r/NasalPolyps

When do you accept that things are better, but aren’t exactly where you want them to be? And maybe… That’s going to have to be enough?

I’m currently one month post a course of long-term steroids

I’m taking Nasofan daily, alongside fluticasone drops.

The general status is
- have some minor blocking which tends to alleviate if I take my medication (but is a daily feeling, switching between nostrils)
- have almost complete smell loss unless it’s a strong perfume
- I’m unsure if I’m ever gonna be able to have more than a single drink of alcohol ever again due to inflammation

I’m okay with how the blocking symptoms are now – but I’m aware if I do ever miss medication it is instantly worse – which is my worry

The smell loss is so painful and I’m not sure whether to push and see if I can get at least somewhat better – or just accept that this is what it is.

My ENT requested a CT scan but I haven’t seen it and I may request it so that I can have a look at how things were in the middle of my steroid course

Hands-down, the best decision I ever made in my life. I am so glad that I got over my fear of anesthesia and just did it. I have not had any issues with breathing and honestly, I feel great. Thank God, the nasal polyps have not grown back (fingers crossed). I smell EVERYTHING. I have not had a pressure headache in my face since. Haven’t had a single sinus infection. The best part is how easy it is for me to clear my nose when blowing it. The insides of sinuses are so wide open, I get everything out. If in the future, I need the surgery again, I’m running to the operating table. I still do the salt rinses and use a humidifier.

If you haven’t made up your mind yet and are afraid to do it, please take it from me… Just do it. I was at the point where my nose was completely blocked and it started to mess with me mentally. Pray and do it for yourself and for your quality of life. You will not regret it.

Whenever I eat raw ginger - not powdered, not in tea, nothing aside from the raw root - my nose gets temporarily relief, it feels like the polyps shrink.

The weird thing is this, it only feels like it's shrinking whilst i'm eating the ginger. Once it's digested, the effect lingers on but not as long.

Whilst the ginger is being chewed in my mouth, i really do feel significant relief in my nose. Please can other people try this so we can see if there's a pattern here!

hellow please share your best solution for nasal polyps ?

I have to admit, despite being diabetic I still enjoy sugar too.

Which leads me to this; I’ve gone the last month basically not eating sugar, except for some stuff with carbs of course, but no candy, no Reese’s, none of that.

And, I’ve said this before, I think food plays a role with polyps.

I do not know if food could or does cause polyps, but I am 100% some foods can “agitate” them.

Anyone else think food has a role to play?

I’ve avoided sugar last month or so and I’ve never felt better. My nose, even with steroids has never been more clear than it has been over the last month with each passing day more and more clear.

Only change? Avoiding sugar. (I also don’t go out of my way for milk or much dairy, which I think also plays a role.)

Anyway; just my own musings here.

I have been suffering from CRSwNP for the entire decade. Symptoms started showing around late 2019/early 2020. After receiving the diagnosis, I was put on prednisolone temporarily (to get the treatment started) and mometasone furoate nasal spray (which I take to this day). Had surgeries in 2021, removing polyps under local anesthesia, and FESS in 2024. These did help with being able to breathe through the nose better, but didn't bring my sense of smell back. I would estimate I am at about 10-20 % compared to before the diagnosis.

Since not being able to smell much of anything has really taken a turn on my mental health, I started pushing my ENT specialist to get me a prescription for monoclonal antibodies. He said he couldn't do it, since my case is not bad enough. (Sadly, statutory health insurance in Germany places high barriers for prescription due to high costs.) I was referred to the nearest university hospital anyway. I finally had my appointment this week, and after some further tests (which confirmed nasal polyps had indeed come back) they did a blood test right away. If this comes back positive, I will still be able to be prescribed either Dupixent or Tezspire. They already gave me further information on these medications as well as an appointment for the first injection. I really hope this is going to be it. I haven't been this hopeful or excited in a long time.

