Air Hunger, constant post-nasal drip, chronic sinus problems, allergies I never had until a few year

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


Oh I am a pro with this stuff... Yes an ENT is definately needed. You will need both the allergist and ENT treating you at the same time. With all that going in, you likely have some eustachian tube dysfunction also. And maybe even having sinus surgery would help too. Check for a deviated septum too. Those often cause sinus problems to be chronic.

I am doing half decent right now. Always have at least mild symptoms, but I am happy with that.

Here is what all my treatments are for this:
Sinus surgery for nearly all of my sinuses
Allergy shots every 2 weeks (After initial series.) They say I can go to monthly, but all heck breaks loose when I do.)
nasal steroid
proton inhibitor 2X day

As needed
Nasal antihistamine spray
Decongestants
antihistamines
afrin (2-3 days at a time)
Nasal rinses
asthma inhaler

Now this next thing isn't true science. But I noticed that when I take my 500 mg of pure resveratrol daily, along with 100 of grapseed extract, I improve. Everytime I went off it, I would get worse again. On it, then better. Could be coincidence. Dunno....

All I have to say, is don't stop pushing for help until you feel somewhat decent. Good luck with all of this. You would think that modern medicine could handle such problems with less drugs and procedures.

PS, my ethmoid sinuses are one big open cavern now. If I do a saline rinse, it pours in and out of my maxillaries. That is something someone with chronic sinusitis would dream of! Huh?

Originally posted by gwynnhwyfar
reply to post by VeniVidi

 

Is your doctor a GP, or an allergist, or ENT? Or something else? I feel like my GP just treats the symptoms and my allergist just wants me to keep coming for shots (which I can't even do now, due to my schedule),

Find a new allergist. Mine is available 6 days a week. From early in the morning until 9 PM at night. And has many offices. I am in and out in 5 minutes. Those shots will help the most. And previously unknown to me was the fact that you have to keep doing it after the initial series. Sigh...

BTW, my GP has nothing to do with my treatment. In fact right now my allergist handles even the ENT stuff. Now that a treatment regime has been established. And surgery was done. One stop shopping. Once a year visit besides shots.

reply to post by fooks


I am 43 years old.

Our house has mostly tile flooring, but I am planning on "cleaning the floors" Sunday, which for me, will involve the following:

-Sweep/Dry mop the tile floors.
-"Swiffer" the tile floors - not sure if this is necessary anymore as I used to do it to try to make marking problems from my male dog smell better, and he has not been marking lately. I may skip this since the perfumes in the cleaning solution bother me and may only make things worse.
-"Shark" (steam clean) the tile floors.
-Vacuum the den and the bedrooms and steam clean the carpets.

I will get on with ingesting the local honey - my Dad was an amateur beekeeper for years before he retired and it makes sense that ingesting small amounts of the local flora/pollen works the same as those shots from the allergist. Thanks!

reply to post by elouina


Aha! Thanks so much for your responses! I feel like you are quite familiar with the stuff I have been going through. Very much appreciated!

What surgery did you have?!? Did it help? How did things change for you?

The Allergist that I was going is only in her West Valley office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and only during 9-5 "banking" hours. My GP is available pretty much any day, but doesn't really do anything besides order another Z-Pak of antibiotics and refill my nasal spray and eye drops (Patenol). I also happen to be allergic to both Pennecillin/Amoxicillin and Sulfa antibiotics, so they give me the Z-Pak. Oh joy - kills the bad guys and the good guys both, so my digestion is completely hosed for the next couple of weeks (last couple of weeks, in this particular case).

I am going to try to schedule an appt with an ENT Doc, Monday.

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar

Hi

It's been ages since I've posted anything on ATS but when I saw your thread I felt I had to reply, in case my experience may help you. I hope it does.

I've been trying to write out my experience but without it ending up as war and peace I am unable to. So, rather than trying to explain my experience, I'll just get to my point.

Basically I started suffering sinus problems in summer 2009. Constant runny nose, sneezing like a banshee, lost my sense of smell. Horrible post nasal drip. My asthma, which had always been very mild, suddenly got worse and I had to start using a steroid inhaler Nothing my GP did helped much - steroid nasal sprays gave me nose bleeds and didn't help.

