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I just wanted to mention I have found that neck stretches can help a tiny bit. For mild (probably non-allergic) sinus pressure, I have found doing neck stretches is on rare occasions enough to eliminate it. Most of the time it appears to make a minor contribution. Sometimes neck stretches + capsaicin nasal spray work.
I am taking some new supplements I might talk about later. I doubt they will do exactly what I want, but they seem to be making my sinuses a bit clearer. I tend to think the pressure can manifest even if there is no real trigger for it. It's an overreactiveness. Even if my nasal passages and sinuses were perfectly clear and healthy, I'm not sure it wouldn't happen.
Have you tried moving, or do you find that your allergies / VMR are better in one climate vs. another?
Have you tried moving, or do you find that your allergies / VMR are better in one climate vs. another?
I have looked into relocation, and there's no place I can remotely afford that I am confident would work out for both my allergies and vasomotor rhinitis (and other sinus sensitivities). Even San Diego (if I could afford it), which has more stable barometric pressure than most places in the United States, and relatively low pollen counts overall, could turn out to be trouble thanks to eucalyptus (something I've never dealt with in my environment, so it's hard to predict how I'd react), higher dust mite levels, Santa Ana winds (part of the year), and possibly more mold than the official mold spore counts suggest. Also, simply having warmer temperatures year-round might make my allergies more consistently bad.
At any rate, there has been some improvement. I recently added simple old vitamin C to my supplements, something I had avoided because when I tried it before, probably decades ago, because it gave me too much digestive trouble. I only recently looked into what forms might be more tolerable. I am currently taking 1600mg of liposomal vitamin C and 1500mg of Ester-C. It seems to be helping in all sorts of ways. Of course, I need to see how things look over the course of a whole year.
I'm still doing much better than I had been before I started sinus chemical cautery, so I think I am still deriving some benefit from that treatment.
I don't have the money to travel around and try different places out, so no, I have not actively experimented that way. I haven't traveled that much over the course of my lifetime, and the thing is, these sensitivities gradually increased over the course of time. So even if I had felt better in certain places in the past, it would be difficult to predict how I'd experience now. I would say my sensitivity to storm systems increased some time around 1999. It's also possible it simply became more noticeable then because I became much more active, physically and socially, at that time. Since there was more going on, I might have noticed (health-induced) interruptions from my regular schedule more. I think the weather sensitivity may have already started to increase in 1995, after I had sinus surgery for the first time. But I suspect it had been there even before that, to some degree, without my ever realizing what it was.
I had the vasomotor rhinitis when I lived in Philadelphia, as well. I think it got worse for a while, after I moved to Albuquerque. I became sensitive to daily barometric pressures in a way I didn't normally experience in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I think toward the end of my stay in Philadelphia, storms used to wipe out my energy levels in an even more extreme way than they sometimes do here in Albuquerque.
I have no enthusiasm for relocation at this point. I need to keep working on changing me. This whole week, the weather has fluctuated a lot in Albuquerque, with various storm systems moving through. I haven't had to use Sudafed once. So, we'll see.
Edit: as far as desert and high altitude are concerned: Albuquerque is high desert. If anything, I think high altitude makes my symptoms worse. When I've visited Taos or Santa Fe (both higher altitude than Albuquerque) I have felt somewhat unwell. More of an all-over body feel and energy issue than something really focused on my sinuses (although it probably was accompanied by that too).
Last edited by ApartmentNomad; 03-14-2019 at 09:26 PM..
I have looked into relocation, and there's no place I can remotely afford that I am confident would work out for both my allergies and vasomotor rhinitis (and other sinus sensitivities). Even San Diego (if I could afford it), which has more stable barometric pressure than most places in the United States, and relatively low pollen counts overall, could turn out to be trouble thanks to eucalyptus (something I've never dealt with in my environment, so it's hard to predict how I'd react), higher dust mite levels, Santa Ana winds (part of the year), and possibly more mold than the official mold spore counts suggest. Also, simply having warmer temperatures year-round might make my allergies more consistently bad.
At any rate, there has been some improvement. I recently added simple old vitamin C to my supplements, something I had avoided because when I tried it before, probably decades ago, because it gave me too much digestive trouble. I only recently looked into what forms might be more tolerable. I am currently taking 1600mg of liposomal vitamin C and 1500mg of Ester-C. It seems to be helping in all sorts of ways. Of course, I need to see how things look over the course of a whole year.
