Only one nostril constant irritation and sneezing

I read this thread last week as I was having this exact problem. I am a regular sneezer, by that I mean I do sneeze every day but usually only 3-5 times then I'm done. I've never really had allergies and have always been fairly active. I am 50 yrs old and in good health. Last week I was at a conference in a building I'd been in before and out of nowhere I just started sneezing. Even as I was blowing my nose I had the sensation that I needed to sneeze. I was there for about 3 hours. By the time I left I had the "itching" in the right nostril with a constant feeling of needing to sneeze. This went on for the rest of that day and all of the next, this is what brought me to this site. I read the entire thread and decided to try the hydrogen peroxide idea. For 2 days I took a q-tip, soaked it in peroxide and put it about 1 to 1and 1/2 inches up my right nostril (I used both sides so 2 times) using enough peroxide that it would run out of my nose. I did this at least 3 times, maybe 4 for 2 days. While the q-tip was in my nostril I could hear the peroxide bubbling. It took 2 days of this but the itching finally quit. Its been a week and it hasn't returned. The peroxide does not burn or sting. My q-tip was bloody when I took it out but my nose never did "bleed". I hope this helps someone. Thanks for helping me.

I have the same exact issue. The only thing that seems to work now is blocking the passage with some tissue, reducing the airflow during breaths through my nose. When I take out the tissue, I immediately feel the tickle sensation come on. I only experience this when I'm getting over a cold and go from where I live at sea level to a cold, dry climate. I'm hoping we can come across a true diagnosis. It's hard to convince doctors (or anyone else that hasn't experienced this) that it's NOT an allergy.

"Taking medication for allergies or anything makes your immune system weaker leading to problems somewhere else"

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. Allergies are an immune response, an over active immune response. Allergies can be controlled with anti-histamines. The body's auto immune system produces histamines to what it mistakenly views harmless material as a foreign object. Allergy medications do not mess with the immune system but rather helps counteract the affects of it. Uncontrolled allergies can be detrimental to your body because it exhausts the immune system over time and THAT can cause issues down the line.

Awaken at 6am with all the same symptoms described above - bug in nose is what I thought, also. Two nights ago I awoke certain that I had a bug in my ear - terrible itch. I freaked out and flushed my ear with water, then with hydrogen peroxide (found that on Google for bug in ear) - no bug came out. I don't know if these two events are related, two days apart. As far as I an recall, this is the first time this has ever happened to me.

I do have allergies and the only thing I can think of is that I did some house cleaning yesterday and my allergist did say to wear a mask while cleaning. My allergies aren't really that bad though, and I have never worn a mask. Mold is one of my allergens. I had incessant sneezing at 6am, watery eye. I did my netti pot and that didn't help; I did some saline solution. The nose has calmed, though my eye is still watery, but I can still feel the itch, though it's not so intense that it's making me sneeze constantly at this time. I'm right handed, this is in my left nostril only about 3/4 inch up (though I may actually be left handed, as I do a lot with my left hand and as a child doctors told my parents to take the crayon from my left hand and put it in my right hand - 70s doctor).

I'm inclined to think that seansk is right - read the info at the Mayo Clinic - it's not terribly hopeful, unfortunately...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nonallergic-rhinitis/DS00809

I'm so glad to find out this isn't a unique problem to me. After having another day of this, I decided to google the problem... it brought me here.

First, a little background info:

I've had asthma all my life. It is both allergy and exercise induced. I'm allergic to pretty much everything they can test you for (all kinds of dusts, pollens, tree nuts (I outgrew peanuts, thankfully), animal dander, etc. etc. etc.), and have been that way forever. I've never done the allergy shot thing, although, as an adult now, I am considering it. I frequently get sinus issues, ranging from full on infections to allergy related stuff.

Recently, a round of various illnesses has rampaged my home. I started out with what was eventually diagnosed as bronchitis. My son (17 months) has been dealing with two infected ears (accompanied by congestion, post-nasal drip) as well as a rash that was diagnosed as hand-foot-mouth, and my wife has had more minor symptoms of head congestion. My son went through a round of Amoxicillin, which didn't work to get rid of his ear infections, and is now on a stronger antibiotic which seems to be working. I was on a round of antibiotics (can't remember the name now, started with a C) that got me fixed up.

This morning, I got that all too-well-known feeling you all are describing. Call it the tickle, the bug-up-the-nose, whatever. It is something I have gotten from time to time since high school (I am 31 now). It is also always my left nostril, and the symptoms are always the same. I can't blow anything out, yet both sides drip like a faucet. The entire left side of my face itches. My eye waters.

When it happens, the only thing that will bring me any sort of relief, and even then only keeps me from sneezing my head off, is a good wash of the face, a Benadryl, an Allegra, and rest. I was once told by my physician that taking a dose of Benadryl and a dose of Allegra is the equivalent of a small epi-pen dosing, and that each blocks different histamines that cause allergic reactions.

I've tried the Vicks method, and it too simply quells the sneezing. The congestion feeling (limited to that side), the watery eye, and the drip remain.

Like others have described, the sneezing fits this brings out leave me tired, irritable, and just generally unhealthy feeling.

