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?

[Ergendl]

Sorry I can't help with your meds, but your post made me wonder if Serevent is causing me my sinus problems, and that is recorded as a side effect. Hmm. :}

[Stanjory]

I’ve been on high dose symbicort for years and suffer the same as you. I’ve never attributed it to the inhaler but sounds very likely although I have had sinus and nasal drip problems for many years prior. The worst and much rarer side effect I have had from symbicort is adrenal insufficiency so now on hydrocortisone for life. The only thing I hang on to is that the inhaler controls my asthma very well. I find a daily antihistamine helps with nasal drip. Facial reflexology is a nice treat for draining sinuses.

[Lynneypin in reply to Stanjory]

Thanks. which antihistamine do you take? Does it make you sleepy?

[Stanjory in reply to Lynneypin]

loratadine. 1 a day. Just a supermarket own brand. They never make me tired. Hope you find some relief somewhere. I still find good old fashioned steaming with just boiling water helps with sinuses.

[Fircone]

I was prescribed spiriva and it improved my breathing enormously but after 2 weeks I developed such awful sinus pain and headaches I was told to stop by my respiratory nurse. I think you have to balance the side effects with the benefits. In my case I just couldn’t function with such pain. You could suggest trying a different inhaler to see if there is one out there that doesn’t give you sinusitis.

[Lutontown]

I don't have asthma I'm glad to say, but in my youth, probably from puberty, along with acne I used to get catarrh and sinusitis. Regularly put on an antibiotic by my GP for sinusitis. In 1987 when I was 45, I had an operation in my nasal cavities, comprising the removal of a polyp, drillings through from my nostrils into my cheek sinuses and as near as I can remember "sinepie escopens", which is trimming of little plate bones in my airways to increase their sizes. This helped enormously, but 30 odd years later I've gradually becoming stuffed up again. I think my polyp may have regrown. I did go on a nasal spray for probably 18 months, Beclometasone Dispropionate which is a steroid that can be bought over the counter. Then early this year I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic, and a few months later I discovered that steroids can induce diabetes. So stopped using that. My latest blood test showed that my diabetic number has reduced a little, but I have been trying to reduce my sugar and carbs intake as well. Perhaps you should try to get a referral to an ENT consultant, if that's possible in these worrying times.

[Stanjory]

that’s really interesting lutontown. I’ve had many nasal polyps over the years and twice had them removed (in hospital) and also had a sinus wash out. These were all about 30 years ago and didn’t make any difference! I was without a proper sense of taste for about 20 years (well before covid!). I did discover more recently that certain wines block my sinuses so have found which ones don’t cause a problem. If you’re really suffering Lynneypin then I’d take lutontown’s advice and ask to see an ENT specialist. Good luck! It’s horrible to suffer from.

[Lynneypin]

update.

I saw an ENT last night. He dismissed the idea that Symbicort can cause sinus inflammation and didn’t know it was on the patient leaflet as a side effect. However he’s now ordered a CT scan so we will see what that brings up. Thanks all.