After all the glorious sunshine we’ve had the last couple of weeks of poor weather and so-so weather right now seem to augur the onset of an early – and a cold – winter. I have suffered for many years with a persistent cough and blocked nose during winter, usually lasting well into the following May, but last winter I visited my doctor and this time they prescribed a treatment for the potential cause, which is post-nasal drip. I won’t go into it too much since it’s yucky, but I can say that the nasal spray they gave me seemed to do the trick and I had a winter free of the awful cough that was so energy-sapping. You cannot believe how wonderful it was to be able to go to sleep without coughing all night, or to spend a day without coughing every few seconds. It was like being born again – truly wonderful.
For a couple of months now I haven’t renewed that prescription and I started getting a cough again so I’ve hiked myself off to the doctor for a prescription and now the cough is going again. I guess I shouldn’t stop using the spray when it’s so effective, even if it is the middle of summer. It’s a bit like a supplement I used to take (bit expensive so I can’t really afford it at the moment) and I always felt energetic and wonderful. After a few months you forget what’s making you feel that way and stop taking it. Gradually, the feeling dies away, but not fast enough for you to realise it. It’s the same with vitamin supplements: stop taking them and you won’t feel the difference immediately, but you will eventually.
I once heard the definition of madness as continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I guess the converse is equally true: if you want to keep the result keep doing whatever caused it!
Sorry to hear about the PND – not nice. Have you considered trying acupuncture or Traditional Chinese Medicine – alternatively, homeopathy? I’ve had great results with both.
Amin,
I’ve heard the same saying, but I’ve never really thought about it from the other side. Thanks for visiting my fiction blog. Susan has been a great source for connecting to others. I hope to check back in with you regularly, but hopefully you won’t be suffering when I do.
Brandon
Hi Nicky.
Last time I tried acupunture was 30 years ago. Guess what? It worked for me and I’ve never used it since! Where is the logic in that? Never tried Chinese medicine although I’m a great believer that it works. I think there is a world full of healing on our planet, if we would but look.
Best example I can think of is aspirin. Who would realise you can get pretty much the same effect from chewing willow bark? It contains salicylic acid, which is what makes aspirin work.
I used to get terrible migraines, but don’t know and on the odd occasion I do I find smelling a fresh basil leaf helps. I mean really, that’s ridiculous in a way, but it works. It takes a few minutes and the pain doesn’t go 100% (I’d say 95%), but it’s much nicer than popping a load of chemical pills.
Hi Brandon.
Yes, Susan’s blog is a good stepping off point for meeting people. She obviously puts a lot of effort into her blog.
Hi Amin,
You probably won’t care all that much when I tell you how much I love the autumn and winter. In fact, I write very well in the cold…my senses are in alert mode.
Sorry to hear of your illness. I have had bad migraines since I was 11. But in the last years on becoming really positive and happy with my love for life, you’d be surprised how all those headaches just went away miraculously and never returned.
Before that, I was a worrier, often fretful and anxious about things. This coupled with stress and anxiety led to migraines for me though I understand there are different factors for different people.
I guess my inate celebration for life and that understanding for a happy acceptance of my blessings, just made it all suddently defunct.
Thanks for those words on my blog, which I have to confess, that in reality commands very little effort. My blogroll grew slowly with me as my readership grew and I just kept on adding on the names of those who linked me to visit or read me.
Amin, I have two suggestions for you. First of all, my wife used nasal spray for years and it damaged her sinuses. She uses something called a “neti pot”, which you use to pour a weak solution of salt water through your sinuses to clean them out. I haven’t been able to learn the trick, but she insists it works, so you might want to try that. Less expensive, too.
And if you suffer from migraines, you could at least try the advice my friend gave me. He gets terrible migraines, so severe he visits a neurologist regularly. The neurologist told him this one; if you have a headache, take a big drink in case dehydration is causing it. I have tried that, and it works for me about two thirds of the time. Not a bad record for something so simple.