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I about at the point I'm considering going to an urgent care of clinic today as it has stepped up the discomfort a lot but what would typically be the best over the counter relief for sinus infections and pressure. I am hoping my physician has an opening tomorrow.
Go to the pharmacy counter and get what ever pain reliver you like with real sudafed. You will have to show your ID and can usuly only buy 2 boxes at a time. Sudafed will help dry and drain your sinuses it is the only over the counter med that works. If you have a costco membership they have sudafed for lik 1.50$ a box cheapest you will find. I have been blessed with shitty sinuses also, drives me nuts.
My wife dealt with it for years. Was super bad during evenings. Only thing that solved it was sinus surgery. Of course there’s a possibility of it coming back. She tried everything prior.
Have you gone for the direct physical intervention and used a Neti pot? This is my favorite variation and has almost completely eliminated my once common infections: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/wa...286363-product
I add xylitol to the salt water mix for some clinically-indicated improvement.
Probiotic intake helps me. I take a BLIS K12 oral probiotic that I find helps. Yogurt helps. Kimchi seems to work really well (bonus: spicy).
Then there?s just ghost pepper hot sauce in hot water.
If you want a pharmaceutical approach, I assume you?re using something with Pseudoephedrine. I have good luck combining with an NSAID like ibuprofen or naproxen sodium to reduce inflammation, but obviously i cannot officially recommend this, because I am just a dude.
Hope some of these help.
I've tried several of the saline rinse options, didn't help a bit. I've tried xylitol sprays to increase moisture, didn't help. NOTE: be careful if you use products with xylitol (including sugarless gum/mints) and have dogs (xylitol is toxic to dogs).
I take the real sudafed at bed time so I can breathe.
I have an upper sinus infection that's also affecting my inner ears. Just finished a Zpac last week. Will probably have to go back to the doc since it's still not gone.
At least the sinus drainage hasn't zapped my voice yet.
ETA: I'll just add Mucinex to the mix. Can help thin things out if they're just hanging on. I also use Simply Saline spray that comes in a can to help loosen things up before I blow my nose.
Saline flush. I have a NeilMed bottle. Do it 2-3 times a day as needed. If you need it now, you can mix a teaspoon of table salt in a cup of warm water and snort it. As warm of water as you can stand. I like the bottle because it does more of a pressure wash.
NeilMed bottle is a must!! Started using it years ago after a big time nose and nasal surgery. Using this has also wiped out probably 90% of my allergies over the years. Just make sure you use distilled water as the instructions describe. Uncomfortable at first but very easy after you get used to it.
Also, if you don't have a whole-house humidifier, you need one. I could live without an air conditioner in the summer time but I could not live without my humidifier in colder months.
Yes. I know exactly what you mean. Following assumes you have no drug alergies and does not constitute med advice etc.
The good sudafed or generic,from behind the counter. 2 pills every 6 hrs, as directed. This dries things out. Motrin 2 capsules every 6hrs, as directed. This reduces the swelling. Once you can brethe thru your nose follow up with the nasal antihystamine spray smells like roses, dont know the name.
This works for me and was recomended by a young angry er doc.
If you feel severe ear pain or fever you have a sinus or/and ear infection. Then you need antibiotics.
Probably Flonase. I've been using the generic twice a day following the Zpac. I figured getting some steroids in there couldn't hurt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Erni
DON'T MESS AROUND WITH A SINUS INFECTION!
Around early/mid-December I noticed my head-cold was getting worse. By Christmas I knew it had transformed into a sinus infection (I won't go into details). I kept putting off going to the doctor as I had too many things I needed to attend to. I woke up on January 3rd and was struggling to breathe so I went to the ER. Turns out that letting the sinus infection fester allowed it to turn into severe pneumonia. I was in rough shape and spend a day and a half in the ER. Now, I'm still on supplemental oxygen and inhalers, get short of breathe very easily, etc. (Apparently I also have underlying COPD)
PLEASE!, definitely go see a doctor and get it treated before you pull a Ginsue and end up in the ER like me.
