Not been a good Fall or Winter or early Spring for my sinuses. Looking for advice and tips on avoiding these infections/irritations.
I had my air ducts and filters cleaned months ago. House has no carpeting and is pretty clean. Have no pets, wash bedding regularly.
Been taking zrytec but thinking of switching to claritin. Use Ayr saline mist, xclear and GSE nasal sprays (but not regularly). Began taking OLE again. Going to start neti pot tonight.
Can't think of other things to do. Your thoughts would be appreciated!
Posted by beaches (Member # 38251) on :
I know some of you can offer advice!
Posted by MichaelTampa (Member # 24868) on :
I have had NAET treatments (a specialized form of acupuncture) for local pollen from time to time, every couple years, and that has helped a lot. This year I have needed four treatments as the season changed and there was different pollen, so it's been a tough year, but that is another thing you could consider.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
I know it sounds weird but treating parasites has totally helped my sinuses. Mucus is down to a 1 from a 10.
Posted by WPinVA (Member # 33581) on :
I do everything you do, plus either BEG nasal spray or mupiricin ointment in the nose... I've used them separately depending on what was going on.
I think BEG is better for getting deeper in the sinuses and the ointment is better if the issue is more in the nasal passages. Whichever you use, do it right after the Xlear spray.
I recently stopped Zyrtec after taking it for years, both during and pre Lyme. I'm amazed how much more energy I have. I was taking it before bed and didn't realize how much it was affecting my energy level the next day. I'm thinking of starting Clarinex.
Oh and another consideration is a steroid nasal spray. It's a steroid so it obviously brings issues with it, but it's not as systemically absorbed as an oral one, and depending how bad your sinus issues are, on balance it *may* be worth it to open things up. I've been on one for a while now, and while I'd like to get off of it, my sinuses just won't allow that.
Finally - have you had your nasal anatomy looked at for deviated septum, etc?
Posted by lymenotlite (Member # 33166) on :
I have long-term chronic sinusitis. There was always a little blood showing up when I blew my nose. When I had lyme carditis and couldn't breathe on top of that, it was life threatening.
After much experimentation, this is what I'm doing now. I adapted my dental irrigation machine into a nasal irrigation device by placing a faucet washer on a tip of the irrigator. I'm getting a lot better results from using pressure as opposed to a neti pot in which the water gently flows. The irrigator gets in between the cilia and cleanses and invigorates them which a neti pot does not do.
I've learned to put a little hydrogen peroxide into a saline solution. I suspect that, before I started doing this, the germs were just repopulating the same places because they didn't get killed.
So far I've had great luck with this. There is still a bit of blood but it is greatly decreased and I think it will be gone entirely in a short time. Also, I've been able to breathe better and don't need to irrigate as often.
Posted by desertwind (Member # 25256) on :
I do saline rinse with colloidal silver and GSE added in. Really helps! I think my sinus issue is more yeast/mold related.
Posted by beaches (Member # 38251) on :
Wow, thank you everyone!
Michael, I was wondering about acupuncture. Not sure there are providers in my area but certaunly worth looking into.
Catgirl, interesting about the parasite treatment and reduction in mucus. I would not have made that connection. When I looked into parasite supps awhile back (not for sinusitis) there were ingredients I was unable to take. If I can't turn this around, I will have to revisit this.
WPinVA, I have never heard of BEG nasal spray or the ointment you mention. Whenever I stop the zyrtec, the next 24 hours is mucus central, to the point I even vomit at times. I don't notice being more or less fatigued because I think I am just so used to not having energy. I keep forgetting to buy Claritin to see if it is better. What is Clarinex? Guessing it is related. I am not at all opposed to the steroid nasal sprays. I have used them plenty of times but they just haven't helped much. And no, no deviated septum or other anatomical anatomy.
Lymenotlite, I don't think I have carditis and sorry o hear you do :/ Interesting how you are using the force of your faucet. My poor sinuses can barely tolerate the neti pot so any more pressure for me wouldn't be manageable at this point. Not to mention I don't have the dental thing and would be clueless going about doing what you are But the hydrogen peroxide added into the mix is interesting. I will have to look into that further.
Desertwind, I don't what the heck my sinus issues are due to. Could be anything at this point! When you say saline rinse, are you referring to the neti-pot? I like the idea of the colloidal silver.
I spoke with DD's LLMD (she has the same problem) and he likes a combo of xlear and colloidal silver sprays. He is sending us both the colloidal silver spray. So I will try this combo first and see if it helps.
Thank you all again!
Posted by desertwind (Member # 25256) on :
Beaches; Yes, I add Colloidal Silver and GSE drops to my neti-pot. I find that it really helps to keep my sinus infection free. I also use a Colloidal Silver Nose Spray and xlear when I feel like the allergies or mold is really getting to me.
Hope you feel better - allergies are horrible this year!
Posted by Bitten in Bergen (Member # 34067) on :
Beaches - you mentioned you had your air ducts cleaned, but if you have mold in your home, the cleaning would actually have dispered the mold and made the situation worse.
Check out createyourhealthyhome.com for tips. If the mold exposure is the problem, it will need to be handled, plus you'll probably need a consult for biotoxin illness. I was treated with cholestyramine for several months after I did the mold remediation.
Also, I second the BEG spray - you can have your LLMD do a nasal culture for staph. The BEG spray has bactroban, edta (biofilm) and gentamycin. It can cause some herxing if you don't work up very slowly.
Hang in there and good luck!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Hey bitten...good sites. Did u work with her. I see mold discussed on here a lot and try to add to the conversation but find it hard sometimes to explain
I learned a lot remediating my house in the last 2-3 yrs but i am so foggy its hard to explain it all
I feel sad when i see misinformation about mold and i cant fix it
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
But the hydrogen peroxide added into the mix is interesting. I will have to look into that further.