In The Absence Of Diabetic Friendly Decongestants And Cough Suppressants,

I've resorted to hard liquor.

I blame my mother.

Not for driving me to drink, just for giving me the idea when I was an impressionable teenager.

I've always been "prone to bronchitis", ( something in later life I've come to associate with a dust allergy that tends to get especially ornery during Spring and Fall ), and one coughing session was driving her particularly nuts so in desperation she pulled down the brandy and poured me out a shot.

It worked. Don't know if it was the shock of the stuff to my system, or some actual beneficial ingredient, but it worked.

Getting sick didn't bother me so much back in the day. I like Neo Citron. I like the occasional medication induced buzz from cough medicine and decongestants. Getting cozy in bed while the drugs did their thing was fine for a couple of days.

NOW they say I have "the diabetes", and pretty much everything on the shelf of the cough and cold aisle warns against use by people with diabetes.

I asked the pharmacist about it once and he said it had something to do with the meds giving one's liver instructions to put out sugar which will spike your glucose levels, blah blah blah...

The long and short of it is

There's not too much one can do when one is struck down with a sinus condition that leaks mucus into one's lungs.

The only decongestant they could suggest was nasal spray. Ick; and you can only use that for a couple of days at at time anyway.

Not too much for the cough.

Nothing for the congestion.

So, we resort to the "old wives'" remedies: heating pad on the chest (less messy and smelly than a mustard plaster) , hot showers and tea for steaming the face and sinuses, Tylenol and Ibuprofen for aches and pains,

And a couple tablespoons of alcohol to warm the bronchial tubes on the inside, shock the cough away and soothe those tired spastic chest muscles for sleeping.

sigh

If it continues I'll have to go see the Doctor, but so far there's been minimal fever, and it's still upper respiratory so I'll keep sucking it up.

Better get some more Drambuie; I think we're out ...