Amazing details about my Sinuses

SandN, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

This post is in response to Nancy's comments from my last post, concerning my allergies.

Oddly enough despite the asthsma attack, I have had no symptoms whatsoever, except (2nd verse, same as the first) swollen sinuses, swollen enough to prevent me from smelling very well. My nose isn't runny and my eyes aren't itchy at all. I attribute this improvement to 3 things:

1) Nasonex, which prevents the runny nose. Awesome stuff, I have been using it since I started skydiving (back in 96).

2) the removal of the carpet from my house. I really think this helped with the hay fever symptoms because I'm not having any. Plus, I sweep just about every day and I'm constantly amazed by the amount of dirt I sweep up. I was a lazy vacuumer in the first place, plus that carpet was from the 70's...! I had realized a little while ago that my sense of smell had completely disappeared not too long after we had moved into that house. I know because I had bought a plug-in air freshener thingy for the kitchen and I had complained to Jon that it wasn't working. He insisted the kitchen smelled like a flower shop.

3)The allergy shots. Clicky here for a good definition of what these do, and I swear they work for me. I got slack on these shots after my pregnancy and no amount of Nasonex in the world kept the hay fever symptoms away.

As far as my sense of smell goes, instead of being completely gone it comes and goes. It has been mainly gone this last month because of the weather (and plant sperm). I can improve my sense of smell (and taste) slightly with OTC nasal spray but I can't use that constantly so I tend to only snort the stuff when I make a particularly tasty dinner or we go out to eat. I use it maybe 2-3 times a week and never more than once a day with at least 48 hours in between uses. I also use a saline wash (NeilMed) to keep my sinuses rinsed out. I try to do that once a day but sometimes I'm lazy.

I took my last dose of Prednisone this morning, and I am interested in seeing how long my sense of smell lasts. On a scale of 1-10 I would say my sense of smell is at a 9 right now. I can smell the coffee I bought, that general ozone smell a place with a bunch of electronics get, my deodorant (Arrid Extra-Dry), and the Tropical Coconut hand lotion I use. I can walk down the hall and smell everyone's perfume and after-shave. It's quite nice.