2010 was ushered in by a head pounding, sinus blocking cold that made its entrance on the heels of 2009. At about 4:30 New Years' eve morning I awoke to the suspicion that a group of gremlins mistook my head for a country bar, sinuses as blocked like the Lincoln Tunnel during rush hour and muscle aches that felt like I had run a marathon. Since ignoring these symptoms wasn't working, I broke out the Neti pot, gulped down Tylenol, filled a ziploc bag of ice to put on my head, curled up under a blanket on the couch and watched an MSNBC documentary about the 1979 Jonestown Massacre.
Fast forward a few hour
s later when Tom made his appearance in our TV room. By that time I was engaged in an equally uplifting Law & Order SVU marathon. While we previously made plans to go out, he was quickly working plan B - dinner in. As he was leaving to go to the grocery store I summoned from my La-Z- Boy perch "Get some Zicam". By that I meant the stuff that heads off the cold. He came home with Zicam Extreme Congestion Relief. At first I was reluctant to use a nasal spray.
Will I turn into an addict like Felix Unger who always seemed to turn to the junk at the slightest bit of an attack? Do I troll the medicine cabinet for some pills in a hard to open blister-pack from colds gone by that may dry my head out completely and leave a tinny, bitter taste in my mouth but not open up the risk of becoming the equivalent of a crack whore?
But throwing all caution to the wind (and not wanting to go through the hassle of changing out of my pj's and driving to the store to exchange it), I tore open the box, negotiated through the tamper resistant plastic and stuck the applicator up my nose.
Three pumps on each side. In less than about a minute I could breathe clearly and felt a thousand times better. It works great - the package says it lasts 12 hours, which in the throes of my cold started to wear off at about 10 hour mark, but as the severity of my cold abated it seemed to last as promised.
Extreme Congestion didn't rid me of my cold completely and it took a few days to fully recover, but it allowed me to breathe clearly and my head didn't feel like it being pinched in a vice. My malady only lasted a few days, and am happy to report not a nasal spray junkie.
So in addition to the tried and true ways to deal with a cold, this has become one of my favorite solutions to deal with head congestion.
I hope you have a healthy New Year!
xxoo, Jill
No comments:
Post a Comment