Sinusitis

[LittenTree]

What drug does it for you??

I get it 3 or 4 times a year, for maybe 2 days. Continuous ibuprofen sees off the pain enough, but this one is lingering a bit. And I want to go away this weekend and break my alcohol drought .

I went to the pharmacy but told her Sinutabs made me a bit spacey and dizzy (esp with pinot...)- but she said 'you have to go to the GP as you need antibiotics as you have an infection'- and flogged me £7 sea water nasal spray.

Well, I don't think antibiotics will work cos any infection is inside my sinuses, whose drainage is blocked. The pain is the pressure due to the blockage. Sinuses are basically bony boxes, lined with mucus membrane and full, hopefully, of air. So how would an antibiotic touch that?

I need a nasal decongestant so my sinuses can drain. I have post-nasal drip of thick, gluggy stuff (sorry if TMI), but I don't have the time to go to the GP 5 or 6 times over 18 months to be put on yet another course of antibiotics. I need an ENT referral but I have been told, by pharmacists, that that persistence is the only way I'll get one!

Incidentally, sorry but I can't use one of those nasal wash out pots. No can do. I am not squeamish about much but I cannot overcome the reflexes that allow you to pour water up you nose, the bit connected to your lungs.

SO, I need a name I can confidently stride up to the counter with and say 'Can I have some of this, please?' and not get sold placebos!

TIA

Get thee to holland and barratt and ask for acetyl cysteine. Or, more correctly n-acetyl cysteine. It's sold in 600mg capsules. Take one a day.

Or, go to your gp and ask for it on prescription - you get a box of about 20x200mb sachets that you mix with water. I don't think it's available over the counter.

It's a mucolytic, so it thins the claggy mucous, so that it is then less visccous and drains more easily.

Alternatively, drive to Dover, cross the channel and head to the nearest pharmacy, where you can buy it over the counter at about ?4/box.

I was sold it on holiday, and, as dd suffered from glue ear after a cold, dosed her with it from day 2 of a cold until the cold had cleared. She was then antibiotic-free for 5 years.

I had a ventilation operation, and was free of sinusitis until the week after dd's birth. Now I get it when the weather changes and the air pressure changes noticeably - we live at about 400m, and on the edge of continental/atlantic weather. Even the pharmacists refer to it as 'sinusite climatique'.

'Tis a bugger

I get sinusitis every time I get a cold - as a teen I had my sinuses 'stripped' under a ga, which sorted it out for a year or so.

The only thing that does it for me is pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) - taken very regularly. It dries everything up and means that I'm at less risk of the bloody ear infections that used to accompany it.

Thanks. I am going to investigate. I am a little nervous of sudafed (DH said 'That's speed, isn't it? ) as it would probably keep me awake for hours!

He's close actually - you can't take it near to bedtime, but when you're really under the weather it does the job.

There are a couple of different types of sudafed - one is the pseudoephedrine (kept behind the counter) and the other is phenylephrine (on the shelf - less selling restrictions). The first is more efficacious, the second originated as a high blood pressure medication, and will relieve some congestion but not all.

Tis obvious which one I prefer, non?

I was referred to ent specialist several years ago for chronic sinusitis. Steroid nasal drops and a 6wk course of antibiotics eventually shifted it.

Sudafed, nasal sprays etc didn't touch it and at times even made it worse.

Keep nagging your GP for a referral!

Sudafed never helped me. The Sinex spray would help, as does Nurofen cold and flu (that decongestant is stronger than the Sudafed one)

I also take fenugreek capsules whenever I get slightly blocked sinuses - fenugreek flushes mucous from your system (you can also use it for minor chest infections, but the results are never as dramatic for me).

After 18 months on prescription sinus sprays (GP didn't want to operate) I then took fenugreek instead. After 2 years of taking it twice a day every day my sinusitis finally went away. That's a long treatment time, but I had suffered for years and years.

I now only need to take fenugreek when I feel a bit snuffly, especially before flights, but I always have some around in case I need it.

Chit

That's not correct about Nurofen - it contains 30mg of pseudoephedrine and 200mg of ibuprofen to the 60mg of pseudoephedrine in sudafed. It may be that the NSAID properties of the ibuprofen have a better effect in combination with the pseudoephedrine for you.

Perhaps you're right, but for some reason Sudafed has just never helped me whereas Nurofen Cold and Flu does. Lemsip did absolutely nothing.

I have Ephedrine nasal drops from my GP, on the express warning that I'm not to use them too regularly. I found that sudofed just makes the pain worse. Steaming helps for a little while but it's never enough to actually clear it. The drops really help open up my sinuses so everthing can drain away.

Ah - I can't use the nasal drops at all; I end up with major facial pain (toothache etc) because everything swells up/shut

Last time I had a heavy cold I couldn't get to a pharmacy for sudafed so I made do with some proplus caffeine tablets - didn't help the cold much but took away the drained/feel like the walking dead feeling!

Lemsip is crap - it's basically hot diluting juice and paracetamol.

TB - thats really interesting I will get some.

My main problem is my nose drying up and the tissues swelling - mine is awful at night and i think DS2 has inherited too.

I too use the Sterimar Isotonic spray and like it.

I was on sprays from the doc but in the end they made my nose ultra sore. On one occassion I did have oral steriods and that helped enormously however had a terrible effect on my mood!

Steaming is hopeless as the second you stop it all swells again. I do find the swimming pool good as the heat and warmth help the dryness.

pseudoephedrine with ibupr & paracetamol is good but cant be taken at night as its a stimulant.

Having read endlessly on the web even the US sites there seems to be little new on the market.

Alcohol is not my friend either, now I have stopped drinking wine the swelling has subsided so worth a try.

Agree with Lemsip what a waste of money.

I'm not sure if the phenylephrine version of sudafed has the same stimulant effects - obviously it's reasonable for congestion, but because it's actually a high blood pressure medicine it may not be as 'speedy' IYSWIM - (according to wikipedia it's not a stimulant in that regard, but there are questions about it's bioavailability and uptake within the body) and therefore more suitable for night time use.

Steroids and I are not good friends - raging monster doesn't begin to describe me

My sinuses have almost subsided after the last time, but the toothache from it is still a minor problem. I'll have a look at the sterimar spray for next time!

Do give the fenugreek a try Tapir. It worked very well for me. I think long term use of fenugreek kept my sinuses clear enough for my body to finally heal properly, something the medicated sprays etc didn't let it do.

I wish I could, but it has a bad effect on me.