memo

[fox]

to my head:  please stop feeling pressurey kthx.

i understand that we are allergic to various pollens, and that something is irritating something in the back of our nose and that is why we keep sneezing.  i appreciate that you are trying to flush out the allergen, and i hope you notice i went yesterday and bought two more boxes of the tissues with lotion in them, so go ahead and get as runny as you need to -- i'll keep blowing our nose until the irritant is gone.

but i have given you antihistamines and decongestants, so it kind of bothers me that our sinuses are still aching.  and i'm really unhappy about the pressure in our right ear, as you'll no doubt have become aware because i took that expectorant a little bit ago to thin out whatever crap is in there not moving.  and we've had a hot shower, and i keep loading us up with the hot tea.  what more do you want from me?

love from
fox

Comments

[elance.livejournal.com]

There is a viral-thingy with those symptoms going around. Just about everyone on my friends list in the UK has it, including me.

[orange852.livejournal.com]

Sinuses are evil sometimes. Or, at the very least, criminally, thoughtlessly self-centered.

[hugs]

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

I feel for you, quite literally -- my own sinuses are doing a number on my ears and neck the past two days. Extended release sudafed (generic from Target is much cheaper) is my new best friend, along with its close cousin eight-hour tylenol ;)

so what happens if a reply letter actually shows up?

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

the OTC decongestant on this side isn't sudafed (i.e. pseudoephedrine hydrochloride), sadly -- it's phenylephrine hydrochloride, and i don't know what the difference is chemically between those two things*, but while the local stuff works, the sudafed works better (and faster). and i am still sneezy, wah. and i'm not really supposed to take ibuprofen very often (said the doctor when he told me if i didn't watch it i'd have an ulcer soon), but it works better than paracetemol, the other locally available non-aspirin pain reliever.

i can more or less handle the sinus whatnot, though, with the decongestants and the nasal spray (probably overusing it, but you do what you have to do, right?); mainly i wish i could stop sneezing, and also that the -- as you say -- ache in my neck would ease up a bit.

and if a response letter from my head turns up, i think it's clear that it's time for a nap. :-)


*but i do love the internet, man. pseudoephedrine HCl is C₁₀H₁₅NO.HCl (more info here (:http://www.chemexper.com/chemicals/supplier/cas/345-78-8.html")), and phenylephrine HCl is C₉H₁₃NO₂.HCl (more info here (http://www.chemexper.com/chemicals/supplier/cas/61-76-7.html)). that means little to me, but more than nothing.

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

oh, I thought you were visiting the US now -- maybe home can send OTC drugs? or would that be illegal, considering sudafed is only semi-OTC these days (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-02-07-pharmacists_x.htm)?

I'm a little surprised that UK chemists don't carry any of the "American" drugs; I was able to find brand-name Tylenol when I was visiting Israel a few years back. (actually saved the box b/c I was tickled at being able to read the word Tylenol in Hebrew ;) Be careful with too much ibuprofen or any other NSAID (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAID) if you have tummy issues, but consider yourself lucky you can take them at all -- I'm allergic to them! (damn stupid cramps won't respond to anything else :( so I'm currently curled up in a ball...interesting position in which to read LJ ;)

letter = nap, got it!

I love the internet, too :D

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

i sometimes do have them send me things. mainly i've had them send me robitussin softgels, because i haven't found non-liquid expectorant here and one doesn't want to be drinking cough syrup as if it were fruit juice. (the robitussin has sudafed in it, so they can only get a couple of boxes at a time, and i'm not sure if sending me mass quantities of it through the mail would get people in trouble or what. probably, but they aren't sending meth-lab-like amounts, so we've been okay so far.) and there are a lot of american-type drugs, some exactly the same but with slightly different brand names (allergy medicine: Clarityn, for example), but often different. i don't think i've seen acetaminophen at all, or sudafed, which makes me suspect there are different laws in place about what can be sold at a pharmacy, etc. [shrug] (nine carbons, good; ten carbons, bad! [g])

[amoeba-j.livejournal.com]

[shrug] (nine carbons, good; ten carbons, bad! [g])

LOL -- that's chemistry for you!

that USA Today link talked about OTC drugs being held behind the counter...maybe you might have luck asking a few chemists if they do that with sudafed? I'll wish you and your sinuses (which better never leave you a letter) much luck!

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

they do have stuff behind the counter here -- there's some OTC stuff on the shelf, and some you have to ask for specifically (and in many cases it's the same stuff in a bigger box, which amuses me [g]); and none of it is my beloved sudafed. very sad.