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Can Sinus Cause Constant Head Pressure Without Other Symptoms?

Background: Retired from the Army in Nov and had a complete physical. Everything was fine except for lower back degenerative disk diease and mild hearing loss. All bloodwork was normal. Took a job in Iraq where I am currently. Arrived in Feb. In Jun, I was sick with extreme fatigue, headaches, and dizziness. Saw a doctor in Jul and was given OTC headache meds. They did bloodwork that came back normal. Since that time I have had daily head pressure and tinnitus. The tinnitus comes and goes and can be really loud and annoying. Visited another doctor in Sep who thought it might be an allergic reaction and was given zyrtec for a month. No change with the head pressure. Saw an ENT in Oct who feels that it just a left-over from whatever made me ill in Jun and thinks it will get better with time. Have had this for 5 months.

NOTE: I am 44 and had never had a headache prior to this. Have never had any TMJ problems. Tinnitus was never a problem. Never noticed any allergies before this. Never had sinus problems. Am in decent health and walk daily for 45 minutes. Thought it might be some sort of reaction to something here in Iraq but do not have typical allergy or sinus symptoms.  

Questions: 1) Can sinus cause the daily head pressure and tinnitus? No pain, just a heavy and tight feeling from my eyebrows, temples to the back of my head. Wake up with it. Only goes away when outside exercising. Constant dust inside and outside this place with pollution. Extreme heat going from AC into 120 degree. Has cooled off now, but symptoms remain.  
  

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Avatar universal
Check into mold exposure.  Had all of these symptoms myself, was just as perplexed as everyone.  I had just cleaned out the drip pan under my fridge a few days before symptoms started to appear (dizzyness, full-headedness, vertigo, etc.).  It was filled with black mold.
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Avatar universal
I am a 53yr old woman, my problems started a year ago.  I woke one morning with excruciating pain in the back on my head on the right side.  I took normal over the counter pain relief for 6 weeks to no avail. I visited my GP who referred me to a neurologist ( 3 months later). Without looking or examing me he diagnosed Migraines.  Over several months I took different migraine relieving meds, these did not work either. In this time I had what i thought were a lot of colds, hoarseness of voice and loss of hearing/throbbing in my ears.  January this year I collapsed at work with loss of vision and hearing.  My GP referred me back to neurologist who still insisted it was migraines.  I paid for a private consulatation with a neurologist and an MRI was planned, meanwhile the pain in my head became too much to cope with and i started vomiting. I was admitted to hospital and placed on Gabapentin and Oramorph.  My scan was done while i was an inpatient and the results show i have extensive opacifcation of all paranasal sinuses.  I am now awaiting an appointment with an ENT specialist.  I presume this means my sinuses are totally blocked and will need cleaning/flushing.  Aside from the pain in the back of my head and the hearing problem I have no other atypical symptoms of sinusitis. Anyone else still reading this or had similar problems i would love to hear what happened regarding treatments.  
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I been the same used 5 tea spoons of table salt and 10 grams of cloves in hot boiling water on my cooker and it did help I thank allah 4 that
Try it might help u as well
Avatar universal
If your symptoms include most of the following:

* Head pressure (separate from pain or sinus congestion)
* Feeling of "fullness" in the ears
* Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
* Vertigo or dizziness; "drunk" feeling, sometimes accompanied by mental fog
* Visual "floaters" or "visual snow/static"

Look up information on Meniere's disease. That may not be what you have, but I strongly suspect it's related. It can be brought on by B12 deficiency, built-up inner-ear pressure, or a molecular imbalance in the fluid of the inner ear. Nitrous oxide, (laughing gas), for instance, can osmose into the inner ear and get stuck, damaging the cilia that enable different frequencies of sound and the tiny calcium crystals that enable us to tell when we're upright.

Specifically, I strongly suspect (based on a lot of research, but I'm not a doctor or scientist) that it has to do with a disregulation of either the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors or glutamate receptors in the inner ear. This would cause issues with balance, hearing, perceived sinus pressure, tinnitus, "drunken" mental fog -- all of the above.

