Fighting Sinusitis - Day 23

I feel like I must start every post about health in the same manner. Everyone is different and I am not a health professional. Please see your doctor if you have any health concerns.

With that out of the way, I can now, with confidence, say that I managed to avoid a sinus infection! It's the first time in fifteen years that I have managed to just have a cold, so I'm pretty excited about it.

There were quite a few things that were different from my last cold, both in my environment and the in the at-home treatments I tried.

1. There was no cat in the house. Unfortunately, our cat went AWOL back in April just before Easter. He managed to get out of the house while my husband was grilling some fish on Good Friday. He was spotted a week and a half later, but ran off. We haven't seen him since. We've had at least one cat in the house ever since I started getting these sinus issues and I believe that may have been a factor in my issues. We didn't want to get rid of them, but we've also concluded that we shouldn't bring home any more.

2. I used a sinus rinse twice a day. This was an uncomfortable process, especially at first, but I stuck with it because I've heard how great they are and I ran into a WebMD slideshow that did a great job of explaining to me how they work.  I just had to make sure I was using the Neti Pot in a safe way as they can cause more problems if used incorrectly. I'm sold on the process and will continue using it on a daily basis now that I'm feeling better.

3. I slept with my head raised. The Sleep Number bed we purchased a few months ago came in really handy here. During my first and worst week of the cold when I was feeling a lot of fatigue, I slept better than I have in months.

4. I changed my allergy medication. I've been using Zyrtec for years now on my doctor's recommendation. It's my understanding, though, that different products work differently for each person. If my allergies are so out of control that I'm getting sick three times a year, I figured it was time to switch. I made the switch to Clariton.

5. My resolution had been made. I hadn't been doing a great job with it, but something is better than nothing. I was exercising more and eating healthier prior to getting sick and I think that really helped boost my immune system.

These are the steps I took along with the usual plenty of rest and water. I took a pain reliever only once and that was during the first week when the sinus pressure had given me a massive headache.

I'll take these steps again the next time I start to see cold symptoms. My hope is that I've figured a way to reduce both the severity and duration of my symptoms and that it wasn't just a fluke!

Fighting Sinusitis - Day Eleven

It's officially day eleven of my sinusitis which means I'm out of the 7 - 10 day range of "just a cold". However, and I hope I don't jinx it, compared to other colds and bouts of sinusitis I've had, this one has been mild.

My sinusitis issues usually come with an up and down effect. I'll have a good day and then, according to my husband, overdo it. The next day I can hardly move due to an inability to breathe. Yesterday, I ran errands for most of the day despite my better judgement. This morning, I'm feeling the usual sinus pressure I've been getting every morning for the last eleven days, but nothing severe.

I'm still hoping that I've found a way to keep my sinusitis from affecting my schedule.

Fighting Sinusitis - Day Six

It's day six of my sinusitis and by now the sinus pressure and congestion are making me miserable. I've decided to keep a log to track progress of the inevitable infection to bring to my doctor once this is over, or if I decide to go in for treatment.

I end up with sinusitis about three times a year. There's not a pattern as there always seems to be some allergen in the air. For me, it does not discriminate between winter, summer, fall, or spring.

When I get sinusitis, it hangs on for about four weeks. Some days are better than others and the last week usually is residual coughing and congestion, but it's still there.

So, with all that said, I did the math. If I get sinusitis three times a year for about four weeks, that means I'm sick for almost a quarter of the year. This, to me folks, is unacceptable. Something has to improve. Of course, you knew that already. It's the entire reason I started this blog (believe it or not, it wasn't about Stitch Fix). I want to be held accountable and stay motivated to live a healthier life.

I'm not a doctor, I'm just a mom who has a lot on her plate and doesn't have time to be sick for a quarter of the year. I'm simply passing on my own experiences.

Always talk to your doctor if you have concerns about your health.

Fighting Sinusitis - Day One

It's been a little over four months since I felt fully recovered from my last sinus infection, so, naturally, I started showing signs of a cold this morning.  My husband recently had a cold and my youngest son is currently dealing with one.

It's too late for me to prevent the cold. The first symptom I usually get is laryngitis and it set in shortly after church this morning. However, my hope is that it isn't too late to prevent sinusitis. I'll be taking the usual steps of plenty of water and as much rest as I can get, but this time, I'm going to try a Neti pot to clean out my sinuses twice a day with saline solution. I'll be using NeilMed's NasaFlo and will update the blog with my review once I know if it helped or not.

Here's to defeating recurrent acute sinusitis!