I don't know what it is, but I lean more towards irritated/dry sinuses, but I don't know why it would always be the same exact feeling, on the same exact spot.

Breathe-right strips can also help the tickling sensation, but let's face it, who can go around all day wearing one of those without getting funny looks?

To me, it feels like an allergic reaction. The unexplainable part is that it is limited to the left side every time. The candida suggestions sound like an interesting lead, and I will be looking into that one. The same goes for the other bacterium living in the nasal cavity. I still don't see how either would limit it to one side. The only thing I can think of to explain that is, as mentioned, septum deviations (which I have never been diagnosed with.)

The only thing I can even attribute to why it would be left-side-localized is that I am primarily a left-side sleeper, meaning my left nostril is the one closest to the pillow the majority of the night. Maybe there is a colony of dust mites living in there that are making nightly expeditions? Maybe lying in that position allows bacterium to pool inside my sinuses that way due to gravity? Who knows?!?!?!

I just know that it absolutely sucks when it happens. And, I now know I am not alone in my suffering, which I suppose makes me feel a little less like a freak.

Good luck to all you whom suffer the same problem, and do please let us know should you find/hypothesize any other causes/remedies.

Thanks!

It's been two weeks now of using the Nasonex and so far so good. I rarely sneeze anymore and have no irritation or side effects.

@Leilani

I had blood tests done to check for alergies which came back negative. I had a CT scan to check for obstructions; that was negative. I took antihistamines like telfast 180 and claratyne; no good either. I have suffered with this for years (and my partner has had to put up with me sneezing all the time too lol). But after nearly a month of using Nasonex, I think it's safe to say that it's a cure.

I hope you guys and girls have the same success I've had as this was torture.

I also have a similar problem! If I'm in a room with even the slightest bit of dust, then I'm absolutely streaming! I went to the doctors and they gave me a nasal spray and antihistamines. I was worried to use the nasal spray, and then when I did, it barely worked, in fact it made my running nose worse! Every time I used it the spray would make me sneeze, then my nose would run and the cycle would start all over again. The only thing that works is the antihistamines, but it mostly happens when I'm asleep, so waking up in the middle of the night to take one is often annoying and takes me a long time to get back to sleep. It's strange, no matter where I'm staying (so it surely cannot be my environment?) I wake up at about 5 or 6am and my nose feels tingly, I then have to itch it, and the whole sneezing, running nose, itchy eyes start again! It's incredibly annoying, frustrating and distracting, can anyone give me any tips on what to do or how to handle this without using a nasal spray?

Hi everyone.

I also have developed the same symptoms in the past few days. Quite severe irritation in the left nostril. Bug feeling, watery eyes, constantly running nose with clear mucus and a lot of sneezing.

I've never had this sort of thing before to this level of severity until this week. I've had normal reactions to some of these things which quickly passed after some simple clearing of the nostrils, nose blowing and some sneezing which was quickly over.

Now I just read the whole thread carefully and thought about everyone else's stated symptoms and situations, and my situation and here are some thoughts and observations that may help us get a better idea about how to solve this.

Firstly, hot body temperatures and dry environments. I'm an expat living in a city in China which is surrounded by deserts, the city is dry, dusty, somewhat dirty, and somewhat unhygenic in places. Though I do a moderate amount of exercise normally, I've been forced recently to have to get to my work by a very roundabout route by bicycle everyday because of ridiculuous roadworks (another story). Anyway, whilst cycling I am really heating up quite a lot, sweating quite a lot and breathing heavily. My tshirt is pretty soaked with sweat by the time I get in and quickly turns cold and damp after my body temp cools down a little. It's at these moments and immediately there after that it has been worst. This is appears similar to those who did other types of sports (eg jogging, soccer etc...) and displayed symptoms during or there after. It also strikes me that they seemed to experience the symptoms in dry environments after their body temperature rose a lot. Spring has come in the last few months and summer is almost here so the weather is getting hotter and hotter too.

Secondly, breathing dust and particulate matter. Definitely the case in my cycling experience. Also I just moved recently to a new apartment in the city which has had a fair bit of dust in it since it has been empty for sometime. Though I have cleaned it I can't help wondering if this is/was another factor, besides the air outside. Others mentioned similar things such as the comments about sawdust etc... After several days of this happening during and after my bike rides I decided yesterday to wear a handkerchief tide around my face as a facemask whilst cycling. I can definitely say that there was quite a reduction in the onset and severity of symptoms.

Thirdly, molds / funguses, bacteria etc .... This city is unhygenic in places, including exposure to wafts of sewage smell floating around sometimes, and people who don't know how to wash or clean things properly, especially in relation to food/restaurants and public toilets / wash basins etc... I certainly try to be careful about hygiene, make a real point of it actually to other people's annoyance sometimes, I prefer cooking and eating at home. There were also dirty food containers in the new apartment which had sat for a little while and not been cleaned developing mold and fungus. Disgusting I know but I promptly cleaned them up.