Things to consider:
* Get vitamin B12 levels tested. It isn't enough to start taking tons of B12; some people's bodies can't absorb it.
* Take antioxidants, such as vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid.
* Suggest these possibilities to your physicain or ENT and see if s/he has further ways of testing whether I'm on point, and if so, what specific treatments exist. My best guess is that a calcium channel blocker would do wonders. But again, I'm neither a doctor nor a scientist. Just a dude with too much time on his hands and too much sinus pressure to think about much else.
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14241096 tn?1433538175
That would be positional vertigo. I have it, and it comes and goes. Nothing you can do, but move slowly when looking up and lying down and getting up. Prop your head on a couple pillows at night, see if that helps.
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Avatar universal
Frozen shoulder and head forward posture will eventually refer pain to all of the areas sinus allergies will. This will lead to blurred vision, fatigue, ringing in ears, and trouble sleeping.
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Avatar universal
I've read this whole thread. Boring as hell but what kept me reading is the obvious separation of 2 groups. Group 1 has sinus, allergy, or septum issues. Doctors are gonna toss everyone with these issues in the same group because frankly they don't really give a damn. If your one of the posters who feel like your problem isn't sinus related then it's probably not. This is group 2. Group 2 has muscle and trigger point issues. Posture related issues. Forward head, frozen shoulder, TMJ. This group isn't going to receive help from a doctor. They need to work on posture. The posters who said they feel better while exercising are all in this group. They aren't suffering from sinus issues AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!! And when they say pressure in the head its a different pressure then sinus. Tight muscles on sides of nose to the eye, around the eye, temple, top of head, jaw, behind ears and all around ears, eye brow. This pressure is more of a pulling type of pressure and can be very painful. Seemingly coming out of nowhere.
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535822 tn?1443976780
I agree with post above about EMFs.also we are being aerial  sprayed constantly ,where I am every day and night and I seem to be sick a lot with flu like symptoms
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Avatar universal
Please look up EMF Hypersensitivity, I had this so bad Doctors know nothing my answer was a bad ground in the house it is really bad to keep being exposed to high EMFs. lots you can do to protect your self, we disconnected all the power in the bed room so at night I could sleep and discharge, very scary stuff , I am writing about this because so many people have issues with this and no where to turn. check  your homes ground wire, and keep all power away from you at night. including cell phones. begin taking omega 3 and vitamin  B12
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Avatar universal
Hi I have the exact same symptoms as you had in 2008.  I know it has been a long time, but would love to know if you ever found out what was causing your symptoms and if you found relief, how?..Please help this is really making me feel not like myself at all. :*( Thank you
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Avatar universal
It could be a spinal fluid related medical condition. They are rare, but common conditions. A common one is Intracranial Hypertension. It's when, for whatever reason, the brain does not absorb the spinal fluid and it begins to build up in the head. It can cause pressure feeling and pain in the head, whooshing noise in the ears, vision trouble/issues, headaches that can range from mild to unbearable in pain. Eye pain and/or pressure. Many people feel fatigued, forgetful, brain fog, heavy feeling in the head, neck and/or shoulders, and no energy. For diagnosis, an eye doctor can look at the back of the eyes to see how the "disk" looks and whether the veins around it are pulsing or not. Another way is to have a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) done. They are not fun and can be very painful, but the best way to determine if the spinal fluid is elevated.  Another condition is that the spinal fluid can also leak from the ears and/or nose due to a leak caused by increased pressure, certain injuries, severe sleep apnea, etc. on the other hand, if the spinal fluid pressure gets too low, that can cause issues too, including headaches.
Hope this helps. Good luck!!
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1 Comments
Thanks for the info...i am experiencing theses things and i do have sleep apnea( severe). Currently have post nasal drip..and on antibiotics and clarinex..to see if the issue subsides and if not the doc is going to do further testing ...i will mention to him some of the the conditions you listed. Thanks alot!
Avatar universal
Im a 26 year old male who is suffering from constant sinus pressure in mainly the left sinus as well as permenant tinnitus, a bit of head pressure, and ice pick head aches around the head. I wake up feeling terrible every day. I also suffer from muscle spasms/jerks although admittedly i am a caffeine junkie as well as a nicotine addict so i am praying that the jerks are related to that but i dont exclude the possibility that they arent.  Im seeing a doctor tomorrow but am not confident i will get a definite answer and will probably require more testing and a specialist of some sort.  I am terrified of what it could possibly be especially if its a brain tumor.  I am wondering if anybody else has had these symptoms and what they could mean.  I have read a lot of similar stories on here but none that quite fit with mine.  Any info would be appreciated and i hope people on here will find their answers as well.
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Avatar universal
how did you prove that you had the candida overgrowth???
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Avatar universal
To anyone who is suffering from dizziness ,it could possibly be the little crystals attached to the end of hair like stems in the inner ear break of and float in the ear.  This happened to me and can happen to anyone.  My ENT doc prescribed epley maneuvers which took care of the benign positional vertigo.  Unfortunately I was given a diruretic which took most sodium from my body and put me into icu near death.  As a result I have tinnitus which makes my ears ring 24/7.  I decided to read anything I could find regarding sinus pressure, headaches and sometimes a little brain fog and also off balance.  I changed my diet by watching sodium intake, sugar, caffine,
Aspartame which is artificial sweetener and omitted dairy.  I have never been over weight, smoked or drink alchohal.  However I do have great times by going to parties, golf and walk a fast paced 3 miles each day. To conclude my post, my doctor who is medical and intergrative medicine has found my thyroid is possibly the ear ringing plus a few other issues.  I suggest put your self in a educated position regarding your health so one is able to tell the doctors info from a medical standpoint.  If you have the knowledge you also have the power to help heal yourself.  My best to all of you and hey, don,t forget about our lord who gives the strength.




