Sinus Problems associated with HCV??? A forum survey question for all.

[DoubleDose]

In one of the recent posts below, a number of our members discussed the possibility that HCV may cause or be associated with chronic Sinus problems (Sinusitis, Sinus Infections, Sinus headaches, etc.)  It was noted that several of us had a long history of Sinus problems over the years, that seem to have either faded away after tx, or moderated to a great extent.

The question I pose is this:

How many of our forum members have also had specific, chronic Sinus problems over the years, concurrent with their HCV infections???  Additional problems might also include throat and upper respiratory infections, and over production of mucous, chronically.  Also, eye and nasal passage chronic irritation problems, beyond the normal seasonal, or situational that might affect anyone from time to time.  

The major focus on this survey, is the Sinus issue.  It has been noted that there are some odd relationships between the Sinus issue and HCV infection among some of us.  Now we need to understand whether this is very common, or not common at all.  Many of us may have not made any connection to chronic sinus infections and the HCV infection...but there may indeed be a causative relationship.  

I know that I suffered years of sinusitis, red, inflamed sinus membranes, and a chronic nasal stuffiness, and excretion....for decades.  Now almost four years after SVR, the problems are minimal to non-existent.  Could the HCV virus INFECT the soft tissues of the nasal tract?  Could it be the overall cellular autoimmune response to the HCV in the blood that is carried throughout the nasal tract?

Let's hear some feedback.  Comments will be appreciated by all.  Maybe we will all find out something new about the extra-hepatic symptoms of the virus.

I am quite sure that many subtle symptoms of HCV are not noticed, nor correlated to the HCV by the medical experts.  It is all too subtle, and they are chiefly focused on the Liver related issues to spend much time on other systems that might be imaccted.

Thanks in advance for your input!

DoubleDose

[starlight101]

I have had HORRIBLE SINUS infections along with my Hep. C.....exactly as you describe.  I found this forum looking to see if others have too.    I'm hoping the new treatment out will work for me.  I've tried twice before and It came back.  I HAVE NO LIFE when my sinus infections kick in.   FEEL SO SICK I can't even do anything hardly.  :(     I hope once I cure the HCV These will go away forever.    thank you for your post.    

[P55]

I was in treatment for 48 weeks and waiting for my post 6 month virus count to be in this coming week. I had hep c for over 28 years when I started treatment.
I never had any real problems with my sinus  or throat other them the occasional cold.
One thing that I have done for years is clean my nasal passages in the shower.

[Kirstie_MHModerator]

Il n'y a pas beaucoup de gens ici qui parlent français et nous n'avons pas de services de traduction. Si on a une question, on doit utiliser le bouton "Post a Question" en haut de cette page, et demander en anglais.

[hassanm]

je souffre du sinusite chronique depuis un peu prés 20 ans , j'ai allé chez plusieurs médecins leur diagnostique était....... pas d' allergie mais j'ai une inflammation chronique avec hyper -activités de mucus , depuis quelque années j'ai souffre d' écoulement de mucus derrière la gorge.  et oui je je confirme votre observation car j'ai un HCV chronique les médecins disent que peut être daté de mon enfance donc depuis plus de 26 ans, actuellement je suis sous un traitement pour le hépatite , et je espère que cette problème disparaître avec ces effets secondaire insupportable

[orphanedhawk]

This post is from 2007.

[bernietg]

I can certainly acknowledge chronic sinus that began 10 years after hcv infection after an accident that crushed my nose, left cheek and left eye socket. I had constant pain and swelling in my left sinus after the surgery to repair my face that I needed constant attention to reduce the swelling in this area. My doctors failed to diagnose the cause of this swelling for another 10 year's. At year 8 I began hcv tx and noticed an improvement of this condition temporarily until 6 mo. Into tx when the virus returned and overcame the tx. I was determined to be a no responder and the swelling came back in full. 2 years later I began triple tx and 2 months into treatment all swelling has completely gone away and not returned. I am currently at week 18 of treatment and my viral load is less than 43. I have had no swelling for 10 weeks now and for the first time in10 years experiencing no pain related to this sinus. I'm a 1a genotype so will need the 44 weeks tx and praying for svr. But I can affirm the sinus problem being associated to hcv.

[meki]

OK - Jim - first --- 4-5 years before I got dx with hcv I started slowing down --- fatiguing..



Part of the reason I kept going to the docs... (The I feel awful but don't know why symptoms... LOL!)


All -  (Because this IS an interesting thread)

OK - here's an odd theory.

It sounds like a LOT of us are having (maybe - theory here... ) reactions to the changing environment.

