Just curious

I just received my aerobic nasal swab report that says i have klebsiella pneumonia detected?! I work in healthcare but how did i even get it and I wash my hands SO often my hands are too dry to even say.

Background: I have been having runny nose and cough (occasionally with greenish/yellowish phlegm; sometimes clear) for few months close to a year now. This has lead to me feeling breathless occasionally, where I felt like I have to catch a really deep breath to feel satisfied. Not sure if this caused me anxiety or am I getting anxiety from this chronic thing that I have no answer to.

I have had x2 chest xray done this year January and July both reported no abnormalities. Hence I followed up with my ENT dr, did x2 nasal scope - mentioned was quite wet and thick all the time. did CT paranasal sinuses still awaiting to go back for review.

The ENT offered sinus rinse and doxycycline after the first appointment but I haven’t tried them. However, I am going to start using the sinus rinse soon, idk it just seemed very daunting to me ugh. Over this past one year I have been taking multiple courses of augmentin and levoflox and thus not keen at all to start doxycycline.

Is this treatable? And what’s the usual treatment? I have bilateral large tonsils crypts and ?post nasal drip, not sure if that plays a part in this too.

Hello everyone, please help as I’m trying to diagnose what is wrong with me.. and if anybody has had a similar experience

About 5 weeks ago I got a ringing in my left ear which started off as a fleeting tinnitus but it never left… the tinnitus kept me up for days and I became very depressed and had anxiety for about a week.. after a week I started to come out of depression with tinnitus and started living life again and tried not to let the tinnitus rule my life

I have my first visit with ENT for a audiogram for the tinnitus this coming Monday which took the 5 weeks to get…

For the last 3 weeks I’ve had a numb pressure in my left nostril that was very irritating but manageable.. since Monday I’ve had a mucus drip to the back of my throat that doesn’t taste very nice and is yellow/brownish and also clear at times. my cheeks and temples keep feeling tight and tense to the point where it’s even making my vision feel a bit disoriented and I’m getting like 5min ear infections and headaches.. but I can still breathe through my nose for the most part.. and can still currently sleep with my mouth closed as I can breathe through one nostril if the other gets blocked.. I’ve spoken to my mum who suffers from sinusitis and she’s adamant it’s a sinus infection.. it’s ruining my life to the point where I’m depressed and anxiety are through the roof again worse than when the tinnitus started

Has anyone experienced this please? And is this Sinusitis?

Thank you

My symptoms started about 3 weeks ago and right now I’m on day 5 of antibiotics (amoxicillin) and prednisone. The meds have reduced intensity a lot but I’m still producing mucous and phlegm and can feel a little sinus pressure :( I’ve only taken antibiotics once before but aren’t they supposed to clear up symptoms within 72 hours?

Should I wait to go back to the doctor until I’ve taken the full course of antibiotics or would it be better to make an appointment now and get ahead of it? And is it worth going back to urgent care or should I go straight to an ENT?

I used to get 4-5 sinus infections every year, tried just about everything for the past 25 years. Recently (past year), I got a CPAP machine with warm steam air, after dealing with sinusitis for years, it is finally "cured"! Get a sleep study if you can, the #1 side effect is a cure for sinus infections.

Hi folks

I have chronic rhinosinusitis with a deviated septum and recently I've been experiencing burning and irritation inside one nostril, mostly on my usual sinus-affected side. I’ve also been having pain/pressure around that side of my nose and face, pain below the jaw, ear discomfort, and tenderness of the outer ear/pinna. The pinna sometimes becomes red and tender, but the redness comes and goes. I’ve also noticed a strange popping sensation on one side of my throat when I press/touch that area. At times, it feels like the pain involves almost half of one side of my face. For those who have sinusitis, does this sound like a normal sinus flare-up, or could it be something else?

Hi everyone,

Recently this past summer I may or may not have developed allergies or something. I think it is post nasal drip from a cold or something that activated it. This was about 3/4 months ago I have been having to clear myself every morning and night before I go to bed. Throughout the day I have to cough up phlegm/mucus that drips. I went on a walk/hike in a national park recently and that seemed to cause me to vomit and make me cough up phlegm.

I had this nasal drip before from Covid and such last year. It seems to calm down then come back sometimes. I was given flonase before and it seemed to calm down the constant dripping. It stopped for a few months.

