Post Nasal Drip

decies

Anybody else out there suffer long term from post nasal drip? Done the old nasonex, antibiotics , trip to ENT, acupuncture didn't work either. My back of the throat permantly covered in mucus . Dragging on for months and months now

tk123

Do you use Neilmed?

decies

yep little effect thanks.

theLuggage

Maybe time to go back to ENT or different one? I've suffered from terrible sinuses/post nasal drip for years and years. Saw an ENT when I was a teenager, who didnt do much. Saw a new one recently who was fantastic, put me on meds for a while (which didn't do much) then surgery. Am currently 5 weeks after surgery and feel much improved. And on the Neilmed rinse, thought it was useless but since my surgery it actually works properly and I find it great.

tk123

+1 on a second opinion. I saw a respitory specialist and he was fantastic - put me on Neilmed, cetrine (zirtek or equivalent), Avamys and an inhaler. My problem was the sinuses running down into my lungs and gave me a painful infection which kicked in after having surgery to remove a thyroid mass that had gone down into my chest. I use Neilmed every morning, cetrine and inhaler and all good. I only really used the Avamys now during the summer when my hayfever kicks in. It took a good 6 months for everything to start working and making a difference.

jokettle

theLuggage wrote: »

Saw a new one recently who was fantastic, put me on meds for a while (which didn't do much) then surgery. Am currently 5 weeks after surgery and feel much improved.

Was this the FESS? I have pretty severe asthma with a few sinus complications, and FESS has been suggested as an option for this summer. I think I'll need to be on meds for life for the asthma, but it's great to know that the surgery can really help with sinus issues! One question: did they do the surgery with local or general anesthetic?

theLuggage

No was put on Avymas (sp?) spray and Sterimar. Never found Sterimar any good unless sinuses were totally dried out.

I had a septoplasty and turbinate reducation - so they fixed my broken septum, which had healed crooked and cauterised some lining - didnt get too many details, preferred it that way! ;-) It was done under general.

jokettle

Ah, I see. Avamys and Sterimar don't do much for me, in fact the avamys was giving me too many nosebleeds so I had to stop taking it.

General would be my preferred method too, just sleep through it all and get the nice painkillers afterwards :cool: If I do end up going FESS I'll pop back in here and update. If it helps with post-nasal drip it should in turn relieve the asthma symptoms. So, here's hoping!

tk123

Sterimar is grand say for in work if you're in a jam but Neilmed is much better imo

Susie564

decies wrote: »

Anybody else out there suffer long term from post nasal drip? Done the old nasonex, antibiotics , trip to ENT, acupuncture didn't work either. My back of the throat permantly covered in mucus . Dragging on for months and months now

Did ENT diagnose anything? I had post nasal drip which turned out to be totally unrelated to my sinuses or anything ENT related. Would agree with others suggesting a second opinion. It's a miserable thing to have to put up with. I did the whole nasonex, antibiotics, avamys, sterimar etc etc circus for years to no avail! Acupuncture too ;-)

decies

Susie can you expand on unrelated . Got allergy test pricks at ent as well the highest was for house dust . I kind of knew I had problem with this for years ,I got a letter back from ent saying only advice to put baby shampoo in sinus wash to break up the drip a bit .

Susie564

After years of suffering with my sinuses and facial pain I was diagnosed with a dysfunction in my Jaw joint. When I was first diagnosed I thought he was joking but when I looked into it afterwards my symptoms matched. I was text book apparently :rolleyes: When I got seen by the right doctor he picked it up straight away. I had surgery last summer and I'm all fixed now

That's not to suggest that you have the same thing, but just don't suffer on - get another opinion. I attended two ENT's, had a sinus x-ray and a CT, been on all the above therapies/meds and more, tried acupuncture, reflexology, even Chinese herbal medicine! All over the course of seven years or so. I was going out of my mind. In the end between my dentist, MaxFax & a pain consultant they sorted me right out and now I can't believe how I used to suffer and for so long too.

It sounds like your ENT didn't find anything (same as mine and then he diagnosed me with "mild rhinitis", which is a BS diagnosis in my opinion - oh yeh and then charged me €180) - did he do any scans or anything? Sometimes these things are as much a process of elimination as much as anything else.

decies

Just did the camera up the nose thing. CT scan would be the next step i suppose.

