Chronic sinusitis - any tips/suggestion for relief? Antibiotics haven't worked.

[PunishmentRoundupWithJoon]

My partner has had sinusitis for many months now. Three courses of antibiotics hasn't cleared it, nor has the steroid nasal sprays. He has a headache literally every day and we are are now concerned at the amount of painkillers he needs. A GP has just agreed to refer him for an ENT consultation.

I'm wondering if the the many magical minds of Mumsnet have any suggestions on possible 'cures' or ways to relieve the symptoms for the time being? It's understandably driving him mad - the constant stuffed up-ness alternating with the nasal drippage.

At this stage, we'll consider anything!

Hitting it just as hard as it makes you feel you've been hit across the face with a baseball bat.

Pseudoephedrine Sudafed (the one that comes OTC from the pharmacist, not in the supermarket).

Nasal rinsing - feels horrible at first, but the amount of gunk it can clear out over 2-3 days is incredible. Follow the instructions to the letter, always use cooled boiled water, use the sachets and don't be surprised when at first nothing seems to happen and then by the third day, he says it feels as though half his brain has just come out.

Cold compresses as well - the type that you can chill in the fridge or freezer (with a cloth covering for the latter) - have a couple so he can have them constantly rotating between on the face and in to chill again.

The other thing is that he needs to be careful of his posture. When you feel that ill, it's easy to let your head poke forward, which puts strain onto your neck and can also cause headaches. A wavy moulded pillow will help him sleep in a way that keeps his neck straight rather than bent - the sinusitis also makes it likely that he's sleeping more propped up to try and reduce the pressure in his face.

It's a foul condition which doctors don't always seem to appreciate quite how debilitating it can be.

He had some tooth issues, infection etc, but they have been dealt with now and the offending teeth removed. He had two courses of antibiotics for those too.

Some versions would have contained Ephedra. The source of ephedrine - banned, but still turns up from time to time in mixes (there are withdrawal reports every so often).

Have you tried a netti pot also a vicks vapour pod next to the bed is good

Sinus massage done twice a day can help too. Google pressure points for sinus massage. Mine empty every time so I know it is doing something for me.

I had hellish pain from sinuses once - nothing would shift it. Then I spent an entire hour sitting under a facial steamer with one drop of olbas oil in the water and it finally eased. Worth a go, But you need to sit there for a long time.

Was wondering where you can get Bi Yan Pian? Thanks

www.boots.com/sterimar-isotonic-nasal-hygiene-spray-100ml-10028386

I used this every evening and it cured me. It was a miracle.

Sinus rinse or spray

Beclometasone nasal spray

An antihistamine each day - try Fexofenadine instead of the usual ones

Guiafanicine cough medicine - it thins the mucous and helps it drain.

I've had chronic sinusitis for about 14 years now and all these things keep it under control.

@Ariela I too am wondering where you bought that Chinese medicine from? I can see a place in London selling it for £45 a bottle, and a few dodgy looking sites!

My ENT said it's not good to use a steroid spray all the time as it can dry things out. He gave me an antibiotic cream to put up my nose for 8 weeks to help heal the tissue. I also used a manuka honey spray but not sure if it made much difference. He recommended a high volume nasal rinse machine (make my own rinse with 1tsp of salt and one of bicarbonate of soda to 500ml water). Weaning off the steroid spray was tough but I kept it in reserve to use when desperate; even Otrivine is OK for occasional use. Have kept up the rinsing once a day and still use the spray occasionally. The ENT also said the side that gets blocked is slightly narrower than the other so it's partly structural. Worth seeing one if you can to check out what's going on.

I suffer from climatic sinusitis despite a ventilation operation. In manage to avoid antibiotics for the most part.
I take nAc, acetyl cysteine, a mucolytic. It's sold otc in France as mucomyst in 200mg sachets. When the weather's changing between Atlantic and Continental there are huge changes in air pressure and I take 2 x 600mg capsules every morning. If I forget, or it gets worse I've had little prednisolone tablets from my GP that dissolve under the tongue.
Acetyl cysteine is available on prescription. It came back on the same statutory instrument that abolished overnight and weekend working for GPs.
You can get the capsules from Amazon or H&B.
Failing that, a trip to France and a visit to a pharmacy. At 100mg it's ok for babies, too.
Pseudo-ephedrine's crap and causes rebound congestion.
Best of luck.