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Avatar universal
These are the symptoms of sever sinus or stress problems.  Don't worry it is not a life threatening thing but very annoying.  
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Avatar universal
I had suffered from a feeling of pressure up into my ears, blurred vision and head fog and a constant feeling of motion sickness for about 3 months. I had no real congestion, nasal drip or breathing issues. I figured something could be up with my neck which was putting pressure on my scull in a weird way which seemed to in turn put pressure on my sinus tubes.
I was feeling crossed between sea sick and hungover but with hearing loss and weird blurry vision.
Today I sniffed hottish very salty water up my nose which was really sore the first time I did it but within about 10 mins my vision was clearer and the spinny feeling was almost gone. I have done it a couple of times since and the spinny feeling has still stayed away and with it the nausea. Hooray!  Fingers crossed.  I wish I had done this 3 months ago.  Funny thing is I didn't for a second think I had a sinus infection as had had doc check my ears and say they were fine. I hope this helps some of you. Antihistamines only make it even worse once they wear off in my experience and antibiotics are made to fight something that this type of thing is not.
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Avatar universal
So today I went to my local chinese herbalist and had acupuncture, this along with pressure massage on my head has cleared my pressure! I don't know how long this will last, they have suggested further treatment and herbal medicinal drinks, I think the total would be around £500. I'm so relieved to have the pressure gone I have to find the money to continue!
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Avatar universal
I'm so please I found this thread! I've had perennial allergic rhinitis all my life (I'm 42), along with asthma and this year have had three nasty bouts of sinusitis, with several doses of antibiotics to boot.  These were all classed as 'normal' sinus infections but this last week I've had almost identical symptoms, hideous sinus pain/pressure, but dry nose, no mucus, just pain in my head which goes into my neck and back.  I too feel foggy and have dragged myself to work every day feeling rough.

I saw the doctor on Wednesday who has now referred me to ENT, but I'm curious about all the other suggestions so am going to cut out dairy and see if that helps, also visit my local Chinese herbalist as an alternative. I live in the UK so I'm likely to find my own cure quicker than the NHS will.
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Avatar universal
Yes, as it turns out Lyme patients tend to have fungal infections, parasites, and viruses on top of the bacteria that causes LD. The Lyme diet I have been on since mid September is gluten-free, dairy-free, low glycemic and no alcohol or wine. Takes a bit of the luster out of life but I have seen some improvement especially with my sinuses and that drunken sensation (I have heard it referred to as "de-realization") is not as bad as it once was. But make no mistake, I tested positive for LD and that is at the root of all of my issues. I would highly recommend those on this thread to visit the ILADS.org web site and hunt down the 2 page PDF that lists the symptoms and if you have a good majority of them, request the names of Lyme literate doctors for your region so you can get a reliable test done.

