Chronic sinus sufferers - a link to a disturbing diagnosis

Found this at WebMD site while following someone else's posted link. This is a worry to any of us who have bouts of sinus ...

DSM

http://boards.webmd.com/webx?THDX@@.89d ... =.89daed6f

Many years ago while working at a medical clinic and fighting sinus infections that kept returning and not being the most compliant patient, I rather flippantly said something along the lines " well, yeah, but you can't die from a sinus infection" The doctor that I was working with rather vividly explained to me all the things mentioned in that article and included that the infection could even work its way into the brain and yes, it could kill you. So that got my attention.

Come to find out I was reinfecting myself using old nasal sprays instead of throwing them away. You know the Flonase type of stuff? I would take my antibiotics and use the spray. Be okay for a month or so, then use the same contaminated nose spray because I was too cheap to get a new unbuggy one, and wham, infection came back.

I still might use an old bottle but not if it was used when I had a real and active infection. That one gets tossed.

With the cold weather now coming (winter in Aust) am back with sinus troubles. That article really was a wake up for me.

Have just have my nose scanned a couple of weeks back & was taking it easy about action to proceed - ENT doc wants to remove my tonsils, remove polyps from sinus, straighten septum & offered to microwave my turbinates (they use a probe & apparently cook them from the inside but that I declined when she said they would be back to the same after a few months).

Am seeing GP doc to discuss next week as I also want to see a gastro surgeon about this new procedure that supposedly allows the stomach valve to be repaired with 90% success rate. My thinking is to get that done 1st if it is available here in Aust then worry about the nose work.

DSM

Awful,having to decide between two surgeries!

DSM,I can appreciate your apprehension regarding Sinus Surgery.It can be a tough nut to crack.

Today as I write this post,I can look at my own data and finally report a noteable improvement in sp02 and CPAP use.

Without question,this is due to the surgical sinus procedures I had on April 02,2009.

Albeit,I still have yet to 'feel' the full benefits of the treatment,I know that moment will happen as time moves on.

Your sinus airway deficiencies have been anatomically verified,so it is only a question of when to treat it.

I too am/was a chronic sinusitis patient,have had one episode of vertigo and am prone to sinus inflammation/infection.
Hopefully the better drainage from the surgery will allow any future infections to clear out rather than pool up as before.

At the moment there is no evidence of any sinus infection,so I continue with a daily maintenance ritual to preserve my newly restored airways.

Now about those two umbilical hernias I have to reckon with next...

Really! So all those years that I was told - "nothing to worry about - it is just sinuses " I should have been being treated!!!
I was at a real ENT once by referall - that was over 20 years ago - otherwise I get given a prescription of stuff to spray up my nose if I complain too loudly.

5aces

The ENT has said 'expect to be on Nasonex for life' - the operation is partly to reduce the areas infection can hang out (tonsils) & to help get more air through the nasal passages. ENT is pretty honest in saying it won't make any really big difference.

What procedures did they perform on you ?

DSM

PROCEDURE:
Bilateral Intranasal Antrostomies
Ethmoidectomies and Polypectomies
Partial Turbinectomies
Septoplasty and Closure of Septal Perforation.

Final thoughts were here:viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40757&p=368337#p368337

Prognosis was 80% that procedures would be effective.

Yes,I have been advised to continue Nasonex,Sinus Rinse/Spray and gel.

As one Old-Timer Doc said to me:"Look Son,after 50 years the warranty is up"

5Aces,

Read you saga - holy moley !!!

So that is what to look forward to

How do you feel about it now ? , was it worth the pain ?

DSM

(I'll try to take my mind off it by remembering how I felt after prolonged gum surgery

If you were just having two sinus things done,I would say not a real problem.(I kept my tonsils)

Each patient is unique and I had inflammation in the right sinus going into surgery,consequently bleeding more than most.

Absolutely,my airways needed to be improved so I could use the cpap effectively.

Prior to cpap,I already had a serious arterial seizure and was in a cardiac hospital for 5 days.

