GP wouldn't give me anything for my sinus problems. Help

[BoozySuzie]

I have been in agony with headaches, pain under my eyes, catarrah in my throat and an awful taste in my mouth which is making me paranoid about bad breath. I do brush teeth twice a day, use mouthwash and floss but I still don't feel happy about the taste/smell in mouth.

GP said its viral and not bacterial so wouldn;t give me anything.

Can anyone suggest anything please?

Mucho sympathy from me BS. I have practically lived on decongestants in the past and actually what sorted it out for me was anti-histimines and some kind of super strong beconase as it turned out that I was allergic to dust mites.

Acupuncture works well too, have you ever tried it?

Antibiotics for sinusitis have, I'm afraid, been shown not to be madly effective. If it is just an infection, I'd nuke it with a combination of decongestants and painkillers. If it's ongoing, I too would recommend acupuncture and going back to request something like beconase.

I have had bloody awful sinuses all my life, btw, am a bit of an expert on this.

Carmenere - what anti histimines do you use and do you take them before bed? Will go to the pharmacy and get decongestants although one pharmacist wouldn't give me any cos of asthma.

The weird thing is, the GP I saw this morning runs his own Acupunture clinic and didn't mention antything about it being effective.

Do you ladies find because of the constant catarrah, your breath smells? Or maybe I am being paranoid?

I really sympathise. I have had problems on and off with blocked sinuses and it can really ruin my day when it's bad. I find it really hard to concentrate on anything with this blocked up feeling and intense pain.

My doctors kept giving me the steroid nasal sprays (Beconase, Flixonase etc) and I think I was on them for about 3 years until I got pregnant and was unhappy about having had them for so long. (For any medics around, I know that the doses are far lower than they would be if I had to absorb them another way, and also they aren't the same as 'body building' steroids, but all the same I thought it was just treating the symptoms rather than the cause.) So I tried looking at alternative treatments... steam inhalation works to a certain extent, avoiding dairy definitely worked for me but maybe not for other people, massaging the blocked areas helps but not if it's already pretty awful, and sometimes I just use a saline nasal spray to clean my nose out (Sterimar, available over the counter).

I find my breath smells if I have a throat infection but haven't connected it with blocked sinuses before.

homeopathy?

Poor you, have had chronic sinusitis my whole life and it is a complete nightmare. Have had a couple of operations in an attempt to sort it out to no effect.

Sometimes there is an infection in your sinuses, most antibiotics don't touch it (penicillin especially ineffective I have found) - the one that seems to work the best is an antibiotic called oxytetracycline. If you are feeling no better please go back to another doc and try to get some antibiotics.

Have been prescribed beconase and it didn;t work. I use over the counter nasal sprays such as sudafed, and there is another one that for the life of me I can't remember the name of, it is very effective but leaves the inside of my nose feeling a bit raw. It's in a blue bottle if that helps!

On a day to day basis I take loratidine antihistamines which seems to help congestion and the snotty nose aspect.

One thing that I've found really helpful is a steam inhalation with tea tree oil & fresh thyme. Boiling water, 1 or two drops pure tea tree oil (any more will be uncomfortable, and keep your eyes closed or they'll sting), and a stick or two of fresh thyme in the water. Put your head over the bowl, with a big towel over to keep the steam in, and breathe the steam through your nose as much as you can. Keep a box of tissues handy for all the stuff that will come out... Tea tree oil and thyme are antiseptic and as you breathe in the steam it will carry them into your sinuses and help kill the germs. The stuff that comes out helps relieve the pressure too. You have to do it quite frequently though. Hope it helps, poor you...

DH had chronic continuous sinus problems and was using sprays etc. for years until I decided it wasn't good for him!

We cut out all dairy (which reduces the amount of stuff being produced so helps the clearing process). He inhaled steam from a bowl to which we had added tea tree oil twice a day when it was at its worst and then once a day until he felt it had cleared. He hasn't had any problems since. Hope you feel better soon.