Air Hunger, constant post-nasal drip, chronic sinus problems, allergies I never had until a few year

I am so sick of battling this stuff. I can take it all until the air hunger comes. I hate using my inhaler - it makes me shake. For the past two years I have been fighting this nasty thing. I think maybe it qualifies now as a chronic sinus issue.

I live in Arizona, Phoenix area, and I was warned by my family doctor right after I moved here that allergies would come. Man, I don't know what the deal is, but after getting sick around March of 2010 with what seemed like a cold, it never cleared up. After a couple months, I was getting really frustrated. My general practitioner gives me antibiotics and nasal spray. This makes me feel better for a few days, then it comes back. I finally looked up a sinus specialist in my area and made an appointment. She turned out to be an allergist - I was tested a few years ago with the usual skin tests on my back and was only allergic to a few things. This time (last June/July) I reacted to pretty much everything they tested for except for the molds. I was working from home at the time, so I went in once a week for six months for allergy shots. I still got sinus pressure, and when I had a routine hearing tests, the person testing me said "wow, you have a lot of presure behind your ear!". I explained I had been treated for sinus infection fairly recently. I am treated every month or so for sinus infection.

Maybe it's something you're eating do you have any pets ?
I'd love to help dude, I've got insomnia/mental issues. (The insomnia is bring on the mental issues)
You're really bad off, does your house have dust ?

Continued... (sorry, hard to scroll on my device)

Anyway, it seemed like the shots were helping some, but I was still having lots of problems. Constant post nasal drip, sinus headaches, pressure, etc. I got a new job about 3 1/2 months ago, and now I am unable to get to the allergist for the shots, due to my new schedule. The allergy season just came through, and sure enough, I got my usual screaming sinus infection. When my GP was checking me out, she said, "wow, you have a lot of pressure in your ear" same as the other doctor said.

So, I can't get to the allergist for shots any more. My problems are ongoing and chronic. Various Docs keep commenting on the pressure in my ears when they examine me.

Now, the other big problem is Air Hunger!! When all this stuff starts up, I have the hardest time drawing breath! I keep trying to get a full breath and I keep finding myself yawning and gulping air, trying to get a satisfying breath. This is probably the most distressing part of the whole deal.

One of the times I went to see my GP, they tested me and said my air was lousy and gave me a breathing treatment, then sent me home with a prescription for an inhaler. I haven't been diagnosed with asthma, but I have this inhaler. It helps, but makes me shake badly, and doesn't always fix the air hunger problem. Tonight, I am having this problem pretty badly, and finally used the inhaler. I had to do it twice, so far, to get some relief.

The only thing I have not tried yet, that I can think of (and oh, yes, I have tried all the natural remedies and neti-pot and teas) is visiting an actual ENT specialist. Do you think an ENT would have anything new to try? When I get like this, I just feel desperate!

This all seems crazy to me, since I never had allergies growing up. I am 43 and this has all gone down in the past few years.

Thanks for any helpful advice!
Gwynnhwyfar

Have the air quality in your house/apartment tested by qualified technicians. It's worth the dollars spent.

More times than not, that's the problem.

Heavy dust particles, black mold, toxic fumes, etc etc can effect not only the sinuses and air passages, but also the skin, vital organs, and nervous system (aka allergies).

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


Only in the last several months have my allergies become so bad that when I wake up in the morning I can't breath. If my inhaler were not close I fear that I will die. My Doctor says that my sinuses are draining to my lungs and starving me of oxygen. One morning I awoke and had left my inhaler in the living room. I almost didn't get to it. I kept falling down from browning/blacking out. Even after I used my inhaler in takes about 45 seconds to unblock my lungs so that I can catch a breath. Very frightening. I have had allergies for over 20 years, but never have I woke up in the mornings with my lungs blocked the way they have been lately.

