Tonight's insomnia........

[poltr1]

Every winter, I seem to develop a cold that doesn't go away. I have both a stuffy and runny nose at the same time, post-nasal drip, and a sore throat. I don't know if it's a cold or my indoor allergies. I'd rather not see the doctor for anything so minor. Besides, all he would do is prescribe more more drugs. As if I'm not on enough meds already.

Comments

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Try to keep the place humidified - I find it makes a huge difference, more than you'd think. A humidifier you can run at night is good, but when you're awake you can simply keep a big pot of water boiling on the stove. (Make VERY sure to keep aware of the water level, though - don't let it boil dry!)

[poltr1]

I used to have a cool mist humidifier in my room, but R tok it when she moved out. I think I have a nother one stashed away in a closet someplace.

I'd rather not try the pot of boiling water method. I have a teakettle with no whistle, and I let it boil dry more times than I care to admit.

[hawklady.livejournal.com]

I second the suggestion of a humidifier. Having a single-room humidifier unit in the bedroom has made an incredible difference in the comfort level. It's completely eliminated waking up with sore throats and all those other symptoms you mention, unless we're actually *sick* with a real raging fever and stuff. The day-to-day dragged-down sniffly/sore/etc is *gone*. And for under $50. I wish we'd gotten it years and years ago.

We got a "warm-heat" unit, which is a bit more expensive and requires more maintenance, but came with programmable levels ("Keep humidity at X%") and an insert to allow distributing meds if need be -- the advertising literature tries to make you think it's acting as a nebulizer without actually *saying* it does and thereby getting themselves in trouble. We haven't used that feature because we haven't needed to.

Also, another suggestion is to thoroughly vacuum & steam-clean the carpets, pull up the registers and vaccuum accumulated dust/hair out of the portions of the vents you can easily reach, dust down furniture tops (and walls and ceilings) and wash the linens. If the weather is nice openthe windows and vacuum out dirt that accumulates in the tracks.