Because 'dummy' isn't strong enough for what I've been, lately.
(Warning: there is no fiber content today because I'm working on a future Knitty pattern and Amy doesn't like us to blast photos of future designs into cyberspace. But I am knitting.)
So. I lived in Hawaii for ten years, during which, we all knew my allergies and migraines and asthma were getting worse. Not terribly worse, not terribly fast. But noticeably. But Hawaii is the land of constant 90% humidity (it's an event when it drops below 60%) and I had NO IDEA how much the humidity was saving me.
Fast-forward a couple years to winter in South Carolina with a humidity of 28%. I can't sleep at night because I keep having asthma attacks. I've got a migraine. I've got a bunch of lack-of-sleep related minor problems. But it still takes me TWO DAMN YEARS to have the idea of putting a humidifier next to the bed and blasting it into my face at night.
I did that last night.
I slept. I slept well enough to have dreams (considered a sign of good sleep and your brain resting). I feel nearly human this morning. I have hope that with a bit more REM sleep my short-term memory will get better.
Two years. I am such a moron.
Oh, and the migraine's down to a mild headache, too.
If you're in a dry wintery area and not adding humidity to your air, you might wanna try it. Can't hurt. (Today I've got a pot of water boiling on the stove.)
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10 comments:
Just be careful that you don't wake up in a wet bed. I put my humidifier so close once that I had dew on my sheets and face. ;)
It's COLD here in NJ, and our radiators are blasting. I'm going now to turn on the humidifier. No wonder my skin is so dry! Thanks for reminding me (make me a double moron for HAVING a humidifier but forgetting to use it even though it's in the middle of the room).
It's funny how some times the simplest solution is the best...but I'm glad you discovered your nirvana--migraines & sinus infections suck large.
I grew up in NM, where it's an event if the humidity gets UP to 28%. Humidifiers/vaporisors are necessary just to keep the wood in the house from looking like it's been in the sun for 10 years - imagine what your skin/sinuses look like! Congratulations on finding the answer!
Humidifiers are a god send! I wouldn't survive some Canberra winters without them.
It will become your new best friend, no doubt!
ps excited about knitty design in the works!
I always forget too...added bonus is that I don't hear my boyfriend snoring over the humidifier(not as much, anyway!)
By the way, you've been tagged - http://poeticknits.blogspot.com/2007/02/ive-been-tagged.html
Hey...if you've never had to deal with the dry, you probably wouldn't think of it. But, I'm surprised your doctor didn't! Glad that you've found some relief from the symptoms. Great for the skin, too!
Another thing that helps me is saline nasal spray. The humidifier is of course the best but the saline sure makes me more comfortable while I'm waiting for the humidity to come up.
You have all my sympathies, I've suffered from migraine since I was 11 - found sumatriptan would take away an attack, I use the nasal spray version (originally it was an injector kit). Also have used diazepam (valium) to break 4 day marathons.
Can it really be that easy? I will have to go out and buy one for the man in the house who suffers from migraine during the night. So now he is afraid of going to sleep, if the baby does not wake him the headache will. Sleeplessness is Not the solution.
Humidity percentages are deceiving -- f'rinstance, the relative humidity outdoors is 78% in Michigan right now. But it's only 15 degrees F. (-9 C.), so the absolute humidity works out to about 2 gm/cubic meter.
It's cold. But it's a dry cold.
At 43 deg. F in Charleston, the AH works out to about 5.13 gm/cubic meter, even though the relative humidity is lower (70%).
Saline nasal spray is my friend, that and a clean humidifier.
(Let's not talk about the time I forgot to clean the humidifier out at the end of the winter, and let it sit allllll summer. Feh!)
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