( cheese or milk) and no pasta/bread. And if you use tobacco, stop!!

ok so I have to tell all of you what happened cuz i'm trippin.

Last night after a few of you all's responses I flew out of the door and went to Walgreen's and got some liquid Nyquil, some jalapeno peppers, flamin hot pork rines (ugh, i know but i was born in the south and i like 'em) and a Del Monte fruit cup. After the check-out chick asked me if I was pregnant I got back in the car and took a cap full of the Nyquil immediately, then went strait home.

I got home and got in the bed and was watching t.v and reading a book. Couldn't tell you anything about what I was reading because within I guess a couple minutes I was out.

The next thing I remember is waking up in a cold sweat, shot up strait in the bed, I couldn't feel my limbs and it looked like there was confetti all around me and I was a little dizzy. SO I grabbed the phone and was about to call 911 ( I was freaking out) but I dialed my mom instead. I had forgotten that if you call her in the middle of the night, because of how deeply she sleeps, it makes her delirious. So she and I were both on the phone saying things that made NO sense. I particularly recall saying something like "mom, I dunno, my toes just isn't there" and she said "ok honey and I wll those thing to you tomorrow" :confused: I remember saying "thanks mommy, g'nite", hanging up the phone and still wondering what to do. Then I fell back asleep. I am ok now, but I am still shaking a little and I feel only slightly nauseaus (sp) if I move to quickly so I'm taking it easy.


Needless to say, if I clog up tonite, I won't mess with the Nyquil. I mean, I had heard it was strong and to be careful when using it but geez louise!! :eek:

I also had forgotten that earlier that day, I had taken a one-a-day zithromax pill that that doc had prescribed for me so that could have exascerbated the effects of the nyquil, who knows?

Maybe today I'll stick to the non-medicated suggestions like the steaming and the saline spray.

leave the peppers, pork rhines alone. if you borke out in the sweat and you're shaking....that means you have a bad fever. Take 2 or 3 tylonol, drink a big glass of water and get under a bunch of covers. You'll wake up later drenched with sweat but you'll feel 10Xs better. The Nyquil will help too. The antibiotics (Z-max) would not have intensified the effects of the Nyquil. I think when you woke up it was the fact that the medication had worn off and it was time to take more. Besides, you usually feel the worst late at night and in the morning when you're sick. Its just soemthing to think about.

my dad does this and the ear-nose-and throat doctors said it's a good idea.

go to a pharmacy store and get this bottle that has like a sports drink top (the kind that you pull open and push to close that are on water bottles). and there should be a tube inside (kinda like the tubes that are in cleaning supplies, just so that the liquid goes up easier)

then you fill it with warm water, warm enough for your nose to handle. it'll "melt" the gunk, and salt. so a saline solution i guess. mix it up and let the salt dissolve.

now this is the gross part... stand over the sink, put the bottle in one nostril and squeeze the solution into your nose until stuff comes out the other nostril. don't squeeze so hard, just light pressure. enough so that it's pushing through the gunk. your supposed to do it until you have the solution coming out of the other nostril. then you switch nostrils. you'll feel kinda weird doing it at first and water is going through your nose. you'll want to blow your nose right after, but don't, let it chill for awhile. then you can blow.

it helps clear out the stuff in your nose. when i do it when i'm sick, i feel better, i have less of a sinus head ache.

I have had chronic sinusitis in the past and the nasal flush always worked for me. It sounds like you're really sick, so I wasn't going to post this advice. But, I'll say it anyway since I was thinking about it. Sometimes I wake up with a stuffy nose that won't go away. If I run around and get warm/hot, my nose clears up. If you're bedridden, don't do that! But, if it's allergies, that might work for you.

I am now loving this decongestant... it's basically a generic version of Claritin D, sudaphed and claritin combined. I was using sudaphed and it wasn't doing a thing, so I thought maybe it was allergies bugging me too, and this stuff is awesome. I got the grocery stores generic one (half the price) and I got in a 24 hour formula.. one a day and I'm good to go! And it doesn't make me sleepy! Good stuff!

Dee

Dag PHASAD

How long have you been feeling like this? Ain't nobody there to help you out?

Lemme check some fares on Expedia.com

lol.

I will definitely try this...in addition to everything else, of course. Yes, I AM still reading all of your suggestions! I'm felling better internally, but I am still dealing with the congested nasal area :(

Stop doing coke and you won't get these problems.

-Rudey

Well, quit influencing me by begging me to come over and share YOUR coke and I'll be fine.

I like a strong anti-biotic with sinus over the counter medication and a medicated nose spray. I get a sinus infection on average twice a year. So far the second time has eluded me thank goodness, but the one I had after finals in December damn near killed me. Saline is good for a mild infection, but I cant breathe with it. I have to have something stronger so I can breathe, especially at nigth when I lay down to go to sleep, or try to sleep.

Drinking lots of clear fluids like water, sprite, 7up, etc will help too.

LOL!

ok, so it's been one month today since I first started this thread. The problem has since passed, but now I need to know what to do about this left over flim that conitnues to make me cough. Its gross. Everytime I have to cough it up it sounds like I'm full of ...of...stuff.

What should I do? Is there anything I can take to knock out the remnants and residue of whatever accumulated from the cold or infection?

One word: Leaches

care to explain?

Yeah, I saw a commedian once say that the NyQuil label shouldnt say "may cause drowsyness. It should say, 'May cause coma'."

BTW, whats up with that big ass Q?

Second on the hot ass shower. Even if it only helps for a little bit, its some relief. I suffer the sinus infection every February and October. Since I have asthma, a sinus infection is always followed by bronchitis.