Sinuses

[[Pr...]]

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to relate some stuff that has been happening to me since February. If anyone has any thoughts, feel free to chime in:

 

I have really bad allergies. Maybe w/d made them worse, I don't know. Anyway, I didn't like taking Claritin or Zyrtec every day all year round so I thought I'd try a saline spray, which helped so I decided to go for the big guns and try the neti pot.

 

The first time I tried to use it, the water did not flow back out the way it was supposed to. So I learned parallel to the ground and tilted and that worked.

 

The day after my vision flickered a little bit but I did not connect the two. I used the pot about 4 more times over the space of 2 weeks.

 

During the second week I developed a vice grip feeling in my forehead. Another time I used it and I felt the liquid running down from my eye area for several hours after but that stopped. By the last time I used the neti pot, I developed pain in my cheeks and nosebridge, radiating into my eyes and sometimes a headache. Because of the pain between them, my eyes were crossed. I also had throbbing in my nose bridge and my eyes would twitch. I felt a couple of times like I was getting a low grade fever but it never got full blown. Also, my ears blocked up for a couple of days and then my throat closed off for a night or so.

 

It was so SO disconcerting to say the least. I've had sinus issues before resulting in the head blocked feeling or the throat problems or fever/infection but never all that pain. I tried many things during this time - mucinex, claritin, allegra, zyrtec, sudafed. Eventually I just settled on half a zyrtec once a day. The Claritin made me anxious, the Allegra gave me dry eyes, the Sudafed made my sinuses worse. Most of this occurred Feb 18th til about  Feb 28th or 29th. Around that time my throat swelled up one final time really badly. At that point I made an appointment to see the ENT on March 5th. But right after I made the appointment I started to feel much much better. I decided to still see him to make sure everything was okay.

 

He poked and prodded and everything looked normal (the parts where he could see). He sprayed my nose with a decongestant and a numbing spray to put a tube down my nose. Since the sxs were gone then, he said he would not bother to do a sinus x-ray since it would mean radiating my eyes. I totally agreed with this assessment.

 

Unfortunately since I went to him I've been back in hell again. The stuff he sprayed me with irritated first my throat, then all my sinuses all over again. I've been in pain again since this past weekend. He had given me a sample of Nasonex which I stupidly tried thinking it is an anti-inflammatory and could settle the inflammation in my sinuses. I cannot be certain it was the Nasonex but the next morning I woke up and my eyes were twitching and extremely painful. I've never felt anything like it. They also seemed bone dry. The pain was deep within the region where my tear ducts lead into my nose and also it hurt to move the eyeball around. My vision was blurry. Every day since then the pain has improved to the point but my eyes are still sore and sometimes blurry and I think they are still dry, though not like the Sahara as they were on Tuesday.

 

I cannot seem to find any bad experiences like this with a neti pot online. Any thoughts?

 

Also any thoughts on the eye problems this week?

 

I'm so bummed out.

 

[[pa...]]

Hi.  I used the neti pot, everything became worse and I have been off Benzos since 80's.  My sinus became worse and more inflammed.  My sister went through the same, then she just used warm water without the saline, it worked.  I tried it, it worked.  I had a hard time also, tilting to get the fluid to go in and almost chocked to death with it.  Maybe just try the warm water, worked for us.  Pattylu

[[Fl...]]

Benzo wd most definitely can affect the sinuses. I am also close to 15 months off and my sinuses on the right side are still acting up. When it's at its worst it feels like a rusty spike is running from below my right cheek bone up into my eye socket and up into my forehead. Most days it isn't bad but I know it's there.

 

 

[[Pr...]]

Hi Patty, thanks so much for this response. How long did it worsen your symptoms for? The last time mine lasted for about 10 days before it calmed down and now this time, well it's been a while.

 

I am still not sure what happened to me bc people say it's fine for some of the water to go into the sinuses as well as the nasal cavity and it should drain out over the course of a few hours. One time I was very uncomfortable for a few hours and I could feel the water running down from by my eyes. So I think it is true that the water does drain out on its own if it gets into the sinuses. It was not right away but 3 days later that I developed the vice grip in my forehead so I thought either I had pushed an infection way up there (but I honestly don't have any sxs of an infection like fever) OR the water was still in there causing inflammation (but as I said, the water did drain out as far as I know). So maybe you're right and it was amount of salt in the water or something like that that caused the inflammation.

