Self-obs: Dry air is my bane!

[DublinShadow]

There's good news and bad news.

The good news (for me) is that I figured out what seems to have been the primary cause of my morning congestion/sneezing fits for the past few months.

The bad news is… it's the dry air in my room, and I forgot to refill my humidifier last night.

So this morning I woke up with the very familiar feeling. That "there are not enough tissues in the WORLD" kind of stuffed up feeling that doesn't make it impossible to breathe or anything, it's just this constant dry pressure reminding me perpetually that it's there, usually for a couple of hours or so after I spend some time somewhere with actual moisture in the air.

This morning, I have a lot to do, so I decided to try to take a proactive approach by shutting myself in the bathroom and turning on the shower as hot as it would go just to build up some steam in there.

As soon as the water started to heat up, I had a few wonderful seconds where it almost felt like all the gunk in my sinuses was just going to loosen up and let me blow it out and be done with it. But no… this is Dublin we're talking about… why would my nose be that obliging?

I grabbed some tissues. Those few seconds that almost felt like relief suddenly changed as I brought them to my nose. The breath I took in preparing to blow turned into a hitch, then another, and another, and the more I felt my sinuses loosening up in the steamy air, the stronger I felt an unavoidable urge to sneeze spreading so deep inside my nose there was absolutely no possibility that I could try to pinch it or stifle it in any way.

Fortunately, my nose didn't let me sit there and be tortured by sneezes that won't come out, which is what so often happens when I wake up with this congestion caused by dry air. I had just enough time to grab one more tissue for safety before a sharp, involuntary gasp ended in a series of very, very satisfying explosions.

"hh… heeeah… hEH… AISCHEW! HH-TSHOUU!! ENG-STCHHH! hh-HAH-HAISTCHOOO! *snff* *SNIFF* HAIHCHHH! ASCHTCHOO!" I got a good seven sneezes in before I was able to hold back long enough to replace the soggy tissues with another stack of 4 or 5 nabbed hastily from the box. Another round of about the same number followed, another frantic grab for more tissues, and yet ANOTHER uncontrollable mess of explosive sneezing before the tickle ebbed off and I was finally able to clear out whatever gunk that attack had left in my nose. The vibration alone caused enough irritation that I ended up having another 3 sneezes in there, all of which BARELY got out between my attempts to stifle them and my nose's exhaustion with the whole ordeal. Those, at least, weren't messy. Just a few quick "HTSSH!" and after that release and with the steam from the hot water, I actually had the rare feeling that I was truly finished sneezing.

I hung out in the bathroom with the hot water on for a bit longer. My nose was slightly runny, which I decided to kill some trees wasting tissues to deal with instead of even TRYING to sniffle and risking that tickle coming back. The risk seems to have been worth it. I'm feeling a little bit of a tingle since I turned the water off and went back to my room half an hour ago, and I did sneeze once when I left the bathroom, but it doesn't feel like I'll probably end up back in the purgatory of trying to hold back the Niagra Falls of my nose or anything anymore. Which… really… is SUCH a relief.

Still bringing a couple packs of tissues with me to work today, though.

[Heavy-Chevy]

Oh how I love these uncontrollable fits like this! Thanks for sharing those great obs!

[DublinShadow]

Glad you enjoyed! Though I can't find any tissue packs to bring to work today.

Either horrible paper towels or I figure out some other way to improvise today

[Raven Insight]

Awh, you poor thing! How adorable though.

[sneezefan]

Luv those huge fits, Dublin. You're wonderful....have heard many of your vids in the past. Some of the best out there. Bless you and thanks for the update. Take care, and Happy Holidays...

[deepinhale]

Your sneezes are amazing! I love hearing them and I hope they give you some relief. Bless you!