This post will be a little graphic; it’s all about sinus troubles since quitting.
I have always had allergies. I spent my life sniffling. I’ve done the tests, taken the shots; I even moved away from Texas. I would have tried anything short of snorting Draino to clear my sinuses and breathe again. Anything except quit smoking, of course. I have always known that my allergies couldn’t possibly get better until I quit.
In fact, fixing my allergies is a main motivator for my quit. Smoking gives me sinus headaches for days. I hate waking up to the smoked-too-much-yesterday headache. I hate the constant coughing. I hate that my throat clogs up as soon as I start talking or even worse, singing. I hate the puffy bags under my eyes.
Quitting has made some symptoms even worse as my sinuses struggle to clear themselves of decades-worth of smoke residue. I’m doing sinus irrigation every day to help clean out the guck. It’s pretty gross. I found a product that claims to tin out the mucus and it appears to work.
I’m wondering if my sinuses are sloughing off their old lining and replacing with new. That sounds like it would be a good thing unless you have to live through the sloughing part.
It is a slow healing process and it is hard to stay patient. I am keeping my fingers crossed that all the nastiness is just the first step.
PT
