It seems that every night I’ve been stuffed up, but my passages seem very dry at the same time. . . perhaps causing me to be so tired during the day.
I’ve been asked if I’d ever used a humidifier, which, of course, I haven’t. I have a hard time thinking this will do me any real good, but thought I’d see if anyone has used one, and if so, was it at night? For other reasons?
I guess I’m gonna need convincing if I’m actually going to go out and buy one.
Whatcha all think?
Thx!
They’re great, especially for dry membranes. They only have two flaws:
Hard water destroys them pretty quickly. You probably should use store-bought water. Unless you have a water softner, that pretty much solves the problem.
If you leave it on the floor on high, you can get condensation on your floor. Not a good thing for hardwood floors. You can fix this by placing the humdifier higher up and not leaving on high for really long periods of time (like all night).
Since I’m an excessively cheap persno when it comes to Humidifiers I found a solution that works for me.
Each year, in the fall, I go to Target and buy two really big pots… I think they are something like 5 gallons?
Since I live in a one bedroom apartment, in which I pay electric and water but not gas, I fill the pot with water, set the stove on a low flame and go about my business.
It usualy keeps my apartment at about 30% humidity. Of course that humidity disappears when I’m gone at work for the day (since i do indeed turn off the flame when it’s not attended) and in the hour or so before bed time I turn the flame to high if I remember.
Definitely improves my breathing at night.
As did Breathe-right strips.
Thanks Scar and dublos… that made me think of something I forgot to ask: I’m sure that when I wind up at Target or some similar store looking at humidifiers, there will be a range of prices, depending on things that I’m probably unaware of.
Will the cheapest one work just as well as higher priced medels? Obviously I don’t want one that breaks down right away, but I don’t want to shell out money for an expensive one if it doesn’t actually help me any…!
There are also ‘cool mist’ humidifiers to consider too, although I’m not sure of their benefits …
It is actually surprising how many humidifiers are out there!!!
Because you mentioned being tired during the day, I will be nosy and ask if you have seen your doctor about this, perhaps you could get checked out for sleep apnea?
Also, as someone else mentioned, the BreatheRight nasal strips might be worth trying!
I’m wondering… Are you still running your furnace? I stop using the humidifier in the spring when there’s an increase of moisture in the house due to lowering the thermostat or turning the heat off completely.
I would also recommend the Breathe Right strips. Mentholated. Used in conjunction with a saline nasal spray or gel called Ayr, it might be just the trick for you.
Good luck. I know dry nose sucks. Or blows. Whichever.
We run one humidifier in a common area near the stairs and one in my brother’s bedroom all winter long. He is plagued with nosebleeds, and this helps immensely. I’m not sure how much it’ll help with other ailments; I certainly haven’t noticed any difference.
How much water do you drink during the day? If you’re dehydrated, your mucus membranes will be the first part of you to dry up.
And Breathe Right strips rule.
It really helped me when I’d wake up with that hotel-room-nose thing - you know, like in a hotel room when you wake up and your nose is so dry it whistles? Anyway, I used one for a whole winter two years ago and it was a huge help, but I couldn’t get it to work the next winter and kind of forgot about it.
Lord Ashtar thanks, I think I am dehydrated. I was up 'till 6:00am Sunday night thoroughly cleaning my apartment (and drinking vodka) as it was my roomate and my move out date (no, he didn’t clean anything) and I think I’ve been dehydrated ever since. Work was hell Monday, and I’ve never had a bloody nose in my life until Wed of this week.
… and as I suspected, when I got to SuperTarget, I asked an employee about Humidifiers, and she responded by saying that they remove all their humidifiers during the summer season and that they aren’t currently carrying any, BUT they did have the “cold and flu” humidifiers in the pharmacy section.
Sure enough, there are the $29.99 - $39.99 humidifiers that on the box read (Cold and Flu)…
Are we talking about these kinds of humidifiers, and if not, what in the hell was the lady at Target referring to?
The problem cleared up in my late teens but from about the age of 5-19 I could not sleep without a humidifier due to these horrifying nosebleeds I used to get from dry mucous membranes-my paediatrician was the one who suggested the humidifier. I liked the vaporizer type ones that I used to have towards the end. The only sucky part was cleaning it. The nastiness will pile up unless you’re careful and then you’ll end up buying a new one b/c the old one just looks so vile. Also make sure to replace your filter regularly.
I** loves** me my humidifier during the winter. I feel better, my nose and skin are better, I sleep better. I used to leave it on high from the time I got home until I left for work. If I opened the front door, steam would billow out around me. I have since backed it down, though. Bought it for about $30 at KMart.
Same as BlackNGold. Colorado is very dry and the humidifier really helps. I have ours on at night. I do sleep better and my skin is noticably less dry.
I think my husband snores less too.
In the summer, we have a swamp cooler on during the hottest part of the day.
That humidity helps too.
But as Anu-la says, you have to clean these things, and change the filter, especially if, like us, you have ‘hard’ (mineral filled) water.
Me, I try to get the cheapest humidifier possible because inevitably it get’s clogged with mineral deposits. And they never work quite the same again, even if you clean them.
Also, have you tried something like a saline spray for your nose? That helps me a lot, especially right before bed. My roommate uses this press-down aerosol one that I might try. It looks like it might be more effective than the squeeze bottle type I’ve been using.
Mildly interesting anecdote: My old chemistry professor used to take EDTA from the lab and use it to soften the water in his humidifier and hot water heater. EDTA is potent stuff; it’s used as an emergency treatment for heavy metal poisoning (lead, mercury, etc.) but it will also remove other essential metals from your body like iron and calcium. :eek:
My younger son suffered from croup when he was a baby and we bought, at the suggestion of our local doctor, a humidifier. While it definitely helped his croup, it also caused mildew problems in his bedroom.
The baby will be 21 in two months and the mildew problems in his old room persist.