I also found out I was allergic to ibuprofen and aspirin - something I had not been allergic to before. I discovered nasal irrigation and this definitely helped and cleared out a lot of nasty stuff, and gave me back a sense of smell on some days - what I called 'good' days, when I wasn't sneezing quite so much. Other days would be 'bad' days, and the worst of it was I never knew what day I was going to have, it seemed horribly random. I felt my life was being dominated by my runny nose and uncontrollable sneezing, that I would never be free of it, and it was very depressing. I also began feeling shaky, especially at night, and I didn't know why.

Then late last year I developed a lung infection so bad that I was referred to a specialist at our local hospital. He basically said that all the stuff in my nose was dripping into my lungs causing the infection and breathing problems. Fix the nose, he said, and my breathing would also be fixed.

He suggested something I'd never heard of before - salicylate intolerance (bolded for importance ). He said that people who are allergic to aspirin/ibuprofen may (not always) be intolerance to salicylates in foods. He gave me a food list and told me to give it a try and then come back to see him in three months time.

So, figuring anything was worth a try at this point, I studied the list and immediately went on a very plain diet of foods that the list said were low in salicylates. I stuck rigorusly to this, determined to see if it would help although I wasn't sure it would. But... sure enough... after a couple of weeks I could see noticeable improvement. After about a month, I decided to try some 'bad' foods. One night we had pizza. Next day - sneezing all over the place. (Tomatoes are high in salicylates, not to mention the Coke I had as well). I experimented other times, each time realising a pattern between what I was eating and my reactions. I was astonished.

When I went for my follow up appointment, my breahting was much better and in fact I was able to cut down my dose of steroid inhaler. Lung infection had cleared up, and as an added bonus, I discovered that I had lost half a stone in weight, without even trying

Long story short - I am feeling much better. I no longer feel, as I had done for so long, that my life is dominated by a runny nose and uncontrollable sneezing. Most days (9 out of 10) I don't sneeze or runny nose at all. I am controlling it by what I am eating. My breathing is much better, I have reduced my steroid inhaler intake.

So what I basically wanted to say is, have you heard of salicylates? I had never heard of them at all until the specialist mentioned them. Is this worth a try for you? I have no idea why I suddenly started reacting to them, whether it was a build up over time that reached critical levels or what. But I do know that watching my intake of them has helped me.

Like the specialist told me, not everyone with allergy problems are intolerant to salicylates, but maybe its worth a try? You mention feeling shaky - like I said, I was shaky too - and this can be a symptom of the salicylates.

For a list of foods, I suggest this site: salicylatesensitivity.com... (sorry, I don't know how to make the link correctly :duh

Anyway, hope youdon't mind me telling you my story - I genuinely want to help because I know how horrible sinus problems are and I hope maybe my experience can help others.

Take care,

I would recommend you to give this a try, I know people who swear by this.
www.arnoldehret.org...

Sometimes you just get an overload of toxins, I'm currently suffering from sinusitis, and looking to follow the above regime Gluck to you!

Originally posted by Heartisblack
Maybe it's something you're eating do you have any pets ?
I'd love to help dude, I've got insomnia/mental issues. (The insomnia is bring on the mental issues)
You're really bad off, does your house have dust ?

i can relate to that to. i had insomnia for 30 years, tried various treatments with little success. one thing that helped me a lot was playing video games for 20 minutes before bed. the required rapid eye movements drained the nervous system and i slept better.
the cure came when i had a dozen colonic irrigation treatments. my energy improved outa sight and i began sleeping like a baby.. 4 years later i still do. but it remains my achilles heal and stress will make it reappear temporarily.

Originally posted by gwynnhwyfar
Continued... (sorry, hard to scroll on my device)

Anyway, it seemed like the shots were helping some, but I was still having lots of problems. Constant post nasal drip, sinus headaches, pressure, etc. I got a new job about 3 1/2 months ago, and now I am unable to get to the allergist for the shots, due to my new schedule. The allergy season just came through, and sure enough, I got my usual screaming sinus infection. When my GP was checking me out, she said, "wow, you have a lot of pressure in your ear" same as the other doctor said.

So, I can't get to the allergist for shots any more. My problems are ongoing and chronic. Various Docs keep commenting on the pressure in my ears when they examine me.

Now, the other big problem is Air Hunger!! When all this stuff starts up, I have the hardest time drawing breath! I keep trying to get a full breath and I keep finding myself yawning and gulping air, trying to get a satisfying breath. This is probably the most distressing part of the whole deal.

