Nasal problems

Allergies, blood and immune system
1

Hello all,

I have suffered with all year round hayfever / allergy symptoms for over decade. I have had several operations and procedures .. turbinate widening, polyp removal, bones straightened .. some repeated efforts to no real avail ...

The side effect has been that my sense of smell is non existent .. I just put up with the alternate runny / blocked nose etc etc

The one development of late has been strange, when in the shower I often clear my nose rather robustly as its the best way to blow in an unrestrained manner .. I have now noticed that I suddenly get a very sweet flowery taste / smell when i do this .. My daughter jokes that its brain fluid .. hopefully not.

Anyone with any ideas as to what it might be?

Jason

2

Hi Jason.

I suffer with the same thing. I have had hay fever since I was about 10 but for past 5-6 years it is all year round. Tried all sorts of meds(tablets and nose drops) but nothing helps. My taste and smell are very limited but sometimes when I blow my nose very hard I also get this funny sweet taste/smell.

Unfortunately I don't know what is it. I have not been lucky with GPs and never really had a diagnose. I don't think people realise how enoying it is to have runny nose all year round. Lets hope someone will be able to help us here.

3

Hi, i am going through such a frustrating time at the moment, i have a ten year old son who constantly sufferswith hayfever symptoms. i cannot recall when he was fully well. he has had adanoids removed twice gromits fitted. but last week it esculated where i took him to a and e ( where he witnessed many things he should never really see...drunks head injuries...) he had a bad infection causing temperature and heart problems, so on top of allergies his little body struggled to deal with it, today ent told me not much can be done! others tell me his heart is working too hard to keep body going... i am a worried mum. and now hearing here he might not grow out of it makes me fear even more. is there no help anywhere at all? gp is not much good, they basically say im over protective with a very snotty kid. however i see him suffering everyday!

4

I have the same problem.

Every single day, I'm all snotted up and it doesn't go away no matter how many times I blow my nose. Sometimes I have really itchy eyelids and I'm constantly sniffing and having to swallow the hard mucus at the back of my throat throughout the day. My nostrils really sting because I'm always blowing / rubbing my nose.

At first I thought it was hayfever and thought it'd be over within a couple of months. Then summer turned to winter and I didn't ask the doctor about it as I thought he'd just say it was a cold.

Two years later, I ask the doctor about it and he tells me it's probably a dust allergy and to get some nasal spray. My symptoms are worse in the morning, or when I lye on my bed in the evening. I've now ditched the nasal spray, because it did nothing other than taste horrible down the back of my throat. I'm now using antihistamines daily, also with no effect.

In the past couple of years, I've been very tired and run down, sometimes finding it difficult to get out of bed (impacting my attendance at work!), with cycles of extreme tiredness (most often after my period).

I've been looking into whether or not I'm iron deficient, and a couple of my blood tests came back 'slightly low', but I haven't had another one in a while, because I've been to the doctor so many times in the last year I've got paranoid that they think I'm a hypochondriac and don't want to go back just to be dismissed again.

I've also been suffering from bloating after eating, and gas. On my last visit to the doctor I asked if it all tied together (my allergy symptoms, fatigue and stomach) and maybe I have a wheat intolerance? The doctor also dismissed this suggestion. I think he thought I meant a more extreme allergy, even though I specifically only said 'intolerance'.

Jason7 and Evelyn1979, I don't get the 'very sweet flowery taste' when I blow my nose, just the ongoing allergy symptoms and forever blocked nose.

In regards to the symptoms, I think I'm going to try to alter my diet, eliminate all wheat and eat more anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory foods.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

5

Hello again,

I have since learned that the 'smell' is due to Parosmia .. and most common smells reported are Engine, Wood and Sweet.

I have had no real change in my symptoms .. still come and go and have a sinus infection at the moment.

I have been told its not because I am allergic or intolerant to anything but I find that hard to believe that there isnt anything causing my problems .. I have had 'hayfever' constantly since spring 2000.

It has through the years driven me mental .. I have tried every lotion potion tablet and remedy known to man .. except acupuncture .. So I could not really advise you to try anything as many have worked for a short while but nothing for any meaningfully long period.

I agree re the nasal wash system .. its painful and expensive .. I only use it occasionally.

I suppose managing your food type intake will at least begin to eliminate possible causes ..

