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Finding out the cause of my nasal allergy

Hi everyone
For pretty much all my life as far as I can remember, I have had some degree of stuffiness in my nose and postnasal drip at some point or another. I remember as a child I would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night to throw up because of the mucus that had built up in the back of my throat. I also had some problems waking up with a sore throat, again caused by blocked sinuses at night. What it means for me nowadays (at age 29) is just that I sometimes end up snoring, particularly once it gets past about 4am.

I have tried prescription antihistamines and various prescription nasal sprays, most of which have some effect in the short term but never a lasting one. I have also been trying a daily sinus rinse which does seem to be helping... again, only on and off though.

My GP referred me to an ENT who I saw about 5 months ago and seemed more concerned about pushing to have my tonsils removed (for the snoring) than to get to the bottom of the causes of my sometimes blocked or congested sinuses. I had a follow-up visit last week and had a temporary registrar (the best thing that could have happened, as luck would have it). She looked up my nose and said that it did look quite red and inflamed and 'allergic'. She then talked about the apparent benefits to using sinus rinses daily, and also how she had been at a conference not so long ago where they showed examples of people whose sinus troubles had been greatly improved by a change in their diet (referring specifically to the removal of dairy products). I have had a history of not agreeing with dairy in my diet, and even today too much milk can cause some quite bad stomach pain. Some have said to me that it sounds like lactose intolerance in a mild form.

Anyway, to get to the part that brings me here today, she sent me off for some allergy tests. I had them today and they tested 9 different samples plus the control. The only one that showed any reaction was the control. I was really hoping the cow's milk was going to show something but nothing did. I don't have a breakdown of what she tested, so I'll need to check the results after they are sent to my GP.

I really have two concerns. First, my condition is not 'chronic' in the sense that I get completely stuffed up and sneeze all the time. I don't even need to blow my nose in most cases. It just gets very congested - too much so to be able to breathe through clearly, and I get postnasal drip at times. So does this mean that the signs might have been too subtle for what she was looking for? A few of the samples did make me itch slightly but apparently none were worthy of recording.

Secondly, if not one of those 9, then what? How can I find out? I feel like I'm no closer to establishing what is causing this and has done all my life. I have noticed I do have periods where I can breathe fine through my nose, but to somehow trace back the cause of it or what changed before i started to get stuffy would require a personal assistant to be with me the whole time to record my movements etc.

I'm sure this is nothing most allergy sufferers go through trying to establish the cause. I just wondered if anyone has any advice on how I can move forward in figuring this out.

Thanks
Richard
4 Responses
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563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,

How are you?
The confirmatory test for allergies of any sort is RAST which is a blood test looking for presence of any anibodies formed in response to an allergic reaction.It is a bit expensive test.

It is right what the registrar has said that you are having sinusitis and your sinuses were looking red and inflamed.But one thing that I would like to mention is that it is not compulsory that any allergies can cause sinusitis.Mostly,sinusitis is caused by allergic rhinitis but sometimes congestion of the sinuses can occur due to some other causes like a build up of mucus in the sinus and its poor drainage thus causing post-nasal drip (PND). The excess mucus accumulates in the throat or back of the nose.

Thus it is important to find out if there is any allergen causing chronic sinusitis in your case or it is due to some other cause.You can gain insight by reading the following website:
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001045/

Hope it helps.Pls do keep posting on how you are doing.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sorry if I sound demanding but can I please get some help here? You did say if I need more information to please post and I did just that but I have yet to hear anything more. I appreciate the effort you went to in writing your reply, however everything you suggested are things that I mentioned in my original post that I had already had done.

I am hoping this post hasn't just gone stale and I'm not just going to be abandoned!!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
The allergy test you described (skin test) is exactly the one I had today which didn't show any obvious allergies to the 9 substances they tested. I guess my question is "if not any of the 9 common allergens, then what? and how would i go about finding out what?"
Helpful - 0
563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,

You seem to be having allergic sinusitis. The sinuses are air-filled spaces lined with mucous membranes surrounding the forehead, cheeks and eyes. Healthy sinuses allow mucus to drain and air to circulate throughout the nasal passages. When sinuses become inflamed, these areas get blocked and mucus cannot drain.

Sinusitis is mostly caused by allergic rhinitis which is runny nose in response to allergies. Also called hay fever. It's caused by allergy to the aerosolised droppings (faeces) of house dust mites and pet skin flakes (dander). Occasionally, indoor mould spores and, in rare cases, food allergy can be causes.

Diagnosis of allergy can be done by skin ***** tests and patch tests. In this a little amount of allergen is injected into the skin of the forearm by a doctor. The skin is closely watched for signs of a reaction, which include swelling and redness. Confirmatory diagnosis is by blood tests (RAST).Diagnosis of sinus inflammation is by transillumination tests and x-ray and CT sinuses.

Avoidance of allergen is the best treatment.

Hope I have provided you with sufficient information.In case you need any more then pls post us.
Helpful - 0
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