Newbie - Hello!

[SunnyGirl]

Hi,

I am pretty new to non-Dairy Foods. I'm a big milk lover (and cheese!) and have found it interesting replacing my daily cereal dose with the alternatives. So far I've tried Alpro (sweetened and un-sweetened), the Oat type and also Rice Dream.

I wasn't too keen on the Oat one, it was a bit gloppy and reminded me of something else I shan't name (sorry, am new and being rude already!), needless to say my brekkie didn't look or taste quite the same. The Soya and Rice types aren't too bad at all.

Here's the thing, I am trying to gain weight and my husband is trying to lose it. We both suffer terribly from Sinusitis and decided to give up dairy in order to see if it made a difference. What we are both a little concerned about and weren't sure how to check, was if we are still getting the nutrients we need, or if by switching to non-dairy, we need to be ensuring we are getting an alternative source of some vitamins etc. Can anyone help me with this at all please?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[cnc]

Hi, Welcome to the site!

If you buy Alpro then you can buy it calcium and vitamin enriched, so you're not losing anything by not having milk. Cheese as far as I understand doesn't actually provide much nutrionally, so again shouldn't be too much of a problem.
As long as you're eating a healthy diet then you should get all the nutrients you need, so I wouldn't worry to much.

Are you totally dairy-free or just cutting down??- have you considered 'hidden milk'?

Let us know how you're getting on!

[SunnyGirl]

Well, I'm just starting to realise just how many things contain dairy! Generally I've been a bit of a chocmonster and very keen on my milk on cereal and in my tea, but I've stopped drinking the tea - if I can't have milk in it, I'm not having it anymore (doesn't taste the same and it's a good excuse to stop the tea-drinking which is a bit of a habit). Apart from cheese, these are really the only things that I tend to have that are clearly dairy.

So far, I'm not really seeing much of a difference as we both still have sinus problems, but maybe it takes a while to take effect and perhaps we'd both be feeling far worse if we were still having dairy?!;)

[Lan]

Hi there.

I liek Cheezley which can be bought from Tescos and most good health stores. I shop at Holland and Barrett and if none there they will normally order it in. Also Sainsburys do a lovely plain chocolate bar and also a nutty one. It is their own make and absolutely fabulous.

Give these a try sometime and let us know what you think.

Lan.

:D:D:D:D:D

[cnc]

Lots of things have hidden dairy, so you may be eating more dairy than you realise.

My sinus problems cleared up after about a month I think. How long have you been dairy free (You may have already stated this and I've missed it, sorry).

[Copper]

As Claire has said there is dairy in lots of things :( I am lactose intolerant so even have to check tablets eg paracetamol don't have the dreaded lactose.

It will take a few weeks to clear dairy from your body.

[matt]

already been said that it could take a while to sort out. but beware the hidden stuff or your never see improvement.

cheezly yuk! scheese for me but not the cheddar. if you're near salisbury then the health food shop on the market place is good as is the holand and barrett store.

[Pam]

Hi Sunnygirl, welcome to the site.

A lot of people have found that they lose weight initially when they embark on a dairy free diet so your husband will be happy, though it might not be so good for you.

Calcium is thought to be the main thing missing from a dairy free diet but it is added to a lot of alternative milks and I read that calcium from milk isn't easily absorbed anyway, so you probably wouldn't be losing out too much by being dairy free. I take a multi vitamin tablet every day just to keep topped up with all the other vits but I don't take a calcium supplement.

I don't have much advice about putting weight on - it happens far too easily for me. For taking it off, cutting down on fat and sugar seems to work for me and I lost quite a bit without trying when I first went dairy free (but put it back on when I discovered Green & Black).

Watch out for hidden milk in most processed foods (even things like boiled ham!) but there are plenty of things available on the normal food shelves if you read the labels carefully, you don't have to spend a fortune on the free from aisle.

Cheese is a big let down when you're dairy free but other than that there are lots of good alternatives around for other stuff. Just ask if there's anything in particular that you are looking for.

[SunnyGirl]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to reply:D

We've been dairy free for about 3 or 4 weeks now, though how dairy free this has been bearing in mind the types of foods that you guys mention contain dairy, I don't know.

The last few autumn/winter/early spring have been the worst for me. It's funny but my husband has suffered from sinus related problems most of his life (not funny ha-ha obviously) and I never did. A year or so into married life (have been married 16 years now) and I suddenly started to suffer. I always put it down to living in poor living conditions - a very very cold converted outhouse.

