Sinusitis success stories?

[jordanvoth]

It's been going on for nine months now with no letting up anyone beaten this? I've been through the sprays, neti pots, humidifiers and a lot of other remedies prescribed by doctors with no results. Sucks thinking that at 22 I might never be able to sing again.

[NathanEldred]

I've had it pretty bad, so bad it showed up easily on an MRI. My right eye felt like it was ready to pop out. Its inflammation, so something is irritating it either from your environment or diet. When I cut out dairy and started daily fish oil (which is a proven and natural anti inflammatory with no side effects because its essentially food not a 'vitamin') it improved significantly.

[Ward Pike]

I've been only suffering for most of the past 30 years. Seriously, most of the year for the past 30 years since my mid teens. And it has progressed.

You learn to sing through it. My tone doesn't have the nice "ball of air" to it that it once did but I warm up for longer periods of time and with lots of green tea and honey, and water, and avoiding allergens, I get through. I've sung on a helluva a lot of records with this perpetual sinus condition.

You'll get through it. You'll learn to cope and (use plenty of tissues) and your body will adapt in time. Very few of us 'get over it'. We get through it.

[Howie J]

Nathan nailed it. You're fighting symptoms, not the cause. Once you find that....life is good. Its just a pain to find. Like he mentioned....Could be food, could be environmental, could be a lot of things.

I have bad environmental allergies so I know its usually something in the air/house that is getting to me. My daily Zyrtec gets me most of the way through but sometimes if it's bad, or if I'm going to someone's house with cats/dogs/flowers/all the above, I'll pop some decongestants/Benadryl as desperate backup.

If you really need to be clear for an important event for a short time....Afrin. Not to be used more than sporadically or for a day or two, but it has saved me in some summer performances and interviews/meetings/teaching days when my head was full OR felt like everything was pouring out of it.


Howie J

[creegstor]

Candidiasis or some similar yeast overgrowth?

[sandersd]

I had problems for years - till I was in my 30's. Then I had a MRI and discovered a deviated septum. Once I had surgery to correct it the problems have not returned, and it's been almost 20 years.

My dad and brother had problems and were found to have nasal polyps. The polyps were removed with laser surgery which alleviated their problems.

Best of luck.

[TRA]

Chronic sinusitis sufferer here. It's really a matter of finding the root cause. For some it is anatomical and others in is allergy related. For me it's seasonal allergies that start up an infection due to congestion and improper drainage. That throws me into a tailspin of controlling swelling/congestion then treating the infection. I avoid antibiotics, but instead focus on treating my allergy symptoms and keep my mucus flowing. If you have restricted breathing or drainage you are going to get an infection. If your snot can run without obstruction and air can pass you'll heal.

Get yourself to an ENT. I personally took the route of avoiding antibiotics and steroids because that is what started this cycle of chronic infections.

Neti pot (w/saline and xylitol), probiotics, and vitamin D3.

[jordanvoth]

Wow lots of people. This is making my day, I will give all of these a go. People have a weird concept of how Canadian medicine works, of the doctors I've seen, not one will refer me to an ENT. Very frustrating. It's always there just to various degrees, last night was really lousy and today I've been pretty good. Good to hear lots of suggestions from people.

[creegstor]

Originally Posted by jordanvoth

Wow lots of people. This is making my day, I will give all of these a go. People have a weird concept of how Canadian medicine works, of the doctors I've seen, not one will refer me to an ENT. Very frustrating. It's always there just to various degrees, last night was really lousy and today I've been pretty good. Good to hear lots of suggestions from people.

Tell your doctor it's affecting your ability to make a living with your voice. If you do this he will refer you. I practically ordered my dope of a PCP to give me a referral to an ENT. She told me haughtily, "I really don't think you need it but seeing as you're a singer". The ENT (a guy who's on Dr. Oz quite a bit) diagnosed me with severe Silent Reflux and a paralyzed vocal chord! And here's the kicker, my PCP was an ex-singer herself.

Anyway, the only thing an ENT is useful for is diagnosis, but for treatment they aren't much use at all. Once you know what is the root cause (or causes) of your problem, YOU need to do a lot of research and figure out what to do yourself.

