Chronic Sinusitus

[pinky36]

I am a 36 year old woman who has suffered with Sinusitus for about 5 years! The first case I had was so bad I had to be admitted to hospital and be put on an IV drip to fight the infection. Since then I get about 4 cases a year which require time off work. I have been refered to a specialistin the pass who sent me away with a Beconase spray and Hayfever tablets to keep the Sinusitus at bay which it sometimes does! I'm now suffering again, this time i have had 2 lots of antibiotics which havent worked, i am still in lots of pain, suffering with vertigo, am taking stemetil for the sick and dizzyness. The doctors have refered me again and I have to wait till nov 11th for an opinion. In the meantime I have decided to try the homeopathic route and am taking a product called Sinus Wars, this has made the symptoms worse which it did say it would do.
I have now been off work for nearly 3 weeks and am at the end of my tether, and feeling very low!

Anybody with similar symptoms out there please help!

Oh god I feel your pain but I can't advise I'm afraid. I am waiting for an MRI.

My word. I have some advice on what worked for me, but quite frankly, you're not even in a different league, you're playing a different game. you poor thing.

Do you know all the obvious ones like don't eat diary or drink red wine (white wine too, but red wine mostly)? Lots of hot water inhaling to help clear them out? The lesser known food thing is not to eat berries. Admittedly, yours is so bad that unless you're throwing down four strawberry smoothies a day, I'm not convinced this will help but.... if you do eat berries, stop.

And I guess you just have to try to stop infection so lots of vitamin c etc?

Good luck!

That sounds really horrible. I had labrnthytis just after I had dd, and found stemil a lifesaver (although I had to wait until i stopped breastfeeding before I could take it). I had lots of sinus infections as a child, and ended up having my sinus's drained. It's not something undertaken much any more, because it's not particularly effective (and I think lots of people do grow out of sinus problems). However it did work for me, and it may be that's the direction you are heading for.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOooh I also feel your pain (just waiting to find out if Dr will just prescribe antibiotics without me having to go in). It's a nightmare. EVERY time I get a cold I end up with sinusitus. This bout isn't as extreme as others have been (my teeth aren't aching...)

Carmenere - how will the MRI help? I had an MRI this year (for something else) and they said I had 'diseased' sinuses but didn't seem to think it was a problem (nothing to do with why I had the MRI so maybe that's why they just ignored it).

Anyway, if anyone has any success stories please LET US KNOW!!

Bling - why no berries?! I have a handful of berries on my cereal every morning.

nasopure
I got bad sinus infections and hayfever when pregnant and it was the only thing I found that worked. There are some useful articles on the website along with different treatments.
I found the nasopure the easiest and used with very warm water and seasalt, it flushes all the infection out.

Jenja, I honestly can't remember and I did some research a few months ago for a similar thread and couldn't find it - it was years ago when i was really suffering and I was therefore obsessively researching (specialist said : "just keep taking the sinutab as much as you need". Which i didn't find that helpful).

Anyway, I found a reference to the berries thing and a lightbulb went off in my head because at the time, my favourite juice was mixed berry juice and I used to have at least one large glass a day - instead of apple or orange. I stopped drinking it and hey presto, I started suffering a whole lot less.

If I ever get some time, I'll do some more research and see if I can find something that talks about it. I was in SA at the time, so I'm wondering if it was a South African website.

JENJA

What do yo mean by diseased sinuses, and what did they do for you?

BLINGLOVIN

The doc told me the antibiotics wern't working because it isn't a bacterial infection, so have said all I can do is treat the symptoms which mean lots of painkillers which just
make me drowsy, that on top of vertigo is not a good combination! By the way what do berries do, not heard of that one, Ive been told to cut out coffee and alcohol in general as these dehydrate you making headaches worse!

NOOKA

Sinus drainage, sounds wonderful. They have mentioned an operation - it involved drilling holes in my sinuses to encourag drainage, I hope its a last resort though!

Oh, and interestingly, on that other thread a while back, i was chatting to someone else who suffers and she also said that she always had berries in the house. So I think there is definitely a link.

Sadly, I no longer drink cosmopolitans!

You poor thing. Have just got over a bout myself and was utterly miserable for about a week with the pain. Couldn't even take any decent painkillers as am pg. Antibiotics worked for me in the end but only about a week into them. Hope you feel better soon x

MRI is to rule out tumour Although it is very unlikely that I have one I am finding it quite difficult waiting for the MRI.

Apparently you can have sinus massages? DP and I were talking about this the other day as I was having a particlarly bad sinus day. I don't know where or how though - I've never done it or met anyone who has.

I hope someone can help me, doctor said I have infected sinus,a real putrid smell when i bend my head over, but i have not had a cold, no headaches,no sore/swollen eyes, anyone?

Carmenere - is persistant headaches the reason they are checking? Was with me and also episodes of dizziness and collapsing. They didn't find anything except the sinus thing (thank goodness) and they told me that as an aside ie 'well there's no tumour, you have diseased sinuses but that's it' - on to the next test. Eventually the dizziness stuff stopped happening so I'm back to square one with sinusitus and daily headaches. Can't face going back to the doctor again.