Then about 7 years ago, having suffered many times with Sinusitis infections, which as you may know can end up being so painful you just want to die, my current Doctor told me I was suffering with Hayfever and prescribed a nasal spray for the periods when I felt I needed it. It's got to the stage when I seem to need it more or less all year and the prescription was stepped up to a stronger version a couple of years ago.

It worries me what this stuff is doing to me.

Last winter things got really bad - I had a virus all through the autumn where I blocked up every evening to the point where I had to use Vicks Sinex to unblock myself so that I could sleep every night. Then, just as I got over this at the beginning of January, I caught a throaty virus off my sister in law. After the initial sore throat, I developed a swelling at the back/bottom of my throat. I lost my voice a bit for a while, but the swelling remained. In fact the swelling got worse and worse to the point where I was panic stricken. I was along at home during the day and very frightened. Unbelievably that day when I was feeling so dreadful, I came down with a sickness bug - what a nightmare! My throat was so swelled up, I didn't have any saliva to swalow and had difficulty swallowing anyway. My husband bless him, came home and had to sit with me trying to calm me down in my panic and eventualy at 1am had to take me to the local hospital, even though he had just come down with the sickness bug too!

I never ever want to go through that again!

The Doctors were REALLY helpful and I ended up having 4/5 lots of anti-b's for the throat, which never worked. They basically weren't interested, which added to my sense of panic. They only wanted to know about it if I really wasn't breathing or couldn't swallow at all i.e. throat closed up - great!

Anyway, sorry to burble on, but you'll probably have got my drift now on why I am trying to tackle the sinus problems and thought that avoiding dairy might help. I've read many times that dairy can make the mucus worse?

[ellsie]

Have you been allergy tested as the times you are saying it is worst is when you are in the house most and heating etc on....wondering if you are allergic to house dust mite?

[cnc]

Lexy, in my experience dairy does make mucus worse. I'm an asthmatic on what are basically mucus suppressants, but was still blocked up all year round- Its only been in the last few months where I've discovered its possible to breathe through my nose!!
I agree with Ellsie as well, allergy tests may be useful to see if theres something in the house you are allergic to.
I can sympathise with the sinusitis- I know how painful it is.
Hope things start improving for you

[SunnyGirl]

Hi both:-)

I haven't been allergy tested - do you have to do this through your Doctor or can you do it any other way do you know?

cnc - is your new found breathing due to eating non-dairy or have you been on non-dairy for a long time?

[cnc]

My new ability to breathe properly is due to giving up dairy. My peak flow test (some way of testing lung function) went up a great deal, which I can only assume is related to the issue. My mucus levels are much reduced (I don't cough as much, my nose doesn't run/ isn't always blocked etc)

I was allergy teted at a hospital, (not my local one- complicated story behind this one!!) I believe you can have them done other ways, but I'd try your doctor especially as he was the one that said you were suffering from hayfever- try along the lines of 'I want to reduce the severity of my hayfever, so would it be possible to have some allergy tests so that I can discover whats causing it and then take action to reduce exposure to the allergen' NHS will do it for free, so is worth trying first.

Hope this helps.

[matt]

know the feeling. as child had croup and had great difficulty breathing on several occasions. think this is the root cause of my phobias on being sick etc. not pleasant. stick with it and hopefully you'll see improvement as times goes on.

[Pam]

If the nasal spray is a steroid one you really shouldn't be using it for prolonged periods as it thins the skin and can cause a lot of problems later on. I don't think the doctor is treating the cause, he is just alleviating symptoms.

When I first went dairy free my hayfever cough and wheeze cleared up straight away and I rarely get a cold these days (except when I have a major dairy lapse - usually around christmas when I am tempted by too many goodies).

I believe that wheat can also be responsible for sinus problems but milk is definitely a baddy, maybe you should cut out milk and reduce wheat for best results. Drinking lots of water helps to keep sinuses clear too. I still suffer occasional sinus headaches and tend to use HappyNose which is a decongestant balm - smells lovely and soothes sore skin, this tends to keep your airways clear all night, you can get it in chemists or supermarkets for about £3 per tube.

On hidden dairy - watch out for dried foods (cup a soup, pot noodles, sauce mixes, flavouring mixes etc) as the majority of them have lactose or some other form of milk in. Most crisp type snacks have milk in them too. Plain potato crisps are generally ok but watch out for the flavoured ones as a lot of companies use lactose to make the flavour stick if not for any other purpose. It's a minefield until you get used to label reading.

