I have a form of thyroid hormone resistance which requires high dose T3-only (100mcg)
This makes it difficult to communicate with medics who don't understand the condition
My sinusitis is not clearing after 4 weeks and I'm wondering if I need to increase my T3dose.....this situation is new to me even after 7+ years on T3
I was also prescribed a 5 day course of Doxycycline , just over 2 weeks ago ,which floored me
I ended up in A&E 2 nights ago. They checked heart and lungs all fine so no help there.....but still feeling really rubbish, and in bed
I was left sitting on a hard metal chair in a draughty corridor (nowhere else to put me) for 6 hours after being put out of the bay I was in, because it was required for another patient
As a result my back pain has returned!
Nobody seems to know how to treat me and I cannot go on like this much longer.I've now lost over a stone and have become almost bed ridden
I'm also coping with blurred vision which requires YAG laser treatment to clear this, following a cataract operation....it's fairly common but another hurdle to cross
Apparently I don't have a bacterial infection....so presumably it's viral
Has the virus affected my T3 level ( blood tests are not helpful on my dose...monitoring is by symptoms....it's the cellular level that is important
Sorry this is such a pathetic ramble but I'm desperately keen to find out how to help myself, so I'm throwing it out into the forum
Just wondering if anyone out there has any experience of this
Thank you!
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DippyDame
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I actually have had a chronic sinus problem on one side for about 4 years - also on T3 only. After numerous visits to an ear nose and throat doctor and multiple antibiotics and topical treatments, he finally ended up removing a growth from the other nostril and at that time I insisted that he remove and test a "patch" from the problematic nostril. Although he did not culture the offending side, simple removal of the problem area resolved the long-standing problem. Do you have any patches inside your nose visible to the naked eye? What exactly are your symptoms? Mine were: relentless burning, constant running requiring me to always carry kleenex, burning eye on that side and, of course, sinus headaches and inability to breath through that nostril. I don't know if this helps in any way.
Thank you....just knowing someone understands is a helpful start!
Nothing visible in my nostrils
I have a stuffed up nose which I cannot clear, no runny nose,....just difficulty breathing causing a tight test
Lungs and heart both checked and OK
Tried steaming, salt washes, decongestant sprays,pressure points, otc pain relief.
I'm beginning to think the virus has affected my T3 levels.....yet no indication of overmedication....so maybe undermedicated because I'm becoming weak and exhausted.
So many possible interactions to unpick
Glad you found the solution to your problem.It's rediculous that we have to do our own research!
When I was suffering, I found smelling menthol crystals of all things really helped and also took a lot of cough drops with high menthol content. I know it is just a quick fix but it was amazing how much it helped. Good luck with perhaps adjusting your dosage and please do let us know if that works for you.
Hi, after giving up on allergy shots 1 year ago, I have same situation as you--stuffed nose (particularly 1 side), sinus pressure, etc, Used saline sprays, rinses, steam w/& w/o eucalyptus oil, acupressure, massage (which were effective, but temporary) to no avail. Couple of women @work commented they use flonase every morning & it has kept sinus (viral) infections away. I thought flonase was a 1 pump & it works immediately. Nope, takes a few days, like OTC allergy tabs, to become effective. I started the regime last week & already feel better. I use NP thyroid, so not on T3, only Because my dr. forgot to put the FT3 on my October lab order, I went back & had it done 2 days ago. Results came back as expected. Good luck as sinus issues are a bear to wrestle with. PS an ENT (ear, nose, throat) I saw 1.5yrs ago said he found a very small blockage in one of the sinus cavities, but to just keep doing what I was doing and I'll be fine!!!!
Before diagnosed and well before treatment I spent years thinking my primary problem were sinus infections.
Stuffy, closed up nose, headache, pressure.
For years and years.
Yet when I started to investigate all those years ago - there was no sign of it. MRI was clear. Empty sinuses. No runny nose, Etc.
Reminds me of what you say - stuffed up but not runny.
Later as my hypo treatment for me feeling better overall - I began to think I never had sinus infections or congestion and what I had was a root cause of inflammation.
The only thing I remember helping was Sudafed (pseudoephedrine.) In retrospect I wonder if that wasn’t just the thing to address inflammation.
