more options for sinus pain

Hi autunm,
Like you, I get chronic sinus infections. I've been fighting them for 3 years, but they keep coming back. Same location, most pain in the frontal sinuses, some in the maxillaries. Occasional earaches don't go away without antibiotics. Every head CT and MRI has confirmed infection. Antibiotics are getting less useful. Augmentin not working now.

I take Mucinex 12-hour to thin the secretions instead of drying them up. This helps the cilia clear the mucus. I also rinse the sinuses twice a day, but it's no cure. My ENT has me on budesonide in the sinus wash and a steroid spray, fluticasone furoate. We'll see about that. They're not antibiotics. His nurse won't deliver my messages of needing antibiotics anymore or give me appointments oftener than once in a few months, so I have resorted to asking my PCP to prescribe them when it's bad. The current infection went to my chest again. It hurts to wear reading or sunglases.

I've had the sinus surgery, but that only makes the nose drip instead of running down my throat.

What script nose spray are you using? I had no luck with fluticasone propionate and Astepro.

Autunm,
Avamyst - Oh, another name for fluticasone. Does it work for you? I've tried one preparation that did nothing. It's supposed to treat allergies, but my allergies are under control and I'm concerned about taking it for infection because glucocorticoids cause immunosuppression.

I see an allergist twice a year. I get allergy shots weekly. They're so much more effective than pills. I have no allergy symptoms now that I know of. Summer and winter, no sneezing, no tears, except for a few days last spring, and then the allergist added grass pollen to the shots and that was the end of that. The headache is in the same location, the drippy nose never gets better or worse. Fluid pours out when I bend over. That's the maxillary sinuses draining. They drain upward.

I feel like I have an infection except when I've been on an antibiotic that works for a few days. When I have an infection I have nasty green gunk, sometimes chest congestion or a slight fever, sometimes red cheeks. I suspect there's a plaque that just isn't getting treated.

I was in a wreck that broke my nose and displaced the septum. The septum was not fixed when the sinuses were opened. The wreck was 4 years ago, and that's when the chronic infections and sinus pain began. I had a cut on my forehead right where the right frontal sinus is. No broken bones were identified. Nerve damage doesn't explain green gunk.

Have you tried 12 hour Mucinex? It's guaifenesin in a time-release coating. Plain generic guaifenesin doesn't last long enough.

Try acupuncture! I have only used it for anxiety but my mom has used it for chronic sinus problems. I would go all the time if it was covered by insurance! It really can have an immediate impact on how you feel, plus they have an extremely extensive holistic information base that reaches beyond rxs