 

I don't know what any of it means. I just want to get rid of it and forget I ever did this. Please let me know how long your sinuses were inflamed for after using the neti pot

 

Hi.  I used the neti pot, everything became worse and I have been off Benzos since 80's.  My sinus became worse and more inflammed.  My sister went through the same, then she just used warm water without the saline, it worked.  I tried it, it worked.  I had a hard time also, tilting to get the fluid to go in and almost chocked to death with it.  Maybe just try the warm water, worked for us.  Pattylu

[[Pr...]]

Benzo wd most definitely can affect the sinuses. I am also close to 15 months off and my sinuses on the right side are still acting up. When it's at its worst it feels like a rusty spike is running from below my right cheek bone up into my eye socket and up into my forehead. Most days it isn't bad but I know it's there.

 

Hey FG,

 

Thank you. I do think now that I've had increased sinus problems during w/d. Now that I've done soooo much research I believe it was only my maxillary sinuses that were involved before. I'd get typical sinus infections with fever and cold sxs, blocked ears etc. Maybe the occasional facial pain but NEVER eye pain or nose bridge pain or throbbing.

 

Now, since using the neti pot, my frontal and ethmoid sinuses are definitely involved. At first I had a lot of pain and throbbing in the nose bridge area and my eyes crossed because of it. On Sunday I used Nasonex and I think I either am outright allergic to it OR it multiplied my inflammation a hundred fold. My eyes hurt just keeping them open, and heaven forbid I moved them or blinked. They turned pale yellow like someone with jaundice because all the blood left them. They were dry like a bone. The pain and stiffness has decreased each day until today I just feel some stinging/burning/grittiness - more like a dry eye type feeling than a my eyes are being gouged out of my head feeling. Today also the pain in my head has started to feel more like sinus pressure / pressure around the eyes rather than pain in the eyes. It is easier to keep my eyes open, better vision acuity, etc. I noticed today that my lower lids are swollen in that all the natural folds under my eye are pulled taut. I don't know if that was there earlier this week.

 

So I am thinking I made everything a million times worse than simple w/d sinus issues.

[[pa...]]

Hi Patty, thanks so much for this response. How long did it worsen your symptoms for? The last time mine lasted for about 10 days before it calmed down and now this time, well it's been a while.

 

I am still not sure what happened to me bc people say it's fine for some of the water to go into the sinuses as well as the nasal cavity and it should drain out over the course of a few hours. One time I was very uncomfortable for a few hours and I could feel the water running down from by my eyes. So I think it is true that the water does drain out on its own if it gets into the sinuses. It was not right away but 3 days later that I developed the vice grip in my forehead so I thought either I had pushed an infection way up there (but I honestly don't have any sxs of an infection like fever) OR the water was still in there causing inflammation (but as I said, the water did drain out as far as I know). So maybe you're right and it was amount of salt in the water or something like that that caused the inflammation.

 

I don't know what any of it means. I just want to get rid of it and forget I ever did this. Please let me know how long your sinuses were inflamed for after using the neti pot

 

Hi.  I used the neti pot, everything became worse and I have been off Benzos since 80's.  My sinus became worse and more inflammed.  My sister went through the same, then she just used warm water without the saline, it worked.  I tried it, it worked.  I had a hard time also, tilting to get the fluid to go in and almost chocked to death with it.  Maybe just try the warm water, worked for us.  Pattylu

 

 

Hi, all I know is that everything became worse.  The water seemed to be stuck in the sinus cavity going to the ear.  I felt like water was swishing constantly in that area.  My right ear clicked and kept popping for weeks on it.  Then poof, it all left.  I use the neti pot now and then, but not with the saline solution.  I'm really careful, keeping my head totally tilted and putting the water in very slow.  It does provide the moisture, I just don't like the feeling, and get concerned the same would happen again, though it hasn't!  Pattylu

[[Pr...]]

Thanks Patty. My ears are still popping and clicking too but that doesn't bother me. Just the pain and now the eye stuff. Thanks for answering. It's good to know that any residual problems will clear up on their own eventually, or at least most likely they will. I definitely won't be using it again for some time to come, if ever....It annoys me that  I did this to try to put less medication into my body.

[[Ra...]]

I've had 8 nose surgeries, and now that I'm off Ativan my sinuses are raging and is the reason I can't sleep.  I know it's the inferior & middle turbinates, but I have yet to convince the doctor.... Doctors are cement heads, and I'm convinced if they could just see past their ego and up my nose, we could get this fixed...