allergies, sinus, dizziness

Hi everyone,
I usually post on fibro but have many many problems with allergies and sinus. I am really hoping someone on this board can help me. I have been to an audiologist, an eye, ear, throat specialist, searched the internet far and wide to determine what my problem is all to no avail. I have many allergies and sensitivities. I am only allergic to Versed and Sulfa as far as medication goes and as far as I know. But, pollens, cats, grass, you name it, I'm allergic to it. Environmental allergies (scents) are the worse. I sometimes get this feeling - and this is the reason for my post, when my head feels heavy, I feel some numbness in my face, my eyes hurt and I get a feeling of motion sickness.The scents are the worse triggers but I sometimes get it from other allergies as well (alcoholic beverages sometimes trigger it too). Shopping places are worse. I can't bear to look down the isles or as stocked shelves etc. As soon as someone passes me with a heavy scent of perfume, an extreme sense of nausea overtakes me and Im looking for the nearest exit. I also get very frustrated during these episodes. It feels like my head is going to blow. I've been told by the audiologist that I dont have an inner ear problem...however it was after an eye ear throat specialist put tubes in my ears (they were removed). The specialist did say my sinus cavities were dried up. She said to picture a scab from an old wound and that that was what my sinuses look like. She added that they were suppose to be moists, with mucus. Anyhow, I was prescribed Nasacort, which is a cortisteroid spray. I also get severe sinus headaches and aches in my upper jaw that mimicks a toothache from sinus problems due to allergies. I read that Antihistamines are meant to dry up mucus in the sinus cavities so the small passage allows the mucus to flow properly, but my cavities have no mucus so I shouldnt and dont take antihistamines. I do take Drixoral and Naproxen which seems to bring down the swelling but still experience the dizziness. My question is....anyone else experience the dizziness I am describing and if so, does anyhow know how to get rid of it? I have found these two sites that were helpful in terms of at home treatment...but would so much like to get rid of this dizziness once and for all. Thank you so much, in advance, for reading and taking the time to help.



http://www.ent-consult.com/sinusitis.html#whatisit



http://www.nasal.net/allergy/rhinitis.htm

Thank you so much for responding Terri,
I didnt think I would get any response to tell you the truth. Most everyone I mentioned my symptoms to, including specialists, are stumped. I've been to two eye ear and throat specialists and 1 audiologist so far and they've all made me feel like this is in my head. Thank goodness I have a good GP. He wanted to send me to a third one because he believes there is a problem, however, I said no. I'm at a point where I am tired of seeing specialists and going thrue tests after tests. I need a break, for now anyway. Anyhow, I looked at the site, but will have to get my husband to read it and pass on the info to me. I have fibromyalgia so it's hard for me to process some things expecially if there are specific terms or lingo etc. I will let you know if it helps okay. Meanwhile, here are a couple of sites I found...don't know if it will help or not, but just in case:

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/bppv/bppv.html

Again, thank you for your reply.

Hi ,it kind of sounds like your explaining my situation especially the stores sometimes my dizzy spells last for weeks but I believe its some type of allergic reaction this all just started for me about six months ago also im having a problem with almost everything I eat lately its like I get a swelling internally type of pain from top of left breast to my shoulder then I take benydrl and its gone I even had heart checked for this its making me crazy I went to audioligist testing balance and hearing went to opthamoligist he tested my eyes including a visual field then I went to a neuroligist had eeg/emg/sep you name it and still no answer so if either of us find anything please be sure to post thanks.............

WOW, that sounds like exactly the symptoms that I have except I can really feel it feeling full/underpressure on one side in particular from my ear right up to my nose!

I often get 'cracking' when i move my jaw around on this side - when it does not 'crack' for a while my dizziness gets worse!

There is a direct correlation between the pressure I feel in my sinus/ear whit the amount of dizziness I suffer.

Can any doctors actually help with this - who knows? 

I have tried Sudafed with no luck but not the Sinus rinses that you mention - I have not seen those before. I am also investing in a facial steamer to see if that helps to unblock the sinus.