York Tests do food allergy testing but I don't think they do testing for things that are inhaled or come into contact with the skin. Your doctor is probably the best route - tell him that you're not happy with your increasing amounts of medication and you want to get to the root of it.

[cnc]

Pam, I'm going to enquire about the nasal sprays- I'm sure the one I've got is steriod based, and I think the one before that was, it does scare me the amount of medication I'm on as well- but I suppose theres very little I can do it, but might see what can be done about it.

Eucalptus (?) oil is very good for un-blocking sinsus problems- stick some on a pillow on a night and it helps you to breathe through the night.

Lexy try your doctor theres no harm in trying them first, you might be lucky and find one thats agreeable to the tests!

[SunnyGirl]

This sounds like solid advice and very valuable - thank you so much guys. I actually did get to the doc's on Friday and have started the ball rolling. She says to try dairy-free for 6 weeks and if it's not helping by then and improving the symptoms, it's not going to.


Have got an op next week :unsure: (unrelated) and will be going back to her after this to progress.

Will keep you posted!

Lexy:D

[cnc]

Going dairy free may improve the sinus issues, but won't neccessarily improve your hayfever, so it may still be worth pushing for the tests in 6 weeks time.

Hope the op goes ok, best wishes

[SunnyGirl]

Will do. Incidentally, I mentioned to the doc that I was very concerned about being on the nasal spray for such a long time and for so much of the year and she told me that the steroids won't affect my health at all and that I shouldn't worry about them.:)

[Copper]

It is the strong steroid creams/ointments that thin the skin. My GP has told me this several times as I have had to use a strong ointment on my hands, as my contact dermatitis got very bad. I have only been allowed to use the strong ointment for a maximum of one week and then use the smallest amount possible.

[matt]

i always swear by olbas oil. very good for clearing the sinus's:)

[cnc]

Olbas oil is very similar to Eucylaptus oil- you would have thought I'd have bothered to learn to spell this properly, but I'm tired!! and are both effective.

[SunnyGirl]

Ditto - We always have Olbas in the house - even if it doesn't always unblock, it's a comfort thing for me (aww bless) - something to do with those lovely carvol capsules Mum used to use I think!:hug:

[cnc]

I got banned from having Karvol capusles apparently they made me worse.... I don't understand but there you go!
There is something reassuring about Olbas oil- its also meant to be good for rubbing on sprains or something along those lines (might investigate that later!)

[Pen]

I mentioned to the doc that I was very concerned about being on the nasal spray for such a long time and for so much of the year and she told me that the steroids won't affect my health at all and that I shouldn't worry about them.:)
My doctor told me exactly the same thing about taking steroid inhalers for asthma. Inhaled steroids can affect the body big time!! I now have almost non-functioning adrenals because of taking those inhalers for 17 years (I stopped taking them altogether in February of this year). Impaired adrenal function also affects the balance of other hormones in the body, and I have hormone imbalances galore (thankfully I have a wonderful integrative doctor (http://www.drpettle.com/) who is helping me get my hormones in balance with natural hormone creams, and some natural supplements for my thyroid and adrenals). Also, I believe that steroid inhalers can contribute to osteoporosis and cataracts. My suggestion would be to do your own research (and not take too much notice of what doctors and pharmaceutical companies say). I agree with Pam, that doctors (through no fault of their own--it's just the way they are trained) aim to alleviate the symptoms without addressing the cause. Often an holistic practitioner has a better way of seeing such problems.

I agree, Olbas Oil is wonderful. Can't get anything like it here in Canada--only the solid Vicks-type of thing. I get family to bring me some when they visit from the UK. It contains not only eucalyptus, but also clove oil, juniperberry, levonmenthol (never heard of it), mint, and wintergreen oil.

For those of you with asthma, you may want to look into the controversial method of alleviating the disease--Buteyko Method. Buteyko has some interesting theories on the subject and gives advice how to unblock a stuffed-up nose in a minute or two. It does work--I have used this method. In fact I have used it naturally before I ever read his book. There is also an article about Buteyko on online Nexus Magazine http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/buteyko.html.

