Sinusitis - can anyone offer me any advice?

alyth

Having just crawled out of bed at 9pm following a horrific attack of sinusitis, can anyone offer me any advice on what I can do. I've been suffering this after a really bad cold before Christmas, it was so bad I went to the doctors last Friday, and he said take nurofen. I'm now up to 8 neurofen a day, am having steam inhallations every evening, but I'm now finding that at 3.5 hours after taking a nurofen I'm being crippled by the splitting searing pain down one side of my nose, above my eyebrow. The attack this evening was the worst ever, I'm feeling shaky and awful now, it's classic sinusitis as I've just googled it, and it was confirmed by the doctor, but I go back to work tomorrow, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get through the day, plus I'm not convinced taking all these painkillers isn't causing me some other damage as well. Asking for antibiotics doesn't seem to be the answer, on the websites I found the information was just painkillers and inhallations, but I wonder whether anyone else suffers from this - does it every go away, I've been suffering now for 2 weeks!

Savvy_Sue

As we can't offer medical advice, the short answer is no, but you could go back to your GP. While antibiotics aren't necessarily the first response, they are sometimes necessary - at least I have several friends who've needed them recently for sinusitis, may be a particularly evil strain of it around! And if you're getting worse not better and unsure whether you are fit to work, that would justify another trip to GP for me ...

You could also see your local pharmacist. There may be a decongestant available OTC: I'm sure there is, but I won't name it. More frequent inhalations might help. And pharmacist may be able to advise on stronger pain relief: you can, for example, take doses of paracetamol in between doses of ibuprofen unless there's some good reason for you not to.

You have my sympathy, if it helps ...

looby75

just wanted to second what sue said about going back to see your gp, anything thats been hanging around and getting worse for over a week needs to be checked out again.

I suffer from recurrent sinusitis and there definitely is a difference between viral and bacterial. Steaming helps with viral, but it just seems to make things worse with bacterial and antibiotics are the only thing that shifts it

jema_2

hi, sympathies, as suffer horrifically myself, just want to curl up in bed when it happens, mine triggered by getting cold wind in face, and is under one side cheek bone & above the eye, our medicine cupboard looks like boots pharmacy, saw a consultant earlier this year, there are varying things i found out that give sinusitis symptoms, therefore what suits me in terms of medication might not suit you...but in case heregoes ( please do check with a pharmacist first ) for 10 years i've used the double dose technique, paracetamol & ibruprofen alternatley but together, you can take a full days dose of each in a single day when it gets really bad,
so i start with a dose of sudafed max (contains ibru), lots hot milky drinks ( as aware that quantity of chemicals required to control pain can affect tummy), if no effect inhalf hour, boots tension headache relief, ( contains paracetamol), you have to becareful with sudafed as psedoephedrine affects heart rate, so i'll only take one dose of these, 3hrs later straight ibruprofen, if still relly bad, then half hour after this start on migraleve ( paracetamol based) we find that the chemical components of the boots tension heache relief great for dulling really nasty pain, had the local pharmacist try & findanother tablet that had the same formula, but there isnt, so drive several miles to boots just for them,
decongestants never work for me, hot flannel does,
good luck, but do have a chat with the pharmacist

Ted_Hutchinson

Use of flavored cod liver oil and a multivitamin-mineral with selenium as adjunctive therapy for children with chronic/recurrent sinusitis is an inexpensive, non-invasive intervention that clinicians can use
If it works for children there is no reason to suppose it will not also work for adults.
Healthspan St Clements You may find the code P&O gives a bit of discount though it may be dated.

The impact of the cod liver oil may be partly due to it being a good source of Vitamin d see The Antibiotic Vitamin 2 tsps of the St Clements is the max you should take because of the high Vit A content. Don't think though that the vit d content in cod liver oil is all you need. Healthy men seem to use 3000-5000 IU cholecalciferol/d, and 2 tsps St Clements provides a mere 832iu but every little helps.

Becles

I get it badly too. You have my sympathies as I know how painful it is. Ask the pharmacist for psedoephedrine rather than sudafed (or other brand names!) as it's a lot cheaper buying it in it's generic form.

The following is gross, so don't read any further if you are eating!

My GP said the pain is caused by thick compacted snot that builds up in the sinuses, which are like tiny pockets of skin under your forehead and cheeks. As there is no give in the skin covering these areas, as the sinuses expand due to the snot build up, it causes imense pain.

The best thing to do is do a steam inhalation for about 5 minutes once every hour. You can add Olbas Oil or similar for an extra boost! Pour boiling water into a bowl, and do the old tea towel over your head and breathe deeply. After a couple of minutes breathing, try to exhale hard out of your nose, and you'll see hard bits of snot shoot out. These are what is causing the pain.

Keep up with the steam every hour and it gradually chisels away at the snot in your sinuses and gets rid of it.

And on the plus side, the steam brings out all the impurities in your skin too. Give your face a good wash after each inhalation session, and you'll have beautiful glowing skin once you are better

If it does keep coming back, see your GP in case you do need antibiotics.

fabwitch_2

Ask your GP to referreyou to a ENT specialist who can examine you and advise you on the best treatment for you. You may need to have your sinusis drained or there may be a blockage in your nasal area causing these problems. Best to be referred to check it out propally rather than you go on suffering.

adouglasmhor

I had horendous sinusitis for years, have you had an allergy test? After suffering from teens to nearly 40 I discovered an intolerance to cows milk and dairy products was my root cause, someone else I know has the same thing with wheat. Ask your doctor or the ENT specialist when you get to see them. And you have my sympathies it is a very nasty thing to have and a lot of people think it is nothing.

greendale9061

Hi,

I can also relate to this nightmare. My partner has a very bad reaction to life in general. 8yrs ago he worked in a dusty well know sportswear factory which triggered a chest infection. It never really clear up with the several courses of antibiotics given. It soon developed into sinusitis. It has taken the NHS 4 yrs to diagnosis that he is allergic to dust (had to rip out all the carpets & replaced all the bedding), dairy products and wheat aswell. I feel so sorry for him :-( Every day he take a combination of 1 x very strong 24h sudafed (i bought for US),1 x Zirtec and a nasal wash.

He still gets alot of pounding headache, thick excess mucus in the throat/chest, sore eyes & ears and can't really breathe most of the time. After deciding to pay for a private consulation by a ENT specialist he is now booked in for an op in Feb. Hopefully this will give him a healthly life back.


My suggestion is get refered to ENT or get your GP to do an allergy test. This is a common illness and with the correct diet, pills can keep ot under control or why not ask for the op?


Thanks
Kate :-)

skyrocket

my complete sympathies as i had this as a child and it was horrific!
hopi ear candling is a good treatment to help with the sinuses. have you had this done?

plotholder

I had a sinus op last march and the results were instant. they re bored the hole at the back of my nose, drained the crud out and flushed it through.

in hosp overnight and back to work in 3 days.

i had had toothache for 2 years due to the pressure and when i came round from the op that had vanished straight away. the post nasal drip which i also had went straight away too.

the worst bit was having the foam tampon pulled out of my nose the next day!!