My congestion and sinus issues and drainage are really Reflux?

[Z3Dreamer]

Taking drops (sublingual immunotherapy) for my allergy issues requires a 6 month visit to the ENT practice. The Dr I had been seeing just left so I visited with a new PA. He wants to treat me for reflux, thinking that could be part of my problem.

I picked up the 3 prescriptions and did some online reading. This would be in addition to the drops I am taking. I am now kind of negative about the whole thing and wanted to hear from folks who had the same thing. So, if you have known allergies and your ENT person also wants to treat you for Reflux, I want to hear from you.

Please note that I do not have heartburn. Also note that I am NEVER going to make the dietary changes he recommends. The chart he gave me says NO: coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, peppers, anything acidic - pretty much nothing that I eat is OK.

 

[John Galt III]

Taking drops (sublingual immunotherapy) for my allergy issues requires a 6 month visit to the ENT practice. The Dr I had been seeing just left so I visited with a new PA. He wants to treat me for reflux, thinking that could be part of my problem.

I picked up the 3 prescriptions and did some online reading. This would be in addition to the drops I am taking. I am now kind of negative about the whole thing and wanted to hear from folks who had the same thing. So, if you have known allergies and your ENT person also wants to treat you for Reflux, I want to hear from you.

Please note that I do not have heartburn. Also note that I am NEVER going to make the dietary changes he recommends. The chart he gave me says NO: coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, peppers, anything acidic - pretty much nothing that I eat is OK.

I don't match the profile you asked for, no allergies, but I hope to be helpful relating my quick story. I had a horrible cough for a long time, and no heartburn. Family insisted I 'do something' about my cough. I went to an ENT who suspected acid reflux causing the cough. He prescribed one month of Prevacid. The Prevacid cured my cough in 2 or 3 days. Went off the Prevacid, and the cough came back in a few months. Moral of the story is yes, you 'could' have acid reflux in addition to the allergies. You don't say if you have a cough, so I assume not. But the 'acidic fumes' from your stomach could be irritating your sinuses, yes. My sinuses weren't affected, just my lungs and trachea.

 

[Chuckanut]

. Family insisted I 'do something' about my cough. I went to an ENT who suspected acid reflux causing the cough. He prescribed one month of Prevacid. The Prevacid cured my cough in 2 or 3 days. Went off the Prevacid, and the cough came back in a few months. Moral of the story is yes, you 'could' have acid reflux in addition to the allergies. You don't say if you have a cough, so I assume not. But the 'acidic fumes' from your stomach could be irritating your sinuses, yes. My sinuses weren't affected, just my lungs and trachea.

+1 Bingo!

Same with me. I had an annoying cough that would not go away. 2 days on an OTC ant-acid and I was fine. But, the cough kept coming back after I stopped the meds, until I went on my low-carb (now slow-carb) diet. Poof! Reflux gone. In fact I use reflux as a sign that I am consuming to many cheap processed carbs. When it comes back, I know I have slipped into bad eating habits.

Oh, I still drink modest amounts of coffee, eat peppers and chocolate.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have bad allergies and used to have reflux. I lost 40lbs and the reflux went away. My allergies didn’t improve. Our husky/shepherd mix died 4 months ago and allergies and asthma much improved.

 

[TromboneAl]

I've learned that you can absolutely have LPR with no heartburn. For me, omeprazole had little to no effect (everyone's different, apparently).

One of the threads on this is here.

Look at when you have the coughing. Does it happen 20-60 minutes after eating and does it happen when you go to bed? If so, that might suggest LPR.

For me, the #1 thing that helped was using a wedge pillow (at night) and chewing gum (during the day). I am sick of chewing gum, but if I do it as soon as I start coughing, it stops the coughing cold.

Also, try reducing the volume of food that you eat at once. For me, a few fluid ounces of wine is better than 12 fl oz of water.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

+1 Bingo!

Same with me. I had an annoying cough that would not go away. 2 days on an OTC ant-acid and I was fine. But, the cough kept coming back after I stopped the meds, until I went on my low-carb (now slow-carb) diet. Poof! Reflux gone. In fact I use reflux as a sign that I am consuming to many cheap processed carbs. When it comes back, I know I have slipped into bad eating habits.

Oh, I still drink modest amounts of coffee, eat peppers and chocolate.

Cutting down on carbs helped my reflux too.

 

[bmcgonig]

Why not do what he says for a month or less and see if it clears up your problem. That's not hard. I'm assuming the meds he gave you are PPIs?

On a different note I had terrible post nasal drip for years. Took all kinds of OTC allergy meds. Turned out it was dairy. So simple.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

If you remember, the ENT PA wanted me to try 3 daily antacid meds to see if I had reflux. The theory being that the reflux could cause my allergy symptoms. I took the meds and had no improvement, at all. After about the 3rd week I had the worst sinus congestion of my life. I took all of the 30 days of meds.

At my follow up with PA, he said I should have taken them for 6 weeks not 30 days and I needed to start over. Ain't happening.

The worst sinus congestion of my life continued for weeks after I stopped taking the antacids. Then I came across this article in my daily Google news:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/30/health/heartburn-drugs-allergies-study/index.html
which reports the results of a large Austrian study. This study says "disrupting the stomach's delicate balance of acids and enzymes may cause our immune systems to go haywire, triggering allergies that didn't previously exist."