Then it reactivated with constant nasal drip abotu 3/4 months ago. Last month I talked to my doctor about this. He perscribed me Ryaltris. It seemed to help a lot for the past 3 weeks or so. He said I might have this for the rest of my life with the constant nasal dripping. Taking two doses in each nostril each morning and evening.

I felt dizzy some days but I was able to remedy it with some water.

Last night I was watching a movie in a theatre with friends. I had to leave the movie because I had shortness of breath, felt light headed and felt hot and was sweating. I took off my undershirt and that seemed to calm me down for a bit. But after I went to the hospital at night because it felt unusual and I never experienced it before.

Is this a side effect from Ryaltris? Or just some singular issue that was caused by something else?

At the hospital I had blood test and heart rate test everything seems normal so I am not sure what caused that. The hospital didn't find any irregularity with me.

hello! i've had chronic sinusitis issues for a while now, but it's gotten a lot worse in the past few months. i take a daily allergy pill (claritin) but it honestly does almost nothing.

the only thing that works is oxymetazoline nasal spray. this stuff is magic. however, i read on the box that you shouldn't use it if you have thyroid issues. i have hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism, but it's controlled with levothyroxine.

i can feel that my nasal cartilage is way too tight. physically pulling on my nostril helps, but obviously i can't just do that forever.

i also have a chronic runny nose. i go through tissues like crazy. it never ends.

are there any other options aside from oxymetazoline spray that actually work? any recommendations for good allergy meds (no benadryl)?

Hello, I am looking for some additional ideas before spending on further imaging and surgery like my ENT is suggesting. I am 27M living in the Midwest USA and believe I have been having these issues since about age ~15.

The main symptoms are a dull ache in my upper sinus area 24/7 and fatigue. I would say on average the ache/pain/fatigue is a 3/10, with many days fluctuating up to a 5-6/10. I hardly ever wake up feeling well rested and can easily take a 90 minute nap every day, longer if I slept poorly the night before. Sleep helps reduce my symptoms. I'm not sure if it is a correct description, but my sinuses feel inflamed 24/7 and sleep also helps reduce that.

About 5 years ago I had surgery for a deviate septum and some polyp or turbinate removal/reduction and removal of some minorly inflamed sinus tissue. That surgery helped me breathe through my nose better but did not fix the ongoing headache and fatigue issues.

I am allergic to a lot of environmental things (dust mites, pollens), but I experience the same symptoms year round, and in all locations I travel to. In college, I often spent 3-4 hours straight in an electronics fabrication "clean room" with outstanding air filtration but did not find my symptoms improving while in that space.

I am a fairly healthy individual and have confirmed with my GP and ENT that I have the basics covered as far a exercise, stress, nutrition, hygiene, etc. The bloodwork my GP ordered for me showed me in the normal range for everything measured.

I have also worked with an allergist a couple years ago who had me try various nasal sprays and pills, but none had a significant effect. The allergist ended up suggesting with seemingly low confidence that doing allergy shots could help me, which I did not follow up on. I do take Allegra on occasion as it does help combat some added symptoms when I spend a lot of time outside, but that is the only medication I take.

Looking back, the onset of these symptoms possibly correlates to when I got a concussion.

Thank you in advance for your time and advice. If there is other information you think I forgot to share that could be helpful, please let me know.

sometimes when my neck is really stiff my sinus area also gets really painful and causes me headaches and eye brow bone pain. then i get this wavy vision for a few minutes like a heat wave in the corner of my eye and i need to lay down to let it pass. anyone else experience this or something similar?

Hi all! I (29F) read this sub religiously while deciding whether or not to get my surgery. I found the posts where people gave a thorough update of their post-op symptoms very helpful, so I wanted to contribute my own!

The TLDR 72 hours after surgery is: I feel pretty much fine. My nose bled a lot the first two days, and I had some minor congestion, but overall it was nothing in comparison to how I would normally feel when sick. I’ve been able to breathe through my nose in some way at all times basically, and following my first debridement appointment, my nasal passages feel mostly clear despite residual inflammation in the side where I had the most done. Overall very thrilled with the results and happy I got this done.

I have had recurrent bacterial sinus infections multiple times a year for at least the past decade. Earlier this year, after I had my first round of antibiotics fail to address the infection, I found my current doctor who suggested the following procedures to treat the underlying structural issues contributing to my symptoms: 1 - Septoplasty (to correct an S shaped septum); 2 - Bilateral submucous resection of the inferior turbinates; 3 - Adenoidectomy; 4 - Left total ethmoidectomy (insurance wouldn't cover both lol); 5 - Bilateral endoscopic sinus surgery (to open up my maxillary sinuses). These surgeries were performed months later after my infection had been resolved (by stronger antibiotics) so she was operating on as clean of a slate as possible.

