God, I hate having the flu. It cannot be humanly possible for this much mucus to be produced in one person’s nasal innards. Or can it? For the past three days, I have been producing enough snot to put a small-to-medium lubricant company out of business.
I have fought valiantly, but I am afraid that I have been overcome. This is not like normal snot. This is some weird, superhuman strain of hitherto unknown snot which has embarked on a mission to conquer the world. This morning, attempting to blow my nose, I shot something out of my left nostril that closely resembled green Blue-tac. My right nostril refused completely to co-operate. After five minutes of near-continuous blowing, broken only by short resting periods when I felt I would actually pass out for the first time in my life, I had produced only a faint wet spot on the tissue.
Further blowing resulted in the expressions becoming slightly pinkish, which discouraged me from any further action. Whatever’s in there has obviously settled down and made itself comfortable and has absolutely no inclination of leaving. I think I heard it growl when I came too close with the tissue.
I feel for you, auRa. My yearly allergies are about to blossom (pun intended) into full force, but what makes it worse is that I have recently had a horrid sinus infection. I cannot fathom the amount of stuff that came out of my head. It was unbelieveable. At one point, I was blowing my nose every twenty minutes and getting roughly two tablespoons of gunk! After an extended effort, something up in there went ‘pop’ and about 1/4 cup came out. All of it was neon orange.
On rereading, this looks like a candidate for the TMI thread.
The human body is so beautiful, yet, so gross. shudder
If you aren’t going anywhere for a while, I’ve had good luck with superhydrating- drinking at least one 8-oz glass of water every hour. You have to go to the bathroom pretty frequently, but the water really does seem to help thin out the gunk.
I’m with ya on this one.I had a cold at the beginning of January that lasted up until about a week ago.I was constantly blowing my nose because of the massive amounts of snot my body was producing.
It sucks but hopefully it will clear up soon.In the mean time,I suggest drinking lots and lots of Theraflu.
May I recommend Breath-right strips. A lot of the stuffiness is due not to the snot (though that certianly does contribute), but to swollen nasal membranes, which is why sometimes you blow and blow but nothing is produced.
Pop one of the afore-mentioned babies on your nose, and it mechanically separates the membranes, providing blessed relief. I swear by them.
Out, damned snot! out, I say!–achoo! achoo! why, then, 'tis time to blow 't. Hell, it’s murky! Fie, auRa, fie! a Doper, and afeard? What need I fear who blows it, when none can match our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old woman to have had so much snot in her.
Here’s an idea–take a long, hot shower. Breathe a lot of steam. When things get a little, shall we say, loosened up, give a bigass blow. You’re in the shower, it’ll all go down the drain anyway. And then you don’t have to deal with the Kleenex chafing that’s so painful.
I too,suffer allergies. I take prescription anti-histamine daily,and decongestants at bedtime. I sleep propped up,so my sinuses will drain,and not pool,thus leading to infections. Drink LOTS of water,to thin the mucus and compensate for the dehydrating side effects the decongestants have. I would avoid anti-histamines if it’s just a cold,or flu,but do take them if it’s allergies. Or,have you tried an expectorant? Guaifensin can be bought over the counter,and thins mucus,just make certain that this is all you buy. (Check children’s cold rememdies) The hot shower method works beautifully too. Don’t blow too much,you can force snot into your ear canals,and cause infection. (I’ve actuallly gotten an ear infection this way,also gotten many ear infections because my sinuses were so full,they backed up into my ear canals,and bred germs! Ick!) Good luck to all us valiant battlers of congestion.
Hmm… lots of water, you say? It’s worth a shot. It’s not as if I’m going anywhere today, so access to toilet facilities is readily at hand. And believe me, for the past few days I have reaped all necessary nutrients from three flavors of Finrexin. (Mmm… artificial blackcurrant flavoring…)
Sorry, kambuckta. I finished typing and pressed “Submit” and then thought “Gee, I wonder if I shoulda warned people it gets kinda graphic?” I blame the snot. It’s invaded my brain.
FaerieBeth, the only sinus infection I have ever had was in the second grade. I never never never want to have another. I distinctly recall this vaguely mustard-colored goo that–ooh, it’s too horrible to talk about. shiver
I can only be grateful that I am not allergic to pollen. Having this feeling for most of spring would probably cause me to go suicidal.
Please, Og, send me a teeny-weeny Electrolux nasal vacuum, preferably with carpetbeater and upholstry attachments to do a really thorough job. Thank you.
Hehe,at least you can laugh a little… Hope you get well soon. Make sure you rest,and don’t take up vigorous activity too early,relapses of the flu are not fun. Just take care of yourself,and you’ll pull through beautifully.
Ah… It just occured to me that people might wonder why I speak so authoritively on the subject of sinus congestion. It’s because,not only do I deal with it daily,I have asked many questions of my physician over the years,when I went in sick with respirtory/ear infections. This is why I say it’s a good thing to sleep propped up,and also why I say not to blow too hard. It’s also why I say to drink LOTS of water. It’s the advice I was given by my excellent physician. I’m at the point,that I have to concentrate on not getting another infection. I don’t want to need more anti-biotics because I have had so many,and don’t want to build up a tolerance to them. Good Luck to all,and may Wellness find you soon.
Hear, hear ! I have oft wondered exactly that: how much snot can one body produce? Shocking.
I have begun to use hankies/old T-shirts/dirty laundry to do the blowing. This saves trees, and saves you the ‘Omigod I’m out of kleenex/paper towel/toilet paper’ panic (which can sneak right up on you when the snot production hits overtime!), but more importantly saves your nose from chafing. This means that after you get better (which you will! I promise) you will be better, instead of having a red, raw, peeling nose for the next week.
