I didnt think about this until my MIL asked me but im scheduled to have surgery in June....whats the deal with nose rings lol. I mean obviously I have to take it out and im assuming can't put it back in right away, how long do we have to keep them out for? Is it gonna close? 😆

Hi all!!

I had a bad reaction to some medication last year which has given me sinusitis-like symptoms. I have constant catarrh and facial pressure. My vision has also gone ‘off’.

I finally went to see an ENT consultant this year who requested that I do an MRI scan of the head. This MRI scan has come back completely clear, which kind of surprises me as I can definitely feel the mucus sitting there.

I do have some other health stuff going on so I know I should probably get all of that sorted out as well. But is it at all possible that a head MRI could’ve missed anything? It just seems strange that I can feel all this build-up but nothing is on there.

Thanks!

I have sinus issues, and for the past 8–9 months I’ve noticed my throat has become very sensitive. If I eat even a little sour food, my throat feels blocked, I catch a cold, my eyes start watering, and sometimes I get a fever. It also feels like a mild pollution allergy, but inside my nose my nostrils get completely blocked.

Is surgery the last option for sinus problems, and is it worth it?

Hi. I'm F(26). For context I have GERD/Gastritis and Asthma as well as undiagnosed sinusitis (since I haven't visited an ENT ever) since I was a child. So, March 17th, my symptoms started when I hard severe attack of GERD and apparently also high level UTI (though I don't have sever symptoms only muscle aches and sick feeling). I battled for a month and finally went into a GI doctor and she also treated my UTI in about 2 weeks. She asked for a urine culture, prescribed me antibiotics first is cefuroxime, then the following week is nitrofurantoin. Everything is mostly controlled. There is no bacteria as well found in my urine culture.

However...

Along with those stuff, it also came with a headache, dizziness, and especially.. eye problems that I have been dealing with up until now... unfortunately.

Last 2023 after I was admitted from dengue in 2021. The first time I experience my eyes moving uncontrollably upwards but I feel normal, (I was in the ER at this moment btw the first time I got hospitalized due to my "asthma" or so I thought) I was responsive and just having anxiety of how I cannot control my eyes going upwards and Doctor said it was vertigo. But I know it was something more than that. I couldn't sleep because I can feel it coming once it's coming. They had to put me in sleep for like about 15-30 mins just so it stops. But I went better once I got discharged. Then, my Hospital trip had went consecutive every other year because of what I thought "just asthma" and pulmonologists are prescribing me a lot of inhaler as they thought it was uncontrolled. Little did I know, it was GERD. It was GERD all along that is why since then even if I got discharged, I don't feel really much okay. Yes, they treated my upper respiratory infection but really, my asthma is well manage since I was a kid and it wasn't as severe to the point of hospital admission. SO, I was skeptical about it.

Fast forward I went to Dubai for fam vacay and also worked there for about 7 months, healthcare in DXB is really good. But, working there doesn't stop me from getting sick. (I know, I'm so tired of it.) Again I went to a pulmonologist since I couldn't breathe right. I feel sick all the time. Then he put me in a Lung Function Test. IT WENT NORMAL. He says my lungs are normal. He suggest I should visit ENT but at that time I am going back home to my country so I didn't bother. Plus I was already having a hunch that all these are because of my GERD or acid. I was planning to go for an endoscopy but I just couldn't afford to risk the "risk" of getting an endoscopy since I have anxiety and a flight incoming.

I went home, still getting sick in just a span of 6 months. Dr. prescribes antibiotics again. Went okay.. and then here I am recovering from GERD attack but this time I go on without inhaler since I know it wasn't asthma. BUT my eyes are having problems.

