No snot (nasal mucus)

[Godfreydahling]

Has anyone had this? I have absolutely no nasal mucus at all. The insides of my nose are dry. It is so uncomfortable and if I ever get congested eg with a cold it is properly painful and goes into my sinuses.

I'm not sure exactly when it started but it's been like this for at least 6 months. Have seen an ENT and he has referred me to a rheumatologist for possible autoimmune issues but I've had a full autoimmune blood screening and was all normal.

I get dry eyes too but no dry mouth so not sure if it could be Sjogrens.

I've tried nasal sprays, rinses and gels and nothing helps as it doesn't go far up enough into the nose.

Am I the only person to have this? The ENT was at a bit of a loss.

Are Your eyes and mouth dry too?

Eyes yes. Mouth no.

There are a few autoimmune things that cause this, also medications, allergies and of course drugs.. go back to gp

I'm waiting for the rheumatology referral. The GP has no idea what it is and has no suggestions.

Rheumatologist or Physician is the way to go

I have this too but probably for longer. Also have very dry eyes. Saw a rheumatology consultant when I only had dry eyes and joint pain. They suspected Sjorgens but bloods didn't support it. He told me the only conclusive test is a lip biopsy which he didn't recommend as it could damage lip. So I didn't do lip biopsy.

I now have dry nose so am thinking it might be more likely but I also swim regularly so wondering if that might be a factor although have not been swimming much recently due to chest infection and still the dry nose persists. Saline spray doesn't do much for me. Not as effective as eye drops for dry eyes.

So no real suggestions from me as I too at a loss.

Sounds like Sjögren’s. I have this and lupus and other autoimmune issues. It doesn’t necessarily always show in your blood - you can have sero negative Sjögren’s. They should be treating you based on symptoms- there are nasal gels and sprays etc they can prescribe for you.

Thanks. Yes I've seen that only 70% of Sjogrens shows in the blood. I don't have dry mouth though which is confusing and I definitely don't want a lip biopsy. I'm hoping there is something they can give me as I hate this feeling of having sinus pressure and dry sinuses all day long. My entire family is ill at the moment and I'm just waiting for it to attack my sinuses as I don't have mucus to catch the germs. I used Boots First Defence a lot to try to prevent viruses in my nose but it gets expensive!

Interestingly I too don't really have a dry mouth. I do have joint problems but that is explained at least on part by arthritis.

Looking at NHS website there is no specific meds for sjorgens so as other poster suggests we need something for symptoms. I think after Christmas I will seek something from GP for dry nose.

I have never had a lip biopsy so don’t let that put you off pursuing a diagnosis if you feel it may fit. Not everyone has every symptom.

Could it be heating in the house? I have noticed similar with myself and that's one of the things I think it could be.

I feel my throat needs clearing but I can't clear it , like there's nothing there or perhaps its too sticky to move?

I'm almost 100% mouth breathing now as well when I sleep.

Update from me. Doc prescribed a nasal spray and it does nothing. Bring referred to rheumatology and dermatology but I have said I don't want a lip biopsy. I now have a dry mouth (I think) but it's less obvious. It's surprisingly irritating and impacts my sleep.

I do think environmental factors can contribute but don't think they are cause. Doc said swimming would not cause dry nasal passages but I suspect it doesn't help.

I do think stress is a factor. Things seem worse when I stressed

Yes I do think stress and fear/attention makes any symptom worse.

I've now seen a rheumatologist and he didn't think that my collection of symptoms were caused by any autoimmune disease. He has done some further specific blood tests that I haven't had the results for yet and also a hand xray as I get some joint pain in my knuckles. But he said that he's never seen someone with Sjorgens without a dry mouth.

He did a horrible test where he put strips of paper in my eyes and left them there for 5 minutes. My left eye started watering a bit but my right eye didn't. At the end the paper was completely stuck to my eyeballs! He said my right eye was dry but my left wasn't. My right has always been the worse one.

He seems to think it's more likely to be allergies than autoimmune in my case. Particularly as I've had symptoms for so long and blood tests remain normal. So he said if nothing shows in my further blood tests to go back to GP and ask about allergy testing. Not sure if GP will be interested!

@Godfreydahling what did they say about your nasal passage issue? Do they think that's likely allergies too?

I have lots of family members with allergies (some life threateningly severe) so am familiar with allergies. Have you ever taken antihistamines to see if it improves anything?

Allergies is a reasonable suspicion. You will have to push your GP.

Have a look at Neilmed nasal rinse - I use one nightly to deal with allergies. That goes up to the sinuses, so it'll give everything a good rinse and is more effective than sprays.

You could also try a nasal cream to reduce the tight dry feeling. I know how that feels, it's dull, deep and bruised like for me.

He didn't really know but said it could be allergies. I already take antihistamines and it gets worse when I stop them but doesn't get that much better when I take them.

I've tried all the nasal rinses and sprays and creams out there I think. The main issue is that my sinuses are dry so it's really far up into my nose and none of the sprays reach that far back.

Different antihistamines work differently depending on the allergen. One of my DC saw an allergy consultant for years and we learnt things we wouldn't have known. I learnt identifying the allergens is very tricky. Blood tests can help but they might not. It's so difficult when the symptoms you have don't fit neatly into a diagnosis.