Anyone who battles allergies knows that with every slight weather change, a sinus infection is soon to follow. And since the air is getting colder and the rain is coming down and the sun hasn't shone in 3 days, well, my sinuses have decided that it was time for their annual flare-up.
Thanks, just what I wanted.
"How much fluid can actually be in my head?"
Honestly, after the first day of constantly blowing out snot, you would think that you would have gotten it all out by now but you haven't.
Every position change comes with its own personal flow of fluids out of your lovely congested head.
"Since when do my glasses stick onto my head like this?"
I usually don't wear my glasses all day but because my eyes water with every sneeze, my contacts are a no go.
But there's a challenge that comes with wearing glasses during a sinus infection — the brim of your glasses will no longer sit comfortably on your nose.
Why? Because your sinuses are so swollen that your nose is swollen as well which prohibits your glasses from resting comfortably on your nose.
"Why do my abs hurt?"
Thanks to the post-nasal drip and the snot constantly flowing down my throat, you can guarantee that I'm coughing 24/7. Regardless if I'm laying down or sitting up, my stomach is sore as if I just did 100 sit-ups.
"Why the heck do my eyes hurt?"
You know when you're hungover and it hurts to be in bright lights or that if you move too quickly, you get dizzy?
Well, for some reason, the same thing happens during a sinus infection.
"I sound like Darth Vader when I breathe."
Thanks to my nose being stuffed to high heaven, I have to breathe through my mouth.
However, it's not a quiet, easy breath, rather, it's a raspy, fluid catching breath that will make people take 10 steps away from you.
"Nothing, I mean nothing, tastes right."
Even sick food like chicken noodle soup or toast doesn't even taste the same thanks to all the snot that has made a home in the bottom of my stomach.
"My nose looks like it has dandruff on it."
Thanks to the constant blowing that I've been doing to get the extra snot out of my nose, my nose now looks like it has dandruff thanks to the snot drying out my skin.
You can even get the tissues with the aloe or lotion in them and they still won't help.
"Vicks is your best friend at night."
If you were like me when you were younger, you used to fight your mom when she tried to put Vicks on your chest to help you breathe at night. I hated the smell and it literally burned my skin because of the oils.
But now, I couldn't be happier to see that little blue jar on my nightstand when I lay down at night to try to get some shut eye.
That menthol smell is what I dream Heaven smelling like because it literally works wonders when it comes to opening up your airway and actually allowing you to breathe like a normal person.
"Your voice sounds like Wheezy from Toy Story."
After a long night of coughing and sucking on numerous cough drops, you wake up and try to say something but only a raspy squeak comes out.
Surely if you clear your throat it will get better so you give it a try.
After hacking up snot balls, you try talking again just to find out that your voicebox has failed you and you now sound like the squeaker penguin off of Toy Story,
"I just want to stop coughing" *cue crying*
By the end of the week, you are so fed up with coughing that the only thing left to do is cry.
You cry out of the frustration that none of the medications are working and that you haven't slept in six days.
You cry because all you want to do is breathe normally again and at this point, are willing to sacrifice a kidney to do so.
"Finally!"
Finally! You get that one night of sleep that you have been dreaming of and it's like the silver lining in a sappy drama movie.
You wake up the next morning, not fully well, but you realize that your nose is no longer puffy and you can actually see your eyes.
You make it through the day with only a handful of coughs and realize that the end of the manic sinus battle is coming to an end.
Finally.