Horrible Sinus Pressure, Pain, Dizziness, Vision Problems

[Spoonybard]

Hi Everyone. This is my first post. I started having problems about 5 years ago. It was occasional problems such as mild sinus pain/pressure and headache with mild eye strain. Each year it has gotten worse. Over the course of the past 5 years I have seen multiple doctors across different specialites: Ears, Nose & Throat, Neurologist, Allergist, and my Intern. I have had MRI's and CT scans. This year has been the worst so far. I have already gotten 2 sinus infections. In February of this year I got a CT scan and the ENT doctor said I have a severe deviated septum with chronic sinusitis. I was treated for a sinus infection and that was it. I still felt bad so I went to a neurologist. He wrote it off as a vestibular problem. I did vestibular therapy for 2 months with almost no relief. In May when allergy season started, everything got worse. I have had nonstop sinus pressure/pain, headache, dizziness, major eye strain, my face is sore, my teeth are sore. At the beginning of July I went to an allergist. He said I was allergic to 3 types of trees, 4 grasses, dust, molds and very mild allergy to cats. He put me on Rhinocort. NO results. Then I went back to him after already dumping over $200 in co-pays and medication and he said I have a sinus infection. I just finished the antibiotics and I still feel the same as I did when I first went to him in July. He had me on amoxicillin plus Astelin. I have tried Nasacort, Zyrtec, Claritin, Alavert, etc.... no relief. I am a computer programmer and I can't function like this anymore. Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks.

[stepho74]

I'm 15 and have severe sinus problems, I have had about 10 sinus infections and have taken far too much time off school. My ears are always blocked, even when I don't have a sinus infection, I am always dizzy and get sick very easily, I get dizzy spells a lot and have occasionally sat down in the middle of a room because I have blurred vision and don't know what direction I'm going in. I went to my doctor and he told me I had allergies and put me on rhinocort, another nasal spray, multivitamins and claratyne every day... I have been doing this for 3 months and gave up the nasal sprays because it was making me feel worse. I have begged my mum to make an appointment with an ENT but she just "hasn't gotten around to it yet" she works a lot an I feel terrible because I am always complaining to her. Please help me out, thanks.

[Huey1980]

Hi, also in the club. I have been having these symptoms for roughly 10 years. Am now a 30 year old male and looking to finally put these problems in the past. I also went to numerous doctors and kind of gave and and felt that this is how life is and find a way to just deal with it.
Symptoms:
Spaced out feeling
Head feels like there is a band around it at times
Eyes "jump around" sometimes and get blurry(until I focus and correct them)
Head sometimes feels like it's floating
When I play hockey I will sometimes get extremely light headed to the point where it hurts and I have to kind of chill out and let it subside
there is the pressure there in the front of my head near sinuses, although It is mainly a dry sinus problem
get dizzy, sort of stumble at times, never fall over or anything
sometimes get sort of a numb or pins and needles feeling(although that might be related to my neck?spine be slightly
out of line(getting that checked out right now)
Pulsating feeling at times(especially some evenings when I lay my head down at the end of the day)

Anyway, I have always had these sinus problems and never really put two and two together, thought they were completely seperate as dumb as that sounds now. I am a very laid back person and feel that is the only way I have been able to deal with these problems and live a somewhat, normal life to this point, although it only appears that way on the outside. I am going to look into allergies as I believe many years ago i had a test and was not allergic to many things but I believe Chicken feathers was one thing I was. Oddly enough, I believe I have always used a pillow with feathers in it so there might be something there? Anyway, It is great to know that I am not alone and this has been a mystery to me for so long but the fact that I can share my case and see others is a HUGE step in the right direction. I have confidence that if we stay open with what is going on with each other and new ideas, possiblities, etc. we may find a cure for this horrible disease?Virus? whatever it is. Please continue to share your experiences as I will with you. Thank you :)

[Huey1980]

Hi, also in the club. I have been having these symptoms for roughly 10 years. Am now a 30 year old male and looking to finally put these problems in the past. I also went to numerous doctors and kind of gave and and felt that this is how life is and find a way to just deal with it.
Symptoms:
Spaced out feeling
Head feels like there is a band around it at times
Eyes "jump around" sometimes and get blurry(until I focus and correct them)
Head sometimes feels like it's floating
When I play hockey I will sometimes get extremely light headed to the point where it hurts and I have to kind of chill out and let it subside
there is the pressure there in the front of my head near sinuses, although It is mainly a dry sinus problem
get dizzy, sort of stumble at times, never fall over or anything
sometimes get sort of a numb or pins and needles feeling(although that might be related to my neck?spine be slightly
out of line(getting that checked out right now)
Pulsating feeling at times(especially some evenings when I lay my head down at the end of the day)

Anyway, I have always had these sinus problems and never really put two and two together, thought they were completely seperate as dumb as that sounds now. I am a very laid back person and feel that is the only way I have been able to deal with these problems and live a somewhat, normal life to this point, although it only appears that way on the outside. I am going to look into allergies as I believe many years ago i had a test and was not allergic to many things but I believe Chicken feathers was one thing I was. Oddly enough, I believe I have always used a pillow with feathers in it so there might be something there? Anyway, It is great to know that I am not alone and this has been a mystery to me for so long but the fact that I can share my case and see others is a HUGE step in the right direction. I have confidence that if we stay open with what is going on with each other and new ideas, possiblities, etc. we may find a cure for this horrible disease?Virus? whatever it is. Please continue to share your experiences as I will with you. Thank you :)

[teejy]

Hi, I believe that I am apart of the "sinus pressure club"...My story is very similar to yours. I have been experiencing dizziness/light head, yet all my doctors declare that I'm in perfedt health. All my blood work, cat scan, ekg, lab work all are normal...yet im left feeling miserable. Did the allergy shots work for you? Any help and insight you can offer would be SOOO appreciative.

