Allergic to something in the air...

[amandagmu]

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd start a topic about methods of preventing/subduing (as much as possible) the inevitable Beijing "cold". After three weeks, I've definitely got a sinus infection and am turning to antibiotics (which I hate) in order to get rid of the current one. After the "cold" began, it took a turn for the worse a few days later (details are a bit gross) and I began buying things to try and reduce or deal with the problem in more natural ways since I'm not a big fan of taking drugs. Some of these things have really helped reduce my symptoms and allowed me to sleep at night, but I'm getting worried about the amount of "stuff" I produce when out during the day (despite the wearing of a mask nearly everyday I leave the house).

Just to clear this up right away, I state for the record that I am a vegetarian endurance athlete who exercises 5-6 times per week for at least 45-60 minutes and I get plenty of rest now that my PhD exams have been over for a few months. I take a daily multi-vitamin and eat mostly fruits, veggies, nuts, grains, and soy products in Beijing, and I eat a lot at home. (I guess I'm tired of hearing people here tell me to "get exercise and eat well and you'll be fine".)

Things that have really helped me feel better over the last few weeks:

- N95 air pollution masks (disposable) when walking outside on pollution days > 100.

- air purifier. I wish I'd had it on Day 1, didn't get it until < 2 weeks ago.

- humidifier. It runs all night and sometimes more often. I directly point it at my face when I can't breathe, like right now.

- neti-pot with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon non-iodized sea salt in lukewarm water. I fill the whole thing up and irrigate 2-3 times per day. Gross? Sure, but immediate results in the breathing category. I do it before bed so I can sleep through the night, and in the morning. (FYI: I've also noticed that with the humidifier and neti-pot I no longer get a scratchy, dry throat in the morning either!)

- few drops of eucalyptus essential oil in hot water or in the diffuser in my room, a few hours each evening before going to bed.... reminds me of when my mom used to rub Vick's Vaporub on my chest as kid... btw, do they have that in Beijing???

Despite all this, I can't shake the sinus infection, probably because it's a bacterial one from hell (ugh). Tomorrow I'm going to embark on taking the full course of antibiotics my doctor (thankfully) had advised I take with me to Beijing, largely because I told her my first time in this city 5 years ago (at a different time of the year: summer), I also came down with a serious upper respiratory infection that could only be cured with full course antibiotics when I returned home. Which leads me to wonder: is my body reacting to a specific pollutant in the air? I lived in Dalian one summer and didn't have these problems, I lived in Taipei for a year without a sinus infection or anything like this (got food poisoning x2 but nothing like this), and I just came from another big city, not in East Asia, but presumably also has pollutants, not to mention the exhaust fumes and lots of smokers.

I am seriously trying to decide if my health will hold out for a year here, or if I need to come up with Plan B, ASAP.

[Shelley]

Hello,

That all sounds horrendous. My suggestion is buy a good bicycle and move a few miles out of town. Good luck Shelley

[imron]

Although it probably won't help with your current situation, one thing I've found useful on the prevention front is always breathing through your nose (both in and out). When I first started doing this, I was amazed at the difference it makes. The main reasons I have come to conclude being: when breathing in your nasal hairs will filter out some of the junk in the air meaning less rubbish in your lungs, plus in the colder weather the air has a slightly longer pathway to the lungs and will get slightly warmed up by the time it enters them, making it less harsh.

Breathing out through the nose then helps continually clear the nasal passage so gunk doesn't accumulate there so much.

[amandagmu]

Well, I usually breathe out through my nose anyways; I have a high lung capacity from all the long-distance running. I noticed this not to be true once I got here, however: I had to use an asthma inhaler at a bus stop (also given to me by a doctor before coming here), and I never use inhalers! I was having some weird reaction to something in the air and my chest was heaving.

Anywho, considering I can barely breathe out my nose sometimes right now (thank god for neti-pot and the humidifier!!!), I guess this will be something to keep in mind once the current infection is gone.

[roddy]

I don't really see how an allergy to anything specific could result in a sinus infection. Maybe you might get a bit inflamed and that made you more vulnerable, I don't know.

What do doctors say about the neti pots? Seems to me you're meant to have a certain amount of gunk up there and I'm not sure flushing two or three times a day every day is necessarily going to do that much good. Parts of us are yucky for good reason.

[889]

If it's the cold dry air that's causing the problem, then try one of these:

http://www.achooallergy.com/mask-breathexchangeshieldmask.asp

The mask holds a device which captures some of the moisture from your exhaled breath then uses it to moisturize the air you breath in. It's awkward to wear on the street, of course, and it'll fog up glasses if you wear them. But it's much better for sleeping, particularly if you otherwise tend to cough all night.

[anonymoose]

I get hayfever in the UK but don't experience it in Shanghai. So there could be something specific adding to your woes here.

[knickherboots]

Don't feel bad about taking the antibiotics. Although you may be concerned about the impact of taking the antibiotics, you have certainly suffered enough annoyance and inconvenience and are thereby entitled leaning on a pharmaceutical solution to this common ailment. Although it is possible that you are particularly sensitive to a pollutant, my impression is that the ease of transmission and a lack of appropriate antibodies by recent arrivals are two reasons why you were ambushed.

[jmhcali]

Maybe it's just that there are a wider variety of bugs available in Beijing, since there are so many foreigners here, as well as people from all over China. I think you're just getting exposed to tons of stuff your immune system has never seen before.

Take the antibiotics and don't feel guilty. And buy couple of liters of hand sanitizer. Riding busses or the subway will expose you to a lot more airborne bacteria than just walking around, so try to avoid public transport.

