Sinus Stuff

[Whoaday]

Hey Guys,

I know sinus stuff is mentioned on this site, but I need some guidance. As I mentioned before I had an anaphylactic reaction to something July 31st...since then I have had headaches with a mild dizziness. This isn't the kind of dizziness like the room is spinning but more like something is moving behind the eyes. Well at first I thought it was just headaches, I had a migraine on August 5th. Never had one before. Since then I have still had the headaches, but in random severity. It started progressing to my cheeks and my head behind my eyes, around my eyes, bridge of my nose (I can feel my pulse) and my neck has been bothering me too. Well I started taking Advil Cold and Sinus which seemed to help (a little) but everyday it comes back. I'll wake up in the morning and feel pretty ok then when I start moving it starts. (so familiar to the chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms). So this was going on for three weeks as of last Thursday I went to the doctor, and she checked my ears, noted their was fluid, noticed my cheek area seemed swollen, nose was tight, and gave me Zithromax (Zithromycin generic) which is a 5 day dose which lasts for 10 days...she also had me take Mucinex-D. Today was the fifth dose, and as the day has gone on it has gotten progressively worse.

I realize from what a lot of you said that Decongestants are bad for us, but I haven't noticed any changes in my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms. As a matter of fact, those of been very nice recently.

Now, the medicine stays in your system for 10 days...should I wait it out, or should I go back to the doctor?

Also, I bought a Neti-pot yesterday, and it does as it says as far as providing "Instant" relief, but it is temporary. At least, if it is supposed to work it has not yet. When I did it, it is very clear my passages are blocked or partially obstructed.

I know working on Anxiety is a big part of this condition, but this is making me a little anxious as it's evening on the 31st of August, and I still have this very uncomfortable headaches.

I'm doing so well with my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms, and then this happens...

Again, I realize its been talked about before, some people talking about months, but I didn't know if they had dealt with it all day long for a solid month. I'm just hoping it's not anything terribly serious. I'm just conflicted, which I'm sure may be adding to the pain (the neck pain especially) but it's incredibly frustrating. I have been married just over 3 months, and I've had the chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome since before I got married, and now this...I've been sick the entire time I've been married, and I feel bad for me, but for her as well.

Any details and help any of you can provide, like what I should say to my doctor when I go would be helpful. My Doc just left to move to PA so I would have to go to another in the same place who has seen my before but doesn't know me like the other one, and they don't really connect any of this to the pelvic pain, so I would like to know what any of you would do (especially those who have dealt with the sinus stuff). I've had allergies my whole life, but never something like this.

Also, as a P.S. I did set up an appointment with an Allergist, but that isn't until September 8th, and I won't be able to test that day cause I am taking all of these pills to feel better. I feel like if I don't take any it will be unbearable. But I don't want to either.

Thanks a lot,

Whoaday

[carld]

I would request a CT scan of your sinuses...

Diet elimination should be considered as well...

Best

[Jay]

Hi,

Carl may have a good idea with the scan.

It otherwise sounds to me, as a layman, like sinus headaches. I've suffered from these, as well as migraines in general, for my entire life. They can get so bad as to make me vomit, so they're certainly no laughing matter. However, they aren't serious in the sense of being deadly.

When you go to the new doctor, you need do nothing more than explain your symptoms and what's been done so far. Let them take it from there. As the doc, it's their job to figure out why these things are happening. Believe me when I say that issues in this area don't have to be connected to CPPS, as I've had them from childhood.

For the moment, don't focus on the chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome connection. Don't worry about the fact that you're doing better and then this new problem comes along. Just work on one thing at a time.

[Whoaday]

Carl and Jay,

Thanks guys! I went to the doc today, and he was very good! He listened to me ramble on about what's been going on (symptoms with the sinuses) I inevitably forget something important every time I go to a doctor, so I made sure I did not this time. He has schedule me for a limited C-T of the sinuses and gave me a prescription for Allegra, but told me to hold off until this next Tuesday after my allergist appointment, so I can go through with the skin test.

He really doesn't think it's food, because never once have I had hives or the throat itchiness, but I know from here that food can cause the sinus issues.

Anyways, he told me just to take some over the counter stuff for headaches for the time being, and I am using nasal irrigation and seeing some good!

Here's hoping,

Brian

[Whoaday]

Hey All,

I wanted to update since my last post. I went in on Monday and Had the limited C-T of my sinus. Then on Tuesday I went and saw an allergist. My goodness was this man quirky but he was very knowledgeable! He got a copy of my C-T scan which was "unremarkable." Man if I had a dime for everytime I've been called that, haha. I guess that was a good thing, but I was concerned he may not take the pain I was describing seriously when it showed that my sinus areas were "wide open." However, he did believe so, and he went on this long talk about how everyone is looking for the magical cause of things and if they can just find that cause, everything will be ok. Well, he said there really hardly ever is just one cause, but a combination of things that hits a person at one time.

He was already listening and very open to what I was saying when I decided I would "drop some truth," from this forum to see what happened. He didn't seem to be the kind that would be bothered by me having knowledge on the subject, so I decided I would bring up histamine and mast cells. I said something to the effect of, "I know that there are mast cells in the body, and they when they de-granulate, they can and do release histamine especially in the case of chronic conditions..." (interestingly, on the information sheet for the appt. it asked if I had any conditions such as Prostatitis or Chronic Pelvic Pain.) He stopped writing on my records sheet, turned to me and said "You are one of the first patients I've ever had with the working knowledge of a mast cell, which I was just about to talk to you about...you just saved me about 20 minutes..." :icon_smile_lachuh:

This was a good sign. He started to tell me that he won't even test some if nothing comes up, but from the symptoms I mentioned, he felt it was worth testing. So they did the test of my arms, and he told me straight up, which I enjoyed, that the food tests were "absolute crap," and that any allergist worth their title has known that for years.