[RonGherkins]

Have you tried massage/acupuncture to relieve some of the symptoms?

[joeq]

I've been through the sprays, neti pots, humidifiers and a lot of other remedies prescribed by doctors with no results.

Put a similar effort into studying your environment for a cause.

I had a similar problem for 6 months, turned out our furnace had a hole in the heat exchanger big enough to shove a baseball through. I was breathing furnace fumes all winter. Could have gotten carbon monoxide poisoning and died. Fixed the furnace, problem went away.

could be the HVAC, could be mold, could be something in your food or water. Could even be fabrics you are allergic to.

[tonemaker]

start using truly hypoallergenic free and clear dish detergents and clothing detergents. Avoid anything that has an odor (even if it claims to be hypoallergenic/free and clear, open the lid and smell it to test it. If there' an odor, don't buy it).

don't use lotions and dry soap. use hypoallergenic organic soap. stop using shampoo. just use simply water and if you absolutely must, use a hypoallergenic organic soap.

stop eating junk food if you can, and try to see if you can isolate a food allergy such as nuts or milk or meat. go organic as best you can. it's really not so expensive anymore and you can still do partial organic and partial conventional. avoid products that used herbicides or pesticides or hormones.

go to an allergist/immunologist and get tested for allergies. after you find out what you're allergic to, eliminate it from your immediate environment.

use a brand-new dustmite/non-allergy pillow. replace your mattress as soon as you can if it's old too. and get a non-allergy/dustmite proof kind.

All of these types of things I did and my allergies were dramatically reduced. Also I rinse my nose almost every day so that nothing can build up in my nose and make me sick for longer.

last but not least, get rid of anything moldy in your living space. this can even be wood moulding in a bathroom. replace it with plastic moulding after you clean up the area with bleach and stuff. and get rid of any indoor plants that may give off pollen or collect mold. and get rid of any old curtains. regularly clean venetian blinds in the bathtub with bleach and dish detergent to take care of the dust.

dont dry your clothing outside because it collects pollen. dont take drugs and dont smoke. avoid being around people who smoke.

all this stuff helps relieve your body from the constant assault of foreign substances and helps your body to get back to normal instead of being in an alerted, allergic, histamine state.

[krusty]

Originally Posted by jordanvoth

... of the doctors I've seen, not one will refer me to an ENT. Very frustrating.

Say what? My old-school family doctor here referred me immediately. I have had 2 appointments so far and have another in 6 weeks to see if things improve at all. He has given me options for treatment and we are going with the simplest first.

[backplay]

I had the same problem for years.

My doctor treated my with:
Carbo betulae cum methano D3
Argentum/berberis comp. drops and 2 times a week a shot in my neck.

No more milk and more Omega fats.

Since then i don't have sinusitis anymore.

[MikeTSH]

I got it pretty bad back in March 2010. I had major headaches and migraines. Went to the doctor's, they suggested steam inhalation. My parents thought I was faking it, claiming "it can't be that bad if you can still sing and play guitar" regardless of the fact that I was in actuality just playing to keep myself sane from the headaches and nasal blockage.

3 days after the doctors visit my parents noticed I hadn't gone to the bus that morning. I normally got the bus on time so they came up into my room to see what was up when I didn't reply back to them and they found my having a seizure on my desk.

Turns out that the sinusitis had moved into bacterial pneumonia and spread into my brain. Paramedics came and rushed me to hospital with purple gunk coming out of my nose.

When I got to hospital they thought it might be a recurrence of the Meningitis B (Meningococcus) I had when I was 7 that almost killed me. They did a spinal tap with me unconscious and found that I did have a few more white blood cells than I should do but that it wasn't enough to be cancer or meningitis based. So they drilled into my eyebrows area and drained the sinuses, at this point telling my parents I was the sickest person in the hospital and that if I did wake up, the chances of me waking up without brain damage, if at all, were incredibly slim.

I woke up 36 hours later under the influence of morphine and a sh*t load of other drugs pumped into my system and I stayed in hospital for 6 days - moaning constantly to the nurses about how boring it was being in a hospital and how I wanted to get out of the damn place ASAP.