I’m writing this because I’m honestly at my breaking point. For a full year now, my left nostril has been 100% blocked. Zero air. The only time I get a tiny bit of airflow is if I blow my nose so hard I feel like my head is going to explode, and even then it lasts for seconds. My right nostril is only open about 10-20% of the day.

I’m 15, and this is ruining my life. I’ve started getting severe panic attacks because I constantly feel like I’m suffocating. I’m forced to be a mouth-breather 24/7, and I’m so self-conscious about it—I feel like I look stupid and I’m always exhausted because I can’t sleep.

What I’ve tried:

• Prescription Steroids: Ryaltris and Fluticasonpropionat (used consistently, but zero improvement).

• Cleaning: Saltwater sprays, Neti pots/nasal washes (they don't even go through because the blockage is so solid).

• The "Bad" Stuff: In moments of pure panic, I give in and use Otrivin/Zymelin just to get 5 minutes of sleep. The rebound effect is insane—it feels like my nose is filled with concrete afterward.

I have a scan (CT/MRI) scheduled in 20 days to check for polyps or a severely deviated septum, but 20 days feels like a lifetime when you can't breathe.

Hallöchen,

ich bin neu hier und habe direkt mal eine Frage.
Schonmal vorab Danke fürs durchlesen!

Kurz zu meinem Krankheitsverlauf:

Seit vielen Jahren habe ich mir Cronischen Nasennebenhöhlenentzündungen sowie Polypen Wachstum zu kämpfen. Im Januar 2025 habe ich mich dann zu einer Operation an den Nasennebenhöhlen überwunden. Die Operation war für mich extrem schmerzhaft und mit Nachblutungen verbunden. Doch nach circa vier Wochen stellte ich erfreulicherweise fest, dass ich wieder riechen kann. Damit dachte ich, dass ich es geschafft habe. Ich nah fleißig das verordnete Kortisonnasenspray. 2 Sprühstöße morgens und zwei abends in jedes Nasenloch.
Nach circa drei/vier Monaten spürte ich, wie meine Nase wieder „zu“ ging und der Geruchssinn langsam wieder abnahm.
Also bin ich wieder zum HNO.
Überraschung: Die Polypen waren zurück.

Also wieder alles von vorne: Kortisontabletten, mehrmals Antibiotikum, Nasenspülungen, Nasentropfen, Naseneinlagen mit in medikamentengetränkten Tüchern, weiter Kortisonnasenspray, Homöopathische Mittel, Darmaufbau, Hausmittel, Inhalieren usw….

Nichts half, dass es dauerhaft besser wurde.
Im Gegenteil.
Täglich Kopfschmerzen, Druckschmerzen an der Stirn und Schläfen, Heiserkeit, keine Atmung durch die Nase möglich,trockner Hals, ständiger Sekretfluss im Rachen, Müdigkeit, Konzentrationsprobleme.
Ich fühlte mich dauerhaft krank. Geruchssinnverlust und dann auch noch kein Geschmackssinn mehr. Diese Symptome beeinträchtigten meinen Alltag immer mehr und nahmen mir deutlich die Lebensqualität.
Ich rannte von Arzt zu Arzt, Ct Untersuchung, Ultraschall der Nasennebenhöhlen.
Im Ct wurde festgestellt, dass alle Nasennebenhöhlen vollständig verlegt sind. Das bedeutet der Zustand jetzt ist schlimmer als vor der Operation.

Alle HNO Ärzte ratlos.

Es stand eine weitere Operation im Raum, bei der aus zwei Stirnhöhlen eine gemacht werden sollte. Also mit Knochenentnahme, doch ich wurde direkt aufgeklärt, dass die Polypen mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit wieder kommen werden. Die OP wäre also nur eine Überbrückung danit ich mehr als 3/4 Monate symptomfrei bin.
Doch das stand für mich nicht im Raum.