Nasal and sinus cavities are very narrow and my thought is it doesnt take much.
Other random thought
When you say back pain… makes a me think of my (and many of ours) hallmark symptom of under-replaced. Even if it was triggered by an h comfortable chair. Is that a tell for you as well? I agree with SD that a full thyroid panel couldn’t hurt.
Menthol
For me too menthol is a wonder. I at some point needed it as the only thing that would stop a neurogenic cough. Quick fix that worked .
But - you can have too much… causes extreme bloating!!! A lot!!! I switched from cough drops to those menthol sticks you stick up your nose.
Obviously lots going on for you. Good luck!!! We are rooting for you.
By "those menthol sticks you stick up your nose" do you mean the Vicks or Olbas nasal sticks, because funnily enough I'm just finding they help a little.
I'm coming to the conclusion that something has upset my thyroid hormone level but unfortuneately a thyroid test will not reveal much due to my high T3 dose. We have to dose by symptoms....according to the late Dr John Lowe
I think you may be correct and that sinus infection is a red herring
They told me in A&E that my numbers were all good.....both respiritory and cardiac....a young nurse stood at he end of the gurney and almost shouted several times"Your numbers are good, you are well....do you hear me"
The A& E visit was a dreadful experience!!
My GP did wonder if the covid/flu jab I had just before this started, had kicked something off.....
So back to square one methinks, and the addition of a little more T3, because nothing else is working.
Hello Dippy: I feel your pain and frustration. I have seen five ENT doctors so far and still no relief. Like you, I have no runny nose, just thick mucus lodged in my sinuses and throat. I too have tried everything under the sun and nothing seems to help. I’m convinced that there is a blockage in my left sinus, constant nose bleed in the same one. When I go to to bed at nights, it gets worse. I can hear ticking sound like a clock ticking from that left nostril. It’s usually blocked when I wake up in the mornings. It’s very debilitating for me because I’m now embarrassed to be around people. I’m constantly clearing my throat and sinuses and I’m now getting strange looks from family members.
ENT doctors are similar to endocrinologists, some are even mentioning anxiety as the cause. They quickly use their equipment to look down the nostrils but I don’t believe they know what they’re looking for. They seem to be just “going through the motion”. I will try the menthol crystal as suggested.
I’m sooooo sorry we have to suffer with no real help from doctors. My sinus issues only started with my thyroid diagnosis and got worse after my thyroidectomy.
My hear goes out to all the people suffering because of this life altering thyroid disease.
You’re not alone. Hope you find a remedy soon. Please continue to share in hopes of helping others.🙏🏻
I get that thick mucous lodged in my throat too periodically . Funny you say it’s your left nostril… I note the same thing, but I think it’s just the side I sleep on.
But for me there were long stretches in the past couple years since diagnosis where I woke up blocked with phlegm… then equal times over the last 10 years where there was no congestion but still felt pressure/blocked.
I haven’t yet cracked the code either, but I do know optimizing my thyroid levels reduces both symptoms.
That reminds me that I used to eat garlic butties to try a becstabe off the endless infections that plagued me including sinus. I hated Sudafed but it did help clear them the more I took it the more sick I felt taking it
Yes those menthol sticks… it’s Vicks brand here and I buy them in bulk.
I was diagnosed in 2022. I was 50-ish. I had light symptoms for about 8 years (sinus/headaches, rosacea, coma naps). But then I look at my daughter (now 18 and we’ve been tracking her fatigue and bloods etc since around then too) - it sure does feel like that jab is suspect. We’ll never know.
Also horrible treatment at A&E…. Drafty corridor is a very visceral description … young people shouting at you. Like…. A sorry state!
Any use is getting your vitamins… or cortisol… tested ? If your t3 has taken a hit perhaps there’s a compensation somewhere else that might be causing issues. Don’t suppose you could get any viral antibody tests to rule things out?
last week somebody posted a document that summarized all of the maladies that derive from inadequate thyroid hormones. Immune insufficiency was one of them. Sorry I can’t say more. I’m typing on the phone in bed, but I sympathize with the predicament you’re in. I have a good friend with a major immune insufficiency and she’s been on 100 mcg T3. Every time she’s hospitalized, and it’s been frequently, everybody freaks out at her TSH and accuses her (an MD) of ruining her health with too much thyroid hormone 🙄
Dippy Dame, you seem to have a good sense of your situation. I vote for a bunch more T3. I found several clinical articles that describe how much hormone should be administered during critical illness in the form of T3. It’s way more than you’re giving yourself now.
