on-going sinus issues for almost 2 years...nothing helps!

[paradoxenygma]

I'm a 22 year old healthy male.  I work out from time to time, eat pretty healthy, not overweight, and Ive never really had any major health problems.

This whole situation started about a year and half to 2 years ago.  It started when I quit smoking marijuana.  After about a week, I began to feel really anxious ( i figured it was withdrawal ) and then I started to feel really terrible.  turns out I was getting a really bad case of the flu...probably the worse I've ever had.

While I was sick, I was having terrible sinus pressure and headaches, clogged painful ears, the whole nine yards.  this was accompanied by panic attacks and really bad anxiety.  I went through antibiotics and tamiflu, and after about a month, the flu was gone, but sinus pressure remained.  I went to the ENT, who gave me more antibiotics, which did nothing.  Went for a CT scan, and it all came back normal, aside from my severly deviated septum due to an accident that broke my nose.  Doctor said the only option was surgery.  During this whole time, i was really anxious and felt wierd because of the constant sinus pressure, headache, pressure in temples, and clogged ears.  i felt off balance, and not myself.  I was so anxious and felt so bad all the time I rarely wanted to leave my house. I suffered through all this for months and months, hoping that one day it would stop and resolve itself since my doctor told me there was nothing wrong.  I went to a second ENT recently for a second opinion, and he too said that surgery would help.  I broke down and got the surgery.  Its been 2 months since I had my septum fixed, and its still the same deal...except slightly less intense.  I still have sinus pressure, temple pressure, headache, clogged ears...mostly on the side that was deviated.  I don't really have any kind of discolored discharge, if any.  I can breathe better, but my cheeks usually always feel pressure, along with all the other stuff.  I've never really had allergies, and I've been taking Claritin-D everyday at the recommendation of my doctor.   I use a neti pot with saline rinse everyday.  Throughout this thing I've also tried vitamins/herbs, acupuncture, nasal steroids, antibiotics, mucinex, sudafed, claritin, sinusbuster spray, hot or cold compresses on my face, herbal tea, meditation, collodial silver sinus spray, breathe right strips while i sleep...pretty much everything i could think of.  Luckily, I'm not anxious like I was before, but when it gets really bad and I have to go to work/go out with friends/go shopping/etc, it makes me anxious because i just don't feel good and its hard to function normally when you ALWAYS feel like ****.  I sleep fine, but sometimes even wake up in the morning with the pressure.

i went back to the ENT yesterday, and he gave me another course of antibiotics, but longer in duration.  he said if it doesnt go away i need another CT scan.  I'm nervous that the medicine wont work, and the CT scan will show up normal again.  what then?

anyone have any suggestions?  im desperate to get my life back!

[ENTMD]

I agree with the previous 2 posts.  In short, another opinion can never hurt (unless you have huge out-of-pocket responsibilites, in which case, that can be painful).  There are a lot of unanswered question in your recent post and it isn't clear exactly what you are talking about with respect to the CT.  These can be tricky to describe.  There are common entities called "Maxillary sinus retention cysts" which *might* be what you have.  These have been studied well (they are, after all, common) and are almost always thought to be benign, incidental findings.  But you seemed to suggest that you may have more than one thing on your scan...Could you tooth be abscessed?  Maybe, but I agree with you that this probably raises more questions than it answers.  I also agree with the poster who said that inflammed sinuses can also give you symptoms.

[friggy]

Your ENT is probably correct.  A tooth abcess can leak into your maxillary sinuses and cause the problems you are having.  There's now an ENT on this forum (ENTMD) who could give you better advice.

[kjelltp]

I think your ENT is just ranting at this point.  He is probably unsure, and trying to buy time by having you investigate other options.   If your sinus cavity on the scan, is not black (big void) it is filled with something.  I think any good radiologist would be able to spot these things pretty quickly.  I can't tell you what your problem is, but I can speak from my own experience.  My sphenoid sinus was completely full, and it was giving me headaches and pressure pains behind my eyes.   If this is your frontal sinus cavity, it can also give pressure pains (even if it's not full, just inflammed they will give those pains usually as well..).  I would perhaps get another opinion on the scan, and go from there.   If it IS a cys or polyp t filling your sinus, they should be able to give you a pretty clear answer what to do.    But always follow your own gut, don't let em cut anything unless you feel its the right thing to do.   In my case, it was pretty obvious, as this thing was not going away on its own.

[paradoxenygma]

So the saga continues!  I went to my ENT today, and I think he was kinda suprised that I showed up with a CT scan.  He had told me to wait, but my allergist told me to get it.    I showed him the film, and he also got the report.  He proceeded to tell me that my CT scan was completely normal.  He said there was "no significant infection" and that everything looked fine.   I didn't buy this because a week ago my allergist looked inside my nose and said it was really swollen inside.  He didn't even look at my nose today.  He then started to tell me how I have a cyst inside my right sinus (i dont think that falls under completely normal) .  After I start asking questions about the film, he looks a little closer and then says "oh....maybe there is something here on the left side".  Apparently there is something on the left side in my cheek area that he wasnt sure about.  On the CT, the right side is black and clear, but on the left its all gray.  He said he thought it was a cyst or polyp or something.  But he told me I didn't need additional surgery, and told me to go see my dentist before I came back to him because whatever it was is right above a tooth.  This makes absolutely no sense to me, because wouldnt a tooth absess or something like that cause me TOOTH PAIN before sinus pain?  And how would a tooth on my left side make my RIGHT EAR clog up?  Does this make sense to anyone?  This is the ENT that performed my surgery, and I'm having the feeling he's being cautious about telling me stuff is wrong because the surgery he said would fix everything has not.  Should I look for another opinion, or does the tooth thing seem reasonable?  And what about cysts in sinuses?  Could they be the cause of all this pain/pressure?

[Mahmoud1429]

Hello, thanks for reading my comments. I would be so happy if someone can make use of Cupping Therapy and get some relief for their pain. I have been researching Alternative and Prophetic Medicine for the past 8 years now, i put together one book which i have given away here locally in Egypt, and am now writing a comprehensive book on the subject, which i hope i can publish and give away for free  before the year is out for as many people as i can to benefit from. I hate to see anyone suffering from pain, especially if there is a cure and a relief out of that pain. All the best to you and your family, and thanks for the vote of confidence. Mahmoud

[JR953]

Hi. I haven't read every word posted on here so forgive me if someone else has already brought this up.
I have to agree w/ all the "be careful w/ meds" stuff. That's where I'm at.
I am also a realist though, and know when enough's enough.
I too had a CT Scan and was basically told that I had two options:
\sinus surgery OR balloon sinuplasty

Now of course every case is different but from what I am told this is the choice that lots of people face.

Have a great day.