My memories of those days are still vivid. I remember the crud in my sinuses, my mouth, my throat. The coughing and snorting is exhausting and makes everything else hurt too. The throat and mouth sores just add insult to injury. Vomitting was the worst and most painful. I never knew exactly where the blood was coming from - I always assumed it was from my throat.

The decongestants helped some, but the body builds a tolerance fairly quicly to them - requiring larger doses and/or doses more frequently. I had best luck by taking a lot of the Guaifenesin and trying to "stay ahead" of the accumulations.

But the best help I found was more hydration. I was losing fluids by vomitting, blowing my nose, coughing, and Olympic class diarrhea. The treatments dehydrate the whole body even more. The first step is to STOP the fluid loss. Get the drugs that stop the hurling and the squirts and take them. Being "tough" proves nothing and makes the overall condition worse.

Then, rehydrate. I finally starting pouring about 2 liters of water per day into my peg tube. That extra fluid helped me more than another single thing.

My wife learned how to hook up my pik line to an IV of fluid at home. The more fluid I got, the better I felt and my symptoms were much less dramatic. I could REALLY feel it when I didn't keep up.

Its a miserable time and must be endured. It does get better - I promise. Be strong. Tom