I have seen naturopaths and all sorts of alternative medicine types. I will continue to look to them for options to the hardcore, long-term antibiotics that I am guessing the LD specialist is going to recommend when I see him at the end of the month.  Thanks.
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Avatar universal
Feeling drunk all day could be an overgrowth of candida, which is some kind of fungus naturally occuring in the body.  Also, I had dizziness for a few years that sort of felt like drunkeness and it turned out to be food allergies to gluten/wheat, dairy/beef, and soy/peanut.  Try eliminating these foods for two weeks and see what happens.  It could be other foods as well.  Maybe worth seeing a Naturopath or Integrative Medicine MD if you can find one in your area.
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Avatar universal
I want to share with you all that I did in fact test positive for Lyme Disease. Please read my previous posts on this thread to be reminded of my symptoms but especially the one to which I am now replying to understand the challenge to getting properly diagnosed. It is possible that a good number of you may be infected, even if you have seen a regular doctor who conducted a standard Lyme test and it came back negative. I was tested twice before with negative results. You have to find a Lyme literate doctor in your area to be properly tested. Go to the ILADS web site to find a Lyme literate doctor in your area. Good luck to everyone.
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Avatar universal
Did you ever find out what was wrong with your husband?  My husband has the same exact thing.  He gets dizzy and when he does, he is like a completely different person.
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Avatar universal
Hello
What are your problems?  I can share with you my experience and yes it is better. Not completely but almost 90%. It no longer bothers me as much. Let me know and hopefully I can help.
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Avatar universal
Please please could you let me know if your problem was sorted. i have had all the problems on this site for 4 yrs and just don't feel the docs understand. Thanks Debs
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Avatar universal
All,

After 9 months of struggling with this, I have had some improvement of some symptoms that may only be my condition in remission before relapsing (some symptoms definitely come and go) or might be thanks to modifying my diet which I will comment on further in a moment. I still have no diagnosis but I may be onto something.

I have recently met several individuals who were all diagnosed with Lyme disease. Now, I had been tested more than once for Lyme and the results were negative. So had these people. What I am learning is that LD is a highly controversial and political topic in the US with the medical community divided between those who believe it is "hard to get and easy to cure" thanks to guidelines published by the CDC and IDSA that essentially suggest that unless you live in certain geographical regions it is unlikely you could get LD but if you test positive using the standard lab tests approved by the FDA, you can be rid of LD with 2-4 weeks of antibiotics. They state that there is no such thing as chronic LD. Course most of the panel of 12 that published the guidelines had conflicts of interest and should never have been a part of the panel. For more detail, visit www.ILADS.org and/or see the documentary "Under Our Skin." I found it online on Vudu. I understand it is also on Amazon Prime.

The short of it is that even if you don't recall being bitten by a tick or having the signature "bull's-eye" rash (fewer than 50% of people with LD do recall this) and even if you have been tested by your GP, you could still have Lyme. Most doctors aren't very knowledgeable about Lyme and  the standard tests (which are then sent to labs who don't know how to accurately test for Lyme) won't reveal it. If you have symptoms listed on the ILADS web site (http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/treatment_guidelines_summary.html) you may want to consider doing a search for "Lyme literate doctors" in your area. Besides that list, somewhere on the site there is another list that is 2 pages long. It is pretty inclusive and if you check off a handful it probably doesn't mean much. I check off the majority so I'm pretty convinced. I will know in three weeks (how long it takes for the blood tests).

Diet: I instinctively started removing certain things from my diet months ago which may have contributed to the improvements I have seen but there is a book by a Dr. Nikola called "The Lyme Diet" you can get from Amazon that is very helpful. Essentials: no gluten, no alcohol, no caffeine, no sugar. High protein, lots of veggies, low carbs with no simple grains.

Hope this helps someone.

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