To: Vocalist <vocalist>
From: Naomi Gurt Lind
Subject: re: MED: Entex (thanks)
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

Thank you Peggy & J-R for your responses.

Peggy, the experience you shared about long-lasting colds that turned out
to be sinus infections is interesting. (I have talked to several people
recently who said that they've had colds that just lingered & lingered -- I
wonder if there is a longer cold bug going around or if they are all
misdiagnosed sinus infections...) Frankly, I wish I *could* see the doctor
but she is all booked up and her gatekeepers wouldn't give me an
appointment. I think it's rather scary that they are willing to prescribe
meds to someone, sight unseen, after a hurried Q&A -- I barely had the
chance to say I was a singer, and I'm not sure that the nurse was really
listening anyway.

JRL wrote:

>I will follow my success story by underlying that had I the choice, I would
>not have sung on that day. Those drugs dealt with some specific symptoms,
>and I decided to take a risk. I have heard stories about ibuprofen thinning
>out the blood vessels. This has been "rumored" to cause rupture of small
>blood vessels on the vocal cords. Any of these drugs taken without care
>could be potentially damaging. It is best not to sing when one is ill, but
>the realities of the real world sometimes dictate otherwise. I should
>practice what I preach. Then again, presenting the entire perspective may
>be more helpful.

Yes, this is very helpful. I guess we're always having to take calculated
risks -- nobody likes doing it but the pressures on us to perform when we
are not at our best are sometimes overwhelming. I know I don't like to
disappoint the people who are counting on me and I often fear that they
will think I am lazy or hypochondriac if I take good care of myself. There
seems to a be a bit of machismo at work sometimes -- a perverse pride that
some people take in being able to do their work no matter how they feel. I
don't agree with this but it's a strong cultural tide!

At this point I've decided not to take the Entex. It does not seem to be a
good choice for singers, from what little information I've been able to
get.

So on the sinus infection angle: what are the telltale signs that
something is a sinus infection and not a cold? (I've never had a sinus
infection, or at least have never been diagnosed thus.) What are the
singing risks & caveats for sinus infection? I know not to sing if I have
any throat pain of any kind -- but what other situations would necessitate
laying off? (Right now I feel stuffy and have a tiny bit of coughing but
NO throat pain at all.)

Thanks everyone for answering my boundless questions!

Naomi