Perhaps Pollution?

So maybe pollution causes allergies, sinus issues and allows the HCV to become more rampant?

(Did ya follow that lopsided train of logic? LOL!)

Meki

[GrandmaA]

Sorry, I have no allergies or sinus problem due to HCV or it's treatment.  

[mustangshelly]

yes, I did see that movie and it was just as you said...yes I wonder also...it would certainly explain a few things  lol  population control??? keeping the big pharms in buisness??? Yes that story with the TB did get pushed out of the news rather quickly..hmmm..I know when I worked a the Hosp there were alot of weird things going around..lots of people talking about sides of all the injections before off to war...next thing you know men in black knocking on my door ;)  shelly

[orphanedhawk]

   Did you see the movie Jacob's Ladder? Depressing and surreal but believable.  I sometimes wonder it the military isn't partly responsible for keeping HCV  the 'silent' epidemic. I was in San Francisco when AIDS first started raising its ugly head. I remember lots of conspiracy theories.  I also wonder about this guy with the weird TB which his father-in-law researches. That side of the news, sure disappeared quickly.
     Good luck,                OH
btw: whenever I see your user name I hear that song, Mustang Sally. Makes me smile.

[mustangshelly]

Yes, I was born at pawtauxent river naval base in Md. I was vaccinated there and had all kinds of paperwork etc. really weird, my Dad just retired a few years ago , he was naval then went to army and fought in 2 wars, viet,desert storm, he works still for dept of defense...I was reading an intersting article on connection of smallpox vaccine and posible hiv infections in congo ...interseting but scary stuff..I know that when I go to the dr's for the first time they look at my records and say,hmmm..you were vaccinated for small pox and polio??which was a sugar cube at that time and the smallpox leaves a scar on your arm which I still see
..I know that all those freakin shots my dad got were crazy!!!  .. to this day gets sick every July with shingles of all things!!! hugs :)shelly

[DoubleDose]

The constant throat clearing and post nasal drip also is a part of the 'sinus' issue, and I suffered from an embarrassing throat clearing problem during the last 15 years that I had chronic HCV before SVR.  The throat clearing is virtually absent since SVR!!!  Interesting stuff!!!

DoubleDose

[Lindaz]

I have occassionally suffered from minor sinus during the years but I do suffer from constant throat clearing.

[pigeonca]

I had asthma as a child, but it seemed to diminish in my 20's and only bothered me when I spent too much time with cats.  Never had sinus problems until one day about 15 years ago, when I suffered the most amazing headache and was told that it was a sinus headache.  That was the only time, but then about 8 or nine years ago the post-nasal drip began, along with a resumption of the asthma.  Lots of mucus too.  It never occured to me that it might be the hcv, 'cause I didn't know i had hcv until last year.

Re. fatigue, this is something that came on gradually in recent years, and I attributed it to age.  I used to be the ultimate high energy person, could do all-nighters without blinking an eyelash, but that went by the wayside oh, about six or seven years ago.  Then the autoimmune skin problems started around three years ago.  I really believe this isn't a coincidence.  Maybe that sinus headache was my acute stage of hcv??

[rosebud57]

very chronic sinus problems got worse the more sick i got, with whatever. as i didn't know anything was going on.  then became "asthmatic" and i am really don't have that condition but was given prednesone, 5x in increasing doses back to back and sent home from ER w/nebulizer (all one year before discovery of hep c and subsequent tx. during this episode when i blew my nose these hard red pellets came out with all the other mucus, i had never experienced anything like it. it was after the crisis and with further tests that i was told that i don't have asthma after all, perhaps its gerd.  i took a few of their pills prilosec or something, but later tried gotta say it teaspoon of vinegar in water drink several times daily, works wonders for  the gerd. the prednesone inflammed my whole body and i gained 20+ lbs in a matter of days, didn't lose the weight til during tx.

later after hep c found. sinuses drained like crazy thought i was going to choke on the noxious stuff that was coming out. i remember reading (i wasn't posting yet) that others were writting about sinus drainage and different ways to keep sinus moist. even still later... found out prednesone is the worst thing a hepper can be given as it can cause the virus to replicate.. (i don't know where i read that so can't substantiate it) i will never take prednesone again...  when i have occassional sinus thing i like to try the vinegar thing...it really helps.

