Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Health: Post- Nasal Drip

(In an attempt to maybe help someone out there who might happen to stumble across this post...)
So I've had this pesky issue with post nasal drip for years now. Last January (2010), I went to an allergy doctor - I had never had an allergy test before so we were hoping maybe that had something to do with it.

Things I despise: allergy tests. They did the prick test first, where they basically put a drop of something on the skin and then scratch/prick you with a needle. This one wasn't horrible, except that you can see how many different times they're going to do it..(pretty sure it was 96?) And then they do the intradermal test where they kind of inject the allergen under your skin. 96 times.

I didn't show any reaction to anything on the scratch/prick test, so they did the intradermal test. (I wish they could have just skipped to that one?) I hate needles. Really hate. Especially when I've already been pricked/scratched 96 times. The worst is just sitting there waiting for the next inject...so horrible! I won't lie, I was actually tearing up during this second part.

Anyway, the only thing that showed up as an allergy is similar to mold and bed bugs, so I'm not allergic to anything weird. Then the doctor thought it was a sinus infection, so gave me medicine - I couldn't finish the 2-3 week dosage because I had such horrible side effects I couldn't eat anything my stomach was so upset. Then the doctor said it could be a gastro issue. (It still could be I guess, but that wouldn't make any sense because the issues are 24/7 and not at all related to when I eat or if I eat at all.)

So, this post nasal drip thing is still here. A few years ago, Allegra D was pretty much instant relief. (I tried it again since it's over the counter now, and it doesn't help at all.) For the last few years, I've taken Mucinex pretty much daily, one or two times a day depending on how bad symptoms are. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the "stuff"/symptoms break through that and get so bad that I'm pretty out of commission for about 5 days, stuffed up, dizzy, similar to a flu but like my head is all stuffed up with this junk. Sprays don't help. Saline rinses hurt so bad, and don't help..just gross me out.

I searched online for herbal stuff/supplements and found a bunch recommended by posters on a few message boards. So I bought it all - like 9-10 different supplements/other things.

For the last month or so, I've been taking Zinc and Echinacea 1-2x a day. My symptoms aren't completely gone, but if I miss a day and then take them, the symptoms get a little bit better. I also have these throat drops (slippery elm) used by singers (apparently) that sometimes help a little..but I hate hate the taste.

Still to try: oil of oregano, and a bunch of other things sitting on the "medicine cabinet" (aka kitchen counter)... I wanted to start on each one gradually, instead of starting them all at once, so I can tell which one may actually help and which ones have no effect..

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