Constant nasal congestion help!

[anrchy]

Ok so as long as I can remember I have had horrible congestion. Sometimes I can breath normal with very little restriction, but most the time it is difficult to breath out my nose.

I snore fairly loudly sometimes and when I can be aware of it (being half asleep) it feels as its coming from my throat like my palette I guess? I do not breathe out my nose while I'm asleep ever. Always mouth wiiiiddde open. Sometimes one nostril is plugged and the other is slightly free. Sometimes both are plugged or both are slightly free.

I have an ENT (ear nose throat) specialist currently helping me with my ear condition and had him look to see if maybe I had a deviated septum. He said it was only slightly deviated, but not enough to cause problems. He tried to prescribe some common nasal spray but it was more as a long term solution that would require me to constantly use it. Which is not what I'm looking for.

I was hoping maybe someone has been down this road and may have some advice? I don't think it's allergies. As it doesn't seem to work along any patterns that I can see. It isn't better or worse during any times of the year. It doesn't get worse if I'm outdoors a lot of indoors a lot.

My gf suggested maybe an allergy to mold or dust inside houses. As the last few house we've lived in we're super dusty frequently. I just can't seem to make any connections and would really like to topple this hurdle.

Thanks for taking the time to read

 

[endlessness]

I've had the same, in my case it was a nose polyp which has to be removed through surgery or attempting to reduce it with corticoids.. I guess your doctor would have seen it though... But maybe only a CT scan really shows well. Im sure corpus callosum can give better feedback

One thing that helps me a lot is breathing some tea tree oil for some minutes, it seems to dissolve/change consistency of mucus. Try it out, a few minutes every day, then blow your nose.

Also sea/salt water can help, put some in yur nose, tilt your head back and let it work its way through, just breathe through yuor mouth in the meanwhile. After a minute or two blow it out.

Let us know if you find a solution!

(By the way maybe it's worth it to go to an allergy doctor, im going to one tomorrow see if I find something even though i've never been alergic to anything AFAIK)

 

[anrchy]

Thank you endless I will definitely tryout the seasalt water method on the really bad days. I had read your thread on the polyps and thought the same that my doc would prolly have seen it but I know one thing is my ear condition is cholesteotoma and the polyps can be too small in the early stages to even be seen on a ct scan.
And beings that I've had this nose issue for quite sometime maybe if they are there they will be visible.

I just hope that one day I can be rid of this and be able to breath normally out my nose for once! I've also considered going to an allergy doc just in case it is an allergy of some kind. I guess it could be an allergy to something I happen to be around often. I will have to see. Just hate going to the doctors.

 

[r2pi]

Is there a possibility it's a food intolerance? I get it with wine - probably due to natural and artificial sulfite content. My daughter gets something similar from gluten. With this and the dust, it could be worth some exclusion experiments just to see.

 

[anrchy]

I have thought about foods. I am pretty picky unfortunately. But I'm not really sure how I would go about excluding certain foods. Are there specific common allergies?

I eat quite a bit of meat, mostly chicken, ham, and beef. Cheeses quite often but also have involuntary breaks. Whole wheat bread is sometimes eaten a lot but sometimes I'll go a whole week without any. I don't drink very much milk. I try an eat eggs as much as I can but my work schedule has my breakfasts all messed up. I drink juices of some kind every week. Pastas usually once a week.

I rarely eat fast food. Usually only those times where I am really hungry and need to eat right away and I'm not home. Half my diet is prolly processed boxed foods. Hamburger helper, Mac n cheese, canned soups, horrible I know.

I also lack a lot of vegetables in my diet. It really sucks cause I have tried really hard but some veggies I just cannot get myself to chew and swallow without gagging.

I'm trying to remember to keep more fruits in the house but I'm not in the habit yet so I forget. Green apples and red berries are my fav

 

[corpus callosum]

Sounds like the OP has perennial rhinitis ie congestion which is not seasonal (ie hayfever=seasonal allergic rhinitis).Perennial rhinitis can be allergic in origin (with the house dust mite being the biggest culprit) but can also have a cholinergic mechanism behind it.