reply to post by Heartisblack


It certainly is! My house is right on the edge of the open desert, here in Goodyear, Arizona. There is NO escaping dust/dirt/pollen/etc. I have dogs, but they don't seem to bring it on. My allergies do bring it on full blown, but it really hasn't ever cleared up! It basically seems to have gone through periods of remission, or "less bad symptoms", but this started around a year and a half or two years ago and has not gone away.

reply to post by CranialSponge


But my house is a new house - it was just built three years ago, and nobody else in my family is having these problems. Still, good input, I should be able to get that checked out, thanks!

reply to post by VeniVidi


Is your doctor a GP, or an allergist, or ENT? Or something else? I feel like my GP just treats the symptoms and my allergist just wants me to keep coming for shots (which I can't even do now, due to my schedule), and neither seems to be addressing the chronic nature of the problem! I have heard of things like "scooping" thick matter out of sinuses from people with chronic issues, and using a "balloon" to open the nasal passageways and increase the size to provide better drainage and flow, etc. Plus the ongoing refrain of "pressure" when they check my ears worries me - I constantly feel pressure, and it seems a daily occurrance that my ears fel like they have "popped out" and everything sounds too loud and distorted.

I think I have decided to go see an ENT, I'm just hoping for other people to give me some reassurance it won't be another dead end. And any sympathetic voices on the air hunger since that just feels so bad! Thank you, VeniVidi - it really helps just to know other people go through this!

I think maybe it is so frustrating because my family can't SEE anything wrong. They can relate when I sneeze or cough or sniffle or have sinus pain, but they don't get the air hunger/yawning trouble drawing breath thing.

Thanks for your responses!

Get some local raw honey ,within 50 miles of your house, and take a spoonful in the a.m and p.m.

Or try this, take some colloidial (sp) silver and place a drop or two up each nose hole.
Just suggestions

reply to post by Texcin


Where would I find colloidal silver? How does that help? What form does it take? Is it a powder or liquid or...? Thanks for the feedback!

gwynnhwyfar ,I'm so sorry your battleing this chronic sinus issue i had a sinus infection years ago and i know its painful i was put on antibiotics that finally cleared it..I also think you should have your home tested for any problems ..I have breathing problems but from a different medical problem and invested in a hepa air purifier it a a ionizer that creates negative ions which change the polarity of airborne contaminants and this really helped my problems but im also on oxygen at night or when ever i need it..just a thought

I spent the first 21 years of my life in oregon, without a single allergy.

I lived in scottsdale, az (off of camelback road) for a year. then moved back to oregon. While i was in arizona I was extremely sick twice.Sicker than I had ever been or have been since. SInce I moved back I have had allergies that are bordering on unbearable.

It's not just you. I truly thing that some people are simply not able t adapt to the desert, and it affects them moreso than others.

I believe its a genetically engineered spore, probably created by monsanto and is being sprayed on us from high altitude aircraft to weaken our immune systems. Ive been sick for over 3 years now off and on but mine started at Norfolk beach Norfolk Virginia, it seamed as if the navy was experimenting on me/the populous because the farther i got away from norfolk the better i felt. i could go up to virginia beach and it wasn't as bad.
when i got back to missouri it took almost a year to snap out of it, now its coming back like its being spread around the country. many of my friends are really suffering and nothing seems to help anyone for any length of time

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


Let me take a stab....you are of eastern european descent, right?

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Lemme see...

On my Dad's side, that Grandpa was supposed to be decended from English, German and Irish, and I remember my Grandmother on that side telling me that she was of Irish and French descent. By the time they came along, their parents, my great-grandparents, were both of Puritan fishermen stock, and other peer relatives (cousins, etc) went West with the gold rush.

On my Mom's side - Grandpa and his siblings were moved here as young children when my great-grandparents (who I did not know) migrated from Germany. Grandpa fought in WWII against Germany, and never spoke about the experience when he returned home. My Grandmother on that side was a child of pioneer parents. I wish she had told me more about her childhood, but all I can remember her telling me is a story about how they were traveling to Texas and were staying in an army fort, the whole family, children and parents, and they could here the wolves literally right on the other side of the log walls.