Dann kam wurde ich an einen „Spezialisten“ überwiesen, welchen die Biologika Immuntherapie durchführt. Leider sind die Spritzen sehr teuer und dafür müssen gewisse Komponenten erfüllt sein, damit die Krnakenkasse die Kosten übernimmt. Es wird ein Score berechnet wie weit die Polypen in die Nase wachsen.
Zu Beginn war mein Score bei drei, obwohl im Ct alles bereits zu war. Der Polypenwuchs in der Nase war noch zu wenig.
Also keine Indikation für diese Therapie. Ich wurde vertröstet. Sollte weiter warten bis es noch schlimmer wird. Also quälte ich mich Tag für Tag und Monate weiter mit den Symptomen durch den Alltag.
Vor ca. 3 Wochen die Erlösung.
Der Score wurde bemessen. Er war nun bei 7.
Mehrere Untersuchungen wurde gemacht und siehe da:
Ich wurde zur Therapie zugelassen.

Daher habe ich heute die erste Tezspire Spritze erhalten mit dem Wirkstoff: Tezepelumab erhalten.
Ich hoffe darauf, dass es mir hilft und der Spuk ein Ende nimmt. Leider ist das Medikament noch nicht so lange auf dem Markt und es gibt nicht viele Erfahrungsberichte darüber.

Daher nun meine Frage:

Hat jemand von euch Erfahrung mit der Tezspire Spritze und kann berichten über Nebenwirkungen, Symptomverlauf etc.?

Liebe Grüße und Danke für eure Zeit😊

Hi everyone,

I really need some advice or to hear if anyone has experienced something similar, because I’m honestly at a breaking point.
I’m 24 and have had chronic sinus issues/“always being sick” since I was a kid. Right now I have a polyp in my left sinus that has grown so large that it’s literally hanging down into my throat. I can see/feel it and I’m having a lot of trouble swallowing. I have a photo of it, but I’ll spare you all.
It feels like something is stuck there all the time.
I do have surgery planned, but it’s still a month away and I genuinely don’t feel like I can function like this for that long. I’m calling the doctor again tomorrow to try to speed things up.
I’ve tried a lot over the years. A low sugar / low histamine diet helps the most, but I haven’t been able to sustain it long-term. The only thing that really made a big difference in all my symptoms was tirzepatide, but I had to stop because I became underweight.

Right now I’m taking:
Lysine
Vitamin A
Vitamin D
Vitamin C
Zinc
Oregano capsules
Liver complex
Quercetin + bromelain
Magnesium (malate + glycinate)
Sometimes iron

But honestly, I feel like some of this might even be making things worse (Allegra did).
Has anyone experienced something like a polyp getting this big or affecting swallowing?
Did anything help you manage symptoms while waiting for surgery?
And if you’ve had long-term sinus inflammation like this, what actually helped long-term?

I’m really starting to feel desperate, so any experiences or advice would mean a lot 🙏

I’m coming to terms that if I want even a sliver of an unblocked nose, I’m going to have to be strict with myself alongside the medication.

I recently finished a long-term steroid course and have been trying to mitigate the return of my blocked nose + smell loss.

I realise that alcohol is a massive trigger for me and I’ve been trying to broach the topic of being sober with my friends and my partner but I keep getting similar responses from my friends

Aka

“Live a little!”
“You need to treat yourself!”

Most shockingly, I’ve had a friend who also has a chronic illness tell me “us girls was chronic illness, we need to find treats for ourselves and not restrict ourselves because we have such a hard time already” - bear in mind she does not have nasal polyps she has a completely different issue

Then with my partner, I was literally hung over from my friend‘s birthday party where I allowed myself to drink, a party he knew was happening and he knew it was a one off for me

The next day hung over he buys me a cider

I can only assume he bought it because he wanted a beer because I’ve never drank cider even when I do drink alcohol

I initially wanted to just limit my alcohol intake, but considering the fact that no one can respect my boundaries when I say no, I might just have to cut it out completely and be entirely sober for them to respect that line

The next day after the cider, I was crying because I could feel that my nose was blocking up and I had smell loss and when I told my partner, he couldn’t understand why it was so upset that I was losing my smell again

