Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Doctor Visit

I woke up extra early this morning so that I could go to an ENT {ear nose & throat doc}. I've had sinus issues since I was little. I had tubes in my ears when I was a baby. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with sinus issues, but I know before I get sick, my ears hurt.

I probably get a sinus infection 4-6 times a year, which FYI, is not normal. I met with my ENT for the first time this morning. He performed nasal endoscopy. Super fun times. His nurse sprayed some stuff in each nostril so that he could stick the camera down. Towards the end, it hurt and my eyes watered.

I have a polyps on my left side. He didn't see anything on the right side, so that's good! Usually if it's on one side, it's on the other in regards to your nose. The polyps is making the mucus not drain properly so that's why I get infections a lot. He gave me a script for 4 different meds - nasal spray, antibiotics, diflucan, and a steroid. I will take them for 3.5 weeks. Once I'm done I'll go in for a cat scan to see if it's better or worse. Depending on those results he will then test me for allergies and possibly do surgery. He said to warn ppl I'd be moody. Well yeah! You try taking steroids, all those antibiotics which cause yeast to stir up and tell me you won't be moody! ;) The next 3.5 weeks will be rough. Hopefully I'll be better once all the meds are over so that I won't require surgery and he can just test me for allergies.

I decided to google polyps in your nose and this is what I found.

If they become large enough, polyps can block the drainage pathways of the sinuses. When the sinus drainage pathways are obstructed, the normal sinus function will be affected and patients may develop the signs and symptoms of chronic sinusitis. {which is what's happening to me}

Common signs and symptoms of chronic sinusitis with nasal polyps include:

A runny nose
Persistent stuffiness
Postnasal drip
Decreased or absent sense of smell
Loss of sense of taste
Facial pain or headache
Pain in your upper teeth
A sense of pressure over your forehead and face
Snoring
Itching around your eyes


I have all of those except the ones in italics. Crazy, right?!

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you! Please leave me a comment!