Wow Michelle, you could be telling every symptom and doctor and test I have gone through. It is the dizziness and ear problem that really bothers me. No cause found but it did start right after a surgery. The dizziness is really getting bad. I have to sit down while shopping or it feels like I will fall. My ears hurt all the time. I don't mention it any more because the doctors made me feel if they can't find the cause, it is not there. I don't want you sick or anything but I almost cried to see I am not alone. I have bad sinuses but nobody ever said it might be the cause. Thanks for sharing:)

hi there everyone, yes i too expireince alot of this. i have constant congestion and pressure in my ears every day. it has been going on about a good 14 years. i cant stand it. in the past 2 years i have had swelling in the ears and nose area. dizzines that lasted about 5 months then stoppped and now that spring is here i can feel the dizziness and lightheaded feeling coming back. whe i am sleeping i feel ear pressure and pain. when i blow my nose it is clear thick mucos. i have sinus pressure in the face headacehes, pain into jaw and gums teeth, neck pain into back of head, tingling feelings in head. i dont take any meds, just try to drink alot of water. also i heard that cleaning sinus with a net pot with salt water can help. i will be trying this soon, need to by the neti pot. i guess we are not alone. i also get migraine headacehs, and i know what you mean about strong odors, i cant stand airfreshners or any cologne, espscially in a car. i get so sick and an instant headache. also cigarette smoke triggers it. any soultions, please let us know. hope everyone is feeling better. god bless

try a neti pot. Oprah can't be wrong. hehehhehehe

seriously though I couldnt breath with it. Sudafed like mentioned above helps but very little.

http://www.arnoldsupplements.com/Neti_Pot_p/him-001.htm

Hey wannabbetter: did you use your own salt or one you purchased? U mix my own. works best. quarter teaspoon of non-iodized salt (supermarket for $1) with some warm water. simple saline solution and natural and it worl.

Breathe better folks.....Steve-OO

Hi,

I suppose I'm responding a little late to this but did a search and found your comments about dizziness and allergies. I also have fibromyalgia and have been having the same (allergies and dizziness). I spoke to my doctor about it because I suspected that I'd developed multiple chemical sensitivies. At first I thought the dizziness was inner ear related, however, after taking an antihistamine it hasn't gone away. I've also found that whenever I get exposed to anything I am allergic to (be it food, in the air, or something applied to my skin like lotion, etc.) I become dizzy. My doc says that fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and multiple chemical sensitivity are all related and generally as a person's disorder progresses you see more of the other things like sensitivities develop. I suspect that the inner ear may be involved to some extent in my case but I also know that ppl with fibro who experience dizziness develop this due to a change in blood flow to the brain. Only thing that is helping me at the moment is to avoid anything I am allergic to. Not an easy thing to do, near impossible. There are a variety of reasons why sensities develop but I suspect the adrenals are involved (why ppl get relief with steroids possibly). In any case, the marshall protocol is just beginning to be used to treat fibro and other autoimmune disorders and I'm told by my doc that he is having good success.

My dizziness is due to an inner ear dysfunction. I get it occasionally. There is a medicine called anti-vert which takes care of it. The doctors can test you with checking your eyes.

Some stores and places are just toxic. I stay away from them. I can smell the fumes or sense them in some way.

As far as the buzzing in the ears, I've had that for about 40 years. Some times it seems intensely loud and sometimes I hardly hear it...don't know why. Guess sometimes I am too tense. I only get it when I am lying down to sleep. 

Hope this helps in some small way

I've been experiencing many of the symptoms you have as well. Mine started over a year and 3 months ago. I've moved to several different places and they had different climates. My dizziness started in TX. I have dizziness every day and if I"m lucky I'll get a "day off " here and there from it. I get pressure in my head, watery eyes at times, stuffy nose on and off, tingling and sometimes feel like numbness, but doesn't go numb, in my face. Sometimes, I get pain in one of my ears and in my teeth. I though maybe the tooth work I had done on my teeth in 2006 started this, but never was an infection. I've had MRI, CT scans, ENG, VNG tests, blood work, go to a chiropractor and nothing has been found. My neurologist thinks it's migranes. I don't agree b/c he put me on the meds and didn't work and I felt horrible and drugged up. I"m going to try an herbal supplement, that I read about and asked someone about. Been known to help many many people w/ "vertigo" problems. It's called Equitab. I am really praying it helps. I'm also going to be going for allergie tests in the next week or so. I haven't had them checked in over 12 yrs. Maybe something will be found. I'll keep trying to update if the outcome is good. If anyone else has any answers out there please let me know.