Now, I knew from being a kid I was allergic to certain grasses (made me itchy if I played in it) trees, pollen, and cats. Sure enough, the areas where those allergens were put on my skin got red and spread. I found out I was also allergic to 7 of the 9 types of mold he had on his test, every tree EXCEPT pine, cockroach allergen, the two types of dust mite he tests for, and some others.

I work in an older church, and there is a bit of mold here and there and certainly dust mites and such. As a matter of fact, I was cleaning a room with large amounts of dust the day I had my anaphylactic response. Interestingly enough, though, my allergist didn't believe the response I had was truly anaphylactic mainly because he said that a few hours later, all the symptoms would have been gone with the medication and what not. He believes, rather, it was simply a severe allergic reaction that sparked this sinus pain and headache I've had now for over a month.

He also noted that most people don't have just one type of headache but really all three. He said I had the migraine, which led to the sinus, which in turned put a toll on my body, and no doubt stressed me out leading to tension headache.

My Doctor had already prescribed me Allegra, which I could not wait to get on, and he said he thought that was good, but that my issue was more than just histamine, it was also inflammation he believed. Therefore, I needed something else to go along with it, so he gave me a script for Singulair too.

Now this was just Tuesday, so today is my fourth dose...my headache is still there, and at times its a bit heavy, but my pressure, and clarity seems overall to be better. Anyone know how long it could take to know it's working? He said give it 2-3 weeks and if I don't notice my headache being gone, and what have you, then I need to go elsewhere for my pain (I.e. Homoeopathic). He was very knowledgeable and even at the end said, "Look, medicines can't heal you...your body does that, these just simply block the responses or the pain cycle, and help the body heal itself."

I am still trying to do every natural thing like querceten, and Phenibut at night, but I really am hoping (praying) this helps, because having a headache all day for this long has me a little frazzled.



On another note real fast, I wanted to ask if anyone has experienced this. As far as my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome goes, I am doing well, should end PT this month, and my symptoms have been very low. I have been doing relaxation and getting a lot of benifit from it, however I can't say it's terribly enjoyable. What I mean is, and I hope this doesn't sound too weird, but it's like my body fights relaxing. When I get on my mat, or with a candle in a quiet room, or in the bath, or wherever to relax, I start getting tingling and itching on my body...then my heart rate will become rapid and uncomfortable for a moment, and when I deep breath I feel like I can't get all the air in or out.

Does that sound like something you all experience? This didn't happen at first just in the last two months or so, but I swear it's like my body is Fighting RELAXATION! Obviously, with this condition, not relaxing is our issue, but goodness, that's a little insane.

Anyways, that is all for now. If anyone else wants to offer any thoughts on the sinus stuff, or anything I can, I'd appreciate it!

-Whoaday

[webslave]

You're a person with allergies, like me. I find bothersome headaches that stay for a long time are linked to foods. In my case, cheese, chocolate, corn and wheat give me headaches. Your causes may be different foods, if indeed foods are causing it. Since you clearly have a lot of allergy issues, I highly recommend the Brostoff book to you.

[Whoaday]

Webslave,

Hey, thanks for the response. I understand what you are saying, and I have done the book elimination diet for almost 2 months at one point and nothing changed. This was long before this happened to me. The headache and the dizzy and such didn't happen until after the allergic response. My bigger concern was whether I was wasting my time with the meds I have currently. Like I said before, for my wife's sake it sucks I have been sick with this (CPPS) since before we got married, and now that, that is turning around, this sinus mess makes it hard to go out or really focus on anything.

[Whoaday]

Also any thoughts on the relaxation stuff? Also, I was reading in the trigger point workbork, that sinus stuff can be due to trigger points in neck and face...has anyone thought of that?

[webslave]

For sinus problems, I have found salt snizzles to be very effective, and studies have found home saline irrigations as effective as sinus surgery

I'm not sure about sinusitis caused by trigger points. I doubt it. But it is possible, because the nerves responsible for forming the trigger points do also cause inflammation along other branches of the same nerve delta, via cross-talk.

I own a Theracane, and I use it frequently to treat trigger points in my back and shoulders caused by computer/mouse use. Ex-moderator CPPSDAD used his Theracane to treat himself intrarectally (take care!)

[Whoaday]

I have not tried the salt snizzle, as I don't have all the ingredients, but I have done saline rinses in the past week or so and haven't seen any change. I've been on Allegra and Singulair for 4 days with no change..and now the pain is around my temple area in a pattern like a helmet with tightness. I have done some trigger point stuff on the neck helped a little.

Like I said my sinus pain has been all the same as normal sinus problems but I have no congestion and when I do sneeze, it's all clear! Did you have anything like this? I remember reading you said you would blow your nose and it would be clear. But you still had mucas, and blood and stuff. I've got nothing there and according to the C-T my sinuses are "wide open" What causes all that pain and pressure.

[webslave]

Take 2-3g of vitamin C for a few days (mops up histamine). Also, if you can, eat very little of the blandest food, but nothing you normally eat (the typical example is lamb and pears diet). If the headache lifts after a few days, bingo, allergy. If not, it could be anything, even a brain tumour.

Also, have you stopped a caffeine-loaded drink in the last while? If you used to drink lots of caffeine soda or coffee and you've gone cold turkey, the headaches can last for a long time, and they're pretty bad.