Your browser can find many more stories on this.

At the time, I think the PA felt low risk in giving me a solution. Antacids are deemed to be safe, no risk. Why not try it and see if it helps?

Anyone else have a similar experience?

Please note that as a long time professional in ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, my having the worst sinus congestion of my life during this antacid experiment, could have nothing to do with each other.

 

[Dalmore]

I didn't have reflux that I knew about, but every year (3 or 4 years in a row) the month of December, I would lose my voice completely. One year it went on into January and I went to the ENT. He treated me for reflux and boom, it went away. Now come the holiday season, I take Prilosec regularly. I haven't had a problem with losing my voice since.

As for sinuses, I've have fought them for most my life. I've had two surgeries, that didn't do squat. I have used a small measured amount of nose drops at night just so I can sleep for close to 30 years now. Allergy pills only make a minor, hardly measurable impact. Nasacort and all those remedies, do nothing. Could it be reflux? That makes an interesting perspective that I never considered. I think I will investigate that angle.

 

[John Galt III]

Just some more data for the thread: I was taking one 15 mg Lansoprazole (Prevacid) and it cured my acid stomach completely (coughing was my symptom). Well, I tried reducing my dose. I'm down to one 15 mg pill every third day (!) and only minor coughing sometimes, and sometimes I take a calcium antacid (tums generic). I think reducing the natural acid level as little as possible is the way to go, to maintain as much 'natural' processing of what I eat, to get the most benefit (calcium absorption needs some level of acid in the stomach). Want to protect the bones.

 

[jimandthom]

Why not do what he says for a month or less and see if it clears up your problem. That's not hard. I'm assuming the meds he gave you are PPIs?

On a different note I had terrible post nasal drip for years. Took all kinds of OTC allergy meds. Turned out it was dairy. So simple.

Spouse had the same issues--- including the sinus headache and migrane type symptoms etc. He can eat in moderation the more dry type cheese. The best route tho is we avoid and really watch ingredients.

 

[jimandthom]

OP--

I would suggest keeping a diary for a few months of everything, food exercise, symptoms etc and start looking for patterns and see if a certain food shows up more. It could be that your laundry service changed soap and you have developed an allergy. But you wont' know unless you try and investigate.

We know 2 peope not willing to make adjustments to their diet. Their adjustments could likely include loss of part of the bowel and loss of a foot.

1 has Crohns and eats nothing but fried foods, burgers, Mexican(corporate America style) and wings. Says that the Gastro Doc changes up her meds as her symptoms get worse, so why change what she enjoys eating.

1 is diabetic with ever increasing dosing needs. He essentially says the same thing about making any lifestyle changes.

Lets find a pill to take instead of considering that our habits, likes etc may have a part to pay.

Sometimes a bit of moderation will work really well.

To not be willing to try an elimination type TEMPORARY diet is really rather foolish. But it is very much the American Way.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

OP--

I would suggest keeping a diary for a few months of everything, food exercise, symptoms etc and start looking for patterns and see if a certain food shows up more. It could be that your laundry service changed soap and you have developed an allergy. But you wont' know unless you try and investigate.

We know 2 peope not willing to make adjustments to their diet. Their adjustments could likely include loss of part of the bowel and loss of a foot.

1 has Crohns and eats nothing but fried foods, burgers, Mexican(corporate America style) and wings. Says that the Gastro Doc changes up her meds as her symptoms get worse, so why change what she enjoys eating.

1 is diabetic with ever increasing dosing needs. He essentially says the same thing about making any lifestyle changes.

Lets find a pill to take instead of considering that our habits, likes etc may have a part to pay.

Sometimes a bit of moderation will work really well.

To not be willing to try an elimination type TEMPORARY diet is really rather foolish. But it is very much the American Way.

Yup, did that, years ago. Good thought though. I feel your frustration with your buddies.

Here is what I have tried:rhinoplasty surgery, septoplasty surgery, diet modification, writing down foods trying to discern a pattern, 1 1/2 years of daily sublingual immunotherapy. And now the antacid drugs - 3 at a time for 30 days.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have found my sinuses benefit from a daily routine of 'nasal lavage'.

Basically, I squirt warm salty water into one nostril, let it cross over, and come out the other nostril.

I started doing this after my PCP told me that only about 1/2 his patients who have had sinus surgery were happy with the results. And studies show that nasal lavage can relieve many of the worst symptoms as well as keep sinus infections away. At least for some people like me. YMMV. I figure the cost is about $50 a year plus 3-5 minutes of my time each morning.

In dry seasons, I keep a bottle of saline spray in the house and the car. It really helps to keep those sinuses moist.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

I have found my sinuses benefit from a daily routine of 'nasal lavage'.

Basically, I squirt warm salty water into one nostril, let it cross over, and come out the other nostril.

I started doing this after my PCP told me that only about 1/2 his patients who have had sinus surgery were happy with the results. And studies show that nasal lavage can relieve many of the worst symptoms as well as keep sinus infections away. At least for some people like me. YMMV. I figure the cost is about $50 a year plus 3-5 minutes of my time each morning.

In dry seasons, I keep a bottle of saline spray in the house and the car. It really helps to keep those sinuses moist.

During my most recent bout, I used my little squeeze bottle and the saline or whatever it is, several times a day. Pretty good relief. Does not solve my periodic drip down the back of my throat, but when you need it, that bottle is great.