[jc971]

Wow!  What a shock to accidentally happen upon this forum and read about everyone's misery!

I hope I can help a few people by sharing my story.

1) Sinus sufferer for 30+ years--the worst in my 30's and 40's. On antibiotics, steroids more times than I can even count...every few weeks for weeks at a time until I finally started becoming resistant and getting allergic reactions to them! Endoscopic sinus surgery in my 30's for deviated septum and enlarged turbinades--definitely helped but did not cure. (They said they use my x-rays in teaching sinus surgery!) Ongoing use of nasal steroids shrunk tissues but caused other health issues so had to stop using them.

Was told by ENT's on both coasts that bad air quality was to blame. I didn't have allergies but it didn't matter, tissues would swell, shut and another infection would start. Over and over. Misery to the enth degree.

At one point my teeth got involved. Whether it was the sinuses that kept infecting the root or the root kept infecting the sinus we don't know. Right as as the Endodontist was leaning over me to begin another root canal I happened to mention how I had been getting this zinging sensation between that tooth and my nose and he stopped, stepped back, asked me a few questions and said the tooth had to come out, a root canal would not cure the problem anymore. Had to go to an oral surgeon and have it pulled. Again, it helped but did not cure.

Along the way before sinus surgery, I had missed taking seriously one ENT who told me how a number of his patients used a Water Pik to wash out their sinuses regularly. I WISH I HAD LISTENED!!!!!

It took me 14 years of horrible misery and finally becoming totally desperate and almost unable to take any antibiotics whatsoever, to hear an allergist who was trying to help say AGAIN that I needed to get one. Thank you God.  That one single choice literally changed my life.

I bought the Grossan Hyrdro Pulse  http://www.hydromedonline.com/hp.html  

I mixed up a batch of the saline solution and decided to add herbs and more to it to wash out whatever was growing in my sinuses. I didn't care if it was viral, bacterial or fungal I was determined to kill it.  lol...

Someone above mentioned Alkalol available at CVS--I too had read about it in a Sinus book.  I added the Alkalol plus a few drops of Hydrogen Peroxide, Tea Tree OIl, Silver and Oregano Oil. No more than a few drops of each.  Voila!  Within the first rinses....such incredible relief!  I did rinses every day for months and then was able to decrease it to once or twice a week.  The key is to wash out all pollutants that set up in the nose...be they chemicals or pollens or viruses.  I've found I can beat almost every single cold by catching it at the beginning and starting to rinse. Previously, colds and URI's (upper respiratory illnesses) would have put me on antibiotics and multiple drugs for weeks!

I've now gone over 4 years without having to take antibiotics!!  That is a full blown miracle.  

I have family members that have severe allergies and they have found the same results using it especially faithfully during high allergy peak season.

As to those who might read this who are also having vertigo problems, please read the next section!  :-)

2) At one point I developed vertigo problems, no one was sure why but they thought it started with a virus. I found a chiropractor and a dental specialist who did not even know each other but "happened" to both be doing research on certain TMJ type problems. Both concluded that something had triggered the nerve underneath the ear to send signals to the brain which triggered the vertigo.

The chiro began careful in mouth TMJ adjustments and the dentist gave me custom night guards to keep the jaw aligned. I was also warned by an ENT that even the smallest amount of fluid retained in the ear canal could set off an episode. They warned me that chocolate was one of the foods that could increase that fluid along with salt etc... I categorically was able to prove them right. One night I had chocolate cake at a birthday party and the next morning the room was spinning!

The chiro also showed me how when he adjusted my neck a certain way, the room would begin to go crazy and when adjusted back- it completely stopped! After a series of chiro treatments, using nightguards, taking sudafed at signs of congestion, and drying out the ears with a hairdryer from a foot away (after washing hair, swimming etc...) I've been 99% free of that problem for 12 years. (and I can eat chocolate!)

I also know there are clinics which specialize in getting some sort of crystals to dislodge from inside the ear canals of people who are suffering from certain forms of vertigo.  I was just starting to look into that back then.

As we've all said....if we can help one person to not suffer as much as we have.... Bless you!

[Jackgamble]

I am 39 years old and i too i have had all the same symptoms but until 5 weeks ago i never had extreme headaches behind my eye, dizzy spells and feeling sick in the stomach, this can lay me up in bed for up to 8 to14 hours so work is out of the question on some days as i never know when i will get these symptoms and as it stands now its about 2 days a week, can tolerate most other days
My Doctor got me to do a CT Scan nothing there everything was fine, funny things is my chronic Sinus was diagnosed last year by my doctor but he can't seem to relate my headaches and dizzy spells back to my sinus problems or allergies if i have any which i must so more tests will be order, do Doctors have any clue what is going on with sinus, its almost at the stage where u have to diagnose yourself!
This is a debilitating disease and seems to be a vast and wide ranging problem in the community that seems to go undiagnosed!
I really wish this debilitating disease Sinus which is really only seen in the same light in the community as a cold could be brought to the communities attention it could save millions in wrong diagnoses and wrong prescribed medication!

Oh and thank you all for making me feel like i'm not a hypochondriac and i'm not just imaging these symptoms like the doctors do when they give you a blank look and say here take these or try theses and go away there's nothing wrong with you, Doctors attitudes need to change because people will die and trust me when i say i have had times when my quality of life is so bad u just want it to end!

I'm not glad we all have the same symptoms but i am glad we can share because no one else understands what we go through everyday.
Thanks for listening :)