Hello everyone,
I'm looking for some advice about
my chronic sinus pain!
As long as I can remember I've had allergies. When I was kid they were just seasonal and easily managed with OTC allergy medicine (Claritin, Zyrtec, etc.).
However my sinus problems really began when I was around 14 (I'm now 24). Since then, instead of mildly annoying seasonal allergies I have year-round issues. about
6 months ago I unwittingly moved to one of the top worst cities in the U.S. for allergies. As you can imagine, I've been completely miserable.
I have chronic sinus pain every single day, without fail--some days much worse than others, but every day it's noticeable and annoying, sometimes to the point where I can't relax enough to fall asleep because of the pain.
I can breathe easily through my nose; most of the pain is concentrated above/on my eyebrows, throughout my forehead, and under/around my eyes and the tops of my cheekbones. It feels like I'm always wearing a stiff paper mache mask. I am also constantly scowling because the pain in my eyebrows/forehead is so bad.
I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of to treat this, including: Netti Pot, OTC allergy medicines like Claritin, Zyrtec and Mucinex, behind the counter medicine like Claritin-D, homeopathic pills, Vick's vapo-rub, Flonase, salt water nose spray, humidifiers, massage, OTC sinus pain medicine, Ibuprofen and Tylenol, and I've even tried drinking a bit of diluted Apple Cider vinegar every day because I heard it can clear out bacteria that may be responsible (admittedly I only stuck with this for a few days because I couldn't stand the taste).
I don't know if it's technically 'sinusitis' because I never have anything come out when I try to blow my nose. So I don't think antibiotics would help. But even when I've attempted to go to the doctor about
this several times, they always tell me the same thing: take Claritin and Flonase and you should be good. While this combination helped somewhat in the past, it's like my body has gotten used to them and they're no longer effective.
Currently I take a daily Cetrizine pill, which helps keeps most of the sneezing/itchy eyes at bay, as well as Sudafed PE tablets for sinus pain every 4 hours (another item that worked okay at first, but I've become immune to). Recently I've added back in generic Flonase, hoping that it would help again since I've been off of it for about
a year, but no such luck.
I do have two cats, whom I love dearly and would never contemplate getting rid of, but I don't think they're the main cause of my issue anyways--I've had this issue for so long, and I have this pain even if I'm not at home, I'm out of town, etc.
Can anyone give me any advice? I just feel like when I go to the doctor they treat it as a mild seasonal thing when it's much more than that. I've even thought about
trying an anti-candida diet because I've read that too much candida can cause chronic sinus issues. Has anyone had any success with treating sinus issues that way?
Sorry for the long, rambling post--I just feel about
at the end of my rope with this issue! Any advice (as long as it's not 'get rid of your cats'
) or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!