been sick for a while ):

[andreaaz]

I have been having a stuffy nose since this past May and it is not in both nostrils, it's only on the left side. This has been pretty chronic since May, and although I do have allergies to the common dust, mold, pollen, etc., it has never persisted for this long or in just one side. Also, when I blow my nose, the mucus is clear with brown specks. I have an extremely clean house due to my dad's type a personality and I always take my medicine which consists of Flonase, Advair for my severe asthma, and Zyrtec (any other allergy medicine does not work and Benadryl makes too drowsy to take it on a regular basis). Moreover, I have severe asthma and play varsity soccer and am outside everyday. Last month, I went to the doctor for what seemed like an asthma, but it turned out I was fine (even though I was clearly having difficulty breathing w/o a treatment). They gave me prednisone, which I have been given since I was little, and because the nurse noticed I had a really bad stuffy nose, gave me an antibiotic and Mucinex. I was cleared up for a couple of weeks and thought I was cured, but the stuffiness has returned. Sometimes, I get the other typical allergy symptoms like a runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, and postnasal drip, but the stuffiness still won't go away. I also want to reiterate that the stuffiness is just in my left nostril and has been since MAY! Please help ):

[andreaaz]

Hello. I know it's been almost about a year and a half, but I just want to say thank you for posting. I was becoming very desperate for an answer, and I now know I have Allergic Fungal Sinusitus. I had surgery in March 2010 and was on very high doses of Prednisone for a year, which helped tremondously. Although it did help a lot, I hated the side effects. I gained 10 pounds, which doesn't look all too great on my 4'10" frame or help when starting college in a new place. I became an insomniac for a while and became slightly depressed from the weight gain. However, my sinuses were clear. I have been off the steroids for about 2 months and have since lost 3 pounds. I am getting better and am using the Nasoneb and the netipot to help rinse out the mold spores from my sinuses. I am also going to start allergy shots in the summer, which although might not help tremondously with my AFS, it will help my asthma and my seasonal allergies. I just REALLY want to say thank you because without your post, I would not have known to ask about a fungal infection.

[dpthots]

I like to refer to this article once in a while, it has some things about homeopathic remedies, and gives a little info on Fungal problems and treatment. Surgery might help some, but I did that too, and it helps the structure of my passages, but I believe I will have to keep plugging away on getting the cause eliminated. I could go ask for an antifungal medication, but I want to give a chance to homeopathic remedy, and learn about my body and taking care of it. I'm past looking for a pill, or the perfect single solution.

http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/candida.htm

Also, in someone else' post, they mentioned using B-12, and I looked that up, and found some references to it helping with Fungal problems. I am experimenting with copper, on myself, to test a statement that it is toxic to Candida and other fungus.

I have some other links that seem pretty solid, Doctors and Medical websites. Let me know if you want them.

[dpthots]

It's kind of simple but yet complicated. It can be controlled through diet changes and maintenance of your system. One of the most important things I want stress right away is that antibiotics are (according to my info sources) attributed as the cause of fungal infections. You may need them for killing bacteria, but they also kill "good" bacteria in your system that would keep the fungus in check. Sounds weird talking digestion here, but that's what my info research said,  and my experieces support that.

You'll want to "repopulate" your intestinal tract by taking "probiotics" to replace the "good" bacteria. You can get those at a health store. I am about one month into a 6 week "replenishment" with a 12 strain pill. (I was given several real powerful AB's last year) I will emphasize, very, very very important.

Study everything you can find, crosscheck, doublecheck all the info., don't trust any one source (Yes, even me)  You'll want to know as much as you can, it's the best way to help yourself. (It's important it's good info too, from reliable source) Search keywords: invasive fungal systemic, fungal overgrowth, aspergillus, candida, candidiasis, probiotics, candida diet, grapefruit seed extract. (explain that later) That's all I can recall for now, will post you what links I have when I'm on my other pc. I'll also tell you about, and you can try it, the grapefruit seed extract. It seems Witch Doctor, but I feel it really helped me. I took it orally, 10 drops per glass 3 times a day.

Keep in touch.

[andreaaz]

I really do appreciate your help. I recently had an appointment with an allergy doctor, and I had a CT scan done of my sinuses. I do have a fungal infection in my sinus. :/ It's very unfortunate as I am only 18 years old. I have already been on the medicines they would prescribe to treat the infection, but because it still hasn't gone away, I am going to need surgery. I am nervous that it will occur again after surgery because I read that it is common for fungal infections to be reoccuring. Hopefully this will not happen. Again, thank you for your post. (:

[dpthots]

I sincerely hope I helped

[andreaaz]

Thank you very much. Your post was very helpful. (:

[dpthots]

Consider a fungal cause. Do a search on fungal infections to see if your symptoms match. Your symptoms all sound like mine.

A fungal infection will be unilateral, that is, one side. Antibiotics can help Bacterial Infections, will worsen Fungal ones. Nasal steroids worsen Fungal infections.

Try avoiding both, (if your symptoms worsen), then find info online to help yourself, or ask your doctor to check/treat you for a Fungal Infection. You may have trouble getting them to listen, as I see by the Nurse giving you antibiotics for a "stuffy" nose. Giving people antibiotics without knowing the cause, (unless there is the possibility of something really serious, like pneumonia ) isn't very resposible medicine, in my opinion, but almost all of them do it.

I have already posted lots of info in the last day, if you go to the forum and check postings about sinus/ear infections, allergies, and the like, if you want to know more than I have told you here.

I went through years of problems I was told were caused by "allergies", or "sinusitis" and getting responses like "Well, don't know, but here's some antibiotics",  which treated some of the symptoms, but turned out to be part of the cause.

Well, hope that helps, worth checking out if you have something that just won't go away.

[andreaaz]

*asthma attack