A Little Cheese with My "Whine"...

(insert heavy sigh here) OK, so here's what happened in the last 2 months of 2009. I was scheduled for surgery on my left hand for 12/22/09. About a month prior to that, I came down with a doozy of a sinus infection. Which some twinkie at a "minute clinic" (and that's about all she spent talking about MY symptoms - however, I learned in great detail about HER health...) tried to tell me was an "allergy." Well, not unless everyone in my house wears a Persian cat on their heads. And allergy attacks don't produce, in me at least, wracking coughs and post-nasal drip like Niagara Falls... I ended up at my regular clinic 2 days later (I missed Thanksgiving because I wasn't sure WHAT this was, but I did't want to infect my family) and yep - sinus infection. That cleared up. The surgery proceeded. Recovering nicely, thanks. And then my kid gives me a cold. A dripping, hacking, stuffy, blow-my-nose-constantly cold that has me sending my dear hubby out STAT for Puffs with lotion because my nose is a cross between W.C. Fields and Rudolph. No reindeer jokes, please. So I'm on Mucinex, which is a great OTC remedy except for that part where you kind of get wired and can't sleep. Which brings me to my question. WHY do all the antihistamines dry out everything BUT my nose?? I can't blink fast enough to keep my eyes from feeling sandpapery. My throat is a parched patch of land. My EARS even feel dry. My skin is even kind of "lizard-y" (not a good look, let me tell you!). But my nose is as plugged as it can get. (insert another sigh here, followed by a cough) Even "real" Sudafed isn't cutting this. I know - it's a cold. Give it a week or 10 days, stay hydrated (I'm sloshing, already), and rest. Except that the cold meds keep me awake. At least I'm not eating, since I've lost my sense of smell. My neti pot is my best friend lately. So are Halls Naturals, a specific candy called a G-shaft that keeps my tongue from sticking to the roof of my mouth, hot tea, and my 24-oz water bottle. I tried horehound drops. Ick. Spit. Wanted to lick sandpaper to get the taste out of my mouth. Here's another one. The kid that gave me the cold is 26 years old. Can I ground him for that?