symbicort and sinusitis

[Lynneypin]

My Symbicort has been raised to 200/6 from 100 but while this has improved my asthma I have terrible sinusitis and post nasal drip. I looked at the side effects and this is one. Wondering if this has happened to anyone else?

[HBaaBaa]

I am not on symbicort however I do also suffer from chronic sinusitis and post nasal drip. I was told that the best way to control this is with regular nasal douching - I use the NeilMed bottle and sachets and it definitely makes a difference. My GP told me that you cannot ever overdo the nasal douching so it’s well worth a try although it certainly takes a bit of getting used to! I also have to use a steroid nasal spray but this obviously has to be prescribed.

[Lynneypin in reply to HBaaBaa]

thanks, yes I do this every day. I’ve tried so many sprays too. It’s making my life miserable to be honest.

[HBaaBaa in reply to Lynneypin]

I’m absolutely with you on that one. It’s very wearing! I hope you are able to get things more settled soon.

[Acerees]

Sinusitis often goes hand in hand with asthma. Sinusitis is caused or often or at least made worse by allergies and asthma is generally allergy related as well. They go together hand in hand. Your doctor can prescribe a nasal spray the reduces the inflammation. If this spray doesn’t work then you may need a sinus operation - this is not a nice operation however after the operation the difference it made to me was absolutely night and day (however I had constant sinus infections for about three years before the operation). As someone above stated as well nasal washing can be useful as it can help clean your sinuses of any allergens. I was told by the ENT specialist do it daily (as long as it is being done properly there is no health implications of doing it daily!) however if you don’t use sterile water and have a sterile pot / bottle then you can actually give yourself more infections and if you use tap water that is not sterile or hasn’t been boiled etc then you can can in a very worse case scenario get a brain eating bacteria into your system and die. However that is extremely rare but as I’m posting this on the internet I’m not going to assume what condition their water is in and just want to put that out there! Also post nasal drip is actually a good / normal thing. I guess that you probably feel like it is more than normal or it is thicker than normal.

[Lynneypin in reply to Acerees]

thanks. Yes I do the rinses daily with distilled or boiled water. I have tons of yellow (sometimes green) mucus. It’s revolting. It can just appear in my mouth …ugh

I have short courses of antibiotics but it just comes back. Definitely worse since the increase in Symbicort though.

[Acerees in reply to Lynneypin]

why did you pump get increased? Because your asthma got worse. Your asthma got worse because your body is reacting to allergens more. Allergens affect your sinuses. Your sinus will get worse. Your doctor needs to refer you to the ENT to get your sinuses looked at with a camera and they can also prescribe you the Spray. Either that or if you genuinely believe it is the Symbicort then ask if they will consider changing your pump but I personally don’t think that’s the right way to go about this if your asthma is now well managed. Obviously I have very limited information on your health and diagnosis but I am asthmatic and I have been since birth I’m now 42. I have used Symbicort previously for many years (I used to be on the 200 dose inhaler 2 “puffs” twice a day). My sinuses deteriorated at the same time my asthma deteriorated and I am now on a different pump spiromax 160 mcg / 4.5 mcg . The ENT put a camera up my nose and saw how swollen they are and immediately said we can help you here. I was surprised as when they saw me I actually felt like my sinuses were in a good shape for a change! (No pain or congestion etc). The ENT also made me have an allergy test and I had a strong reaction to everything except tree pollen. Cats, dog, everything else made me come up in a hive where they had done the scratch test! You can try antihistamines to see how you feel after a short period of time (maybe a week but I don’t recommend taking them regularly). Since my sinus operation my sinuses are much better than they used to be (they are not perfect and never will be). Before my sinus operation and seeing the ENT and having all of this explained to me I wouldn’t have been able to given you any advice. What I’m saying is don’t be so quick to blame your pump blame your allergies / body. If your pump is controlling you asthma well. P.S. I also used to have a dog and cat and at the time in my 20’s to mid 30’s they didn’t cause me to have a reaction but something changed in my body and now I cannot touch a dog, cat, Guinea pig etc etc without having a massive flare up that causes me to have a really bad allergic reaction and boarder line anaphylactic shock (my airways close my pump saves me but I have a pen that so far I haven’t had to use but my doctor prescribed one to me when I described how my asthma is effected by an allergic reaction. Things change within us over time that’s why some people even “grow out” of having asthma.