Hang in there. We’re all pulling for you to recover.
I am sorry to hear about your symptoms. I have had sinusitis all my life. I have no thyroid nie and take two grains of Armour each day. I discovered that my sinuses get blocked/swollen when I eat bread and dairy products. The symptoms appear worst at night . I love bread so have very small amounts, but with dairy I have a problem because I have low calcium levels and calcium carbonate tablets give me a very dry mouth. I compensate by consuming sardines ( with bones) and this eases my symptoms but have to use Olbas Oil every night and salt inhalations regularly. Worth observing which foods might be upsetting your sinuses. Good luck!
Oh, you poor thing ☹️. It is miserable when seemingly unconnected health issues start piling up. I can’t comment on T3-only meds, only offer my experience of biofilm.
I previously suggested your recurrent UTI’s could be resulting from biofilm embedded in the urinary tract wall. Bacteria typically starts an infection by attaching to the wall and if left long term can produce biofilms. Biofilms are balls of bacterial/pathogen cells protected within an extracellular matrix resistant to antibiotics and immune defence. Breaking them down with the right treatment that eradicate enough to prevent reoccurrences can take anything up to a year.
The same can be said for sinusitis where biofilms embed within the sinus and nasal cavities Biofilms can spread by releasing free floating planktonic bacteria that adheres to distant sites in the body. There is also something called Quorum Sensing that refers to the bacterial cells ability to communicate, strengthen and spread further. Therefore, I would suggest there is possibility your two conditions are connected and self driving, in which case a biofilm treatment program could be successful for both your UTI’s and sinusitis.
Conventional medicine is aware of biofilm but it is well outside a GP’s knowledge. Therefore, getting the right help is almost impossible and I would urge you to seek help from ideally a functional doctor who can prescribe or at least a practitioner who understands how to treat naturally.
I imagine it similar to autoimmune conditions in the sense that the common dominator is often TPOAb (for example) that is a driver of many types of inflammation and inflammatory response.
In long term conditions (such as UTI's, rhinosinusitis/other respiratory infections, candida/other gut issues, gum disease, wounds that won't heal, etc) that are resistant to antibiotics and make the patient vulnerable to acquiring further conditions, I believe the common denominator is biofilm.
In these cases when one condition is successfully resolved, a whole host of others clear up also.
I have heard ozone therapy is excellent too, as is hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I was on a waiting list but decided against it as the journey was too long to go several tomes a week.
I had to initially nebulise a mixture of hypochlorous acid. It is used in hospital surgical procedures as is antibacterial/viral/fungal, and is also in our bodys created as a defense system by white blood cells.
Another member here suggested nebulising glutathione ampules mixed with a saline solution which I bought but haven’t had the courage, and won't need to now anyway. .
Regarding biofilms, the only thing that helped my chronic, persistent and painful sinusitis was oregano oil, heat and deep facial massage. The massage was incredibly painful but got things moving. After years of suffering, a foul brown fluid began to drain from deep within my sinus cavities. I can only imagine it was years’ worth of debris and gunk
I have found oregano to be helpful also. I use the Zane products but also carry a small spray bottle of oregano mixed with olive oil to use when I’m out. I have a selection of these bottles with various essential oils in known to combat biofilm. Husband and friends think I'm nuts 🙄😁
I woke in the night with face and ear pain and that weird ticking noise already described in this thread…..symptoms that are entirely familiar to me. Several of us in my family have this and my granddaughter has had several hospital investigations which showed very narrow sinuses and Eustachian tubes, hence the intractable ear pain that often accompanies sinus problems.
Even minor bacterial or viral infections seem to take hold easily and for me, can go on for months.
I was intrigued to note the time connection to Covid and Covid jab because last December, I had the Covid jab and promptly caught Covid…..and have felt consistently unwell ever since. I did suspect that my immune system was implicated, since the inflammatory response was like being hit by an armoured vehicle!