Anrchy-may I ask what your weight/BMI is?As you rightly say, the snoring emanates from the vibrations of the soft tissues around the pharynx/soft palate, and increasing weight certainly makes it worse.Another contributor to this is having a receding jaw is retrognathia which can be helped by a device which maintains the jaw in a more anterior position when worn at night.Hypothyroidism should also be excluded as this can add to increasing weight, plus a lrge thyroid by pressing on the pre-tracheal cartilage can add to the upper airways obstruction.

Snoring loudly can on occasion lead to a condition called obstructive sleep apnoea which is characterised by very loud snoring, pauses in ones respiration for at least 3 seconds, a feeling of being unrefreshed on waking and a propensity to fall asleep easily ie whilst watching TV with a meal on a tray on your lap, or even behind the wheel.In the long term this can cause right sided heart failiure by the associated hypoxia causing pulmonary hypertension requiring the right heart to work harder against the increased resistance in the pulmonary vasculature.It also increases the risk of a thrombotic stroke as a consequence of the hypoxia stimulating the kidney to make a hormone called erythropoietin which stimulates the bone marrow to increase the production of red blood cells which makes the viscosity of the blood higher, meaning the flow is sluggish with a greater risk of clots forming.This requires a sleep study to diagnose, if the history is suggestive and ca be managed by CPAP (Continuous Positive Airways Pressure) ventilation device worn at night.

Cholesteatoma is potentially very nasty-in essence this is like an accumulation of dandruff which can erode the relatively thin bones which surround the auditory canal resulting in mastoid infections and on occasion palsies of the lower cranial nerves.This condition needs watching closely and not infrequently can require an operation to deal with it.

IME, perennial rhinitis is best managed with intra-nasal corticosteroids and in a smaller percdentage of patients, an intra-nasal anticholinergic.Identifying any allergen can be tricky and even if one (or more) is identified, they often tend to be so ubiquitous and prevalent that it can be very hard, on a practical level, to avoid exposure.Some allergens can be avoided ie get rid of your dog/cat if its dander is the culprit.Others, like pollens, are harder to avoid.

Lastly its important to recognise that some medications can have rhinitis as a side-effect.

 

[anrchy]

Thank you for the reply doc.

My BMI is 21.6 I weigh 138lbs. My gf has told me that I cough a lot in my sleep. All the time. I don't cough regularly while awake. One thing I noticed not too long ago is a slight itch in the back of my throat that appears as soon as I lay down on my bed. I usually try and sleep on my back sometimes I end up on my sides. But this itch will start me on a coughing fit usuall right away.

Sometimes I do feel as if I'm not getting very restful sleep, but it's hard to say whether it's caused by something else or my shift. I don't usually get home till around 3 in the morning after working 10 hour shifts.

I have had times that lasted long periods where upon waking I am super groggy and it will take me a couple hours to finally be fully awake. This comes and goes and I think my diet and sleep schedule play a huge role in this. I don't have issues with passing out abnormally. If its about that time then ya I will end up falling asleep watching a movie. But I am usually aware about what time that will be before hand.

I also want to add my systolic and diastolic blood pressures are always good and sometimes very good. Beings that I have had 2 surgeries on my ear due to the cholesteatoma in the last 2 years They checked it each checkup. It actually had resulted I a mastoid infection, and it had completely dissolved my hearing bones. They were replaced by titanium ones which actually brought back much of my hearing. Anyways that's off topic.

I had thought about being checked for sleep apnea. I really hope that's not my case. Don't want to have to wear some machine at night for te rest of my life.

 

[tango]

Hi,

I've also had problems with my sinuses. When I was a kid, they said I had some polyps, but no big deal; years later, they found no polyps, but a slightly deviated septum. Like in your case, the doctor said that it's unlikely the septum deviation was the only cause, yet got me all ready for surgery. However, after much online research, it appeared to me that quite a few people don't benefit much from the procedure, so I didn't go for it. I also had a bit of an overbite, and, as a kid, I remember seeing doctors for swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

Something that helped with all the above issues is relaxing the muscles in my face and neck, which, I believe, were abnormally tight. Maybe try seeing a specialist for that, or otherwise look up the musculature of face &neck online or in an anatomy book and make sure none of the muscles are inhibited.

 

[PrimalWisdom]

You sound like me. I found that a nasal douche (little pot like thing with a spout) works wonders. You just put warm water and a pinch of salt or 2, stir and then pour into your nose. google it, they are cheap, and they work so well. I have not had any issues since I started using one.