My eyes felt like having the same tiredness I had the first time I was in the ER. They said it was vertigo. But I have a feeling it was because of my sinusitis. I wanted to know which doctor should I go. ENT or Opthalmologist since I am trying to save some money, I have no insurance I know it sucks but I was just trying to build my career and Healthcare in this freaking country sucks. My eye symptoms are:

1. Sensitivity to light to the point I couldn't fully open my eyes.

2. I couldn't focus it or stare to an object for too long because it feels the muscles are heavy and tired and aching a bit when I try hard. Though it's gone when I rested (but not totally)

3. My lower left eyelid is twitching.

4. I feel pressure from the insides of my eyes.

5. My vision sometimes is like moving uncontrollably like eye strain. It makes me dizzy and out of balance sometimes and feels like fainting.

IDK where to go, ENT or Opthalmologist. There are not a lot of EENT in my area so I have to choose. :( Plus I take a lot of supplements for my health since I am so tired of getting sick so please no one telling me I should get healthy because I'm trying hard a lot managing every disease I have. I'm tired of explaining to people as well what I have and why I can't. Sometimes I'm sad they don't even believe me.

Any advice? Thank you very much!!!

I have a deviated septum that I never really cared about until now. Day by day it is getting much harder to breathe. I finally went to the doctor and they told me I also have nasal polyps. They recommended surgery to fix both issues. Should I go through with it? Does the surgery actually work long term? I heard that polyps just grow back again anyway. Would appreciate hearing about your experiences.

I have my left side sinus completely blocked and it hit me, what if it's because of the cats we have in our home and just now touched a cat and immediately after 3 minutes my working right side sinus became runny and it stays like that for hours.

Could my sinus problem be from the cats? If so what should I do and get to treat it? Currently it's not possible to be somewhere without cats, my room however is closed 24/7 where no cats get in.

Hi, I've been having sinus issues for a while (some doctors said it was chronic rhinitis caused by nasal spray addiction) - it's a pain but getting on a plane is when it gets really scary.

3 different times while flying (usually during the descent) I started feeling an intense, sharp pain in the left side of my forehead and temple - felt like my head was being crushed. The area around my left eyebrow and eye would start feeling numb and tingly too, my eye would start watering and my neck would get stiff, the pain was genuinely the hardest thing I had to endure. After the plane landed the headache would persist and the worst time it happened, I could barely walk out and considered asking the flight attendants to call me an ambulance. That same time, I felt incredibly weak the whole day and threw up multiple times (idk why).

I looked into this and started reading up on barotrauma, which seems to be connected. Annoyingly, I went to the GP about this and they literally laughed at me, telling me they've never heard of this before and that there's nothing that can be done. That reaction really surprised me, surely I can't be the only person this has happened to right?

Has anyone else dealt with that and found a way around it? And any overall tips to improve sinusitis/rhinitis caused by nasal spray addiction?

Has anybody had it? If so how was it? I'm planning to request it from my ENT due to long-term treatment-resistant congestion that started after an invega injection and would like to hear some anecdotes.

TL;DR: 3 years of sulfur-tasting post-nasal drip, brain fog, low-grade fever, fatigue, exercise intolerance, and tonsil stones after a viral illness. Multiple ENTs in Tokyo found nothing. Standard cultures, CT scans, allergy panels and blood work all came back normal. I tried 3 different antibiotics and all failed. I sent a nasopharyngeal swab to a US molecular diagnostics lab (MicroGenDX) for 16S rRNA sequencing and discovered my nasopharynx was 86% Citrobacter koseri and 12% E. coli, both gut bacteria that don't belong there. A Japanese culture confirmed E. coli at heavy growth with virtually no normal flora. Ten days of the right antibiotic (TMP-SMX/Baktar) and the sulfur taste that haunted me for 3 years disappeared. Brain fog lifted. Energy returned. I could run again.

---

So I'm 37, living in Tokyo. About 3 years ago, I got hit with this flu-like illness. Nothing unusual, just a standard upper respiratory infection. But after it resolved, certain symptoms never went away.

See my previous posts: 1 2 3 4

The most distinctive was a persistent foul taste in the back of my throat. Sulfurous, like rotten eggs. It was there every day, all day. Alongside it came a low-grade fever, tonsil stones, brain fog, and fatigue that was different from standard tiredness. It felt like being sick rather than being tired. I also had exercise intolerance that took me from running 5km three times a week to barely managing 10-20 minutes once a week before feeling wiped out.