If the dry air is bothering you, I've found that rubbing a little bit of petroleum jelly around my nostrils made me a lot more comfortable.

[amandagmu]

on the petroleum jelly: did you find that here? I have a small chapstick/lip version I've been rubbing all over my upper lip (it got really red after going through half a box of tissues per day...). I am almost out of the stuff and wanted to get some more.

The antibiotics are working! Alright less yellow stuff coming out of my nose than earlier today, and no longer green like last night.

Also, depends on the doctor re: neti-pots, but on the whole most recommend using them (properly of course) but not overusing them, so maybe twice per day with just a little bit of the non-iodized salt. It's basically the method they used before antibiotics. Maybe for some people having gunk up there is normal (like people who grew up with it living in Beijing) but I'm used to being clear and breathing without hacking or spitting loogies all over the place.

[anonymoose]

Why do I get a negative for this post when I was only responding to something in the previous post, which incidentally has now been edited out?

Come on, own up, who gave it to me? :angry:

[roddy]

Fair enough, just seemed a little excessive. You can definitely get petroleum jelly, Watson's will likely carry Vaseline (凡士林, not sure if it's a known brand in the US but you get it in China).

I must have a killer immune system or something, a decade in China and bar the odd dodgy stomach and case of the sniffles I just kept soldiering on. And some of the dodgy stomachs were my own stupid fault for continuing to go to the cheap delicious restaurant that I just didn't want to believe was poisoning me.

[abcdefg]

Amanda -- I really don't want to jump in here in any comprehensive way, but in reviewing what you have said so far I don't remember seeing if you made a point of drinking lots of water, tea, or other liquids. Adequate hydration is important in preventing and treating respiratory problems.

I live in Kunming most of the year, which is high as well as dry, and it's something I've learned not to take lightly.

If your nasal secretions are now turning from purulent (yellow/green) to benign (more or less clear) that is indeed a good sign that you have got the "right drug for the bug." Finish a full two week course, or the infection will almost surely recur. Sinus infections require a longer course of treatment than most people realize.

[crazy-meiguoren]

If antibiotics are making a difference, then you have a bacterial infection. Take the entire course as prescribed, even if you feel better before you're finished with the medicine. If you stop too early, the infection will recur and be more difficult to treat the second time. The stronger bacteria that survived the first few doses will come back. If taking two weeks of antibiotics two or three times a day seems excessively long, see if azithromycin (aka Zithromax) is available in China. It's a five-day treatment, making it a favorite of mine.

Sounds like you have a double whammy: catching infections while suffering irritations from the pollution. Cold air carries less moisture, which further complicates your situation. (I'm more likely to get exercise-induced asthma during the winter, especially when the temperatures become quite frigid.)

[feihong]

Vaseline is a very commonly-found brand of petroleum jelly here in the states. It should be pretty trustworthy.

[zhouhaochen]

how did the Air Purifier help with your sinus infection? I am considering to buy one. Well I have been for about five years here now, but somehow never did. They arent cheap I have to say...

[RockClimb]

Hi Amandagmu,

Sound similar to what some friends and I have had here, some random china only seasonal allergies that pop up (especially after an outdoor workout) that leads to the same nasal symptoms you have. Best thing I've found has been taking some OTC Zyrtec and pesudaphed I brought from the US (you can find it generic here I bet). The pseudaphed and keeping everything up there clear is the best fix because the mild problem of getting backed up from allergies + stuff floating in china air leads to a high chance of the sinus infection you're fighting. If you are going home for xmas bring back pseudaphed and/or zyrtec. Non drugs/medication options are just to use saline spray similar to what you've done, but you can buy it in a small pressurized can that can get up there to clean out quick (is this similar to the neti-pot thing you have?) I just arrived in China for the second time and am waiting to see if being in Beijing this time mean no allergies. Let me know if it doesn't.

Wow didn't realize my first post here would be on random allergy info. Hope this helps!

Cheers

[amandagmu]

azithromycin (aka Zithromax) - 5-day course. This is precisely the set given to me by the doctor in the U.S. before I arrived here. I'm on Day 3 right now and I have to say each day is much better than how I felt Monday monday morning before I started the course, not to mention everything's been 95-99% clear nasal drip for 24 hours or so!!! I can't express how happy that makes me, that and the sinus headache finally dissipating.

Air purifier - oh man, a million times better. I keep it in my room and keep the door closed throughout the day. It runs 24/7. I notice a difference especially when combined with the humidifier: no more morning post-nasal issues (well, when I had the infection I had "stuff" come up, but when I didn't have the two running I thought I was going to choke...lovely description I know). Actually, the only reason I was able to sleep at night was 1) use the neti-post 2) close the door and turn on humidifier and 3) silent mode on air purifier. Those three combined let me sleep a few 10 hour days when the infection was at its worse.

Hydration is definitely not a problem. I drink loads of water and tea everyday (my roommates have noted numerous times "wow, you sure drink a lot of water"), not to mention 100% orange juice and some multi-v juice (I don't do anything less than 100% juices and I don't drink sweetened teas). The only problem now is finding a warm restroom while I'm out. BTW it's a damn good thing McDonald's never questions foreigners in there who don't buy anything visiting their establishments.

Petroleum jelly is what I've been using, just looking for some more here as I only brought the small lip one. Some days I'd like to rub this stuff all over my face. I guess I'll head to Watson's, thanks Roddy.

The best part of this is that I'm heading home for the holidays (Germany) and can stock up at the drug store and pharmacy before coming back!

[zhouhaochen]

how much did the humidifier cost? and if it was good, can you pm me the brand?

[roddy]

Or, assuming the brand of your humidifier isn't some kind of guilty secret, post it here for the greater good . . .