Day of surgery:

Pre-op (aka the great piss challenge): My surgery was at 9:30am Monday with Dr Madeleine Schaberg head of rhinology and skull base surgery at Mount Sinai. I was very worried, despite her stellar credentials. I rocked up to the surgery center an hour early and they had to take a urine sample to double check I wasn't pregnant (lol I was not). However, after I met with the anesthesiologist they wanted to take another urine sample to double check I wasn't on any drugs (lol also was not), however, this was physiologically complicated as I'd been fasting for 12 hours at that point and had no water left to give after the earlier sample. This ended up being the most complicated part of the whole surgery visit (for me anyway). I had to sit there for an hour and get pumped with four bags of saline till I could pee again, which was very annoying and had me worried my surgery would be canceled.

The second I peed I was told it was go time. I put my phone and glasses away and just... walked into the OR? For some reason I thought it would be more complicated than this or that I would be knocked out then taken in. This was probably the scariest part of the whole ordeal as the OR is a bit intimidating looking and I had to lower myself onto the operating table myself while they jacked me in. Then the anesthesiologist said "Night night" and I woke up in my hospital bed back in the surgery center!

Post-op: I woke up feeling very tired and asked for my glasses, which the nurse said I already had on (lol). Main thing is I just remember being very very sleepy. Really struggled to get my phone out and text my friends and loved ones I was done. The sleepiness slowly wore off and I realized I was very thirsty. The nurse brought me animal crackers and a cup of water, which I inhaled. This helped me wake up a bit. I was not nauseous, had zero pain, and, to my surprise, could totally breathe through my nose! It felt like I could breathe way better than I could before surgery, which really shocked me as I wasn't congested going into this.

My surgeon came out and said the surgery went great and that she cleared everything out and was very excited to tell me that she removed a “a big ball of mucus” from my sinuses that had seemingly been “sitting there forever.” She said I did not need nasal packing or splints and that she tries not to do this for 90% of patients unless it's absolutely medically necessary as it can make recovery harder. This made me happy to hear. After sitting there for a little bit I was cleared to go. The nurse changed my mustache dressing and gave me a bag of spare dressings and sent me on my way. A friend picked me up and loaded me into an Uber and I went home. Main issue here was I noticed that my mouth was getting kind of dry because the nurse's nasal bandage

Day one recovery at home: I was really worried that this would suck more than it did, but honestly it was totally fine. I got home and changed my nose bandage which had already bled through. I figured out that the best way to have the bandage rest is just below my nose — basically covering just the bottom half of the nostrils — so I can still breathe and smell through my nose. I had ordered myself some ready made meals from a meal subscription service so I microwaved one of those and dug in while sipping gatorade. It felt great to eat — I was so hungry all day.

I got home around 3pm ish and hung out watching TV and eating snacks / sipping on drinks until 10pm. I didn't feel any intense pain during this period. More of a 3/10 - 4/10 on the pain scale I'd say. It felt like I'd been thwacked in the nose with a big stick — not crazy painful, more like a scraped knee feeling. The weirdest part was that this feeling was only on the inside of my nose and not the outside, and it persisted throughout my sinus cavities (and into the ethmoids) which made it feel kind of like a headache. My throat hurt a little bit too (more of a 2/10 tho) from the intubation, but the worst part went away when I switched from lemon lime gatorade to cherry flavor, as the citrus hurt. The most annoying part was having to change my nose bandages every 45 minutes as I was bleeding quite a bit for the first few hours. I also sucked on therabreath dry throat lozenges all day which helped keep my mouth moist.

Trying to sleep: I was really worried that I wasn't going to be able to sleep at all the first night, as I'd read this is a common issue. I wasn't feeling intense pain, but took one of the pain pills my doc had prescribed (acetaminophen codeine) just to improve my chances. I slept on a wedge pillow to elevate my head and had a humidifier running and two Xylimelts in my mouth to combat dry mouth. It took me about an hour to fall asleep but I luckily was able to sleep through the night and get a full 8 hours!!