I'm still doing much better than I had been before I started sinus chemical cautery, so I think I am still deriving some benefit from that treatment.
I don't have the money to travel around and try different places out, so no, I have not actively experimented that way. I haven't traveled that much over the course of my lifetime, and the thing is, these sensitivities gradually increased over the course of time. So even if I had felt better in certain places in the past, it would be difficult to predict how I'd experience now. I would say my sensitivity to storm systems increased some time around 1999. It's also possible it simply became more noticeable then because I became much more active, physically and socially, at that time. Since there was more going on, I might have noticed (health-induced) interruptions from my regular schedule more. I think the weather sensitivity may have already started to increase in 1995, after I had sinus surgery for the first time. But I suspect it had been there even before that, to some degree, without my ever realizing what it was.
I had the vasomotor rhinitis when I lived in Philadelphia, as well. I think it got worse for a while, after I moved to Albuquerque. I became sensitive to daily barometric pressures in a way I didn't normally experience in Philadelphia. On the other hand, I think toward the end of my stay in Philadelphia, storms used to wipe out my energy levels in an even more extreme way than they sometimes do here in Albuquerque.
I have no enthusiasm for relocation at this point. I need to keep working on changing me. This whole week, the weather has fluctuated a lot in Albuquerque, with various storm systems moving through. I haven't had to use Sudafed once. So, we'll see.
Edit: as far as desert and high altitude are concerned: Albuquerque is high desert. If anything, I think high altitude makes my symptoms worse. When I've visited Taos or Santa Fe (both higher altitude than Albuquerque) I have felt somewhat unwell. More of an all-over body feel and energy issue than something really focused on my sinuses (although it probably was accompanied by that too).
Got it. What I'm finding is that I'm sensitive to changes in relative humidity more than anything else. Barometic pressure seems to be a non-issue. Did you look into that? Here are 50 cities sorted by most to least variation in relative humidity:
Sacramento, California
Austin, Texas
Houston, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Birmingham, Alabama
Raleigh, North Carolina
Richmond, Virginia
Jacksonville, Florida
Nashville, Tennessee
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Charlotte, North Carolina
Tampa, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
Phoenix, Arizona
St. Louis, Missouri
Denver, Colorado
Hartford, Connecticut
Memphis, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
Kansas City, Missouri
Portland, Oregon
Baltimore, Maryland
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cincinnati, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Salt Lake City, Utah
Chicago, Illinois
Columbus, Ohio
Detroit, Michigan
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
San Francisco, California
Washington, DC
Miami, Florida
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Providence, Rhode Island
Rochester, New York
Seattle, Washington
Las Vegas, Nevada
Buffalo, New York
Cleveland, Ohio
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
New York, New York
Boston, Massachusetts
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
Got it. What I'm finding is that I'm sensitive to changes in relative humidity more than anything else. Barometic pressure seems to be a non-issue. Did you look into that? Here are 50 cities sorted by most to least variation in relative humidity:
Sacramento, California
Austin, Texas
Houston, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Birmingham, Alabama
Raleigh, North Carolina
Richmond, Virginia
Jacksonville, Florida
Nashville, Tennessee
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Charlotte, North Carolina
Tampa, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
Phoenix, Arizona
St. Louis, Missouri
Denver, Colorado
Hartford, Connecticut
Memphis, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
Kansas City, Missouri
Portland, Oregon
Baltimore, Maryland
Indianapolis, Indiana
Cincinnati, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Salt Lake City, Utah
Chicago, Illinois
Columbus, Ohio
Detroit, Michigan
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
San Francisco, California
Washington, DC
Miami, Florida
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Providence, Rhode Island
Rochester, New York
Seattle, Washington
Las Vegas, Nevada
Buffalo, New York
Cleveland, Ohio
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
New York, New York
Boston, Massachusetts
Los Angeles, California
San Diego, California
I've never observed any connection between sinus issues/fatigue and fluctuations in relative humidity. Maybe it exists, but I haven't noticed it. On the other hand, I have often been able to say that the barometric pressure is changing, ahead of weather sites even noting the change.
The symptoms have often come on quite suddenly, so I don't think it's about gradual changes in relative humidity over the day. I can go from have relatively normal energy levels to suddenly feeling weak-limbed, as barometric pressure starts to drop. I suppose it's possible that there could be a certain degree of change in relative humidity that sets me off, but I am skeptical.
