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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / March 2007Do I have sinusitis, or am I just crazy?
Since 2001 I have felt like this: I feel like someone is resting a 1 or 2 lb weight on my forehead. I feel tired all the time. I often zonk out and can't focus on a task at hand. My attention span can be measured in milliseconds. I feel slower at picking up things than others, although I am a very intelligent person. I always have a slight headache, but no medication to date can make it go away. I have a permanent dry cough that gets especially worse the moment I lay down to bed. For the longest time I thought I was depressed, and then I found that what I may have is sinusitis. I tried a neti pot with saline, that did nothing. I've been to neurologists, ENTs, physicians, hypnotherapists, allergists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors, and body builders, hoping one would find the magic bullet that would make my symptoms disappear and allow me to be a normal person again. I have had a CT-scan and an MRI that both turned out negative for sinus infection. As a last ditch effort, for the last thirty days I have been on a completely raw vegan diet (100%), hoping that the alleged healing benefits of the living foods diet would cure me. Unfortunately, I still have no success. My only last hope is to try Vipassana meditation and pray that my headaches, sore cheek bones, chronic cough, and overall sleepiness is completely a mental problem. Does any of this sound like real sinusitis? Is there a way to make me better again? I just want to feel alive once more. It's been so long.... Wow. Others here know more than I, to be sure, but I've been battling this stuff for quite a while now. What you described surely /could/ be sinusitis to me. Random thoughts: Have they treated you with antibiotics? Whether with the Neti, or a WaterPik configuration, can you irrigate daily for a few weeks to see if a) you feel better, and/or b) you see any obvious discharge? Have you tried decongestants (eg, Sudafed) or antihistamines (eg, Claritin) to see if they help you? Have you tried a regular steaming regimen--either in a steam bath or some on-the-stove-over-the-kettle method (google for ideas)? Have you had a thorough lab workup and eval by a good internal medicine MD, perhaps including a chest x-ray? If so, what did they find? Forget the "magic bullet" for a second. Did any of these specialists find anything? If so, what? Lot on your plate, Mike. I feel for you. BTW: I enjoyed my Vipassana gig. Cured nothing, but ... I enjoyed it. I believe an ENT first gave me Nexium since he thought it was acid reflux (I think -- this was two years ago). I was also prescribed that green bottle nose inhaler thing. Neither did anything. I tried Neti each day for about a week and gave it up. I guess that's a problem with this disease: if one doesn't feel results soon, one gives up again and writes it off as another failed attempt at treatment. Each time I used the Neti, I did have a lot of the green/yellow stuff coming out of each nostril. The passageways felt cleaner each rinse, but my headaches persist no matter what. I've tried extra strength Sudafed but that did nothing. Never tried Claritin but I'll try that tonight. I remember being in the hospital last year with a really bad fever and they gave me very strong drugs including percocet that did nothing to relieve the head pressure. It's really annoying because on a scale of 1-10, it's probably only between 3-4 usually, but it's ALWAYS there. The lowest I've had is probably 2.5 and the highest is probably a 7 when I'm under stress. But in the morning, at night, whenever...there it is. I haven't tried a steam bath but I'll spend more time in the steam room at my gym if that is supposed to help. I believe I had a chest x-ray during my fever/flu last year, but that turned out fine. I'll see what my doctor says on Monday. My GF highly recommends this one. Thanks for your help, Mike > Wow. > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > BTW: I enjoyed my Vipassana gig. Cured nothing, but ... I enjoyed it. Those are classic symptoms of a chronic infection somewhere in your head. > Those are classic symptoms of a chronic infection somewhere in your > head. Chronic infection somewhere in my head... for 6 years? Is an infection that long really possible? What do I take to clear it out? I'll start seeing as many ENTs as possible until I find one who can help me! Oh yeah it is possible. Biofilms have not sell-buy date. Most chronic sinusitis infections start out with a virus which kills off the cilia and goblet cells that normally protect the lining of your nose. Some S aureus bugs even carry a human virus around which is harmless to them but which kills epithieal cells and allowes them to attach. E. Coli is another attachment specialist. After that anything that lands on the film and is compatible with the pathogens, that is does not produce lactic acid, adds to it's resilince and antibotic resistance. By frustration has been that most ENTs don't know what less about biofilm than me, a metallurgist, or your adverage wastewater chemist. Medicine has always delt with bacteria in pure cultures, and considered the bugs that grow in extracellular polysacride (goo) they make themselves "wild type". Most bacteria are "wild type" mixed biofilms are the rule rather than the exception and are100 to 1000 times more antibotic resistant than pure cultures, so it seems like a kind of big oversight on the medical school's part not to inform the ENTs how real bacteria really live. And how few of those out there they can really grow in culture. Read through the research on the National Science Foundation's Center for Biofilm Engineering Site and you will see what I mean. http://www.erc.montana.edu/ See some of my previous posts if you want references. Or go to Pubmed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed Your best bet to find an ENT to help you might be the to find a someone at the University of West Virginia at Morgantown. They have recently done some biofilm work, but you still would have to find the right person. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstra ctPlus&list_uids=15805862&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum Oh yeah it is possible. Biofilms have not have a sell-buy date, they are pretty much immortal. Most chronic sinusitis infections start out with a virus which kills off the cilia and goblet cells that normally protect the lining of your nose. Some S aureus bugs even carry a human virus around which is harmless to them but which kills epithieal cells and allowes them to attach. E. Coli is another attachment specialist. After that any bug that lands on the film and is compatible with the pathogens, that is does not produce lactic acid, adds to it's resilance and antibotic resistance. My frustration has been that most ENTs don't know less about biofilms than me, a metallurgist, or your adverage wastewater chemist. Medicine has always delt with bacteria in pure cultures for simplicity sake, and considered the bugs that grow in extracellular polysacride (goo) they make themselves "wild type". Most bacteria are "wild type". Mixed biofilms are the rule rather than the exception and are100 to 1000 times more antibotic resistant than pure cultures, so it seems like a kind of big oversight on the medical school's part not to inform the future ENTs how real bacteria really live. And how few of those out there they can really grow in culture. (Like 1 out of 100). Read through the research on the National Science Foundation's Center for Biofilm Engineering Site and you will see what I mean. http://www.erc.montana.edu/ See some of my previous posts if you want references. Or go to Pubmed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed Your best bet to find an ENT to help you might be the to find a someone at the University of West Virginia at Morgantown. They have recently done some biofilm work, but you still would have to find the right person. On 3/20/07 10:51 PM, in article 1174456298.996931.96300@n76g2000hsh.googlegroups.com, "truehawk" > Your best bet to find an ENT to help you might be the to find a > someone at the University of West Virginia at Morgantown. > They have recently done some biofilm work, but you still would have to > find the right person. The head of the department there is Dr Ramadan Oh yeah it is possible. Biofilms do not have a sell-buy date, they are pretty much immortal. Most chronic sinusitis infections start out with a virus which kills off the cilia and goblet cells that normally protect the lining of your nose. After that any bug that lands on the film and is compatible with the pathogens, that is does not produce lactic acid, adds to it's resilance and antibotic resistance. Some S aureus bugs even carry a human virus around which is harmless to them but which kills epithieal cells and allowes them to attach. E. Coli is another attachment specialist. My frustration has been that most ENTs don't know less about biofilms than a metallurgist, or your adverage wastewater chemist. Medicine has always delt with bacteria in pure cultures for simplicity sake, and considered the bugs that grow in extracellular polysacride (goo) they make themselves "wild type". Most bacteria are "wild type". Mixed biofilms are the rule rather than the exception and are100 to 1000 times more antibotic resistant than pure cultures, so it seems like a kind of big oversight on the medical school's part not to inform the future ENTs how real bacteria really live. And how few of those out there they can really grow in culture. (Like 1 out of 100). Read through the research on the National Science Foundation's Center for Biofilm Engineering Site and you will see what I mean. http://www.erc.montana.edu/ See some of my previous posts if you want references. Or go to Pubmed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed Your best bet to find an ENT to help you might be the to find a someone at the University of West Virginia at Morgantown. They have recently done some biofilm work, but you still would have to find the right person. > I believe an ENT first gave me Nexium since he thought it was acid > reflux (I think -- this was two years ago). I was also prescribed that [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > coming out of each nostril. The passageways felt cleaner each rinse, > but my headaches persist no matter what. Ah, now we're getting somewhere! Green/yellow mucus coming out of your nostrils is definitely suggestive of chronic sinusitis. Except for an acute common cold, you shouldn't have that. I had that, even though my CT scan was negative. The dry cough you're getting may be due to infected post-nasal drip. Try this: Take a dietary supplement in the morning, called N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). Then an hour later put some pots of water on the stove to boiling, and inhale the steam through your mouth. Do that for an hour or so. I'll bet that will loosen up green/yellow phlegm that is making you cough, and make your cough more productive. As for how to fix it: The first two or three ENTs I consulted swore (based on my CT scan) that I did not have sinusitis. I had to keep shopping around for an ENT who understood that CT scans were not 100% reliable; there is a 5% or so incidence of false negatives; and an ENT who trusted my symptoms and patient history over what the CT scan showed. Your symptoms and history are so similar to mine, that if you consulted with him he would likely diagnose you with sinusitis, no matter what the CT scan showed. You need to find such an intuitive ENT. They're uncommon. These days, many doctors practice "defensive medicine"--they're reluctant to treat a patient in the absence of definite results from the medical tests. Malpractice lawsuits, you know the routine. Alternatively, you can do what I did for a while out of necessity: Watchful waiting. Sinusitis worsens over time. Eventually your sinusitis will worsen to the point that it WILL show up unambiguously on a CT scan, maybe in a year or two. Then there will be no ambiguity and you can get properly diagnosed and treated.  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Hmmm, same stuff I went through. >> I believe an ENT first gave me Nexium since he thought it was acid >> reflux (I think -- this was two years ago). I was also prescribed [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> green/yellow stuff coming out of each nostril. The passageways felt >> cleaner each rinse, but my headaches persist no matter what. More of my same symptoms > Ah, now we're getting somewhere! > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > that for an hour or so. I'll bet that will loosen up green/yellow > phlegm that is making you cough, and make your cough more productive. I finally went to an ENT who said that after looking at my CT scans he doesn't think I have sinusitis but believes that I have something (I cant remember the name, RhinoSinus or something like that) that is "like" allergies but comes from pollibly food or enviromental causes that nothing can be done about. > As for how to fix it: The first two or three ENTs I consulted swore > (based on my CT scan) that I did not have sinusitis. I had to keep [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > on a CT scan, maybe in a year or two. Then there will be no ambiguity > and you can get properly diagnosed and treated. This is so frustrating. All I want is to not be congested EVERY morning and have to take a hot steamy shower to loosen up the crap in my nose/sinuses. Should I dump this ENT? I've had 2 office visits with another scheduled for tomorrow but other than viewing my CT scans (one 3 years old from when I went to an allergy specialist) and 2 looks in my nose he has not done anything. Should I keep trying the neti pot? It seems to help a little but I stopped doing it because it would make my nose bleed after using it and instead of being congested with snot I would be congested with coagulated blood. -still suffering -Kevin Kevin: Gargle, try using Crest non-alcholic antiplaque rinse and lay down on your back if you can stand it, to get as much of the goo out of the main drain as possible.
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