BLING - that sounds really interesting about the berries. I love my berries though, only thing that makes boring cereal every morning bearable.

Well I have all the symptoms of Meniers disease but don't have the disease but there is a tumour that mimics the symptoms of Menieres so they want to rule that out. I suffer very badly from sinus headaches and tbh I have had a horrific headache since I saw the specialist on Tuesday I am sure it is stress but I am feeling crap.

I know exactly how you feel. Do yourself a favor and try to cut down on all salt and salt like products.
I've suffered from the same thing since I was a child. I've been hospitalized several times and it's a miserable existence.
The vertigo comes from swelling around the little nerve in your ear. The less swelling of the tissues the less pressure around that little nerve. Less salt means less swelling or water retention.
You get the vertigo, you get the vomiting, you get dehydrated.
The headaches may be because your sinus passages are swollen closed and your head cannot depressurize. This will make you have horrible headaches.
I know it isn't much but if you can tolerate it..try eating very hot pepper. This will open your sinuses and drain your head.
While lying down put a warm water bottle along your cheekbone (side of face down on bottle) and the opposite side should open up. You will have to try to flex and pop your ears. After one side opens, if the headache there subsides then do the opposite side.
Try a little lemon juice in your nose...or a seasalt wash for your sinuses. Yes, I know...less salt but if you can get the salt intake down you can do the wash.
Good luck dear...you aren't suffering alone.

A friend had what was diagnosed as chronic sinusitus/migraines and for years was treated with antiobiotics etc to no avail.

She finally went private and had a camera up her nose which showed that it in fact wasn't sinusitus. She was referred for an MRI scan which showed that she has "cluster headaches". This had never been considered before as she doesn't fit the usual sufferer profile (middle-aged bloke with high pressure job). Unfortunately, this isn't curable but can be managed. She now has lots of pills and an oxygen tank. She has gone from having debilitating, chronic headaches to (I believe) very little pain.

Sorry if this is irrelevant (and I really don't want to upset anyone) but I thought I'd pass this on.

Oh Carmenere Headaches are the absolute worst. Well they aren't but as a headache sufferer I really do sympathise. So have they ruled out menieres disease - I know it is hard to diagnose...can they do the tilt test for that?
I had cardio and neuro tests (all clear) for the dizziness and headaches, last port of call was ENT but my GP said (because by this point dizziness and collapsing had cleared up) that it was a waste of time to see ENT because anything they would find would have already been picked up by neurology. Do you think that's right?
I KNOW there is a problem I just can't figure out what. It has such a huge impact on my daily life Last time (with all the dizziness etc) they ended up saying it was psychological. BOLLOCKS. I saw a psychiatrist who I had seen a couple of years before and he completely dismissed that diagnosis (after actually TALKING to me). Now the headaches and some of the dizziness have returned I don't know what to do...
Sorry, that was a very long post, it's just something that is really bothering me but I just can't talk to people about in RL.

Also read the fine print on all sinus sprays. I know several can give you nosebleeds, polyps and may become addictive.
If you can drain your head without the use of the sprays you will be a lot better off.
Your allergy problem sounds seasonal (fortunately) so try to mark which times of the year you get these symptoms. It may be that a seasonal plant is putting out pollen or dropping molds.
If you have a steam cleaner then do your windows. I have found that mold will form along the window seals after winter, rains, etc. Mold gets wet and pops spores. It dries out and makes spores to pop again when wet.
Check all the lovely places you may have mold but don't think about. The toilet bowl tank. The shower or tub drain...a little bleach down the drain now and then works. The windows and even your wellies can harbor a mold or pollen.
When was the last time you washed off your wellies? Check the filters in the airshafts.

Oh, when was the last time you changed out your pillow?
Or steamed your mattress? We spend so much time with our faces in the pillow or mattress and only wash the sheets. A mattress can double its weight in 10 years just from dead skin cells and mites. Mites are a real PITA when it comes to allergies.

I've just called work, to tell them i won't be back on monday, this will be my 3rd week off. The doctors have said ive got to wait till i see the specialist in Nov, and in the mean time what do i do?

Thanks for all the advice! x

My mum suffered for years with her sinuses.

She had an MRI for a tumour behind her eye and they picked up on the state of her sinuses.

Once the tumour had been treated she had her sinuses drained - and although not pleasant she says it is by far preferable to suffering with sinusitus.

Since the op she has not had a single recurrence.

Do take your vitamins and fish oil...and drink lots of hot water. Not tea (although I love a good cup...so comforting) unless it is green tea. The others will act as a diurectic and aid dehydration.

Yes, maybe draining your sinus' will work. They couldn't do that for me when I checked on it. Maybe it will work for you though. Can't think of anything else off hand that hasn't been mentioned here. Do try the hot pepper though...mexican food or chinese hot mustard works well too. A hot horse radish (musabi)?

wasabi!

Interesting about the berries- now they're not in season, I haven't been scoffign them, and you know- my sinuses have been much better for the past few months