One of the times I went to see my GP, they tested me and said my air was lousy and gave me a breathing treatment, then sent me home with a prescription for an inhaler. I haven't been diagnosed with asthma, but I have this inhaler. It helps, but makes me shake badly, and doesn't always fix the air hunger problem. Tonight, I am having this problem pretty badly, and finally used the inhaler. I had to do it twice, so far, to get some relief.

The only thing I have not tried yet, that I can think of (and oh, yes, I have tried all the natural remedies and neti-pot and teas) is visiting an actual ENT specialist. Do you think an ENT would have anything new to try? When I get like this, I just feel desperate!

This all seems crazy to me, since I never had allergies growing up. I am 43 and this has all gone down in the past few years.

Thanks for any helpful advice!
Gwynnhwyfar

one thing you appear not to have tried is a visit to an osteopath. sinus problems are definitely related to the upper cervical area in the neck. you should get a degree of immediate relief after adjustments. i dont know if you have had any backstrain or a fall on or before your symptoms appeared but to be thorough, get your spinal alignment checked out. eveb if there are other contributing factors, its worth getting checked out.

Originally posted by gwynnhwyfar
reply to post by fooks

 

I am 43 years old.

Our house has mostly tile flooring, but I am planning on "cleaning the floors" Sunday, which for me, will involve the following:

-Sweep/Dry mop the tile floors.
-"Swiffer" the tile floors - not sure if this is necessary anymore as I used to do it to try to make marking problems from my male dog smell better, and he has not been marking lately. I may skip this since the perfumes in the cleaning solution bother me and may only make things worse.
-"Shark" (steam clean) the tile floors.
-Vacuum the den and the bedrooms and steam clean the carpets.

I will get on with ingesting the local honey - my Dad was an amateur beekeeper for years before he retired and it makes sense that ingesting small amounts of the local flora/pollen works the same as those shots from the allergist. Thanks!

ok, this is just eliminating the obvious.

then you can work on the more specific things that might be causing your allergies.

don't forget that our bs soap and deodorants can cause adverse reactions.

i do not use a lot of these products.

ivory soap works real good, use non scented stuff.

this is just low rent things you can do to narrow down what the problem is.

good luck bro!

reply to post by tappy


Thanks for this info, Tappy! I have not heard of salicylate sensitivity before, but I'm allergic to everything else, so I wouldn't be surprised. I will look into that further.

Thanks again!
Gwynnhwyfar

reply to post by fooks


Thanks Fooks! Just to let you know, I'm a chick, not a bro. No offense taken.

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


I have chronic sinus infection and have been in the desert were my eyes became soo dry I could not wear contacts, to the humid air in the south east where my sinuses are worst.

Last sinus infection took me on three rounds of antibiotics, end up in the emergency room with hives and itching all over the body and pain in my left eye so bad I could not even think, this was last summer.

I had sinus problems all my life, have the allergy shots and still have problems.

How I have managed staying without another sinus infection for the last 9 months? very simple, I have gone homeopathic, I rinse my sinus everyday with saline solution mix with Xylitol sugar in a nasal sprayer if I go outside as soon I come back inside the house I proceed to spray all over again and rinse the sinuses.

I still have problem with allergies but at least I am breathing and avoiding sinus infection.

I hope this help, Xylitol is the only form of sugar that is antibacterial and anti fungal.

Former fellow sinus sufferer. Two surgeries and the works that most other people have mentioned.

I went gluten free almost two months ago, for other health issue. over the last couple of weeks I started to noticed my sinus symptoms were gone. Even with the rinses, antihistamines, mucienex and so on and so on I still had symptoms. When ever I missed a day of my daily sinus routine I used to pay for it the next day. Well, for the last week I haven't touched any of that, and aside from some minor postnasal drip, my sinuses feel more clear than they have in more than 11 years.

a reply to: VeniVidi

Have you received a diagnosis I'm sorry ive been having these symptoms and their taking a toll on me, you can email me at [email protected] thanks

Have you received a diagnosis I'm sorry ive been having these symptoms and their taking a toll on me, you can email me at [email protected] thanks

a reply to: tappy

Have you received a diagnosis I'm sorry ive been having these symptoms and their taking a toll on me, you can email me at [email protected] thanks

a reply to: elouina

Have you received a diagnosis I'm sorry ive been having these symptoms and their taking a toll on me, you can email me at [email protected] thanks

Have you received a diagnosis I'm sorry ive been having these symptoms and their taking a toll on me, you can email me at [email protected] thanks