Gman, yes flonase.
Gin, this is why run a suda/motrin/flonase regimen as soon as I notice the symptoms. The crud either infects my ear or drips into my lungs.
These are cheap preventative meds. Stay out of the ER
Yeah, I'm a slow learner. I *knew* I should have taken some preventative measures at the first signs of the illness but I drug my feet and, well.... The rest is history.
Yeah, when I saw my doc he asked how long I was having symptoms. I told him, "about 3 weeks". His response was, "Why are you just getting in to see me now?". I was like, "Hey, I'm a guy. It wasn't life threatening."
USMC - I used to get sinus infections every fall, like clockwork for about 20 years. Then, they suddenly stopped for unknown reasons. Here's what I learned during that time that helped me:
1. I used a nasal decongestant spray to open air passages into the sinuses. If you have a bacterial infection, it is likely anaerobic, and suffers a lot of harm from oxygen exposure. If you're going to use Flonase, that's the time to spray it up the nose, otherwise it will never get where it's supposed to be.
2. Amoxicillin, which is a very common antibiotic, was noticeably effective beginning with the second day of treatment. Obviously, in my case, these were all bacterial infections and it took only a few day of Amoxicillin to completely resolve.
This third and final step is something I'll never do again, even though it was very effective in relieving the symptoms of my stuffy nose and sinuses. My doctor gave me a sinus flush bottle and saline packets made by a company called Neil Med. I used it for years, and it reduced my suffering significantly while I waited for the sinuses to clear. However, the last time I used this flush, I felt the resulting pressure push some of the fluid into my ears, immediately resulting in that stuffed ear feeling like after swimming. It took about two to three months for my ears and hearing to return to normal. I"ll never use a nasal flush system again because of that experience. A hot, steamy shower many times per day seems to be almost as effective as the flush bottle in my case, and a lot less likely to push the infection into new territory.
I found Flonase ineffective, but many people swear by it.
I’ll have to check on the Sudafed as reading the package it says ask physician prior to use if you have thyroid issues. I’m hypothyroid and not hyperthyroid and am not sure if Sudafed could cause blood pressure issues, I think it’s just hyper that is a concern.
If you're concerned about blood pressure issues, get some guidance on Mucinex (Guaifenesin).
I have no history of blood pressure issues but I rarely take medications that specifically mention a condition I have such as thyroid so I’ll wait on the Sudafed til I ask him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
Neti pot eliminates the pressurization problem from the Neil Med. I still use the Neil Med, but am VERY careful not to over pressurize.
I'm treated like a criminal whenever I buy real sudafed, but it works.
I use a nasal irrigator regularly. Cuts back on sinus infections. I have had three surgeries for polyps. You don't want nasal polyps.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/SinuPulse...CABEgI9qfD_BwE
Doxycycline for 10 days.
That’s a reasonable choice, although most current literature says that the vast majority of sinus infections are viral, and those that are bacterial have little response or benefit from antibiotics. But I still use them when I have one, literature be damned. I’ve had much less problems since using Navage nasal rinse routinely. Hope you feel better soon.
I went years with getting at least one (sometimes more) sinus infections each year. Was like clockwork. I had a really bad one one at work in the early 2000's and was miserable and a woman I worked with mentioned an acupuncturist that her neighbor used for sinus infections and sweared by. I had always been really skeptical of acupuncture, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Got in to see her for a couple treatments over a few days and it really drained things out. I think I've had one sinus infection since.
Might be complete coincidence, but it's been amazing how they just basically stopped after that.
When I'd get them before, the only thing that would knock it out was antibiotics. Flonase and Guaifenesin would help a bit, but Sudafed and the like didn't do much at all.
That's usually what does it for me - Sudafed and Mucinex to clear things out and nuke the symptoms, doxy to knock out the underlying infection.Quote:
Originally Posted by USMC88-93
I used to have to go through it almost every winter or I'd have a three to four month long cough and sniffles.
Just got over a almost 2 week bout and this time it was only cured by antibiotics, normally i can steam or use decongestants.