Mucus, Stuffy Nose, & Pressure in Head

[Fisherman55]

Where do I begin, I guess from the start!  I'll first post my symptoms

---------------------------------------------
- Tons of Mucus when I wake up and throughout the day
- I wake up lie in bed I'm fine, it's not until I stand up I feel like something adjusts in my head (mucus) and there's pressure in the top of my head and middle, not a headache though.  Feel a bit dizzy and my ears kind of need popping.  20-30 minutes after standing pressure relieves a bit along with dizziness.
- Stuffy nose in morning, can't breathe through nose sometimes
- Get pressure in head occasionally through the day, sometimes turns into headaches
- Hard to breathe through nose sometimes
- Feel pressure in ears sometimes
- I've been diagnosed with Allergies at allergist


Ok so I used to work at the Casino where there was smoke billowing through the buildings.  Well after I quit that job I noticed a mucus problem that came from nowhere.  I ignored it for the whole spring and summer.  It was until the fall and winter I've come down with pressure in my head that lead to headaches for the last two months.

I don't have a doctor so I went to my old pediatrician.  He first wanted me to get a CAT scan, but just like any regular joe schmo I didn't have healthcare.  So he put me on antibiotics.  He said try these for 10 days and make another appointment.  So I took them for 10 days I immediately felt better and the head pressure seem to go away.  So I blew off the doctors appointment because I didn't feel like paying another $80 just for a doctor to tell me I'm better.  So I took the antibiotics for 20 days and stopped.  I had 8 or 9 pill left, I should of taken the rest but didn't know anything at the time about antibiotics how you supposed to finish them.

Well 1 week passes and the pressure seems to come back in my head.  This time pretty bad, so I said hell with it go into emergency room.  They did blood work, spinal tap, and CAT scan.  Everything comes back negative.  I'm like what the hell?  I can feel pain in my head, can't breath through my nose, and spitting up mucus when I wake up and throughout the day.

That doctor just put me on 10 day of antibiotics and put me on my way.  I took some of those and still felt crappy

So I apply for medicaid, eventually get it.  I get assigned a resident doctor.  She assumes the pressure in the headaches are just from stress now and nothing else.  She said after doing three antibiotics the sinus infection would of went away if there was one.  I'm thinking ummm ok.  I don't have much stress or anxiety.  So she just gives me flonase spray for nose and ibuprofen for headaches.  Well I get better a little bit, but the headaches still come back and the mucus is still hanging around.  So she sends me to an allergist.

Allegergist does the back thing and tests me for allergies.  The results show that I'm allergic to quite a few things: grass clippings and other summer stuff.  So the allergist says that the mucus is from allergies and I'm going to get on shots.  I'm thinking in my mind, I really don't think it's allergies.  And he says the headaches is a neurology thing I need to see an neurologist.  Allergist puts me on claritan, decongestants, and more nose sprays.

Well month passes and I'm feeling like dirt.  This time I'm feeling dizzy, nautious, and getting ear sensations like I have to yawn.  I can't even work on the computer!  So I call my parents because my girlfriends working, they rush me off to their local health care facility.  I get there, the doctor looks at all the meds I'm taking and previous antibiotics.  Goes out the door, few minutes pass and comes back and asks me if I have anxiety problems and stress?  I immediately say no.  Then he talks some more and I talk about how I am helping my girlfriend with her finances.  He gives the diagnosis that my headaches that my symptoms are due to stress.  I'm like what about mucus and my nose problems?  He says those can be from allergies or the common cold.  So he prescribes me Xanax.  I'm thinking Xanax?  It seems like these doctors are just guessing now.  He also says I should see an ENT doctor for the pressure in my ears.  During that time there I almost faint because I'm so dizzy.  They say I might be dehyrdated so they put me on an IV, after an hour I feel better and they discharge me.

So now another doctor has me convinced that the pressure and headaches I'm feeling are stress related problems.  I kind of forget about the other problems I have.  Well few weeks pass, Xanax helps but I feel that something else is causing these head tensions.  I'm still dizzy and have a hard time standing.  Mucus and nose problems are still bad too.  So I rush off to another emergency room this time they want to do a MRI and more blood test to make sure it's nothing else.  I stay over night and the results come back negative again!  In the morning at the hospital they bring in the neurological doctor, he looks at my MRI tests and asks about my symptoms.  I tell him, he says you seem fine to me.  They discharge me and I'm on my way, this time with another prescription for more ibuprofen for my headaches and he tells me to quit all the other drugs I'm on.

I get home I stop all the meds.  Next day I do feel better, now I don't know what the hell to do?  

My parents say they I should go see the cardiologist doctor friend because heart disease runs in my family.  I book an appointment show up.  He says everything from a cardiologist stand point is fine.  But the pressure in my ear and headaches could be Menier's disease.  He said I should go see an ENT!

So now I set up an appointment for an ENT doctor.  I get there and the place is packed.  I wait like an hour and finally see the doctor, I immediately noticed he's a bit jittery and tries to work really fast.  I'm thinking oh no!  This doctor seems a little off, but I ignore and let him diagnose me.  I tell him my first most painful symptom is my headaches, I've been having headaches for around three months now doc.  I also tell him about my nose and mucus problems, tell him how I feel sort of pressure in my head and I get dizzy at times.  Also tell about the pressure in my ears.  And stress one day I had ringing in my ears.  He checks my ears and notices one has some blockage in it, he scrapes it out with his tool.  Then he puts in these blurry goggles, has me sit up and down in a chair.  Looks at my eyes, asks if I feel like the room is spinning?  I say no, he goes and says well you can't have Meniere's Disease if you don't feel any vertigo problems.  Then I ask him what's up with my mucus, headaches in the morning, and hard times breathing through my nose.  He looks at me and just diagnosis me with tension headaches.  He says headaches can happen when you have stress, they can cause ear aches and also make you dizzy.  He doesn't really say anything about the mucus, like he totally ignored that symptom.  So he discharges and just puts headaches on my papers.

