Day 30: I'm still sick.

[shadesofmauve]

I'm still ill. Weekend before last my 'never-ending hacking cough + fatigue' symptoms changed to 'full on congestion and headache'. It started draining within a few days, but I haven't been able to smell anything since sometime last week -- even when my nose seems clear.

The fact that anosmia can occasionally be permanent after a bad respiratory infection is frankly terrifying. No sense of smell means I can't taste things.

Comments

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I will hug you here, too.

*hug*

The person I knew who got anosmia after her illness eventually kinda-sorta started to get it back, last I knew before she stopped using LJ. And she was a total foodie (she had a cooking blog on the side), so I remember how crushed she was by this.

For a very long time, I thought my nose was clear when doctors would look up it and say 'wow, you're congested'. So...you may still be congested. And I've recently disovered if you're using a OTC nasal rinse system like a neti pot or Dr. Neil's, the instructions for them are good for runny noses but not actually dealing with congestion (whee!). I got pointed to this video by a doctor (so this isn't Internet wankery) as to the 'proper' way to use it to deal with sinus congestion.

Getting old has its advantages. You lose all shyness about discussing crap like this. :P

[shadesofmauve]

OMG THANK YOU for that video. I just bought a nasal rinse thing (nasalcare, it's a squirt bottle thing) sometime last week, and it does help breathing, but I'd just been following the box instructions! Will try it this way.

In fact, I just talked to my boss about heading home early (I R WIMP) and I'm thinking of going back to mine to schwirzle my schnozz instead of to my folks for a nap as planned.

Getting old has its advantages. You lose all shyness about discussing crap like this. :P

Oh, if you think this is good, let me tell you about the time early on in this when I accidentally double-dosed myself with expectorants and had snot coming out holes snot was never meant to travel to! Or how often during this the cough's been bad enough I vomited. FUN SHARING TIMES.

[t-c-da.livejournal.com]

$Wife uses one of those gadgets in the shower. I'll check with her as to how effective it is, and also show her the video just in case she isn't using it in the recommended manner.

[shadesofmauve]

My experience with it before was that it was excellent at cleaning out congestion/runny stuff in my *nose*, but was just a temporary relief thing.

I tried it last night in the Doctor Recommended Fashion, and while it was much more awkward to do, at dinner afterwards I was able to smell a little bit -- so it seems like a good change, so far!