First time using sinus rinse - now I feel worse?

Yesterday I was delighted to find the NeilMed SinusRinse at my local pharmacy. I had no idea that something like that existed until I read about it on this board. So this morning I gave it a shot and it went really well (admittedly, I was more than a little freaked out by the concept). As the day progressed, I started getting that sick feeling in my throat, a headache (feels like a sinus headache) and some slight dizziness. (Yesterday I had felt a little cold coming on, so maybe it has just progressed to this point and has nothing to do with the rinse.) Anyway, I thought I'd try again tonight and when I put the bottle on the nostril that wasn't stuffed, it ran through to the stuffed one fine. When I switched nostrils though, it didn't flow through at all. I tried the other side again and it didn't flow through that way either.

Has anybody else experienced this before? Is it possible I irritated my sinuses by using this rinse? I'm worried because at this point I'm only breathing through one nostril and don't want to have a bad night on my machine Any quick remedies? Would a nose spray work, or would that irritate things more?

I have tried it and it doesnt do much for me either. I recently visited an ENT specialist who thinks its great. I will use it every now and then.Best to get the nostrils open with a spray first.

Irritation is possible, I guess. You did mix the powder with the water, didn't you?

Did you use distilled water? I use tap water myself, but maybe you're reacting to chlorine.

archangle wrote:Irritation is possible, I guess. You did mix the powder with the water, didn't you?

Did you use distilled water? I use tap water myself, but maybe you're reacting to chlorine.

Hi fellow sinus sufferer. At least that's why I turned to Neti-pot irrigation. I use slightly warm distilled water to help loosen the jam, and find a half packet of the salt-mix works nicely for me.

It may take a few times to open up and clear out the passages; as the thick mess gets liquified, you will feel stopped up... that should get better with periodic use. I find if I wait too long - days++ - between treatments, I'm more plugged up.

I also find that if I do the irrigation too late - within a couple hours of going to bed - it's not good; there is always some residual fluid that sloshes around and comes out very inconveniently, shall we say.

The other thing I use to help keep the nose and sinuses from being so thick is to take Guaifenesin generically, or Mucinex if you want expensive brand. It's available as GUAI-AID from various websites.
Best wishes on breathing better, both on and off CPAP. earl

The NetiPot gravity style sinus rinse works for me with plain old luke warm tap water, with about 1/4 tsp Kosher salt. On occasion I will use a spray bottle of saline water. Keeps'm open for me.

pap4life wrote:The NetiPot gravity style sinus rinse works for me with plain old luke warm tap water, with about 1/4 tsp Kosher salt. On occasion I will use a spray bottle of saline water. Keeps'm open for me.

DO NOT USE TAP WATER. There is chlorine and other crap in it - ok for drinking but not for shooting up your nose. In fact in the South you can die from it (brain eating bugs). Be safe any only use distilled water.

You have gotten excellent advice. I would keep using it twice a day. Sometimes it can take a day or two to unclog things and get the gunk out!!! When it works you will be amazed the amount of gunk that can get trapped up there in the sinuses!

BlackSpinner wrote:In fact in the South you can die from it (brain eating bugs). Be safe any only use distilled water.

Let's not spread unnecessary panic about this. There has been one diagnosed case in all of recorded history in the USA of Naegleria (the brain eating bug) from doing neti from commercial tap water.

Distilled water is still probably a good idea. There might be other bugs or irritating chemicals in your tap water. As you point out, the chlorine can be unpleasant, and possibly irritating.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I ended up using Afrin last night and it worked well enough to get me started with my leaf blower...and like many of the posts I've read on this board, the humidified air all night long I think really helped because I felt great this morning! (Of course started going downhill around 10am.) I think I'll give it another shot early this evening and see if it flows through. I'm just a little nervous about squeezing the bottle too hard or trying to "force" it. Not sure what could happen?

BTW, I am using distilled water (bought from store, but am looking to boil my own in future) and 1 packet of the pre-mixed solution that comes with the NeilMed SinusRinse kit. I warm the water in the microwave for 15 sec. and by the time I get it all mixed up it is at a comfortable temp; I test it on my hand to be sure.

Many thanks to all of you. As a new CPAP user (about 1 month now) I've really appreciated all of the advice, ideas, and feedback from this forum!