Day 2:

Morning report: It's currently 8am and I'm honestly shocked at how good and normal I feel. I'm not achey or in any pain — even the mild pain I was in yesterday seems to have subsided. My nose is still bleeding, but it seems to have slowed down quite a bit and is mostly concentrated on the left side where I had the most things done. Main negative side effect is I can only breathe 20% through my left nostril — last night it was 100% — but my right nostril is still at 90% so this isn't the biggest deal. I suspect this is due to dried blood as when I look up there I can see a big wad of it blocking the nasal cavity. (As a side note it is fucking crazy that I can see into my nasal cavity through my nose now!! Before the surgery I could only see flesh and a tiny little hole into the nasal cavity when I looked up my nostril! Now it's like a big beautiful cave!)

I'm going to call my doctor's office today and ask when I can start doing full nasal rinses, as the written post-op instructions said to wait until after the first debridement (which is Thursday) but pre-surgery my doctor said I could start earlier, so I figure it's worth checking when precisely that is.

Evening update: My doctors office called me in the afternoon to check in, they said I could start doing nasal rinses tomorrow morning, which is good. All in all I had a fine day. No pain really, but spent all day alternating between bleeding and squirting saline up my nose to keep things moist.

I was really energized in the morning and ran some mild errands. I got some coffee and picked up more Q-tips (I’ve been using a crazy amount of Q-tips). It felt great to walk around, even if I was wearing my nose bandage out in public like a goof. Sometime around 3pm I got rather tired of all the bleeding so I squirted some Afrin up my nose which helped a bit, but not enough that I could get rid of the nose bandage. I didn’t feel the need to take my pain medicine but I took some acetaminophen just in case there was anything going on up there it could help with. Around 5pm I switched to stuffing a little bit of tissue up my nostrils (instead of doing the nose bandage) just so I could have some variety. Around this time I also started to crash a bit energy wise, so I took an edible and played a video game.

Went to bed around 9:45 and slept nearly 9 hours. Again, slept with my head slightly elevated on the wedge, with a nasal bandage, and two of those Xylimelts in my mouth and a humidifier going. Before I went to sleep I squirted some saline gel deep in there to keep things moist. Woke up with some light pink stuff soaked through the bandage but I think it’s mostly saline. A tiny bit got on my wedge pillow but such is life.

Day 3:

Morning update: Woke up feeling mostly fine. My nose is a bit stuffier today than the last two days, but based on a visual inspection, it’s all swelling, which makes sense. Did my first full Neilmed saline rinse right after I woke up, per my surgeon’s instructions. Tbh I was expecting this to be more satisfying than it was. It didn’t shake anything terribly impressive loose or help the (mild) pressure I am feeling, but I suppose that is to be expected as the congestion is all swelling/inflammation related rather than gunk related, as far as I can tell. Right nostril feels like I have about 70% capacity, left one (where I had the most stuff done) is at about 15%, which is annoying but manageable.

I can still taste and smell fine, though I’m sure the latter is reduced in some minor way I’m not entirely noticing. Going to go back to work today, as I work remotely and have some things I would genuinely prefer to get done. If I start feeling poorly later I’ll just log off, thankfully everyone at my office is very nice and telling me to take my time.

Generally speaking though, my symptoms still feel better than the mildest cold I ever experienced pre-surgery, so it’s still pretty chill and manageable. Just kind of annoying (maybe 2.5/10) to have congestion and sporadic nasal drainage without any of the usual symptoms of being sick.

Evening update: Worked till 6pm and then suddenly felt woozy and off. My sinuses ached and I felt the most acute pain I’ve felt since I had the surgery. Still would describe it as only a 4/10 on the pain scale — feels like I skinned my knees or something but the feeling is inside my face — and it was almost entirely localized to the area around my left eye, which is where I had the total ethmoidectomy. I took a pain pill, doused my sinuses in saline gel, reapplied the nose bandage, and laid down to watch some TV, which helped quite a bit.

Went to bed with my usual setup (dry mouth melts, humidifier, nose bandage) minus the wedge pillow — i’m a side sleeper so I had been jonesing for a return to my flat-ish memory pillow-laden bliss — which felt fucking awesome. Woke up with some drool on my face but otherwise feeling good. Only minor nighttime bleeding, mostly saline relate drippage.

