I was in Taiwan for a year ending last June 2009. During that time I was getting flu after flu, which I assume was my lack of immunity to the germs in Taiwan.
One particular flu knocked me out for about 3 weeks, but at the end, I was left with a stuffy nose and what felt like head congestion. A few months later I went back home to Canada, and went to the clinic as my sinus infection seemed to be getting worse.
Essentially, the doctors here keep saying it is not an infection, they claim i just have chronic sinusitis from alergies, and give me cortozone spray. I know it was from that flu, as the symptoms appeared at the same time.
Basically, one nostril will be ok, and the other will be plugged, and then they switch. At times they both plug up together and drives me crazy in the process. The nose is usually dry and everything plugs up inside.
The doctor here humoured me and gave me an antibiotic, but that didn’t help. I went to a chinese medicine doctor here, and he claims it is a leftover infection, which he thinks is in the lungs, but wants me to see a specialist in any case in addition to what he has been giving me.
Has anyone had a similar experience, or who has had or currently has sinusitus that has any suggestions? Did any of you get this type of thing while in Taiwan, or did you have it before, and is there any cure?
I’ve had that, as well as a case of repeated flu, years ago. My solution for you is a lot of hard effort hiking to make your respiratory system much stronger. Now, I seldom get sick, cough, even a stuffed nose is rare. Get out of air conditioned environments to, as much as possible. 1-3 hour long very tiring hikes in the cleaner air of the hills will make your lungs and hence sinuses much more adaptable. Good luck.
Actually where I work im sure makes it worse, as everyone is usually sneezing or coughing, but i think that just antagonizes the condition, but isnt what caused it.
We dont really have hills where I am, however, now that winter is coming, the air will be a lot cleaner. Ill give that a whirl.
When I breath in when my nose is plugged, there is sometimes a strange smell, but cant put my finger on what it smells like.
My brother has chronic sinusitis as well and swears by neti potting, which is basically a way of cleaning out the nostrils with warm salty water. It’s a bit weird but a lot of people with sinus problems do this.
[quote=“Mucha Man”]My brother has chronic sinusitis as well and swears by neti potting, which is basically a way of cleaning out the nostrils with warm salty water. It’s a bit weird but a lot of people with sinus problems do this.
[quote=“dan2006”][quote=“Muzha Man”]My brother has chronic sinusitis as well and swears by neti potting, which is basically a way of cleaning out the nostrils with warm salty water. It’s a bit weird but a lot of people with sinus problems do this.
ok, you’re in Toronto I see now. Still, could do this: get up early when the air’s fresher and do stair climbing reps for an hour at a sports stadium. Basically, my point is to build up your fitness over a year or more of outdoor hard exercise should resolve these problems.
I will try that Kea. I have been running daily but sometimes I get lazy and miss a few days.
I will be back in Taiwan next year hopefully, but I dont want to return with this problem still out of control. I’m sure the pollution levels will make it a lot worse.
Maybe take some weekends away in the hills before the winter with hiking friends, and really push yourself for long days.
Also, I think doing hill repeats at near maximum is better than running-running we tend to stay within the comfort zone and not really breathe that hard. I’m talking sustained hard effort up and down a hill, with the benefit of good air.
I’ve been having the same problem on and off for years. If I catch a cold, it can take up to two months before my sinuses finally clear up.
The symptoms are very much like yours. One nostril obstructed completely while the other works fine. Within only a few minutes, the obstructed nostril clears up and the other one plugs up.
Antihistamines help a little but not significantly and antibiotics are useless. I do a few things to make it go away. The first one is like what Kea is saying. Exercise is excellent, but only if I break into a heavy sweat. The heat seems to be a bigger factor than the exercise itself. It’s like sweating it out of me. The second thing I do is double my fluid intake. I force myself to drink at least double the amount of water and juice I normally drink. I also keep my alcohol consumption to a minimum.
I had a very serious problem for a while which I believe was an allergy to mould in the house I was living in plus outside air pollutants. It has TOTALLY cleared up after moving first to the countryside and then to a new apartment in an area with fresher and drier air.
Are you living in a place with clean air and in a newer apartment/house with good ventilation?
The other thing that immediately comes to mind for me is where you’re sleeping… do you have the seemingly-ubiquitous feather pillows and duvet? GET RID OF THEM. Get polyfill versions. I can’t believe how much better I got when I ditched the feathers all around me… they trap dirt, mold, and mites, all of which can cause problems even if you’re NOT allergic, which many people are.
your nose naturally switches sides on a regular basis.
chronic sinusitis is a bastard, and the pollution in Taipei aggravates any underlying condition.
the weird smell you sometimes get is from smelling the decaying mess inside your own sinuses. Yum.
getting really fit certainly helps…
most antibiotics don’t seem to get at the bugs in the sinus. I had good results a few years ago with rifampicin, a controlled access antibiotic normally reserved for TB and anthrax. Neti washes did help with daily symptoms (use ‘saline for irrigation’, available from most pharmacies).
your nose naturally switches sides on a regular basis.
chronic sinusitis is a bastard, and the pollution in Taipei aggravates any underlying condition.
the weird smell you sometimes get is from smelling the decaying mess inside your own sinuses. Yum.
getting really fit certainly helps…
most antibiotics don’t seem to get at the bugs in the sinus. I had good results a few years ago with rifampicin, a controlled access antibiotic normally reserved for TB and anthrax. Neti washes did help with daily symptoms (use ‘saline for irrigation’, available from most pharmacies).
best of luck![/quote]
So did any of that ever cure the problem?
I never had any of this before, so nothing short of it not happening again wouldnt be a cure.
I had read that oil of oregeno is antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral, and apparently, you can mix it with olive oil and snort it. I am just worried that it will burn like a mo**
I will see the sinus specialist tommorow, thanks for everyones comments so far.
[quote=“headhonchoII”]I had a very serious problem for a while which I believe was an allergy to mould in the house I was living in plus outside air pollutants. It has TOTALLY cleared up after moving first to the countryside and then to a new apartment in an area with fresher and drier air.
Are you living in a place with clean air and in a newer apartment/house with good ventilation?[/quote]
Maybe a move to the Taiwan countryside is just what I need
[quote=“dan2006”][quote=“urodacus”]
most antibiotics don’t seem to get at the bugs in the sinus. I had good results a few years ago with rifampicin, a controlled access antibiotic normally reserved for TB and anthrax. Neti washes did help with daily symptoms (use ‘saline for irrigation’, available from most pharmacies).
best of luck![/quote]
So did any of that ever cure the problem?
I never had any of this before, so nothing short of it not happening again wouldnt be a cure.[/quote]
I said I got good results with rifampicin. Sinusitis stopped after a month or two.
came back again several years later, but not so bad and nose washing helped reduce that to almost nothing. Now I live in Okinawa, where we only have to breathe the armpit of China a few days a year, not like you poor fekkers in Taipei.