The ENT runaround

I saw multiple ENTs in Tokyo over the course of these 3 years. The workup was always the same: nasal endoscopy (looks normal), CT scan (looks normal), allergy testing (negative), fungal/bacterial testing also negative (!), blood work (normal). The conclusion was always some variation of "we can't find anything wrong".

Along the way, different ENTs prescribed empiric antibiotics like amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and fosfomycin. None of them worked. Each course came and went with zero change in symptoms.

(!) Despite 4 or 5 attempts, one ENT did independently culture E. coli from my nasopharynx on standard culture, and at the time prescribed Levofloxacin. However, after researching about the drug I didn't take it because I was worried about severe side effects after seeing many advise against Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. In addition (I didn't know it at the time) the bacteria in my throat were carrying the qnr gene, which dramatically increases the risk of the bacteria growing resistant. I was also sceptical since previous cultures had found nothing, so why would they suddenly discover e. coli. ? With that said, in hindsight, levofloxacin likely would have worked (at least initially).

The diagnostic breakthrough: molecular sequencing

After exhausting conventional options, I started researching on my own. I learned about 16S rRNA gene sequencing, a molecular technique that identifies bacteria by their genetic signatures rather than trying to grow them on culture plates. It can detect organisms that standard cultures miss, particularly biofilm-embedded bacteria and anaerobes.

I found MicroGenDX, a CLIA/CAP-accredited lab in the US that offers this testing for sinus and ear infections. I ordered their SinusKEY test kit, collected a nasopharyngeal swab, and shipped it from Tokyo to the US (which was its own adventure involving UN3373 biological specimen shipping regulations, FedEx International Priority, and a CDC Importer Certification Statement that nearly got my package stuck at customs).

The results came back and the picture was immediately clear:

• Bacterial load: HIGH
• Citrobacter koseri: 86% relative abundance
• Escherichia coli: 12% relative abundance
• Quinolone resistance gene (qnr): detected
• Fungal: Negative

Neither C. koseri nor E. coli belongs in the nasopharynx. These are gut bacteria. The healthy nasopharynx should be dominated by Corynebacterium, Dolosigranulum, Streptococcus, Haemophilus, and Moraxella, with no single species exceeding 20-30% relative abundance. Having enteric bacteria at 98% combined dominance with high bacterial load is profound dysbiosis.

The E. Coli. finding earlier from that one culture suddenly started to make sense.

What these bacteria were doing to me

Once I understood what was growing there, the symptoms made perfect sense.

The sulfur/rotten egg taste was produced by bacterial metabolism. E. coli and other gram-negative bacteria break down sulfur-containing amino acids (cysteine, methionine) in mucus and produce volatile sulfur compounds, primarily hydrogen sulfide. These compounds are detectable by humans at incredibly low concentrations.

The brain fog and fatigue were caused by chronic low-grade inflammation. Research has shown (Jafari et al., JAMA Otolaryngology, 2021) that sinus inflammation causes measurable changes in brain connectivity, specifically decreased frontoparietal network function affecting attention and problem-solving. The bacteria were producing a constant inflammatory stimulus, releasing cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6) that cross the blood-brain barrier and cause what's called "sickness behavior," which includes fatigue, cognitive impairment, and reduced motivation.

The exercise intolerance was the systemic inflammatory burden manifesting as reduced physical capacity. A body constantly fighting an infection diverts resources from exercise tolerance.

Getting the Japanese healthcare system to act

Having a molecular diagnosis from a US lab is one thing. Getting a Japanese ENT to prescribe based on it is another challenge entirely.

Japanese medical consultations average about 8 minutes. A MicroGenDX report from a foreign lab using technology not standard in Japanese practice could easily be dismissed. I needed to get a confirmatory culture from a Japanese lab in a format that any ENT would trust and act on.