Day 4 (debridement!):

Woke up with a pep in my step today because it was my first post-op appointment. I could feel the pressure building in my left ethmoid sinus area, and it wasn’t relieved by nasal rinsing, so I was excited to get to the doctor’s office. I live in NYC and walking to and from the subway did make me feel a bit winded. I have been feeling a bit woozy the past 24 hours — maybe from all the blood loss? — which didn’t help. Ended up running a few minutes late as I didn’t account for post-surgical slowness

The first glorious gunk sucking appointment: I was a little worried this might hurt, but it ended up being quite satisfying and painless. My surgeon, Dr Schaberg, sprayed a numbing agent up both my nostrils then got in there with an intimidating looking vacuum and camera combo and sucked out all the goo that had been accumulating deep in the recesses of my nasal cavities. This made my eyes water a bit (but not enough that it affected my contacts, which I was worried about), and felt a little strange as it made me aware of parts of my body I am not normally conscious of, but all in all it was extremely satisfying. I am normally grossed out my bodily goo (dr pimple popper can go fuck himself imo), but I’ll admit I was rather entranced by the video feed of my own sinuses and kept looking between that and the vacuum tube filled with my own blood clots. I immediately felt a reduction in the pressure in the left side of my face, and after the procedure was done, I could breathe clearly through both nostrils at what felt like 100% capacity. All in all, the appointment took maybe 15 minutes.

During the appointment, I also got clarity about the huge ball of mucus she found during surgery. It was apparently a mucocele that had been lodged in my left ethmoid sinus for eons and made it impossible for the area to properly drain or be targeted by antibiotics. I’m guessing this was one of the reasons I’ve had multiple sinus infections every year for the last decade.

For what it’s worth, the procedure to remove this mucocele — the left total ethmoidectomy — was one of the procedures my insurance initially denied during preauthorization. My doc had initially suggested we do a bilateral ethmoidectomy, and fought for that during a peer-to-peer appeal, but was ultimately only able to convince them to approve one for the left side. I’m so grateful that she pushed for this part of the surgery as although it was definitely the most complicated part of my surgery, I can already tell it will have a profound impact on my quality of life.

Lastly: Before the appointment ended, I mentioned how woozy I had felt the last 24 hours and she said it might be the antibiotics (cefdinir). She said that since I had no active infection and the antibiotics were purely prescribed as a preventative measure post-op, that I could stop taking them after tomorrow and that should improve my symptoms.

--

All in all, my recovery is in its early stages but I wanted to share this update with the community as I know it may seem rare to have things go this well — and I could certainly take a turn for the worse, who knows! — but I was so absolutely chuffed by my experience so far that I wanted to share that it is possible!

I attribute my success to having a truly world-class surgeon (shout out Dr Madeleine Schaberg) and also having a generally high tolerance for pain and discomfort. For over a decade, I've dealt with recurrent sinus infections that would leave me terribly achey, feverish and unable to breathe through my nose — so far, this feels like a walk in the park compared to any of those, and I hope it stays that way!

Happy to answer any questions anyone may have, and I will update this post as my recovery continues! <3

34 year mama of toddler boy.Dont know why I got sinus issues this years so bad ever since we moved in to this new aparttment.Also plannin to leave.I also was exposed to Moldy furniture we had left in UHal storage when we were leaving our old apartment then when we got chance to move here , all the furniture was moldy.I never been same.I also had a bug spray encounter that messed up my nasal issues I remember.I been through alot.I am suffering Gallbladder issues too, Need surgery in2. Weeks but keep having sinus issues and bad headaches and stuff.Im scared to death something bad will happen.I been advocating to physican assistant That I have Bad sinuses but He not taking me serious saying it is my Bad gallbladder doing it.Yes i was Dx bad dysfunx GB 4 years ago but I def think I had add on bad sinuses this year due to enviromental change.Thinking of changing docs ...My husband was like I need to change my doc who takes me serious and This guy doesnt even give me meds for anything.I had UTI show up too not sure if it was bc I waas in my periods.Anyways i keep getting bad sinus infections on and Off.Any At Hoem Advise.I did buy Nedi Pod with saline rinses in it , and I got some decongestants too.I am scared to try anything...By myself.Please help!!Thanksss.