Susie564

decies wrote: »

Just did the camera up the nose thing. CT scan would be the next step i suppose.

Keep plugging away with it so, I'm sure you'll get to a solution. If your not happy with this ENT think about getting a second opinion and look into other non-ENT causes too. I never found anything that helped much with post nasal drip tho - drinking lots of water and reducing dairy intake may alleviate it somewhat.

nails1

Anybody here try allergy shots/drops (immunotherapy)?

decies

well nearly a year later get a CT scan done a few weeks ago but nothing shown , so basically the drip is as bad as ever and have been excused by ENT Guy. Back to square one

Chrisita

These were the causes of my life long sinus/allergy problems. I now take compounded vitamins to correct my biochemistry and will need them always. Also specific probiotics(in my case) Actual testing for histamine is not yet widely available, but there is lots of information about it on line. In my case, it was a diagnosed cause of major depression, a nice side effect was that it cured my allergies too. For many years I was completed addicted to nasal sprays.

V1llianous

jokettle wrote: »

Was this the FESS? I have pretty severe asthma with a few sinus complications, and FESS has been suggested as an option for this summer. I think I'll need to be on meds for life for the asthma, but it's great to know that the surgery can really help with sinus issues! One question: did they do the surgery with local or general anesthetic?

I was one of the first people in the country to have FESS surgery about 20 years ago.

Prior to surgery I needed to have a sinus washout every 9 months or so - since the FESS surgery I haven't had one

I have a permanent PND and nothing can be done about it at the moment. Have to be careful of getting colds as will turn into infection easily. Also have Nasal polyps which will need surgery at some stage but not too much of an inconvenienve yet.

Drumpot

Just posting in here for later. Was diagnosed with Post Nasal Drip prob over a decade ago but never really did anything about it.

Use neilmed rinse (doesnt do much) and try out different things at different times (anti hystamines etc) but I have not been able to figure this out. Seems to end up with a chronic cough that can come for weeks and is usually worse between October to maybe March. I honestly feel like its very much related to the weather but cant be sure . .

Anybody got any recommendations or tips to try ? I am prob gonna try and got to a rhespiratory specialist at this stage, because I am not sure what else to try.

what age were you when this started? I have this the last year and a half and the docs haven't a clue what to do. I had my nose broken nearly 30 years ago but had it straightened over week after the fact and never had one issue. cut to almost 30 years later and my nose crackles at night, wakes me up, then I think it rolls onto my airway and can cause wheezing sounds. Docs just keep saying use avamys because the swelling will go don't and it should right itself, having had a broken nose years decades ago would maybe contribute but I just don't see why. It's not nice and does get you down.iM otherwise in great shape and very fit etc but this is really draggin on.

Graces7

I had severe sinusitis and PND for years. Then I moved house and it cleared. It was mould in the rental . I was in the second to third stage of black mould disease. Nothing cleared it.

Check your house. And surroundings, for allergies.

Graces7

Drumpot wrote: »

Just posting in here for later. Was diagnosed with Post Nasal Drip prob over a decade ago but never really did anything about it.

Use neilmed rinse (doesnt do much) and try out different things at different times (anti hystamines etc) but I have not been able to figure this out. Seems to end up with a chronic cough that can come for weeks and is usually worse between October to maybe March. I honestly feel like its very much related to the weather but cant be sure . .

Anybody got any recommendations or tips to try ? I am prob gonna try and got to a rhespiratory specialist at this stage, because I am not sure what else to try.

Timing is interesting. Maybe damp? I had some success with a dehumidifier. Never an issue now but I had found that when I visited eg the ocean, the sinus issues etc vanished and I had not even thought about it for years now until this thread

jellybear

I'm suffering with this at the minute. Am forgoing the 'medical route' and trying Salt Rooms for the first time this afternoon. While it may not be for everyone, I'm willing to give it a try. Will report back

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

I had severe sinusitis and PND for years. Then I moved house and it cleared. It was mould in the rental . I was in the second to third stage of black mould disease. Nothing cleared it.

Check your house. And surroundings, for allergies.

I never had a problem in my life but this all started when we moved into a 1960s old building for 3 months to work. a good few of the staff got quite sick and some said you could smell the damp from day 1. Could I have picked something up there I wonder, one doctor did say this was the case. But we're back in the brand new building and although its not as bad, it;s draggin on. why is that I have no idea.

