32 replies to this topic

[TheCG]

My husband has the sinus crud. He refuses to take medicine or anything alternative for it, as he insists that it just prolongs it.

I can get him to drink chai or mint tea.

Is there anything else I can do that he won't think is medicinal? We really can't afford for him to miss work over this.

[Violet]

If he is stubborn, then no. You should do a sinus wash several times daily according to my ENT doctor. Even one daily is a good practice to help prevent this. Rubbing diluted peppermint oil and lavender oil also helps. Run a humidifier or a pan of water to steam on the stove.
You need to get things moving to get rid of this. Mucinex, too. Lots of liquids. Chicken soup.

[Philbe]

Men...!!! Tell him there's nothing macho about sitting on a bed pan with his hiney bare!

[TheCG]

If he is stubborn, then no. You should do a sinus wash several times daily according to my ENT doctor. Even one daily is a good practice to help prevent this. Rubbing diluted peppermint oil and lavender oil also helps. Run a humidifier or a pan of water to steam on the stove.
You need to get things moving to get rid of this. Mucinex, too. Lots of liquids. Chicken soup.

I have peppermint and lavender oil. He won't do a sinus wash or take Mucinex or eat chicken soup (he has a weird thing with chicken broth). I *might* be able to get him to do a saline spray, but I'm not sure. He does drink a ton of water (and I sent him back to work after lunch with a thermos full of chai tea with honey). I'll set up the humidifier and just not say anything about it.

[Andrea]

Garlic and echinacea. There is an echinacea tea on the market if the stubborn cuss won't take a capsule. Simply use a couple of echinacea tea bags along with the chai. He probably won't pop garlic pills either, but it is such a powerful antibiotic. Can you make garlic spaghetti tonight? Lightly saute an obscene amount of fresh chopped garlic in a small amount of olive oil and 1 tbls of butter. Then toss it with some cooked spaghetti noodles. Great for fighting infections and keeps the vampires away! For breakfast, scramble an egg or two with an equally obscene amount of garlic powder. For lunch, see if he'll eat some baked garlic cloves spread on toast . . .

It works, it really does.

[Annarchy]

... an obscene amount of fresh chopped garlic.....

..... love it.

[TheCG]

Garlic does not become obscene.

I might do a frittata tonight with lots of garlic and onions...not feeling like what we had planned anyways!

[Philbe]

Garlic! Aha! Wonderful antiobiotic properties! Hope your fella gets to feeling better...just funnin' ya in my previous post.

[Ambergris]

Pick up some key limes, limes, or lemons (preferably the smaller, paler type with the fruitier scent), and make him mugs of hot lemonade with honey and a pinch of ginger. This stuff is good.

[Jeepers]

Good grief. What is it with some people...okay, men. My son will not take anything either. I tell him and tell him to take stuff to knock it out early or lessen the severity and he will not do it. I even buy the stuff for him.

First sign of a cold and I'm snorting Zicam and sucking on zinc.

Maybe you can hide some meds in a piece of cheese for him.

[Annarchy]

After reading your garlic comment, I overdosed our hot wings last night with garlic. Garlic parmesan with wing sauce poured over.

My DH will not go to the Dr. until he is hardly moving.

[ScrubbieLady]

Something spicy will get the mucus thinning out and flowing. Just have plenty of tissues around.

[HazelStone]

Is this a recurring thing or is it just a random case of sinus crud? I always got a nasty fall cold, and then an early spring cold. My parents had the same view of doctors as your DH- they didn't take us to the doc until it was constant green slime and keeping everyone up with coughing. Since, as you know, stuff that starts in the sinuses eventually drips/spreads downward.

I just thought this issue was my cross to bear. Then a couple years ago it got really, REALLY bad. And it wouldn't let up. Sweetie had been telling me for a long time to see an allergist and so I did...was so miserable that if you told me that dancing outside skyclad at the new moon would help...I might do it.

Turned out that yep, I had allergies. Other family members have them (and/or asthma too)... but my parents never got me checked out for them. (oh and the @#$%^! GP our family saw really should've spoken up...). My symptoms weren't as bad as other family members and so, somehow, I just must not have allergies. Thanks a lot, Mom. The allergist did the workup and put me on an inhaler and meds. I hate taking them but if I slack off, (surprise!) the symptoms come back.

So yeah...harp on "head of the family," "breadwinner" and "man up, you sissy" if you need to. Sometimes waiting it out won't work.

[Philbe]

Allergies and asthma are nothing to ignore...many times they can lead into COPD and pneumonia.

[TheCG]

He was coughing up stuff last night, but after he took cough syrup (small steps, right?) he slept the rest of the night. He stopped by the house this morning (a couple hours into his workday) and I loaded him up with hot chai & honey again.

I plan to "garlic" him tonight.

I also found a "recipe" where you cover sliced lemons and ginger with honey, then after it sits a bit, you just put the honey in the bottom of your mug and add hot water. Sounds tasty to me!

[out_of_the_ordinary]

How wrong is this? I read the thread title and thought it was about a sinus problem and a constipation problem (the stubborn rear end part).

Anyway, CG, I hope your DH is feeling better soon!

[TheCG]

I'm going to try to convince him to breathe steam for a bit tonight. Maybe that'll keep him from waking up at an ungodly hour coughing tonight.

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Do you have a Vaporizer? We use that with either Vicks Vap-o-steam or the Kaz brand stuff added to it. I usually have a cool-mist humidifier going in the house in the winter time, but when one of us is sick or is stuffed up, we notice the difference using the Vaporizer.

[Philbe]

I've used the small crock pots with a bit of mentholatum in it also.

[rootdiggr]

How wrong is this? I read the thread title and thought it was about a sinus problem and a constipation problem (the stubborn rear end part).

Anyway, CG, I hope your DH is feeling better soon!

I was wrong the exact same way!