Motivated by not wanting to return to the Cardiology Ward,I was determined to get on with the show.

Yes,today I do feel my airways are improved,allowing better cpap therapy.

Worth it?-If I can stick with the program long enough to realize the benefits!

DSM , that's a very in depth answer to a life long problem for a great many of us on this forum. one more reason to be thankful for being on cpap. this spring i have experienced eye allergies from riding to K.C. ,Mo., but not the usual sinus issues as before cpap. all those complications sound strikingly familiar !

I've never figured out if CPAP therapy increased the sinus infections or just made them more noticeable, but they've at least seemed worse since going on the hose. That being said, a couple of years before that time, I'd had the endoscopic sinus cleaning which kept me breathing through my nose for a while. Now, I take antibiotics at least every 4-6 weeks and use an Afrin type spray as needed. As menacing as Afrin is, it's less of a scare than sleeping with a full face mask or sleeping without CPAP. (The full face increased mouth and throat dryness for me.) Now after reading this article and the other posts, it seems prudent to go back to the ENT and perhaps the allergist.

gasparama wrote:I've never figured out if CPAP therapy increased the sinus infections or just made them more noticeable, but they've at least seemed worse since going on the hose. That being said, a couple of years before that time, I'd had the endoscopic sinus cleaning which kept me breathing through my nose for a while. Now, I take antibiotics at least every 4-6 weeks and use an Afrin type spray as needed. As menacing as Afrin is, it's less of a scare than sleeping with a full face mask or sleeping without CPAP. (The full face increased mouth and throat dryness for me.) Now after reading this article and the other posts, it seems prudent to go back to the ENT and perhaps the allergist.

That issue of allergies is another one - my ENT says nothing she can do about that & cites that as one main reason Nasonex will be continually needed.

Our cold weather here (in Aust) is triggering sinus problems that seemed to have gone away until this past month.

ENT said that the turbinates will keep reacting to allergies which include, for me, dust !.

DSM

I have been on the hose for exactly one month but I have found the combination of filtered air and humidifier has been very beneficial to my sinuses and all my breathing. For the first time in nine years I am getting up without having a ton of muck in my throat and nose. I don't cough until I throw up anymore. While I had my cold I turned the humidity up to nine and slept right through it. For the first time in nine years I am starting to work out in the mornings again because I wake up breathing.

BlackSpinner wrote:I have been on the hose for exactly one month but I have found the combination of filtered air and humidifier has been very beneficial to my sinuses and all my breathing. For the first time in nine years I am getting up without having a ton of muck in my throat and nose. I don't cough until I throw up anymore. While I had my cold I turned the humidity up to nine and slept right through it. For the first time in nine years I am starting to work out in the mornings again because I wake up breathing.

BlackSpinner, It is good to hear such positive stories from among us re cpap & sinus. I too have had very positive results with Nasonex & that awful clearing of the throat - nose - mouth in the morning.

It does fluctuate for me which after 5 years of cpap is why I decided to, cautiously, visit an ENT (I really am sooo concerned about the horror stories I hear of nasal ops gone wrong).

The original info posted at the top was what shook me up though & am now looking at this from the POV that I must go ahead, no matter the fears. I confess to being quite taken aback at what this doc had to say re chronic sinus infection. I am telling myself mine isn't chronic but I might be in denial - am working through this as I can say that the consequences of me getting it wrong are a big worry

I now see a clear relationship between my GERD & (chronic ?) sinus problems. Am looking at what I can do pro-actively to deal with both situations at the same time.

DSM

This is scary. I have really bad sinus problems and I read that when you put on your mask that if you yawn or swallow and your ears become "stuffy" then that says your sinuses are bad. Talk to your dr about it. I haven't done so because I have gotten used to the 'stuffy' nose and I'm constantly worried about my son who has really bad issues.

I also have wondered why all of a sudden I have 5 rotten teeth on my upper right side that really bother me well, now I know. That's the side I have most of my problems on.