Allergies. Spring is just the worst time for me. I can’t do any critical listening because of plugged ears and a stuffy head. This year is particularly bad. Over the counter anti-histamines can barely make a dent in the congestion and scratchiness.
You’d think 20 years of living in one of the top 5 worst areas in the Mid-Atlantic region for allergies I’d have just gone to an allergist, but I’ve seen iffy results from friends and acquaintances. It’s amazing when I go out to RMAF - within literally an hour or two it’s all gone. Maybe nature is trying to tell me something.
I feel your pain. Even though it’s supposed to be one of the worst allergy seasons in a long time, mine so far have not been too bad. At some point they’ll hit and sometimes I can’t tell if it’s allergies or a cold. My right ear seems to be more prone to getting slightly plugged. You might try Flonase or Nasacort, which are now both over the counter. They seem to help in my case (I also take anti-histamines). On the other hand, maybe it’s time to get out of Jersey.
Afrin is great stuff… until you get addicted to it. Not in the classic “drug addict” sense, but in a very real and scary “guess what? now you can’t breathe at all if you stop using it!” sense. When I went away to college the building I lived in was so old and dusty that I could not breathe through my nose at all. I started using Afrin just before my Junior year and it was like a miracle. The greatest stuff on Earth. I kept using it through graduation and for the next year or so. I decided I had to stop using it, so I did. For the next few months I thought I was literally going to suffocate. It took that long for my body to regain some normalcy in my nasal passages. It was quite frightening that something that powerful and with side effects like that was (and is) freely available over the counter.
I don’t know about Afrin specifically but that’s been reported as a problem with long-term regular use of some types of nasal inhalers, but I believe not with Flonase and Nasacort, which work differently (when I’ve stopped using Flonase I haven’t had any bad reactions). As with all medicines, read the label and if it says not to use it for more than a certain period, don’t.
Someone made a comment on the BSG QOL a few days ago and and I replied. Now I can’t find the posts. Does anyone know what happened here or am I looking in the wrong place?
I like your last suggestion better!