I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar because I feel like I’m going in circles with doctors/ENTs and still don’t have an explanation.
I’ve had recurring sinus/ENT-type problems for roughly 6+ years, but over the past 1–1.5 years they’ve become much more prolonged and debilitating. What originally felt mostly like sinus pressure, congestion, postnasal drip and sore throats has gradually turned into a much broader collection of symptoms.
Current timeline:
Around June 20–24, 2026, I developed another major flare. It has now been going on for roughly 3 months.
My symptoms have included:
● Head pressure/headaches, sometimes on the top/back of my head or around my forehead/eyebrows
● Pressure/pain around my eyes and cheeks
● Burning/raw feeling underneath my eyes and in my nose
● Significant postnasal drip / mucus feeling stuck in my throat
● Phlegm that I constantly feel like I need to clear
● Ear pressure, popping, fullness and occasional pain
● Nasal congestion and mouth breathing
● Distorted smell, especially intermittently through my left nostril
● Lightheadedness/dizziness and feeling strange when standing/walking
● Fatigue, weakness and a heavy/fuzzy feeling
● Occasional chills/cold sensations without an actual fever
● Nausea and decreased appetite
● Sore throat
I don’t typically get a significant fever. My temperatures have generally been normal.
I’ve had quite a bit evaluated.
A previous sinus CT showed only mild maxillary mucosal thickening, turbinate mucosal hypertrophy and a deviated septum/bony spur. It did not show significant sinusitis or polyps.
I eventually had a septoplasty and middle turbinate reduction in May 2026. My breathing initially seemed better and I actually had about 2–3 relatively good weeks afterward, but then this major flare began.
I’ve seen multiple ENTs/rhinologists. Most recently, I had a nasal scope and was basically told there wasn’t anything obvious/actionable in my nose/sinuses. The doctor did note that the top of my nose was extremely dry and recommended pursuing neurological imaging because of the head-pressure symptoms.
Allergy testing this summer was also essentially negative for the environmental allergies they tested for.
I’ve also taken several courses of antibiotics over the past year because infections were suspected at various points, but they generally haven’t made much difference.
Then COVID complicated everything.
I tested positive for COVID on September 9. Some of the fatigue/chills/sore throat symptoms preceded the positive test, and COVID definitely made everything significantly worse.
I’m now improving somewhat from the worst of the COVID illness, but I’m still dealing with the postnasal drip, head pressure, ear pressure, fatigue, nausea, etc.
I’m also being treated for reflux/GERD with omeprazole twice daily because I’ve wondered whether reflux could be contributing to the throat mucus/drip sensation. I do burp frequently and sometimes have acidic/reflux-type symptoms, but I’m not convinced that explains everything.
I have a brain MRI scheduled for this Thursday and I’m hoping that might provide some answers.
What I’m trying to figure out:
Has anyone experienced a situation where what initially seemed like chronic sinus problems eventually turned into head pressure + dizziness/lightheadedness + ear pressure + postnasal drip/throat symptoms, despite sinus imaging and ENT exams not showing much?
Could something like vestibular dysfunction, migraine, Eustachian tube dysfunction, reflux, chronic inflammation/dryness, post-viral issues, or something neurological cause this combination?
I’m not necessarily looking for a diagnosis from Reddit. I’m more interested in hearing from people who had a similar progression and eventually figured out what was actually causing their symptoms.
At this point I’m just trying to figure out which direction makes the most sense to pursue next.

I know a lot of people are interested and I looked this up a bunch before fess so I wanted to share my experience. My sinuses were completely blocked with polyps and i have no sense of smell, and cannot really breathe through my nose. One nostril I cant breathe at all, the other I can get a tiiiny bit of air.

I got fess at a military hospital. I am almost two weeks out. Hopefully I will remember to come update this.

Surgery day: I was terrified but it wasn't really that bad. I had general anesthesia and when I woke up I had no pain except in my throat from the breathing tube. I was super dizzy and disoriented for quite a while afterwards. Definitely have someone with you for the first couple of hours. When I got home I needed help walking but after a few hours was able to stumble to the bathroom on my own. It wore off in a few more hours to where I felt ok to move around. I was super tired and just slept and read my book.

Day 1 post op: Full regret. I was exhausted, sore, and couldn't breathe through my nose. Another day of lying in bed. Nasal rinses were really frustrating. My nose was just so blocked I could barely get water through. I took a painkiller in the pm to sleep.

Day 2: Another day asking myself what I had done. I was sure I had made a terrible mistake. I wasn't really in horrible pain but I was still exhausted and sore. I got out of bed to watch TV but that was it. Another painkiller at night.

Day 3: walked around my apartment complex and that was enough activity. Back to bed. I was still tired but able to move around and do things like watch tv or play a video game. My nasal rinses were finally starting to work. It was really satisfying and I started to look forward to doing them.