I found a new ENT and took a strategic approach. I led with my symptoms, not the lab report. I let them examine me, do their endoscopy. Then I introduced the MicroGenDX results as supplementary reference and requested what I actually needed: a standard nasopharyngeal bacterial culture with antibiotic susceptibility testing.

The ENT was initially skeptical, again saying "those bacteria sometimes show up," but agreed to order the culture. The swab went to SRL, one of Japan's major reference laboratories.

Four days later, the results confirmed everything:

• Gram-negative rods: 4+ (maximum reading)
• E. coli: 3+ (heavy growth)
• Corynebacterium sp.: 2+ (only surviving normal flora)
• Normal flora: virtually absent
• TMP-SMX (co-trimoxazole): Susceptible
• Ampicillin: Resistant (explaining why amoxicillin had failed)
• Cefpodoxime: Intermediate
• Amoxicillin-clavulanate: Intermediate

The C. koseri that MicroGenDX had found at 86% didn't grow on the Japanese culture, likely because it was more deeply embedded in biofilm. But the E. coli confirmation at heavy growth with a full antibiogram was exactly what I needed.

Choosing the right antibiotic

Based on extensive research into the pharmacokinetics of available antibiotics, I identified TMP-SMX (known as Baktar/バクタ in Japan, Bactrim in the US) as the optimal choice:

• Near-perfect oral bioavailability (~100%)
• Sinus tissue concentrations exceeding serum levels (tissue:serum ratio of 1.33 for trimethoprim)
• ~99% susceptibility rate for C. koseri in published surveys
• Confirmed susceptible against my E. coli isolate
• Unaffected by the qnr quinolone resistance gene
• Available in Japan under NHI coverage

I got a 14-day prescription. I started taking it April 6.

Day 3-4: Brain fog began lifting. Post-meal drowsiness disappeared. Energy improved noticeably. The sulfur taste started to diminish. I went for a run and noticed something remarkable. I was tired afterward, but it was normal exercise tired, not the "something is wrong with me" tired I'd been experiencing for 3 years.

Day 4-5: Sulfur taste continuing to decrease. Vision felt sharper. I described it as "looking at life through HD." This is consistent with neuroinflammation resolving, since brain fog affects sensory processing, not just cognition.

Day 5-6: Sulfur taste essentially gone. Tonsils visibly less swollen. Tonsil stones smaller and less frequent. The ENT was genuinely surprised at the clinical improvement.

Day 7-8: Caught a coincidental cold (bad timing). Fever hit 38°C. But even through the cold, the chronic infection improvements held. The sulfur taste stayed gone and the brain fog didn't return.

Day 10: Sulfur taste completely absent for nearly a week. All systemic symptoms resolved. Developed a skin rash on hands and feet, which is a known side effect of TMP-SMX affecting 3-5% of patients. I ultimately stopped at day 10 due to the rash spreading.

What I learned

Standard ENT workups have a massive blind spot. Nasal endoscopy, CT scans, and allergy panels cannot detect nasopharyngeal dysbiosis. Standard cultures are rarely ordered from this site, and when they are, the significance of enteric bacteria is often not recognized. The diagnostic gap isn't in the technology. 16S sequencing has existed for years, Japanese labs do MIC testing by default, and the antibiotics are on pharmacy shelves. The gap is in the clinical workflow that connects symptoms to the right diagnostic test.

One ENT at some point did not know the bacteria on my test and was literally looking it up on Google while she was with me, while I had done tons of research already. I did not feel she was in the right position to suggest medication for me. For edge cases, I suggest that you use ENTs as tools, not as decision makers. Do the research yourself and suggest to your ENT an antibiotic, and get their approval.

Prior antibiotic failures were predictable, not evidence of untreatable disease. Amoxicillin failed because my E. coli was ampicillin-resistant. Clarithromycin has zero activity against gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae because the outer membrane is impermeable to macrolides. Fosfomycin only reaches therapeutic concentrations in the urinary tract. None of these failures indicated treatment-refractory disease. They indicated wrong drug selection.