I would not consider the majority of cities on that list, due to a mold allergy, aside from vasomotor rhinitis concerns.
At this point it's either win the lottery and maybe move to San Diego (I'm not sure I'd even do it then, since I don't particularly want to live in California) or just move back to the Philadelphia area, which is at least home (but even that would require more money than I have now). I found things intolerable in Philadelphia the two or so years before I relocated, but there were at least more days there when I had something closer to my previous normal energy levels. Still, there weren't enough of them to really form them into a normal life. It would be a big risk to go back.
I've never observed any connection between sinus issues/fatigue and fluctuations in relative humidity. Maybe it exists, but I haven't noticed it. On the other hand, I have often been able to say that the barometric pressure is changing, ahead of weather sites even noting the change.
The symptoms have often come on quite suddenly, so I don't think it's about gradual changes in relative humidity over the day. I can go from have relatively normal energy levels to suddenly feeling weak-limbed, as barometric pressure starts to drop. I suppose it's possible that there could be a certain degree of change in relative humidity that sets me off, but I am skeptical.
I would not consider the majority of cities on that list, due to a mold allergy, aside from vasomotor rhinitis concerns.
At this point it's either win the lottery and maybe move to San Diego (I'm not sure I'd even do it then, since I don't particularly want to live in California) or just move back to the Philadelphia area, which is at least home (but even that would require more money than I have now). I found things intolerable in Philadelphia the two or so years before I relocated, but there were at least more days there when I had something closer to my previous normal energy levels. Still, there weren't enough of them to really form them into a normal life. It would be a big risk to go back.
Do you find that you are congested when it drops, or just tired? Also, do you feel the same when the pressure rises suddenly?
Do you find that you are congested when it drops, or just tired? Also, do you feel the same when the pressure rises suddenly?
What I have observed is that I experience sinus pressure (not necessarily actual congestion) and/or fatigue (sometimes including weak limbs, or a sudden tendency to slouch and an impulse--though hardly irresistible--to let my head drop). I haven't always experienced the two symptoms together, but the overall pattern has been for them to be together. Sometimes the pattern will be: increased irritability/anxiousness/even restlessness, followed by a crash in energy, followed by gradually intensifying sinus pressure. Generally, I only notice a correspondence with falling barometric pressure, rather than rising barometric pressure, though occasionally it has seemed that I've been reacting to the latter.
Whether the perception of pressure is really always due to a change of the pressure in my sinuses (which can happen) or simply a neurological response of some sort, I'm not sure. It does seem that my sinuses tend to close up with falling barometric pressure, so that would create actual issues with the air pressure in my sinuses. (If they close up, then the pressure can't adjust to match external pressure. Or that's my simplistic layperson understanding of it.)
Incidentally, I'm continuing to do better than expected this month, and I think liposomal vitamin C (a fat soluble form) and Ester-C are helping.
One further complication to consider when looking at relocation options, is that you are trying to hit a moving target. I recently updated my climate/weather information for various potential relocation targets, and there are some significant changes. A lot of places that received more rain than Albuquerque just a few years ago, are now receiving less, because Albuquerque has shifted back to probably more normal patterns for rain. (It's good that we are getting out from being in drought, but it's no so good for me at times.) Having watched certain cities for over a decade, these fluctuations are really noticeable. So, you can't necessarily be sure of ending up with the city you thought you bought.
Some places do seem to stay pretty constant though. Perhaps they have to be at the extremes to do that, however.
One further complication to consider when looking at relocation options, is that you are trying to hit a moving target. I recently updated my climate/weather information for various potential relocation targets, and there are some significant changes. A lot of places that received more rain than Albuquerque just a few years ago, are now receiving less, because Albuquerque has shifted back to probably more normal patterns for rain. (It's good that we are getting out from being in drought, but it's no so good for me at times.) Having watched certain cities for over a decade, these fluctuations are really noticeable. So, you can't necessarily be sure of ending up with the city you thought you bought.
Some places do seem to stay pretty constant though. Perhaps they have to be at the extremes to do that, however.
Got it. I may be semi-sensitive to falling barometric pressures, too. Curious, though - why is rain a factor here? Just with the barometric drops that follow suit?
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