Ever wanted to try a Neti Pot?

I got sick over the weekend, or maybe it's allergies. Anyhow, after staying outside for five hours at a birthday party, I ended up with a sore throat and post-nasal drip (lovely, I know). But it's gotten worse, much worse. I've just about lost all sense of taste and smell, I've lost my voice and I have a low-grade fever. Of course, that doesn't mean I can take a sick day (stay-at-home moms don't get sick days, it's not in the benefits package). Instead of laying in bed, resting, you still have to do pretty much everything you normally do (feeding and cleaning up after children, explaining things and answering their plethora of questions, etc. ad nauseum), which sadly, now takes even more energy to muster.

Yesterday my brother visited and I told him while we were out and about, that I wished I had a neti pot because I was now desperate enough to try it. (I'd first learned about neti pots about ten years ago and was fascinated with the concept, but the thought of water going up my nose was a strong deterrent to my curiosity.) After all, I couldn't eat, drink or sleep at this point. At which my brother replied "Are you sure Dad doesn't have some at home? What's in that NeilMed box?" And lo and behold, there were not only neti pots but some type of squirt bottle that uses the same solution that looks like an adult aspirator. It was based on that (and the fact that the squirt bottle's nozzle was larger than my nostril) that I decided on the original plan, the neti pot.

Mine happens to be blue plastic and it looks like a hospital-issue tea-pot:

It was easier to use than expected (I was kind of expecting a disastrous outcome) and I actually felt loads better after using it. But (and of course there's a but) it doesn't last. I still couldn't sleep last night. I used it again this morning and I'm still stuffed up half an hour afterwards. The results are fleeting. I'm not sure how often you're allowed to use one of these every day, but I suspect that I'd quickly go over the maximum. So now what? Claritin and Zyrtec don't work on me, and Sudafed (the real stuff) makes me high and anxious so I avoid that as well, which only leaves Benadryl at night (makes me drowsy; not conducive to good child-rearing).