Just like me.  Before I had my surgery, some days I was literally choking, other days I could go to work and run errands, but NEVER did I have a symptom-free day.

Chronic sinusitis varies in severity.  Dr. Robert Ivker classifies patients into three types: Type 3 (the mildest), in which patients don't really consider themselves "sick" and put up with mild annoyance; Type 2 (medium), in which patients have few or no symptoms in between acute flareups but get sick on acute flareups; and then the big one, Type 1, the continuous low-level infection whose symptoms never fully let up.  Those patients consider themselves chronically ill, and they're often depressed and/or worried over their loss of their former health.

It sounds like you are a Type 1.  And I'm sort of Type 1.3 now.

Key question: When you irrigate your sinuses, or when you cough up phlegm, what color is your mucus and phlegm?

If it's colored yellow or green or brown, then it's likely a continuous low-level sinus infection, in some tiny pockets deep in your sinuses that the radiologist and ENT missed when they looked at your CT scan.  That too was my experience.  I strongly suggest you take those CT scan films to another ENT or two, for a second opinion (or even a third opinion).  And you STAND RIGHT THERE while he goes over them with you.  You don't want an ENT who just goes by the radiologist's report.

And in that case, surgery is not only the best treatment, but the only remaining diagnostic tool.  I had two other ENTs swear, based on my negative CT scan, that I did not have chronic sinusitis.  I finally found an ENT willing to operate on me despite the negative CT scan.  And he found blockages in my ethmoids that he himself could not see on the CT scan.  My ENT has learned the hard way that these indirect scans are NOT 100% reliable.

My experience is unusual but not unheard of.  There is still no substitute for direct observation.  But to directly view the sinuses, the physician has to push the endoscope all the way through the ducts into the sinus cavities.  And for that you need to be anesthetized, something they only do as part of a surgical procedure.

If on the other hand, when you are off your medications, you have NEVER seen discolored mucus even on your sickest days, then it may not be a sinus infection after all.  It could simply be non-allergic rhinitis caused by irritants in the environment.  Air pollution then becomes the prime suspect.  As I've been recommending to others, check your air pollution levels at www.scorecard.org and find out about indoor air pollution in your home (sick building syndrome).

If your neighborhood air is high in sulfur dioxide content, it's no wonder your mucosa are going crazy.  In that case, your only option may be relocation to a relatively unpolluted area.

And throw away your wall-to-wall carpets.  Don't clean them, junk them.  Linoleum is inherently cleaner.  Wood floors look great just by themselves too.

Good luck.

On 8/10/07 1:12 PM, in article
1186776744.524839.301830@x40g2000prg.googlegroups.com, "dygerati@gmail.com"

I believe it would be useful to have your nasal cilia tested . That might
point at was to therapy. Need to rule out other sources of infection
including teeth.
Consider a possible food allergy or GERD.

On Aug 10, 4:12 pm, dyger...@gmail.com wrote:

sorry to say, my symptoms of chronic sinusitus (even after multiple
surgeries) are always there to one degree or another and have to be
managed with medication and irrigation to the best of my ability.  I
sincerely hope that you have much better luck!!  Judyj

On Aug 10, 4:12 pm, dyger...@gmail.com wrote:

Possibly a need to remove all the allergens you showed positive for.
Shots take years to work, and they do not always work. If you were
taking a sedating antihistime, there is some of your fog as well.
Also, they dry sinuses and promote infection. Get a doc to test your
immune system. Tell them to include the subclasses. Others on the site
have noted noted long courses of low dose macrolides work. They do for
me as well.