It took 3 doses of antibiotics to finally clear my sinusitis!

I've had sinusitis for over 5 weeks now after a horrible cold virus. In the past it's always cleared up after about a fortnight so gutted to read some people have such long term problems! I find regular nasal saline sprays help with discomfort (Sterimar/Beconase whatever) especially when it's most gunky and blocked. Also finding Sudafed makes me more comfortable too (pseudoephedrine, you can buy it OTC but only in pharmacy). I've just bought some steroid nasal spray from the pharmacy to try too. Mine is improving and certainly isn't anywhere near as bad now as it was a month ago when I was acutely unwell, but it still uncomfortable, unsightly, and giving me regular painful sinus headaches like people have mentioned.

@Appledrop It came from a Chinese herbalist shop in Reading, can't recall the name, it was some time ago, perhaps not there any more? Wasn't cheap, I'm thinking I paid £14-18 or so, perhaps slightly more but I was desperate to resolve it and it was a very long time ago.
@MarmiteCoriander Not tried either of these but there do seem to be cheaper stockists than London
auranutrition.com/products/bi-yan-tang
healthylicious.co.uk/bi-yan-pian-tablets.html - this has a photo of the tablet and they look just like the ones I had.

@NeverDropYourMooncup I'm fairly sure it contained magnolia but was so long ago I can't tell you. They did look just like these (but then again so might all Chinese medicine never tried any other product! )
healthylicious.co.uk/bi-yan-pian-tablets.html

I have found cutting out cow's milk and using a sinus rinse the best things at improving my tendency towards regular sinus problems

Surgery. Nasal septum correction, polyp removal and widening of the passages all done at once. Every minor cold would turn into awful sinusitis, mostly bacterial.

Haven't had a problem since the operation 6 years ago. I am admittedly in a European country where I just booked straight in with an ENT doctor and was operated on within 2 months of him seeing me.

Wow! I think I may try this as I have sinusitis now and that remedy sounds amazing

I've been suffering for years so have huge sympathy . Naproxen helped to finally settle the inflammation in my head last Summer, but then it came back. Just before Christmas, as I was still really bad after 3 consecutive weeks of antibiotics, the GP gave me some steroid nasal drops instead of a spray and they have literally given me my life back!! I am finally headache free....definitely worth asking about them xx

Ariela,
I often have painful blocked nose , so i have ordered some of those Chinese tablets today - I'm hoping I have same relief .

Thanks everyone for all this useful info. He's now sinus washing a few times a day and we've ordered a neti pot (as he's not yet doing it in quite the right way). Got some of the sudafed from the pharmacy and a homeopathic remedy is arriving today (apis mellifica). Am sceptical of homeopathy but then, I was sceptical of acupuncture many years ago and it cured my chronic tonsillitis.

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoon - just to follow up. I read the advice on here and my netipot type bottle finally arrived today.

I've had this odd cold/sinus thing for a month. Clear nose I can breath through- but congestion at the back like catarrh. When I could shift a tiny bit, it was thick, yellow phlegm 😫

I used the netipot bottle tonight and OMG!!! At 1st it feels felt odd like I might drown for a second, then the fluid came out the other nostril! THere was nothing in the actual fluid coming out, but when I blew my nose a few minutes later- OMG! I've been sat here 30mins later and the relief is amazing. I don't feel like there is congestion behind my nose and the best I've felt in over a month.

I hope you are feeling better soon too, and thank you for the post.

I’m having a horrible time with sinusitis so thank you for all these tips.
My GP had treated me as a chest infection because I have been coughing terribly for 7 weeks but I saw another doctor today who said it’s sinusitis and the cough is caused by post nasal drip. Makes sense as my chest x ray was clear.
My question is though has anyone had sinusitis and not had pain/headache?
I have just been feeling terribly lousy like a low grade flu for weeks and fever on and off, horrific nasal congestion (I can blow my nose constantly and it is just thick thick mucus) and a cough that is awful - worse at night and first thing in the morning I can barely breathe.
Has anyone had these symptoms of sinusitis without headache/face pain?

I know OP's partner isn't going to want to try this 😁but I have a half hour facial every month. I realised this week that since I've been having them the nasal drip has stopped and polyps (sorry if that's TMI) have shrunk dramatically. So I reckon your idea of massage around the sinuses is a sound one.