The reason I posted all this? It seems like nothing, and it usually is, but if it doesn't go away, CHECK IT. Continually. Because of the way mine ended up, every time I have a cold I now have to get amoxicillin so that my lungs don't give in and collapse. At 7 I have Neisseria Meningitidis and at 17 I almost died again. Seriously hoping I don't end up in the 27 club...

But yeah, just be careful is my point.

[jordanvoth]

Originally Posted by MikeTSH

I got it pretty bad back in March 2010. I had major headaches and migraines. Went to the doctor's, they suggested steam inhalation. My parents thought I was faking it, claiming "it can't be that bad if you can still sing and play guitar" regardless of the fact that I was in actuality just playing to keep myself sane from the headaches and nasal blockage.

3 days after the doctors visit my parents noticed I hadn't gone to the bus that morning. I normally got the bus on time so they came up into my room to see what was up when I didn't reply back to them and they found my having a seizure on my desk.

Turns out that the sinusitis had moved into bacterial pneumonia and spread into my brain. Paramedics came and rushed me to hospital with purple gunk coming out of my nose.

When I got to hospital they thought it might be a recurrence of the Meningitis B (Meningococcus) I had when I was 7 that almost killed me. They did a spinal tap with me unconscious and found that I did have a few more white blood cells than I should do but that it wasn't enough to be cancer or meningitis based. So they drilled into my eyebrows area and drained the sinuses, at this point telling my parents I was the sickest person in the hospital and that if I did wake up, the chances of me waking up without brain damage, if at all, were incredibly slim.

I woke up 36 hours later under the influence of morphine and a sh*t load of other drugs pumped into my system and I stayed in hospital for 6 days - moaning constantly to the nurses about how boring it was being in a hospital and how I wanted to get out of the damn place ASAP.

The reason I posted all this? It seems like nothing, and it usually is, but if it doesn't go away, CHECK IT. Continually. Because of the way mine ended up, every time I have a cold I now have to get amoxicillin so that my lungs don't give in and collapse. At 7 I have Neisseria Meningitidis and at 17 I almost died again. Seriously hoping I don't end up in the 27 club...

But yeah, just be careful is my point.

Jeez man, do you EVER have good luck? **** man. Thanks for the advice though man, I will check up on all of this. Here's a list of what I'm currently doing in case anyone is wondering.

- Carpet is being ripped out this spring
- Cold water humidifier
- Netti Pot
- Nasonex (spray)
- Reactine (anti-histamine)
- Advil (anti-inflammatory)
- No fast food/energy drinks/soda
- Steam inhalation

I'm also going to grab some new bedding and see if I can get a family doctor so that I can get a referral to an ENT. God this almost looks like a list of gear (and is starting to cost as much as some new pieces).

[metrosonus]

I use flonase, zytec, advair, singulair etc. You have got to be on top of your treatment and not skip anything, if you do it'll bite you in the ass.

for me, it's the air pollution around tampa. Up in upstate Ny, no problems..

[faramita]

I used to have it pretty bad. Had one side operated on, it cured for a few years. Eventually got rid of it by a peculiar yoga technique. Reluctant to describe it here, as it will freak somebody out.
But after years of treatments including having a hole chiselled in my scull, yoga thing worked and I haven't had sinusitis ever since.

[creegstor]

Originally Posted by faramita

I used to have it pretty bad. Had one side operated on, it cured for a few years. Eventually got rid of it by a peculiar yoga technique. Reluctant to describe it here, as it will freak somebody out.
But after years of treatments including having a hole chiselled in my scull, yoga thing worked and I haven't had sinusitis ever since.

Don't be shy. Describe it or name it. The idea is to help people here.

[faramita]

Ok, than. It involves soaking a strip of cloth in slightly salty water, swallowing it and pulling it out. It is supposed to clean your stomach (you should swallow about 3 meters as far as I remember). With all the gagging and sweating that procedure caused me it got rid of my sinusitis. I did this for a few weeks until I just gave up.
I also did the procedure where you stick a thin rubber hose through your nose take it out through your mouth and pull it back and forth once or twice a day, which IS supposed to clear your sinuses, but it did not work as well as the cloth swallowing. I was a bit of a hardcore yoga enthusiast than.