I know 7 people right now in mesa alone with sinus infections. That is just from facebook updates

Valley Fever


I live in the desert and had chronic constant post-nasal drip, and chronic sinus problems for 40 years.
the doctors tried many of the same things that you have.

The doctors don't have a reason to cure you as you are making there house payments.

Then i found out about a over the counter med called NasalCrom
www0.epinions.com...

That was 8 years ago and it the only thing i use since and have not had any problem in the last 8 years.

No drug interaction. safe for people with high blood pressure and you can keep using what you are using now till it takes affect, (1 to 2 weeks)

Interesting mosquito bits will no longer bother you after a couple months use.
NasalCrom is a histamine blocker.
The reaction from mosquito bites (itching and swelling) is a histamine reaction.

reply to post by doesericsleep


Well, I have had plenty of ordinary coughs, colds, sinus infections, ear infections and so on during my life, but it has generally been, like, annual. Once a year, maybe twice during a year, max. I am a healthy person. I work out 4-5 days a week, eat my veggies (in fact am a vegetarian, although I also eat eggs and dairy), get to sleep by 9 pm on work nights because I have to wake up at 5 am on work days (I work a 4/10 schedule and am happily off until Tuesday AND am not the on-call tonight so I am free to stay up late talking to you folks). I know a lot of people have seasonal allergies here in the Zone (Arizona) - it was explained to me that the reason was because so many non-native plants have been brought in by East Coast folks coming here, but I just can't buy that because before I moved here I lived in: (Born in) Falls Church, VA, upstate New York (as a baby, not sure how long) Alabama (maybe a year, pre-school time frame), Columbus, OH, Colorado Springs, CO, Dayton, OH, Cincinnati, OH, then back to Colorado Springs, and finally to The Valley (greater Phoenix area). I have been here since 1998. I only ever had allergy issues when I lived in Cincinnati, which I was able to positively connect to the ragweed. The rest of my life, and all those other locations (my Dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around every few years), I didn't have allergies. Even here, I have been here for what, 14 years now? I have only had this ongoing, chronic thing for the past couple of years, but it is getting worse.

I do know that our Ozone is often high here, no idea if that plays into it, although I do get the itchy eyes and that, I have been told, is an ozone thng.

All I know is that I am so sick of this and I can even deal with it until I can't breathe. When I find myself yawning constantly throughout the day and I get home and still find myself yawning and gulping air, that is when I start to freak out. I might not even mind so much if the "cure" I have been given so far, of the stupid inhaler (Albuterol) didn't make me shake so bad!

Ha! I am looking for help here, but I'm also ranting - sorry all! I just get very frustrated by this and have trouble taking it in stride. Like I said, my family can't relate on this, so I'm looking for sympathy and input from the Interwebs. Who knows, maybe one of you will have experienced the exact same thing and be able to help, if not, I'm certainly willing to check out the ideas you all throw at me! On days like today I am willing to try anything. Someone gave me a very appealing suggestion via private message, so I am looking forward to trying that!

reply to post by gwynnhwyfar


start with the local honey.

that will help with allergy's.

change all filters in your house.

get rid of the rugs, if any. and stuffed furniture.

if you smoke, then it's up to you to quit or not.

get a humidifier, ar is very dry. who knows, maybe it would help.

my friend suffered from these symptoms, how old are you?

i watch too much HOUSE.

reply to post by ANNED


You are dead-on as far as the docs not really having any reason to solve the problem! They can just keep treating the symptoms over and over. That is exactly how I feel. I like my GP, and they are very nice, but 99% of the time, their world just revolves around treating the immediate symptoms. As for the Allergist, she does one diagnosis and that gets people coming back for months and years for the shots. I am not saying it wasn't helping, but I got the shots for 6 months, could not get them for a little over 3 months thanks to my new schedule, and here we are and here we go again.

Makes sense for them right? It pays their bills. I don't blame them and am not angry, I just want a better and more pro-active solution.
Thank you very much for your help - I will definitely check that out and try it!!!! Much appreciated.