Fourth, micro cuts / tears to the flesh inside the nose. I often have to clear my nose more than usual here because of the above reasons about the nature of this kind of Chinese city. Though slightly embarrassing to admit in a public forum (but I believe everyone has to do it sometimes), sometimes there is no alternative to picking .... no amount of blowing will remove some 'rogues' that have glued themselves in there tightly especially, those that stuck and dried whilst you were sleeping. I think sometimes this may create small tears and cuts to the flesh inside the nostril and I have had nose bleeds from these places from time to time in years gone by due to other factors and situations. This combined with the other comments by other people may suggest some sort of contamination or inflammation of a tear to the flesh in the nose with dust/particulate matter and / or mold/fungus or bacteria.

Fifth, disrupted sleep cycles. This could be a cause or symptom, or somehow both, not too sure. I may perhaps lower one's immune system which may make us more susceptible to fungi / bacteria. The disrupted sleep cycles really started to happen in the lead up to when the symptoms started to show. I've been struggling over the past few days and weeks to get a good rhythm, also partly because of the new apartment and not having bedding properly sorted out so sleeping a few nights on couch, then moving to the other room but still sorting out of the bed linen between other moving tasks. Also - sounds crazy but is true - being disrupted everyday by a large military base literally next door with soldiers conducting marching and combat drills and playing loud marching music whilst I try to get a good rhythm / amount of sleep. Also the sound of a lot of heavy construction equipment grinding, drilling, clanging and banging from early in the morning to sometimes late at night.

Sixth, possibly eating a little more sugary foods. During the last week or two due to the stress of moving house, plus regular water shortages which mean you can't cook a proper meal or clean things properly or take a shower etc... , I've been eating more chocolate and drinking a little more soft drink. Other mentioned this in their posts not sure if plays a role.

The idea of a nasal swab with some diagnosis of what / if any / unusual bacteria or fungus is in it sounds like a good idea to me. It might show something for some people which could targeted with special medicines or antibiotics.

The idea of turbinates also sounds plausible.

The Vicks idea sounds good and also Nasonex, I'll look into those sorts of things.

Possibly the reason why different solutions are (partially) working for different people is that each person's outbreak may be caused by one or more of the the four causes mentioned above (or maybe others). Maybe trialing use of the various remedies to each cause might reveal which is playing the greatest role.

These are just my thoughts for now, I'm gonna see what I can do to tackles these potential causes and see how it turns out.

I share the same concerns as everyone else, the same relief to see I'm not the only one with such a seemingly weird condition and the same desire to hear from anyone with a solid answer, particular any other professional opinions from medical specialists who have treated this.

Cheers.

I cannot believe I found this site/forum! I did not want to even mention this weird situation to family or friends because I knew they would not understand or just think I was imagining things.

This all started this year off and on. When it acts up, I feel as though something has crawled up my left nostril. I scratch until it is raw and then it starts throbbing. It goes right up to the corner of my eye but most of the itching is on the end and side of my nostril. I do not sneeze much with mine but it is driving me insane to say the least. I have sinus problems but it is dry sinus so I often feel as though I have a brick sitting on my nose and eyes.

I have read all of these discussions and I must say that a lot of them are quite familiar. I have been having extremely disrupted sleeps lately- usually waking up at 2am and not able to go back to sleep. My eyes are getting that dark look in the corners due to the lack of sleep.

I just purchased new pillows today thinking it might be dust mites because I do sleep on my left side.

Tomorrow I am finally going to see my doctor but do not expect much of an explanation. I pretty much stay away from medicines/pills and try to do things with a holistic approach. I am also going to my homeopathic doctor so hopefully between the two, someone will have an idea!

Yo... All nasal sufferers after exercise.......

I posted the previous post, went running, and altered my preperation.

This is what really helped me , big time !!

Although this is a bit annoying and silly:

A small piece of cotton/ tissue in the nostril ( mine is L; but R handed)
This slows the airflow ( cold air, pollution, particles) to the bothered/irr. side.

In addition I used menthol ( Burt's bees) inside nose, in a thin layer.

A bit more diff to breathe... But worth it.

Without the cotton/tissue I would be sneezing about 200 times after running and felt ill for about 24-36 hrs after...running nose and bad tickle.

This is drug free and worked 100% at preventing the symptoms.


Good luck, and happy running/exercising!!

Well, nice to know I'm not alone. I've also been fighting this wicked tickle in my nose for over 24 hours and my leisurely two mile walk with my family made it worse. Eyes and nose streaming nonstop, sneezing nonstop. My husband also has allergies but has no symptoms so I am pretty sure it's not allergies.
Never tried the vaporub or hydrogen peroxide but will give it a try. I do use netipot to irrigate just in case it is some outside irritant that got in but usually doesn't help much. I am starting to think that, like a few previous posters, it is due to a spot or sore in the nose. I took 600 mg of ibuprofen to help with the severe inflammation and found that it made the tickling go away entirely for 6-8 hours and allowed me to get some much needed sleep. Not my first tickle and it does usually manifest on the left side for me, I am righty . Can't say it's never been in the right side though.
So give that a try too if you're suck with the tickle, 600 mg ibuprofen. Wait about an hour for it to kick in. Worked for me thank goodness.