Sinuses, mornings, etc.

I'm going to cut n' paste this morning's blog entry and bounce it off you guys. Anyone go through the same thing? Here it is:

Then and Now

Due to sinuses and stuff, I can remember waking up and feeling less than well for most of my life. Even when I say on here "I woke up feeling great", that's sometimes relative. There are days that I do feel perfectly fine (I don't want to exaggerate), but probably almost half the time I'm feeling poorly to one degree or another. When I'm right in the head it usually passes pretty quickly, maybe within a half hour or so.

Since I acquired the gall bladder problem and then the anxiety/panic, it got much worse (for physical reasons at first, and then, perhaps, psychological). And, now, even while being treated for those things, the morning issues are still not down to pre-illness levels. They're a little higher.

If I'm feeling suboptimal in any way, my mind just wraps around it to some extent. Particularly when my sinuses have drained there's some very real nausea there, and I just can't blow it off like I used to in the old days. That nervousness and fear creeps in, almost paralyzing me. Then I start feeling stupid about it: "a man should not be such a weenie". But I guess I am. Mind you, I don't complain about it. I just sit and suffer silently, so I guess it's not completely un-manlike. But it does prevent me from doing what I need to do. Because of the anxiety element, I tend to sit around and wait until I do eventually feel better. Getting up and moving around would probably help, ironically.

Of course, this is happening to me right now and that's why I'm blogging and not doing other stuff. I woke up at 9am. I wanted to be at work at 8:30. While it's true I don't care about work anymore, there are some things I need to do there and I wanted to get them out of the way early today, so this is messing up my plans a little.

I know a lot of people have sinus problems and probably feel a little ill in the mornings. Some fraction of them are anxiety sufferers, too, no doubt. If anybody out there's cursed with this, I'd appreciate your comments on how to deal with it more effectively. As I've said over and over, I'm going to be moving to Dallas in the middle of the Summer. It's home to five or six million people, all their cars, and one of the world's busiest airports. In other words, lots and lots of air pollution. I've lived there before and know my sinuses will suffer a little more while living there. That's just the way it is. At least it's not like Austin has been a walk in the park. For some reason there's something I'm allergic to down here that didn't exist up there. Maybe it'll be an even tradeoff?

Please find an allergist. Or try eliminating foods to see if you feel better.

I stopped drinking milk and eating ice cream and I feel a million times better, sinus-wise and mood-wise. I also stopped drinking fruit juice and eating and drinking anything cold. Big improvement.

Other common allergens are wheat, corn, and soy. Mood and health are hopelessly entwined. You can't separate the two.

I started a liquid calcium supplement and it's improved my mood and energy level. I don't know if I can mention name brands here - I will have to research the rules. Will let you know.

Thanks for the replies.

Thank God I don't have hayfever allergies. Down here in Austin, it's tree pollen that gets me. That never really got me up in Dallas for some reason. Some types of grass and ozone pollution really get to me, too, but I did go to an allergist when I was a little kid and mold was the only thing that showed up. So when it's hot and humid...yeah, I suffer a little.

I have no apparent food allergies unless I've developed them as I got older, but I've never noticed a connection between my sinuses and the food I eat.

My allergies have actually gotten a lot better as I've gotten older. The nausea in the morning is seldom bad...but it's like the anxiety attaches itself to it or something and makes it worse than it is. I have noticed, though, that Klonopin has a little-known anti-emetic property and that actually seems to kick in a little faster than the anxiolytic effects. It's under control; I just need to manage it better.