 

[Enoon]

I had constant nasal congestion for about a year. I was able to equalize pressure in my ears, no problem, so it was only in the airways directly related to breathing and usually only one-sided. I got a cold and after that the nose would not clear at all anymore. Not even one side. For work I used the regular nose-spray for a while which probably worsened the whole situation since it causes rhinitis medicamentosis on top, but I had to work.

I tried using nasal douches but to absolutely no avail.

I went to see a doctor and he prescribed me a cortison-spray (and some anti-histamine pills) which I used for about four weeks. since then I have had no problems. I'm not typically allergic, and I still don't know what caused this. My guess is dust-mites, since it got slightly worse in the cold seasons (more closed windows, more dust) but I never got it checked, since the cortisone-spray worked.

 

[universecannon]

I was constantly congested for the latter part of high school and early college, and when it would go away i would often still wake up in the mornings with a congested nose and feeling really groggy... although i dont have any known allergies or an ear problem. The only thing that worked for me personally was totally getting off of fast/processed foods/factory farmed stuff completely, and moving to a plant-based diet with tons of herbal teas. I used to get sick/colds a few times a year but now i don't at all, and my nose is clear.

 

[olympus mon]

Netti pot with sea salt every morning worked wonders for me. I was clogged up for 2 years after moving the the west coast.

 

[d-T-r]

I have been meaning to actually start using the neti pot i got a while back,

Menthol crystals are also good for clearing your airwaves.

 

[prottel]

I have no problems breathing through my nose, but I cannot sustain it while running. An interesting observation I made is when I went on the inca trail. For the first time in my life I could breathe so easily through my nose, It was a world of difference. I'm just wondering what caused it to open up like that, and if there is anything I could do to get back to that state, other than go to high altitudes/inca trail.

I would say my level of nasal congestion is constantly at a low level.

 

[The Day Tripper]

Grapefruit seed extract and xylitol nasal sprays really help.

whatever you do don't take that afrin crap. IT will help, but the side affects are scary.

 

[anrchy]

Wow I didn't even see that you guys have been replying to this thread. Thanks!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out the issue still but it's been better lately since I got an air purifier. I have tried the salt water thing and it isn't do anything really. At first kind of but very soon after I would be just as congested. I tried afrin as well but only for a couple days, it worked really good but I started having really bad side effects on day 2 that I stopped after day 3.

I'm wondering if its a dust thing as the purifier has made the longest lasting positive effect. Going to be shampooing my carpet this week as I have noticed there is a lot of dirt build up in the carpet from having a crappy vacuum for so long.

 

[moniker]

Have you had the air ducts in your home cleaned? I had the same trouble and that was the problem for me.

 

[The Day Tripper]

Wow I didn't even see that you guys have been replying to this thread. Thanks!

Unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out the issue still but it's been better lately since I got an air purifier. I have tried the salt water thing and it isn't do anything really. At first kind of but very soon after I would be just as congested. I tried afrin as well but only for a couple days, it worked really good but I started having really bad side effects on day 2 that I stopped after day 3.

I'm wondering if its a dust thing as the purifier has made the longest lasting positive effect. Going to be shampooing my carpet this week as I have noticed there is a lot of dirt build up in the carpet from having a crappy vacuum for so long.

Yep, definately stay away from afrin, it just drys your nose out, leads to a sinus infection if used more than a few days, from what my uncle a pharmacist says. Made me realllly light headed and feeling like my bp was way too low.

Wassabi, believe it or not, can help alot. When i had a super-cold a few weeks ago, it was the only thing that cleared me up besides afrin. Its irritating to the mucosa membranes so it kinda makes sense.

 

[anrchy]

Moniker: my house doesn't have any air ducts. I use a ceiling fan my purifier and another fan to help with air circulation in the house.

I also notice quite a bit of phlegm buildup in the back of my throat after waking up. Is it possible my congestion could be related to something with the inside of my mouth? Like gum disease or something?

 

[corpus callosum]

I also notice quite a bit of phlegm buildup in the back of my throat after waking up. Is it possible my congestion could be related to something with the inside of my mouth? Like gum disease or something?

Unlikely; it sounds much more like post-nasal drip with the mucus pooling in the back of your throat from the post-nasal space.