Diseases, such as asthma and eczema (and phobias, likes, dislikes, talents) may stem from a past-life experience. Past-life regression has been shown to heal diseases and phobias. In the book "Children's Past Lives", the author Carol Bowman describes how her son's fear of loud noise disappeared as a result of his having a spontaneous past-life memory of being a soldier. In that life he had been injured on his wrist--exactly the same area on his wrist where he was troubled with eczema in this life. After the regression the eczema cleared up! Carol Bowman is now a specialist on the topic of children's past lives and on past-life regression as a healing tool. Her website is http://www.carolbowman.com/. Sometimes our ailments may stem from an event that happened in a current life and these can also be addressed in a hypnotherapy session.

[cnc]

Getting rid of inhalers and a lot of my other medication has always been something I've wanted to do, but it may be difficult. I have a strange form of asthma (I won't ever have an attack, but just overproduce mucus massively...)

I keep going through phases of wanting to do something about it, but I'm unsure as to where to turn. Any advice?

[Pen]

Claire, I do hope you find a way to get off your medication. It has taken me about three years to succeed in doing this. I too was plagued mainly with congestion (and a cough) rather than shortness of breath. Every morning I would go through a period of 30-60 minutes when the congestion was clearing from the previous night, and this was often a frightening experience--but I must have been free from that problem for about a year. Over those years I have investigated alternative healing methods and chose to use those ones that felt right to me. I also 'decided' I was going to be well, and that determination has helped too. Gradually, I was able to cut down my inhaler (Flovent [used Becotide in the UK]) to the lowest strength inhaler available and then got that down to just one puff a day. I didn't have the courage to actually stop taking it until I met with a medical intuitive in January who told me that my chronic cough was nothing to do with asthma and she strongly suggested I stop using the inhaler althogether. Within a week, I was off the inhaler and haven't needed to use it since.

My advice to anyone keen to stop using steroid inhalers would be:

Don't rush into it!
Research the known side-effects of your particular medication. For Flovent, see http://www.rxcanadapharmacy.com/htmfiles/Flovent.asp, but this also gives an indication of the side effects of other inhaled steroids.
Ask your doctor for advice on cutting down your dose.
Get your doctor to test your hormone levels--progesterone, estrodial (estrogen), testosterone (yes, even in women), DHEA (adrenal hormone), and thyroid levels. If levels are low, seek a practitioner who can prescribe you NATURAL hormones (i.e. bio-identical hormones) and supplements--don't let your doctor prescribe you synthetic hormones. My integrative doctor is Dr Pettle (http://www.drpettle.com/)
Investigate alternative healing methods and try those that you are attracted to [I have used and practiced 'Power Healing' (see www.drsha.com (http://www.drsha.com/)), and have received Dr Sha's "Zhi Gang Sha Soul Software for Divine Lungs", and have had personal healing sessions with Dr Sha; have received shamanic healing from Hank Wesselman (author and shaman) - see http://www.sharedwisdom.com/; have felt and witnessed the healing effects of Reconnective Healing (read "The Reconnection" by Eric Pearl - http://www.thereconnection.com/); was told by a psychic friend of mine the reason I had asthma (something that happened to me when I was a young child), and found immense healing in following this up by doing a powerful meditation; meditated daily for a year or two to build up the five energy centres (same as chakras but using the Eastern theories) of my body to improve overall health and immunity; weekly Network Spinal Analysis (a gentle form of chiropractic) sessions http://www.networkspinalcare.ca/ which have helped me heal not only physically, but emotionally too; monthly sessions with my medical intuitive who is also an energy healer (she uses energy combined with osteopathy and craniosacral therapy).] There are many, many other forms of healing out there so chances are there is someone out there who offers healing a healing method that works for you and works on the cause rather than the symptom.
If you are open to it, seek advice from a medical intuitive. This is someone who can 'sense' areas of your body that are not functioning well. Google 'medical intuitive.'
Have a past-life regression session to see if your condition stems from a previous life. Healing can occur simply by reexperiencing the event that was responsible for the condition.
Find a naturopath.
Try a digestive, organ, or parasite cleanse. Parasites (and most people have them) are responsible for many ailments. (Check out the March issue of Alive Magazine http://www.alive.com/home/index.php?page_type=year_page&site_id=23&go_id=2&take_id=6)
Take up Tai Chi, Qigong, or Yoga.
While you are healing you may be able to reduce your inhaler's strength and dose. When you feel your condition has been relieved by alternative methods that would be the time to think about coming off your inhaler altogether, but it would be advisable to do this under the guidance of your doctor.