[dingo]

So, faramita.. the swallowing rope trick wasn't supposed to cure sinusitis but it did, and the rubber hose in the nose trick was supposed to, but did not? So perhaps gagging and sweating, sans stomach mop, would be the ticket?

[faramita]

So it seemed to work for me. Rubber hose in the nose did help, but not permanently. Swallowing the cloth did it. Sweating, which I did a lot of before with help of inhalers, hot baths etc. helped only for short time. Cloth did it for good, though I did that for different reasons.
Never had a touch of sinusitis since (decades).
It is such a weird and unpleasant thing though, I would hesitate to recommend it.

[creegstor]

Originally Posted by jordanvoth

Jeez man, do you EVER have good luck? **** man. Thanks for the advice though man, I will check up on all of this. Here's a list of what I'm currently doing in case anyone is wondering.

- Carpet is being ripped out this spring
- Cold water humidifier
- Netti Pot
- Nasonex (spray)
- Reactine (anti-histamine)
- Advil (anti-inflammatory)
- No fast food/energy drinks/soda
- Steam inhalation

Be careful with Advil. Seems harmless but it's not necessarily. Taking Advil destroyed my stomach lining and the function of my lower esophageal sphincter in a very very short space of time and I wasn't taking huge amounts either. This led to a host of other health problems. So be warned.

[jordanvoth]

I FINALLY got in to see an ENT today.
I explained the situation with my ears popping and constantly being blocked.
Hearing is perfect and the doc found the issue, which is sort of along the lines of a deviated septum. I go for a surgery in a few weeks.

[Ward Pike]

Fantastic!!

[RRCHON]

Glad you got the cause fixed only way to go

[DeepDiver]

Dude get checked for wheat and dairy allergies. There are a ton of reasons why these could get bad all of a sudden but I guarantee you that a deviated septum could not cause your symptoms. It can make them worse but the swelling will come back because its food or some other allergen causing your sinuses to act up. Get a full food allergy scan before any type of surgery. If the surgery messes up the resonance in your sinuses you may never sing quite as well and no doctor could care less about your singing.

Sent from my LS670 using Gearslutz App

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Glad you found the problem.

Lots of people around this area have allergies and sinus problem. It is mainly do to the weather and a host of allergies.

Things to stay away from are anything that promotes heavy mucus formation. Things like dairy products, pasta, bread and rice can exacerbate sinus problems. Also stay far away from any tobacco products. Allergies and or heavy mucus production can start a person on the road to sinusitis problems very quickly. I know from experience. I have been suffering with this condition since I was in my teens.

Lots of meds don't work or put you to sleep. Best to deal with the source of the problems and not just try and cover them up with medications.

A good ENT is essential.

Best of luck to all the people who suffer though this on a daily basis.

[Ward Pike]

Originally Posted by DeepDiver

Dude get checked for wheat and dairy allergies. There are a ton of reasons why these could get bad all of a sudden but I guarantee you that a deviated septum could not cause your symptoms. It can make them worse but the swelling will come back because its food or some other allergen causing your sinuses to act up. Get a full food allergy scan before any type of surgery. If the surgery messes up the resonance in your sinuses you may never sing quite as well and no doctor could care less about your singing.

A couple of small points, DD.
1. How can you "guarantee" his deviated septum isn't causing the problems mentioned? According to my ENT, it's what's causing mine and they're identical to his. My ENT has over 30 years experience and is known as the "Singers' Doctor". He DOES care about all the singers he treats and understands "the instrument".

2. Good point on food allergies. Gluten, dairy, shellfish allergies can seriously hurt the instrument as can spicy foods. A bland diet free of spices, peppers, dairy, gluten and the like will improve the health of any singer's voice but it sure is boring!

Best regards.

[jordanvoth]

It's not a deviated septum, but it's the easiest way to say what the doc told me, there is a sort of "bend" if you will in my the bones in my nose. If it was allergies, I'd likely have a runny nose. I don't, but I am plugged every single minute of every single day. My surgery is July 27th, it's a minor procedure but will post some thoughts on the process afterwords.