Good luck

6

Lazer_flan. I've been told that menstruation, oral contraceptive - hormone cycles/changes make the blood vessels in your nose swell. If you have this anyway because of a dust mite allergy for example, then at that time of the month, this'll make it worse.

Most women's iron tests come back as slightly low. Sometimes it could be due to a lack of B vitamins, sometimes due to a lack of iron at certain times of the month. Sometimes iron can't be absorbed easily because of a lack of vitamin C in the system. Both allergies and absorption of iron can be improved by adequate vitamin C intake. I've been advised to take a vitamin C tablet 4 times a day...but twice a day should be enough. However, don't take B12 at the same time as Vitamin C because the C stops the B12 being absorbed.

I also had the bloating you described but only after eating white bread or white pasta. I've switched to wholemeal and sometimes take a fibre tablet. Other people get boating after eating onions, beans, green peppers.

HOWEVER, allergies and the bloating/gas you've described are said to be due to bad gut bacteria. Taking probiotics helps heaps! But you won't see the effects for at least a month. You can also increase your intake of spinach, bananas, pumpkin seeds - some people even eat dandelion leaves to help feed and therefore grow the good bacteria in your gut. Also take a portion of plain live yoghurt 3 times a week - you can mix it with fruit and/or pumpkin seeds if you like. It take quite a while to see the effects of natural treatments like this but it's good for your body in the long term.

7

If you are suffering from nasal polyps it's cuz of a result of allergies and or sinus infections. Once that was figured out, the key was to avoid the allergen. Mine were dust mites. So mattress and pillows are covered with dust mite proof casing. Allergy shots, antihistamines and corticosteroid nose sprays. The best spray for me has been Flovent, it is meant for asthma and inhaling in the mouth. But I have a baby bottle nipple and just cut the tip. They make it in liquid form for the nose, but that just drips down the throat. The throat kind is in powder form and stays in the nasal cavity. I have had 8 surgeries to remove the polyps, they always come back. The key is to try to keep them away as long as possible. I have managed to keep them away for 2 years so far. At some point they will come back, and I guess I will have them removed again when they begin to cause too many problems.

8

Hi Lazer_flan.  I was just reading your post as I am trying to figure out how my daily allergies have disappeared!!  I like you suffered every day.  I would wake up in the moring and sneeze as soon as i stood up straight from bed and would start getting a runny itchy nose at night once my head hit the pillow.  You can only understand how depressing this is if you are acutally living it.  And i have been living it since 1999. So it has been about 5 weeks since my allergies have disappeared and today, with your post, I am pretty sure I have got it. 5 weeks ago i was diagnosed with low ferritan (i have been diagnosed with this years ago and ignored it).  My doctor insisted that i have iron shots weekly, which i have been doing.  When i think about it, since i started the shots, my allergies have disappeared.  I know it sounds weird but there is nothing different i have done!!!

9

I have had such but that is connected to the season. I have had that for over 19 years now and that is really hard. I used to take pills during this season.

I was told several times that the problem could be in the nutrition.

Perhaps you need have some kind of diet.

 

10

Hi

I have recently developed the same problem, sweet flowery smell in my nose and taste in my mouth and sweet flowerty urine!

I am at a loss. I donlt want to go back to my doctor as she thinks I am barmy anyway. I went on holiday to the seaside recently for a week and I felt absolutely GREAT!!! eating like a horse, and all the resulting functions were good. however, back to the city and the same problems start. I have a gallstone, diverticulosis and an underactive thyroid so I dunno if any of these are a contributing factor. Either way, semlling sweet is driving me up the wall!!!

11

Hello millie92042! My sinus problems have been plaguing me for over 30 years now. I get tremendous sinus headaches that cause me to vomit from the pain. Sometimes the headache will last three or four hours and then all of a sudden if someone is standing beside me they can hear a whistle, like a teapot whistle and the pain will disappear totally. The pain can't really be descibed because the pain is that bad. I was using a number of medications that contained pseudoephedrine(Sudafed), but here in the U.S. they've made it extremely difficult to get because of kids using it to make Meth. I went to a ENT doctor and he did an operation called a Septoplasty which really didn't help that much. I have now begun usi ng the Breathe Right strips that you put on the outside of your nose and they seem to help a little. I've just read about a new procedure that involves a doctor putting a stent inside your nose. It's a spring like device that dissiolves over time and I'm going to see if my insurance would cover it. Good luck