[rebecca c]

Hi Sunnygirl,

Like cnc I have a bad nose - allergic rhinitus and polyps for about half my life. It is now almost better thanks to dairy free and I also adapted made up some of my own buteyko type execises to teach me to breath through my nose too.

It took 6 weeks for the dairy to clear my system. I had tried 4 weeks loads of times before with no result at all.

I have lots of other allergies and difficulties but I have been my own doctor and am finally getting better from most things. I have even managed to reduce my inhaled steroids from asthma recently - although wont stop altogether yet as I always have flare ups in the autumn.

Now like you and Matt I need to put on some weight!

Good luck

[cnc]

I may discuss it with a doctor one day (not my own though- the friendly doctor instead!)

Flucitasone Proportinate is what I live on basically (have it in an inhaler and also nasal spray....) Plus a form of salbutamol.
My other consideration is that I train fairly seriously as sportswomen and want to avoid becoming unwell during training (training occurs all year round).

Has anyone else had experience of coming off inhalers (I just want to get as much information as possible)

[SunnyGirl]

I'm thinking that if I can get on top of the sinus problems via a dairy-free diet, I may be able to cut down the hayfever nasal spray use, reason being that because I suffer the sinus probs all through the year, I'm probably taking the nasal spray at times when the actual cause is sinusitis rather than hayfever.

I'm pretty sure that it's the blossom in Spring/late Spring that I react to and I'm fairly certain that I used to give up using the nasal spray once that had passed. When it appeared that I was still having probs the rest of the year and I went to my GP of that time, they just gave me a stronger nasal spray instead of really trying to find out what was happening.

I'm afraid I don't have a particularly trusting view of Doctors, in my experience, there are very few who will take the time to get to know you or listen to you - they seem to want to rush you all through and spend as little time with you as possible..:headbang:

All credit to my new one though, she's one of the very few who have spent any time with me and instead of dismissing me after one visit, has asked me to go back post op on Weds to progress investigations further.:clap:

[cnc]

Lexy thats good news, glad to see you've found a promising doctor! I have a small phobia of doctors- not particualrly a sensible thing to be scared of, I know....

Unfortunatly my allergies are to dust mites (both types), mould, with a mild allergy to duck feathers. I was also told I was allergic to pollution, so I have allergies to things all year round, :( but have also managed to spend more time without hayfever treatment since becoming dairy free.
But I agree that its sometimes hard to tell whether its sinus problems or hayfever making you feel ill!
Good luck with the op, hope the dairy free is going well as well.

[SunnyGirl]

Thanks Claire - am viewing tomorrow as going for a 'Day at a Spa' - relaxing sleep, pampering, rest etc - it seems to be working and keeping the anxiety at bay.


I really sympathise with you - you really are challenged with allergies and it's so wearing being or feeling ill all the time. Knowing what the cause is (and I mean the real cause and not what the Doctor might decide to tell you) does help. I think I get anxious because I can tell that they just aren't interested.

The thing is, it's our life and not theirs, so they aren't so interested, but every life is vitally important to the 'owner' of that life! We (hopefully) have these lives for a good long time and if there is anything amiss, we're unhappy or unwell, it's very important to us that we can understand it and be able to somehow put it right. A few (is that too small a number?) GP's need a gigantic kick up the backside and a reminder of who pays their wages and why they are there and who for.:soapbox:


... and stepping off the soap box, thank you for your good wishes, I'll let you know how I got on as soon as I'm awake enough to see the keys on my 'puter'.

TTFN...

[cnc]

Sounds like an excellent way of thinking of these things Lexy nice one!!

I'm quite fortunate in the fact that the drugs I take mean my allergies are kept under control :) And are fairly common things, so there are practical ways to help alleviate them. (I should stop moaning really, there are people a lot worse of than me) The down side is the damage the drugs may be doing. The most annoying feature (if I don't take my medication/ have been cleaning my very dusty room) is that I sneeze violently enough to pull my stomach muscles, I know its not to serious, but when it occurs and I'm sat at a table I normally bash my knees, oh and I spend all night struggling to sleep.

Oh and the bit about doctors not caring about their patients, I'd generally agree with that, except my friendly doctor who mostly provides advice so I can tackle my own doctor, has a vested interest in my wellbeing!

Take care

[SunnyGirl]

This Doctor sounds a good bet Claire!


Will let you guys know how I get on and so TTFN, adieu!

Lexy:thumbsup:

[cnc]

Pen, think I'm going to have to postpone coming off my inhalers, don't think my health is up to it at the moment :(

Lexy hope you're recovering well.