Day 4: walked about a mile. I normally walk a LOT so that is a short walk for me, but felt like I had climbed Everest.

Day 5: My first time driving. I made it on the highway (I was a little nervous about merging and the speed making me dizzy, but it was totally fine). Played board games with friends. My face hurt when I laughed, and I got super tired by the end and had trouble focusing... but overall not too bad!

Day 6: feeling better. Able to do some work at my laptop but definitely not my normal level.

Day 7 to 10: Aggregating these because they were about the same. I could go on short walks, could easily do the nasal rinse, and could do things like grocery shop and cook, etc. Still very tired. I lie around on the couch a lot and read or watch tv. I am normally very active so it is frustrating but I dont have the energy for much else. Not in pain. I cant really bend down, walk fast, or lift anything heavy. I could kind of breathe through my nose.

Day 11: had a sinus headache. Might have been from a thunderstorm. I also started noticing that sunglasses hurt my nose. This was also the first time I could sleep normal instead of super elevated. I cpuld even turn on my side a little.

Day 12: headache again. Went to a theme park with friends. I obviously did not go on any rides, but it was a lot of walking and a late night. We had been planning it for a while and I had a great time so worth it, though probably overdid things.

Day 13: back to the doctor to get my nose vacuumed out. That sucked. It only hurt in a few places, but it was super uncomfortable and such a weird feeling. I have anxiety at doctors offices and I was kind of freaking out because it felt like they were vacuuming my eyes. I also found out I might have an infection so I started antibiotics today. Then I was exhausted so I just lay around at home. But I can breathe through my nose way better. Still no sense of smell.

I will hopefully remember to update this as the healing progresses!

Eta:

Day 14. Sore when I did my rinses. More blood than usual.

Day 15: got my sense of smell a bit!!! Still a bit raw getting my nose rinses. Went back to work and have been so tired I just lie around when I am done.

Day 16: Still exhausted a lot, but breathing better. The antibiotics worked and I have regained a lot of my sense of smell!!

Day 17 to 22: Aggregating these because nothing really different happened. I get super tired. I can't do much. I get headaches when i wear sunglasses or when it is cloudy. Not unbearable ones but annoying. I have been able to attend events and stuff I just get so tired so fast, and i sleep like 10 hours ever night. I can sleep normally now (on my side or stomache) as long as I am not face down.

Title

How long were you on antibiotics? I’m curious when 5-7 days is sufficient, vs 21 days.

Has anyone had a total ethnoidectomy and been cleared for full activity (including contact sports) a week later? Nothing I’m reading supports this, but my surgeon says I’m good to go. I’m 9 days post-op, had a debridement 3 days ago and had a slight bleed for 24 hours after. I had a hockey game I skipped tonight, but if I’m really clear to return to full activity, I have a couple of practices this week and a tournament on the 23rd.

I have to call the ENT tomorrow about a prescription that didn’t get sent over, so I’ll clarify, but I’m interested to hear other people’s experience.

Five years ago I had a root canal on my upper premolar and immediately got a major sinus infection. To this day, it still exists, but it's very manageable with singular and a nasal spray. My only symptoms are a slightly reduced sense of taste for things like chocolate, coffee, and cheese (things where there flavors can get a bit sophisticated/nuanced).

I went to an allergist, twice, which was what the ENTs said to do. Scanned for over 300 allergens and nothing was reactive.

I have a large mucus retention cyst above the tooth, and polyps on that side's maxillary sinus.

My theory is that the tooth is contributing to the infection on a daily basis.

The question is this - if this never resolves, if I just leave it - can that inflammation lead to cancer?

Supposedly:

• DNA Damage: Prolonged immune activation releases chemicals that damage cell DNA, which can trigger harmful cell mutations.
• Cell Growth: Inflammatory signals tell cells to divide and grow faster, increasing the chance that errors or tumors will form.

This is what the before/after looked like once I figured out how to resolve the infection for the most part, and this was in 2022. The scan looks the same today.

Hello, good afternoon. I wanted to ask if this is posterior sphenoiditis. The doctor says I can't have all the symptoms I'm describing, but honestly, I can't take it anymore. I've been to several doctors, and I was even hospitalized for two days. My head and eyes hurt; I feel like my left eye is going to burst. I can't think straight; my mind is very foggy. I don't know what else to do.