At this point, I don't know what the hell to do.  I'm still getting headaches when I wake up, constant spitting up mucus throughout the day, hard time breathing through nose, and pressure in my head throughout the day. Since I stopped taking my other pills I did notice the dizziness went away.  So I do some researching and type in my symptoms on Google.  The main main diagnosis "sinus blockage" keeps popping up!  I eventually come across this site and read this article http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/2322/The-Sinus-Flush  I tried saline once or twice, but never stayed on it for a very long time.  Why would I when all the doctors say my main diagnosis is just tension headache.  So I tried that tonight in the shower, I noticed all types of mucus came through my nose.  Afterwards I do feel better.

[MsMandaL]

Did you use a neti pot?  I'm going through what you describe.  It's awful

[meniere135]

Food elimination is slowly becoming more popular among doctors, but is has a long way to go!  Unless the situation is an emergency, food intolerances and food allergies should be one of the first things, in my opinion, to be considered for many illnesses or symptoms.
I realize it is not a cure all for everything, but it is the answer for many things.  But it's hard to get people to change their diets...I'll be the first to tell you it's difficult.  And it's hard for people to be consistently 100% free of each food group.  They find it hard to believe that the one little speck of the offending food could cause a problem - but it does.
And one week is not long enough to test a food.  It takes at least a week to get most foods completely out of your system - some foods take 3 weeks.  

I will leave you a message regarding dietary adjustments.

[Fisherman55]

At one point I did think about the foods I eat and stopped drinking milk for a week, I did see a little difference in my mucus.  But then my allergist said dairy products have nothing to do with my mucus problem and I read online an online blog that stated it's a myth.

But I also know how doctors don't know everything after my experience with them!

Over the years I have drunk a lot of milk and ate dairy products.  I do eat wheat bread, wheat noodles, oat breakfast bars, and oat cereal everyday.  I never even thought it might be that.  It seemed to get worst when I started eating a lot of wheat and oat products.

I'll definitely give it a try and mention it to my ENT this Friday.

There really is so many things out there that could be causing my symptoms.  It's all about ruling stuff out.  It's just too bad doctors don't try natural remedies first instead of resulting to pharmaceutical drugs.

I'll tell you this much though, I tried the "friggy" Flip-Turn Sinus Flush, my mucus was gone for a few hours and I could breath really good through my nose.  Overall felt better and my head pressure went away for a period of time.

I thank meniere135 and friggy's input on this forum, no telling this is the cure, but I think I might be headed down the right path.

Any other input I would appreciate it...

[meniere135]

I had many of the same symptoms that you are describing.  I went on a gluten free diet for a different reason and realized that my above symptoms (your symptoms) went away within about 3 weeks.  Gluten intolerance, when someone lacks the enzymes to break down the protein in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats, can cause yeast overgrowth.  So I agree that sinus conditions are mostly caused by fungus.  After starting the diet, I would get bouts of diarrhea that smelled like mold! Yeast die-off, I assume.  Now I can breathe and only get mucous when I have a cold.   Another food that is ear related is cow's milk products.  Many people lack the enzymes to break that down also - the lactose in milk and the casein in milk.  Sugar is another problem.  So maybe consider food elimination to see if food is causing your problem.  The gluten and casein problem are not allergies - they are food intolerances.  Look the diet up on the internet.  If you'd like to try it, leave me a message if you'd like some help with it.  Hope this helps.

[Fisherman55]

Also I want to mention that the pressure and the headaches got worst when I started eating this stuff "Quorn," a fake meat product.  I don't know if there's a linkage between the two, but I read what member "Earle" wrote on this post http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/2322/The-Sinus-Flush  about 95% of all chronic sinus conditions are caused by fungus and not bacteria.  Quorn is made out of a fungi!

And i also found this about people's testimonials with Quorn http://www.********.com/group.php?gid=9559056755&v=wall

It's possible Quorn could of made my symptoms worst.  I mentioned it to some of the docs, most didn't comment, the ENT said it's possible.  But really didn't seem to care.

[Fisherman55]

So now, I think I'm back to square one and thinking it's some type of blockage in my sinuses.  Why it didn't show up on the CAT scan, not sure, maybe because 1st round of antibiotics.

Either way, mucus hasn't changed throughout the last three months.  Dizziness has gone away!  Pressure in my head when I wake up, nose is stuffy too, hard time breathing through my nose.  And also pressure in my ears sometimes throughout the day.  Pressure in my head can cause headaches too.

I'm going to keep at in with saline solution "Flip-Turn Sinus Flush."  Try some garlic pills and also some apple cider vinegar.

I made another appointment with an ENT.  This time I'm going to tell him my mucus, nose, and ear problems first.  Then talk about the pressure and headaches in my head.  Starting off with headaches I think with a doctor can totally throw them in a different direction.  I also wrote down my symptoms for him to read.

I have to say it's insane how the medical field can easily throw you in the depression/anxiety category when I don't even have those problems, lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!