I am plaqued by this in the fall/winter and was wondering if I'm the only one here that has this problem? I'm taking prednisone for the RA so the ENT can't do allergy testing to determine what is causing it. I just always have this darn thick drainage in the back of my throat which keeps it pretty irritated too. I've been doing the saline nasal irrigation, running a vaporizer at night, and I just went and paid nearly 0 for a hepa air purifier for my room. If I can't figure out how to treat this I'll keep getting sinus infections which in turn keeps me off my mtx and biologics for my RA
Anyone have a suggestion? (I mean other than burn the place down and move
Bob H.
If you're on prednisone already then it's probably not an allergic problem. Perhaps a fungal infection? Has the ENT done nasal swabs to check for microorganisms? Have you had your nose scoped, or had a CT of your sinuses?
Try running hypertonic saline through the neti pot; it will temporarily reduce the drip. I use sudafed (the real pseudoephedrine, not that phenylephrine crap they try to sell us now) when it gets annoying. Sometimes if I'm not up for the sudafed jitters/insomnia I'll use Pamine (methscopolamine) - it's an anticholinergic that's typically prescribed for GI issues. Its main side effect is to dry up all secretions - eyes, nose, mouth, etc.
Hi,
I have this problem too. I react to foods, medicines, dust, etc. Also, RA can cause sinusitis. I noticed an increase in the frequency with being on rituxan so could be a variety of allergic reactions. I often suspect my house and its carpet. I wish I could afford to pull up the carpet and put down wood or tile. can't right now. and the docs only give zyrtec or afrin nasal spray, things that dry the mucus.
so i guess eliminate the usual allergy suspects, like dust and food allergies. sugar and milk increases mucus also. other than that i have no suggestions just that I can totally relate and it is can be really annoying to have the post nasal.
take care.
My daughter is plagued with this for some reason too but we don't know why. Makes her awfully sick to her stomach. If you find a method to stop it please let me know.
I suffer the post drip too in the fall/winter although so far I have been able to avoid a sinus infection. It was actually affecting by vocal chords which was giving me laryngitis. My ENT gave me another steroid nose spray which helps to some degree (it does keep my nasal passages open) but I still have the yucky ribbon of mucus at the back of my throat.
I got no remedy but let me know if you find something that works.I feel I have an altered voice alot of the time due to build up... but I do not need to take anything that would reduce moisture in my sinus cavities... I have sjogrens and that is part of the issue.. I do not have Postnasal drip unless sick.... but have often occuring sinusitis...
My Husband has Postnasal drip.... He drinks a warm glass of water w/ lemon slices (lots) or lemon juice added... it cuts the mucus and gives him a better rest (me too! less snoring)
2 Babs10,
I too have sjogren's. I just hate it because of the hoarseness, well all of the symptoms really but singing is next to impossible. I have a desire to sing in a gospel choir. but as you know the voice gets hoarse a lot with the sjogren symptoms. I drink a lot of hot tea or warm liquids trying to soothe the vocal cords. I am online now to see if there is a link here for sjogren's.
take it easy...Pertinent thread for me. Since my husband has been dragging old (and I mean old) 3-ring binders down from the attic to sort through page by page, I have had problems with Post nasal Drip. The first morning I woke with it I was convinced I had strep throat. It wasn't thank goodness but it does recur, not as severely, as soon as I come home into the house. Solutions include asking husband to abandon the project and just throw it all away (my choice) but I may very well use the warm water with lemon idea above. Thanks.
Jasmine..my ENT has only done CT scans of my sinuses which showed nothing abnormal that he feels would cause a problem. No fungal cultures though but I suspect that will be done on our next meeting in a few weeks as I've called him twice now since October about the post nasal drip/sinus infection issue. I've also had the sinuses scoped but it has been many years and was done by a different ENT. He said there was nothing abnormal seen then...now I don't know. I don't use the neti pot but I do have one of the devices from a company called NeilMed. The kit came with the premixed packets and a bottle that you use to rinse. I nuke some distilled water in short bursts and then use it when warm to mix the solution and rinse twice daily. The only problem with this is that is dries me out too much and things then get pretty irritated from being overdry. I'm shafted either way I guess.
SnowOwl-yes I drink a brand of absinthe called Lucid Absinthe. I do drink it the traditional way of using the special glass, spoon, cold water and a sugar cube. This method dilutes it from 150 proof down to about the strength of a glass of wine. It is an aquired taste too as the natural oils and herbs that come out of it when the water is added causes it to change from a green to a cloudy, milky white color. This is from the wormwood used to distill it. I have a taste for expensive alcoholic beverages...it's my one vice. But I do not overdo it...especially now with the meds I'm on. I actually haven't had a glass in many months..but since I'm off my mtx for the sinus infection maybe I'll have one. If you want PM me and I'll send you a link to where I got my spoons and glasses. Oh, and by the way, the hallucination thing that it has a bad rap for. Not true. It may have been back then because the in thing to do during that time period was to drip laudanum into the absinthe. If you've ever seen a Johnny Depp movie called From Hell, which is about the Jack the Ripper murders, that is what his character does. To describe the taste...black liquorice.
Bob H.
If you find the answer let me know. My ENT has me back weekly. Every Friday standing appointment. Says it takes a long time to rid a sinus infection. Then add Sjorgren's dry sinus. Well he is playing with antibiotics. Thinking he will find the magic one for me. Seriously I have coughed up so much junk from my chest that i did not even know was in there. Seems i have been on antibiotics all years or the better part of it. Well at least this week they are not bleeding. It gets discouraging for sure. He said to put neosporin in my nose. Ware a scarf stay inside by the vaporizer. Take an Alegra every other day. I am too dry or he would have me take one every twelve hours. I have only been seeing this guy for short time. I will no doubt get some test soon once he gets to know me. Waiting till Friday to see what medicine he wants to try this week. Friday is my third week with this doc. I am glad he has some hope. I gave up myself a long time ago. That stinks milly. I hope this ENT finds what the problem is and can fix it. I think mine really has to do with indoor allergies that are only present in fall and winter. I hardly ever have problems in spring and summer. All hell breaks loose right after halloween usually when the weather really starts to cool off and the windows have to be closed for the year. I also have a pellet stove which heats the downstairs part of my home. These things really make a load of dust. We have baseboard heating, which is a very dry heat upstairs. The chimney for the stove also happens to run up through my room and out of the house so it's like a sauna in here most of the time. This is coupled with the fact that my home is very old and has some mold and mildew issues as most old homes do. We also have doggies that like to come in when it gets cold. If it's allergies, we can't find out to what because the prednisone will cause false negatives on the skin testing.
Bob
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