Graces7

rusty cole wrote: »

I never had a problem in my life but this all started when we moved into a 1960s old building for 3 months to work. a good few of the staff got quite sick and some said you could smell the damp from day 1. Could I have picked something up there I wonder, one doctor did say this was the case. But we're back in the brand new building and although its not as bad, it;s draggin on. why is that I have no idea.

Could be but how long ago was this? It may take a while to heal? And less bad now?

yes less so now, it started in October 2018. we moved into the building and this started with days of it. im actually going to try clean everything out using the salt rooms and see if that works. I paid 600 euro for an allergy test in the bond secour on advice of an ENT, and it was no use, I have no allergies from that test anyway.

Graces7

rusty cole wrote: »

yes less so now, it started in October 2018. we moved into the building and this started with days of it. im actually going to try clean everything out using the salt rooms and see if that works. I paid 600 euro for an allergy test in the bond secour on advice of an ENT, and it was no use, I have no allergies from that test anyway.

Ouch!

I never actually even saw a doctor about it. Took eg piriton. I used to get three day ferocious disabling headaches after getting off benzos and thought it was part of the long term withdrawal. The GP in the Uk I saw about that said the only meds was one that they used for epilepsy and was dangerous so I soldiered on.

It was when I was street trading at a place away that i realised I was not as bad there and started looking at triggers. That house was riddled with visible black mould and reading online scared me silly.

Moved to the mountains and that helped greatly and now out in the ocean not a trace.I still get seasonal hay fever. So know I am allergy prone.

Never heard of salt rooms until now... Hope it helps.

Drumpot

rusty cole wrote: »

what age were you when this started? I have this the last year and a half and the docs haven't a clue what to do. I had my nose broken nearly 30 years ago but had it straightened over week after the fact and never had one issue. cut to almost 30 years later and my nose crackles at night, wakes me up, then I think it rolls onto my airway and can cause wheezing sounds. Docs just keep saying use avamys because the swelling will go don't and it should right itself, having had a broken nose years decades ago would maybe contribute but I just don't see why. It's not nice and does get you down.iM otherwise in great shape and very fit etc but this is really draggin on.

Ive had it for at least a decade, probably longer as that was when I found out.

Seems to flare up at different times. Think certain foods arent great (pizza, cheese etc) but it feels like in the warmer months its not so bad and in hotter climates it improves (but will monitor it more this year).

Ive had a cough nearly a month at this stage (also had similar one in December) and was told its probably allergies. Antihistamines do nothing and anything I ever get does little. Neilmed rinse helps clear out the nasal a bit but not a huge improvement.

Pain in the hoop and nobody seems to know what I can do to fix it.

Drumpot

Graces7 wrote: »

Timing is interesting. Maybe damp? I had some success with a dehumidifier. Never an issue now but I had found that when I visited eg the ocean, the sinus issues etc vanished and I had not even thought about it for years now until this thread

Ha, I had been trying a humidifier (put water into air) for a while but I had nowhere to put the machine and it was wetting the end of the bed so my wife asked me to stop using it.

We were thinking maybe the dry air from the heating was causing the issue. We used to have a dehumidifier in my parents house and I think I used to wake up with dry mouth!

jellybear wrote: »

I'm suffering with this at the minute. Am forgoing the 'medical route' and trying Salt Rooms for the first time this afternoon. While it may not be for everyone, I'm willing to give it a try. Will report back

How did it go ? I tried a salt place in Balbriggan and it was so so.Thinking of trying it again with a breathing guy who supposedly helps you learn to breath better.

jellybear

Drumpot wrote: »

How did it go ? I tried a salt place in Balbriggan and it was so so.Thinking of trying it again with a breathing guy who supposedly helps you learn to breath better.

Went well and has definitelty lifted the heaviness I had on my chest from the constant drip. Will try a few more sessions over the next few weeks. Twice a week is the recommended approach so will probably go Wednesdays and Sundays. Hopefully I'll continue to notice a difference!

Aguce

Any chance you have Acid reflux or Silent reflux?
Rinsing nose with salt water neti pot helps me for a bit.

decies

7 years later still doing the Neilmed rinse and popping paracetamol for headaches and every day or two Sudafed tablets which help with headache .