[honey11]

It is amazing to see so many infected that have nasal,,,allergy problems!   Before I was diagnosed with hep,,,,,,I had no problems and in fact was much a surprise  that I tested positive.  Now that I look back,,,,maybe fatigue played a very small part but nothing like I needed naps daily,,,,just a feeling of being tired at end of day and probably not as much energy as a person my age.  I also had feet problems,,,,they were beginning to hurt alot when I walked but that has now cleared!

Hi Tnhep!  I keep hoping since you and me are neck and neck here with 2 year SVR that your issues would clear up or go away!!   During my tx,,,I developed some nasal problems,,,stuffiness and couldn't breathe good at night and of course the tx did lots of damage to my skin.  But now I'm having some outbreaks on my skin after 2 years,,,,a little itchiness,,,,nothing major but a few outbreaks.  My eyes are not the same,,,I have been to eye dr twice and everything seems to be ok but my eyes are dry alot and my eyelids itch quite a bit,,,,kinda like after all these years,,,,I now have allergies, imagine that!  Seems pretty odd that I finish tx and acquire this extra add on baggage!   Do I feel bad?  No,,,not at all,,,,just little minor things,,,I notice that isn't quite right!  My husband,,,,never had any problems before finding out he had hep.  During tx,,,,he started developing nose,,,throat problems and that has stayed.  Now,,,he is stuck with the constant clearing of the throat and seems to be really bad after he eats????   We are both SVR's so I'm very thankful for that,,,,,but all I can hope is nothing gets worse as years go by,,,,ya know?

[VXman]

Sounds like Fort Ord in Monterey, CA

[orphanedhawk]

The potential connections seem endless. Tonsils are supposed to help fight infection. I was 4 and they thought I was too thin!!!  
    As far as being born on a military base, geez, I'm sorry. My husband had those horrible air gun inoculations in boot camp. They went from one guy to the next w/o cleaning the 'gun' inbetween, many whose arms were bleeding.  Then they placed the blame of the number of Vietnam vets who have HCV on the guys themselves using drugs overseas. Anyway the guys were shipped out early from this boot camp because of a meningitis outbreak. Not the place I'd want infants exposed to.

[willing]

thanks for starting an interesting thread. If you can find any cites on long-term ifn effects please post them. The bit of research I did in this area seemed to suggest we knew very little about more than a couple of  the 100+ genes upregulated by ifn, let alone long-lived effects on immunity. It would  be interesting to learn more.

[DoubleDose]

Thanks to everyone for the frank and detailed descriptions of your related sinus and allergy histories.  Little bits of information all add up to more knowledge and insights.  So far its interesting to me just how many of us have had a prior history of allergies, asthma, sinusitis and post nasal drip.  Judging from our board you would think the whole world should be on Claritin, and Steroid spray.

I guess we can't yet be certain if there is a definite association between HCV and these problems, but there sure seems to be some odd correlations showing up here.

TnHep:  Sorry you are having similar post-tx issues, but very happy to hear about the long term SVR for you.  It certainly helps mitigate some of the post-tx issues that plague many of us.  I really hope they start looking at treatment approaches for those with specific post-tx patterns, and also that they begin to understand what physical changes are brought about by doing the tx, in many of us.  Maybe they will come up with a cure for the cure!

Best wishes to you, and the rest of the forum members!

DoubleDose

[mustangshelly]

intersting twist.. tonsels and adniods removed at age 7? They removed part of my throat to so I have a nerve exposed..the guy butchered me..I was also born on a military base and often wonder if I am some type of experiment, microchiped and infected??? lol ..on a seriuos note how many were vaccinated for smallpox? polio? and how many times have you received your childhood immunizations? :)shelly

[orphanedhawk]

One side of my family has a history of minor sinus problems. However, as long as I'm where there isn't a lot of pollution, they don't bother me. In fact, now if I go to a dirty city, they only bother me for a short time and then I adjust.
   I wonder how many with sinus problems have had their tonsils removed?

[VXman]

Previous chronic sinusitis finally resolved by the progressive invasive masures:
Deviated septum Operation
Nasal Antral Window Operation (1)
Nasal Antral Window Operation (2)
Caldwell-Luc Procedure (Operation) This did the trick about 10-tears ago. No more left maxillary sinus infections.

Did have allergies and asthma as child: however, didn't develop sinus infections until after HCV infection! Still clear the throat alot, but nothing compared to the pain of the previous infections.

[nygirl7]

To be honest back in 'the day' I had such a habit I couldn't have possibly known if it was the HCV or not that caused the sinus problems.

Once that stopped...so

I do have chronic allergies though but I think that's just pretty common and would love to blame it on the hep...but since that is long gone and I'm stuck with the allergies.....I guess I'm stuck with them for good ;)