Recurrent ear infections, chest infection and permanently blocked nose

Hi all,

My little lad of four ha had a blocked and runny nose for months now. In this time he has had an ear infection and a chest infection (two courses of antibiotics). It's making him mouth breath and snore at night and cetainly doesn't help his asthma. He has chronic rhinitis anyway but this has always been pretty well controlled with cetirizine each day. The GPs have kinda been brushing it off a bit and saying they wanted to give it time but he now seems to be developing pain in his ears again and I'm wondering if another infection's starting up. I have heard a lot about glue ear/adenoid infections/swollen tonsils and the symptoms all seem to overlap and indeed are very similar to rhinitis. Has anyone had this with their child? Any help would be gratefully received!

Thanks

Leishx

[angievere]

Hi Leish, Yes, our teenage son has had all these problems and it's been an absolute nightmare at times, so I do sympathise with you. Before rhinitis was diagnosed he seemed to have a constant cold, headache, ear ache etc, and our GP and consultant were both a bit dismissive. I had to really push for ENT and allergy clinic appointments after working out myself that it was rhinitis (from internet research).

The GP first recommended Sterimar nose spray, then a steroid nasal spray and various antihistamines but nothing seemed to help. ENT consultant put him on Sinusrinse, but his nostrils were so swollen and blocked the rinse just came out of his mouth and made him sick!

The breakthrough was Avamys nasal spray, which I read about on here - our nice GP had never heard of it (nor the consultant) but he agreed to prescribe it. That, and 2 lots of antihistamine, have made such a difference. Avamys is absolutely marvellous, within a month, my son's symptoms were much reduced and although he still blows his nose a lot, it doesnt stream like it used to, and he doesnt get the awful headaches.

Anyway, good luck and feel free to PM me.