I am honestly starting to hate the people around me because of their lack of compassion towards nasal polyps in general. These are people I LOVE and i'm finding myself in search of new friends bc they can't conceptualise the change

So, I’m scheduled to have septoplasty, polypectomy, turbinate reduction next week. I apparently have a VERY large dumb bell shaped polyp in one of my sinuses causing complete blockage growing down my throat atp and visible when I open my mouth. Has anyone had similar experiences? I am terrified of surgery/recovery and haven’t come across anyone who’s had a similar experience with very large nasal polyps. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I was misdiagnosed for years and in 2023, a NP finally thought I had nasal polyps and the ENT confirmed it. I had a 95% blockage in both nostrils by the time of my surgery to remove them in 2023.

Fast forward 3 years and after reoccurring sinus infections I went back to the ENT and they are back. Doing the same thing steroids, antibiotics and a CT scan. Surgery is the next step, waiting for it to be scheduled now. Currently at 50% blockage, because I was able to identify it earlier this time.

So is this what I can expect every 3 or so years for the rest of my life? I really hate the headaches, anxiety, depression and nasal infections I get from polyps.

I’m going to try and get my ENT to give me dupixent this time, I feel like people act like that’s a miracle drug and I’m down to try anything at this point.

Scans My CT and MRI scans on IMGUR

42M CRSwNP

2014 CT results

2018

FESS, Septoplasty, turbinate reduction

6 month low dose macrolide therapy

Roxithromycin

12 weeks Clarithromycin

Exhausted ALL antibiotics high doses an long courses

8000mg or more cumulative corticosteroids within the past 5 years.

50mg prednisilone daily for 1 week then 25 daily 2 weeks then 12.5mg daily 1 week. Dexamethasone courses

Maximal topical nasal flush

Budesonide respules + xylitol every night

Cycle baby shampoo in it

Did mupirocin and tobarmycin rinses

7 months Nucala

MRI

Jan 2025 (after 5 week oral steroids)

This is after Nightly nasal rinses with pulmicort respules

Polyps unilateral? But drs and ENT were not worried because it says ethmoids but still red flag unilateral.

CT May 2026

Shows advanced sinus disease despite max therapy

Surgeon recommended

Total functional rhinoplasty + left and right mega anstrostomies

Not to touch ethmoids or sphenoid due to biofilm and will treat separately. I assumed ethmoidectomy and sphenoidectomy as the area is opacified and mri had polyps.

I suffer severe brain fog, malaise, heaviness and pressure behind eyes. Depression and anxiety from feeling like I can’t read or function. I do always have green, or yellow come out of my flushes. Now it’s white sometimes brown which could be blood but wanted to rule out fungal?

Based on my scans and history. What do you suspect? And does this correlate to my symptoms? (I also have severe cervical stenosis)

What would be the best treatment options for me?

In Australia Dupixent isn’t covered and lymphoma risk as well concerns me.

As a teen, I was all over the place in terms of mood and anxiety. That surely was partly due to age and environment, but it was also a time I used a nasal corticosteroid - budesonide. I tried using it again as an adult and this time the association was clearer. I am more balanced now and as soon as I started, I felt irritated, anxious and lost sleep. Went away when I stopped taking it and out of concern, I only used one spray each nose, so the smallest dose.

I decided to research and there is a lot of people with similar side effects on nasal steroids and there is research too, so that settles it, it's not for me. However, the ENT doctor said steroids were required to do the surgery, which left me wondering how I'll be able to do it since it has this effect on me.

I'm still not sure if I actually have polyps. I definitely have extensive sinus disease shown in multiple head CTs and flexible endoscopy over 10 years but no one said I had polyps. New ENT just used the rigid metal endoscope that doesn't go very far and claimed he could immediately see polyps.

My symptoms are chronic congestion and post nasal drip. I've never had loss of smell.

Steroids, both oral & nasal, have not helped much, and can't use either long-term due to side effects.