Recovery has been slow. The only thing that has helped me has been to increase my B vitamins and add daily sublingual B12, plus whole food form vitamin C and Antihistamines when things get unbearable.
I do use a salt spray. It does help but doesn’t give lasting relief.
So sorry to hear how much you are suffering with your sinuses. I am a long term sufferer and have tried a lot and still keep trying to find the thing!
I recently read about a very specific probiotic for the sinuses. I have yet to try it but sharing here in case other sinus sufferers are interested in this route:
I was plagued with sinusitis before I got treated for atrophic anmutoimmune thyroiditis but it vanished once I started on thyroid hormone therapy. My mother was the same (but hers was thyroid cancer). I can’t see how it isn’t related.
I suppose it’s worth trying an increase to see if it goes away it’s a vile condition. They can drill the drain holes to make them bigger but it sounds a pretty horrid procedure and is not addressing the root cause.
I’m so sorry you’re feeling that poorly - the A&E experience sounds simply awful. I hope you get back to rights very soon.
Sorry DD, I can't offer any help, but just wanted to say I hope you get on top of this soon. It's really took a hold and having made a hospital trip it must be bad. You've been given the all clear with heart and lungs and you know your body. I would try increasing as nothing else as worked. You can always reduce back down.
Hope you read thisSinusitis and thyroid hormones level go hand on hands.Unfortunately maximum thyroid hormone is required by ethmoid and sphenoid sinusitis.Sinuses requires t4 to liquify mucus or a really high t3 may be required beyond 100 mcg.you may have heard about occult sjogrens.
Erdosteine 150 to 300 mg will do the magic of liquification in 3 days , brain fog , back eye pain , back pain will go away as well as the fatigue , with a first generation cephalexin.Vicks , saline etc will work only 10 %.
NAC 600 mg may work if u can't find the erdosteine.
Our study reported a statistically significant association between hypothyroidism and CRS.
…
In the past, Chavanne et al. observed engorgement of the turbinate with pale mucosa, which was reversed with thyroxine injections in surgical thyroidectomy patients [19]. In an animal study, changes in the nasal mucosa, including hypertrophy, ciliary loss, and submucosal inflammatory cell infiltration, were observed in an iatrogenic hypothyroidism model [20]. Jeevan et al. also reported a case of a patient who was successfully treated for refractory sinusitis and was incidentally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; this patient was treated with levothyroxine and hydrocortisone. The authors hypothesized that hypothyroidism’s low sympathetic status would result in a predominance of parasympathetic activity in the nose, resulting in vasodilation and nasal congestion [13].
…
Moreover, a recent study attempted to reveal the association between hypothyroidism and rhinitis in patients with newly developed hypothyroidism [21]. These researchers reported that hypothyroidism induced a prolonged nasal mucociliary clearance time, which is relevant to the stagnation of nasal secretions [21]. Although the exact pathophysiology of CRS is not fully understood, recurrent mucosal swelling around the sinus ostia can restrict ventilation. Moreover, a prolonged ciliary clearance time may induce mucus retention and infection.
…
Many studies have investigated the association between autoimmune diseases and CRS, because autoimmune diseases are thought to share the same or similar pathogenic mechanisms as those relevant to the development of CRS. In addition, autoimmune disease may contribute to a poor CRS prognosis [11]. .. Although the possible mechanisms through which autoimmune diseases may affect the development of CRS are largely uncertain, it is plausible that underlying autoimmune diseases might affect CRS pathogenesis by altering levels of inflammatory cytokines as well as through signaling pathways [22,23].
Just a brief reply on the yag surgery although it`s the least of your problems, it is very quick, usually done sat up in office chair. i have had both done after cataract, bonus is cataract will never return once you have had yag laser treatment.
So sorry about your problems, hope the team can help xx
it’s implied by the proclivity towards infection and lack of response to treatments. My good friend the extremely sick doctor realized “oh, immune insufficiency appears same time thyroid crashes. Too bad none of the world class immune system people noticed that.”
I commented about this to a (healthy) doctor I know and she said, “Doh. Of course they’re connected””
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