Hello class!
This is my first post, I came across this site by searching yahoo for "dizzy from allergies", and what do you know, here I am yeah

Anyways, I'm a 27 year old male from Ca, recently (2 1/2 weeks ago) I was at work and all of a sudden got really dizzy, I sat for a few minutes and began to feel an anxiety type of feel through my body, I was soon taken to the ER. Dr (Stress) diagnosed me with stress. After a few more days of dizziness and several trips to my personal Dr, to the lab for blood tests, to the Neurologist, back to the lab for more tests and back to my personal Dr, I became a little worried and not to mention upset due to the fact I was missing too much work.

Yesterday (4-15-2008) @ 6:00am I phoned my aunt in Mexico who is a Dr, told her what was going on, first thing she said was "I will be here all day so feel free to drop by" - my face was cool ... made the 2.5 hour drive down south, shortly upon arrival I was seen by her, was asked a few questions, 10 minutes later was in the office of a top notch Dr. specializing in the nose, throat and ears ( I know they have a name) not familiar with them since this is first time something this severe has happened to me. He asked a few questions, put a camera device in my ears, nose and throat, everything was visible on a monitor few feet away from me, I chose not to look since all I heard from them was "wow" "thats not good" "no wonder you feel this way".

I was diagnosed with sinus infection - 1 ear clogged with mucus, 1 nostril clogged with mucus, 2nd nostril 50% clogged with mucus, (no wonder I snore daily) and sleep with my mouth open!!

In the end and less than $200 later I feel 1 Million times better!!!!!!



The tratment I was given is to drain all mucus from my ear and nose!



Quick Notes -

- I've always had asthma (I think)

- I've always had allergies

- This March and April have been really hard on my allergies and asthma (Inhalor to the rescue)

BEFORE DR. VISIT IN MEXICO

- Watery eyes EVERYDAY!!!!! this month!

- Inhalor EVERYDAY this month 3-4 times a day

- Migranes 3-4 times a week this month!

- Dizziness everyday for the last 2 1/2 weeks!

- The more I blew my nose, the better I felt!

AFTER DR. VISIT IN MEXICO

- I got 1 shot on left arm for allergies

- I got a 2 week medication (includes 2 pills and 1 nasal spray)

- I got the shot 24 hrs ago from the time of this message post

- I began treatment last night roughly midnight!

Just want to let you all know that I'm a happy person again! After 24 hrs of the allergy shot, 3 pills later and 2 nasal sprays, I feel like I should! Had a GOOD night sleep last night, no need for the inhalor, no dizziness and NO WATERY EYES!

Feel free to ask any questions - I'm 100% guinea pig right now but will keep all you posted!

Wow, well, I'm happy you're better. Wish that was the case w/ me. I'm on about 1 yr and 5 months of this! Still don't know what's wrong. My neurologist is insisting it's stress/mussle head aches. I would rather have the pain, but all I have is the horrible dizziness! I go for another MRI this week for them to be 100% sure nothing is there. They are 99.9% sure all is well, but just want to do it to ease my mind and get a clear look. I do have new allergies here, but they did look in my ears and nose and what not and all was clear! I tried an allergy  med and it seemed to work and now that I stopped it I seem to be bad again. I'm still taking astelin to see if that helps. I tend to feel better after I blow my nose, cry (drains the sinuses) or do yoga where I am bending towards the ground or doing a move that makes my head hang down. I feel as if all the dizziness goes away, but I feel presure in my head and sinuses a little. NOw I've had sinus problems since I was little and I know what they're like, but ever time they check my sinuses they're clear! I have had soooooooooooooo many tests done on my head, ears, eyes, blood work, ct scans, mri's, chiropractor...I'm losing my mind! I think it's either allregies or something pinched in my neck. But no doctor will really listen to me and do what I want. My neurologist gave me something to help me sleep at night and ease the "stress". Yeah I sleep better, but still dizzy when I get up! I don't think it's stress or depression or anything like this. I really think it's allergies or something so symple they're just not seeing it. I too live in CA. This dizziness started in TX. I was there for a little over a year and thought it might have gone away when I got here. NOpe...but they did find out am allergic to mesquite trees! I was first introduced to them in TX and I have them all around me here! So, I'm thinking that may have a lot to do w/ it. I'm also allergic to cottonwood trees (another new allergy). Unfortunately nothing seems to get rid of this 100%.