[Pen]

Claire, that sounds very sensible. As I said, it took me a few years to get to the point when I felt it was right for me to take that huge step, and I had been working hard on improving my health all that time. It can take a lot of hard work, effort, and frustration (and sometimes cost) to reach the point when coming off the inhalers is the right thing to do. Take your time. Hopefully you will just 'know' when the time is right. Good luck.

Pen

[cnc]

Hopefully this will clear up quite quickly. I'm normally reasonably healthy, but with this throat infection things could go downhill rapidly without inhalers! Struggled to walk around Asda today without wanting to sit down and go to sleep...
I am going to speak to my friendly doctor at some point, it may be during my christmas break when I get a chance to actually see her and I'm not in a mad rush to be elsewhere!

[Nic]

Lexy - I, too, have found that going non-dairy made my asthma much better and means I've had many fewer colds. This is a nice fringe benefit, I originally did it because milk gives me eczema! When I do get colds, I find that inhaling (hot steam and Karvol capsules) several times a day and sleeping sitting up (a bean bag in bed works) plus lots of Benylin are the way to go. Its got the be the chesty Benylin though, the other one just suppresses the cough. So do keep going - it does help for a lot of people.

Claire - hope you feel better soon. I wouldn't go off the puffers cold turkey, really bad things could happen. I've been gradually reducing mine, and then upping them again when I have a cold, am going to somewhere with a cat etc. That sort of flexibility works well for me, and my GP is happy for me to do it (I think I struck him as basically sensible and able to be an 'expert patient', which does make for a much better relationship:) ).

Nic

[SunnyGirl]

Hi all,

Thank you for your kind thoughts:-) I had a fantastic experience yesterday at my local hospital in Bath - the staff couldn't have looked after me (or my very nervous husband) any better.

Claire - the Paul Mckenna approach completely worked - I had wondered if the effects would wear off once I was there or I wouldn't leep the night before but I was so calm I didn't recognise myself and hubby couldn't believe it! I've always said to him he'd have to knock me out to get me into hospital.

They were so organised, had loads of staff, a nurse of your very own, I met several docs who would do the op, met the anasthetist who listened and took in all my concerns and could not believe the care that they took of us all.

After the initial grogginess left (5 mins) they couldn't shut me up. I was in and out in an hour - hubby could go where he wanted, read the paper in my cubicle etc, and was there when I was wheeled back in. I came home and sat watching all my fav programmes (even the very newest weekly episode of Lost on E4 which is at 11pm, and feel great today, apart from not being able to move myself due to my middle not seeming to belong to me at the moment.

Mummy-in-law is in charge of me today, shovelling pills down me at regular intervals and doing a grand job of getting me off the sofa when nature calls (no mean feat as I can't use any of my stomach/belly muscles and the gas they pumped in that hasn't yet escaped is putting pressure on my sciatic nerve and a nerve that goes into my shoulder and arm and my rib).

Quite simply I am amazed, one poor chap was very sick from the GA poor love and there was me talking 19 to the douzen about god knows what! Even the lady recovering opposite looked at me as though I was a total freak!

Anyway, have probably bored you to tears, but wanted to thank you for being there with your messages of support - I took all the vibes with me yesterday.

:dance: Lexy x

[Copper]

It is great to hear that all went well yesterday. I do my very best to avoid doctors never mind hospitals. I am the greatest coward :)

[rebecca c]

Sunnygirl

Glad it went well. I'm like that after anaesthetic - they normally give me cocaine as well to clear my nose so I wake up with the munchies.

I use a salt water nose spray which I find good if I have been dusting or something called sterimar from Boots. Aparrantly its sterilised french sea water. It feels quite gentle compared to anything else and was recommended to me bu an ENT surgeon.

[cnc]

Glad the op went well Lexy. Hope you feel back to normal soon.

Nic I don't intend to come off my inhalers completely, might be a bit dangerous!! Will speak to the friendly doctor over Christmas and see what she says.
Copper I'm with you on avoiding doctors!! Unfortunatly university is full of something even worse- trainee doctors! They always want to investigate whatevers wrong with me :unsure: And even more so on avoiding hospitals- last time I went was for allergy tests (wasn't told I had to go to hospital for these until that day) time before that was when I snapped the tendons in my ankle, (did leave it about 10 hours, just to make sure it was neccessary!!) But I've never had a GA and don't intend to!