At some point I hit rock-bottom and really thought I had some weird virus and I was just doomed forever. This is also why it took 3 years, I got stuck/depressed many times along the way. Imagine ENTs looking in your nose cavities and telling you everything looks fine, and dismissing your symptoms over and over again.

Post-viral dysbiosis is a real mechanism. The leading theory for how this started is that the viral illness damaged my nasopharyngeal epithelium, depleted normal flora, and upregulated bacterial adhesion receptors. Enteric bacteria, probably from reflux or oropharyngeal contamination, colonized the damaged, competition-free mucosal surface and established biofilm. Once entrenched, the infection was self-sustaining.

Where things stand now

I completed 10 days of a planned 14-day course before stopping due to a drug rash. The sulfur taste has been gone for about a week. All systemic symptoms including brain fog, fatigue, exercise intolerance have resolved. I'm げんき. I'm planning a repeat nasopharyngeal culture about 5 days after stopping to check whether the bacteria have been eradicated or whether survivors are repopulating. If the culture is clean, I wait and monitor. If it grows E. coli again, I'll do another course with a different antibiotic (several other options showed susceptibility on the antibiogram) and potentially pursue tonsillectomy to remove the likely reservoir.

Final note: I used Claude extensively to do deep research about my symptoms and possible medications. I kept a diary all this time and fed all information back into a project inside Claude so it was able to see the big picture. I also asked Claude to help me draft this post, since it knows everything that has happened.

Hi guys

I need help

Im in post septoplasty recovery, doing my saline rinses with “spray-like” bottles I buy at pharmacy. Its like a 100ml bottle with a spraying head that pushes the flow with high pressure so that it reaches the back of the nose well.

I “spray” it for 5seconds max in each nostril, 3-4 times a day.

Two issues

1. The videos I looked up, they push it in one nostril and the liquid comes out through the other- in my case 90% of times it is the same nostril, no matter how I tilt my head or the body position. What am I doing wrong?

2. These bottles finish up so quickly! I use one bottle a day. Is this even remotely normal??

Thank you

Hey guys, I am just looking for some positivity right now. I was hoping maybe some of you have had similar experiences to what I’ve been dealing with and can possibly share your wisdom and advice I would really really appreciate it.

I’m a girl in my 20s and I’ve never had sinus problems or an infection once before until about over a month ago. It was actually the first day of March- I just out of the blue couldn’t eat a bite of food without feeling like something was stuck in my throat and making me cough for a while. Over the next few weeks my symptoms only worsened, trouble eating/coughing pretty often but especially after food, hoarse voice, headaches and facial pressure especially ears, congestion, some runny nose sniffling. Just the whole sinusitis thing. Typing this out, in hindsight I so should’ve known I had a sinus infection at that point but I had just never experienced this before so I didn’t know and my PCP sent me to GI doctors thinking I was having some sort of sudden reflux issue. Fast forward to around last week or so (an endoscopy, many doctors appointments, and about a month of hell from these symptoms later) I got referred to the ENT doctors because my GI doc couldn’t find anything wrong. First appointment with ENT they talked to me and did some scopes, said it seems like I’m dealing with some chronic post nasal drip (hence the feeling of something in my throat and the cough and my other complaints). They also told me my nose anatomy could definitely be contributing, apparently I have pretty small nostrils (lol) and a deviated septum (sarcastic yay) which makes all the congestion want to go down my throat usually and make my life hell. But point is I was told that all of it could be caused by maybe an infection or maybe an allergy so they started with a nose swab which very quickly confirmed that I’ve had a MRSA sinus infection.

