Sinus problems...never ending..can anyone...

[Earthymama]

recommend anything that might help at all?

I've had lots of anti-biotics and I hate them. I always feel out of it for days, the worst symptoms disappear but I don't ever feel that my sinuses are clear. After about 10 days I'm back to square one, (in cliche city, sorry).

I had oxy tetracycline at the weekend, I was really ill, but my sinuses were clearing. i had to stop taking it and have woken with the most foul headache, pain in my face, and just generally feeling ill again. It seems to make me feel really down in spirit too.

I've tried Sinex et al, sprays and tablets, homepathic remedy, attempted nasal wash but I'm not sure if I was doing the right thing.
Has anyone triedthis?
I'll give anything a try, has anyone got any ideas to give me a respite if not a cure?

I feel your pain, I really do. I was at the stage where I was getting infections every month and in agony and the gp was about to send me to see a consultant for surgery but he said we should try strong anti-histimines first in case it was being aggravated by an allergy. It was and I havn't had an infection for months now. Perhaps it is worth trying.

That's an idea as I'm allergic to almost everything you can name. I've got psioritic arthris so as you can see am falling apart slowly!!

I forgot to say that I have tried the dairy-free route and it helped, but I did struggle with not having milk. I'll get some soya milk today, but it's so vile in tea.

I'm feeling sad now as I love my ice cream maker, guess it's time to check out the soya recipes.

No not dairy, although that DEFINITELY aggravates my sinuses. It suspect it is the dust mites in my bedroom carpet that are the problem as the problem was signiifcantly helped when we got a cleaner Seriously it is worth trying anti-histimines as it could be anything like pollen, mould microbes or animal hair.

DH had chronic sinus problems until he went dairy free. He used sprays for years until I said he should stop because it wasn't doing him any good. He found breathing in steam from a bowl that had a few drops of tea tree oil added helped clear up infections.

For your ice-cream maker what about chocolate sorbet?
There's a recipe here: gourmetfood.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/r/chocosorbet.htm. The one in the Tesco Food Club magazine is more decadent - melt 9 oz caster sugar with 1 pint water, simmer for five minutes until syrupy, chop up 7oz of dark 70% chocolate and place in a bowl, add l tablespoon cocoa powder and gradually stir in the sugar syrup to melt the chocolate. Leave to go cold, then churn for 30 minutes.

Oh NOW you've scared me!! I'm not the world's most avid cleaner and the house is full of books.

Off to join the FLY crew then, (I have tried before but the flood of emails terrified me. )

Thanks for this, I'll make an appointment with my doctor and try to discuss it. I'll definately give the house a good spring clean and go diary free for a while. I'd like to be clear when I go on holiday in July.

Do you get the muggy head feelings too? I think that's probably as bad as the pain, though maybe not, on reflection.

That's a running joke inour family as I'm of the all-natural persusion and wanted to try them on my son to mass hilrity!!

Would they help with sinus problems?

Please tell me your experience I'm off to health food shop later. I could buy them and not tell anyone, they do all think I'm mad anyway so may just be out and proud about it!!

Hilarity, persuasion, sorry sinusitis affects your spelling, did you know?

Earthy - when you say you don't know if you were doing the nasal wash right, what did you do? I use nasal wash quite a lot and find it really good. Often chunks of flourescent green stuff come out and you think "oh, that was what was causing the problem"! - although also quite often nothing comes out at all or it's all clear.

Please give me details off how you do it I just make salt/water mix and sniff!!

Sudafed

www.emcur.co.uk/

might be helpful?

Do you have a neti pot thingy? I have the Sinucleanse one, which comes with a little rubber seal to go on the end to give a good seal in your nostril, then you pour salted, body temp water into one nostril, and tilt your head (and breathe in and out through your mouth) so that it pours out of the other nostril. As I said, I have found it pretty good, though my mum tried it and wasn't impressed, although I think she only tried once.

NETTI POT. NETTI POT. NETTI POT!

Irrigate every other day and spray daily.

When you feel an attack of sinusitis, irrigate 3x/day.

I've ordered a lovely purple Netti pot that will grace my bathroom and relieve my symptoms. So I expect to have good news and be able breathe within the next few days!

I have self-prescribed whiskey and ginger asnd am feeling no pain as we speak. I am driven to drink by my sinuses....so life is not too bad

as a chronic sinusitis sufferer who is also pregnant - when sinusitis often worsens - i feel your pain.

lots of boiling hot water, lemon and honey, too, instead of tea.

remember, irrigate every other day, even wehn feeling well, and spray upon getting up and going to bed.

during attacks, irrigate more often.

your netti pot will come with irrigation instructions.

it is your friend.

warning: it's hard to irrigate when your sinus is blocked and you feel like you can't breathe, though.

try some nice, slow deep breaths or medidative breathing before hand to calm down that I Can't BREATHE! sensation.

Glad you've got some sensible advice.... but was just wondering do you put the hopi candle in your ear or your nose??

From the info on Netti pots I guess it's part of a yoga regime to irrigate. I can feel all this dried gunk at the back of my throat but too high up to shift so awaiting the post eagerly.

Sinus pain is undescribable, isn't it? I've got a stuffed nose comes nwhere near describing the sensations and the pain.My face feels as though it's being pierced by red hot not very sharp needles, while some-one attempts to suffocate me.

The whiskey is definately helping, I'm sure I'm in lots of pain but it's at a distance!!
Thanks for your advice, EM x Excuse sentiment , it's the booze, I'm a lovely drunk!!

For travel, hit the Boots counter and pick up a can of Sterimar.

Same thing as what's in your netti pot, but in a cannister that's pressurised so you can squirt and go!

Keep one in your cupboard for when you have an attack and need to be on the go.

If and when I steam, what I usually do is drop a few drops of peppermint, eucalyptus or tea tree oil into a mug and top up with water just off the boil.

Then find a comfy chair and inhale.

also, if you must use drugs, ibuprofen is better than paracetamol IME because it decreases the inflammation somewhat.

BBMcF,

It's my son's birthday next week, perhaps not too late to try it out on him?

Hopi candle oh drunken one!!

x-posted there, thought you were ignoring me!

What a party that would be...

...he'd prob just be relieved not to be being Mrs Peacock