The last 10 days have been strict with meds + rest. I took 300mg clindamycin twice a day, I also often took things like sudafed, delsym, antihistamines (prednisone at first then hydroxyzine when I ran out), and asteline nasal spray as needed. It took until around day 5 or 6 on antibiotics when I finally started to notice some improvement. But I officially took my last dose of clindamycin yesterday morning and while I’m relieved to have improved a little with many symptoms gone like the headaches, the pressure, the cough/congestion has only reduced, but hasn’t gone away fully and is definitely still causing me a lot of discomfort and even anxiety at times especially when it comes to food since that is what seems to disrupt all the congestion and make me hack. Oh I’ll add too that at the end of last week, toward the end of my antibiotic course the ENT’s did a sinus CT scan to check up on everything up close and they told me it looks like the infection is at bay and my sinus’s appear clear. So I’m left wondering why am I still struggling with some symptoms? Idk :/

I guess I was hoping to hear from others on when I could possibly expect to feel fully better like my usual self, I could honestly really use some optimism, it’s been a very hard month and a half. I’ve lost probably over 10 pounds and have had to miss a lot of work and other things that I wish I could do. Do you think the cough is just persisting because maybe my throat is just so irritated from everything? I know sometimes things just take time but I am eager to feel better. If anyone’s gone through anything similar please feel free to share I would love to talk. Especially if anyone has an advice on any things I can try to speed up the healing process?

63F Respiratory Illness-Tested negative for everything- Sinus Infection or what is this???

Hello,

I started getting sick on April 11 with a dry cough, clear phlegm, and fatigue.

Sunday – My symptoms progressed to excessive yellow phlegm, a red throat, watery eyes, achy arms, shoulders, and neck, a headache, and a non-itchy rash that I always get when I’m sick.

Monday – I developed thick brown and green phlegm. My throat felt like I had swallowed razor blades, and I had a very deep cough and aching across my upper back. I went to immediate care; they tested me for flu, COVID, strep, RSV, rhinovirus, adenovirus, hMPV, and hPIV, and all tests were negative.

Tuesday – I still had the same phlegm and symptoms. Conjunctivitis started in my left eye, with sticky yellow discharge. I noticed white pus spots on both tonsils. I saw my regular doctor and had chest X-rays and blood tests done. The X-rays were clear and the blood tests were normal, but the CBC with differential showed mildly elevated MCV, absolute neutrophils, and absolute monocytes. When I asked the doctor’s office about the results, they told me these were mildly elevated and not a concern. I also started losing my voice.

Wednesday – Same symptoms continued, with a headache, a mild low-grade fever around 100°F, and mild chills.

Thursday – Still the same symptoms.

Friday – Basically no change.

Currently – The conjunctivitis has spread to my other eye, so it’s now in both eyes. My doctor said it’s a virus and told me to come back in a few weeks if I’m not better. The doctor recommended Refresh Optive Advanced Lubricant Eye Drops and Delsym cough medicine, but I’m taking Mucinex DM instead. I also use fluticasone nasal spray year-round. I am a non-smoker and have no health issues.

I was told it’s a virus, but isn’t green and brown phlegm usually bacterial? I'm wondering if it's a sinus infection. I only get sick about twice a year. I’m at a loss about what to do next.

*Edit- Low-grade fever ended on Tuesday.

Venting/commiserating. I got surgery on 3/23 to correct a deviated septum, concha bullosa, enlarged turbinates, and silent sinus syndrome. The surgery went well and the first week of recovery I felt mostly fine other than the annoying feeling of the splints and not being able to blow my nose. For context, I also have severe allergies to everything 🫠 (dust mites, animal dander, pollen, trees, grass, multiple food allergies, metals). For non food allergies, I’m mostly non responsive to allergy pills and have only just recently started shots (that have been an additional uphill battle) and only dymista seems to do it for me. Due to the surgery, my nose is too sensitive to this.

Weeks 2-4 of recovery have been hell. I’ve been back to the ENT 4x due to tooth nerve pain and numbness (mostly gone now), extreme dryness, headaches, pain, foul smelling snot, debridement, and just found out I have a sinus infection most likely due to how raw my nose was from constant blowing due to allergies.

I nasal rinse 5x a day, use ponaris drops, add baby soap to my rinses, mask while outside, run the humidifier damn near 24/7, and use saline gel to moisturize the passages, so they always tell me I’m doing everything right, but I’m so frustrated. I had a super active lifestyle before this despite allergies since I was comfortably able to use my nasal spray without issues. I don’t regret the surgery at all, it was 100% medically necessary and my surgeon did an amazing job. But I’m also sick of being confined to the house.

I’ve suffered from chronic allergies and sinusitis my entire life. I never got treatment during childhood due to the severity of the allergies plus trauma and neglect. Now I n my 30s, I’m trying to do right by myself by finally getting the shots, correcting my breathing (which I didn’t know was obstructed until January), but it gets hard. No one really gets it and it’s hard to explain how severe the allergies are on top of recovering from surgery and everything else. I was looking forward to a summer where I could finally be outside and enjoy myself without having to worry about random allergic reactions, congestion, and constant drainage, but it looks like I’ll be scaling back and staying inside most of the time.

I’m not really looking for any advice as I’m more than diligent, just feeling bummed that I had to wait decades to get medical attention for something I’ve had almost my entire life. That chronic rhinitis was noted so many times in my medical files as a child but nothing was ever done to help it. My nose would literally run like a faucet and I’d have sinus infections at least monthly and the only thing I could take to help was Benadryl.

Anyway, just venting in a place where some can understand the severity of the situation and how stifling it can feel.

Hello I am 22 years old and I have been experiencing this symptoms for 2,5 years constant .

Visual snow

Floaters

Afterimages (palinopsia-like symptoms)

Blue field phenomenon

Symptoms worse in supermarkets / bright, busy environments

Constant tiredness / sleepiness

Strong startle response (easily startled)

Head pressure, especially in the temples

“Drunk” / “high” feeling (brain fog, altered perception)

Muscle tension in the head

I have benn diagnosed with visual snow syndrome , and moderate to severe sleep apnea 28 ahi .

Although the Cpap helped me a little with th fatigue , with my main issue didn’t help a lot ( drunk feeling ) . I have been using Cpap for 11 month . Also one thing to consider is that I have constant clogged sinus and big nasal turbinates. ( I have need for adjustment for my Cpap machine )

Thanks a lot !

so im 1 week and 1 day after my surgery, i feel almost back to normal. ive had my follow up “vacuum” appointment. it feels amazing to be breathing this amount of air at a time. my doctor has me doing sinus rinse 2 a day and i am taking anti inflammatory and antibiotics.

i am wondering how to keep my sinuses clear for as long as possible and keep up these results!!

Do I really need someone to take care of me and watch me 24 hours post-surgery? I live alone and I don’t want to trouble my friends. But could my neighbors just check in on me?

Also I lived in a moldy place for 1.5 years that caused my health issues to be really bad. The chronic rhinitis and constant brain fog were only recently detected.

Finally got my lab results back after my bilateral FESS + septoplasty and wanted to share.

Some context: I suspect that i had symptoms for around 10 years. Chronic congestion, and around a month ago i could either eat breath or speak out of my mouth on and off for about a month, constant feeling of blockage brainfog, and feeling overall sickly most of last year.

i took antihistamines almost everyday + Vit C

im in relatively good shape, i workout and eat well, my body composition could be better but is decent as is.

Lab Results

Histopathology report

3 polypoid benign tissues retrieved from nasal cavity containing a mixed inflammatory infiltrate comprising lymphocytes, plasma cells, and a prominent population of eosinophils. Focal native mature bone tissue is also identified.

Speculation: This actually might connect to something I noticed in past blood tests, my eosinophil% has come back often elevated. I never knew what to make of it at the time i just assumed general allergies was the verdict and no one really flagged it as significant. Now I'm wondering if it was related all along. Not sure, but worth mentioning to my ENT.

The stain for fungal organisms in the tissue itself came back negative.

culture Report (pus swab)

Completely negative. No bacterial growth whatsoever after 48 hours, aerobic or anaerobic. Honestly wasn't expecting that. Despite a decade of what felt like chronic sinus infections, there was nothing bacterial actually living in there. The whole problem was inflammatory, not infectious. i was surprised tbh

thoughts?