Constant cough, post nasal drip, and swollen sinuses and throat

[jimdc58]

I have, over the last approximately 15-20 years suffered from swelling of the back of the tongue and the throat, and of the sinus cavities, perpetual unproductive cough, continual sinus drainage down the back of the throat and sometimes to the front of the nose, and overall fatigue and depression as a result. It has gotten so bad that I have had to give up the running and sports in which I used to participate. It is a hindrance to my overall quality of life. I have had several courses of immunotherapy over my life, beginning as a child, and currently. I last suffered asthma when I was 12. I have since taken several spirometry tests and a methacholine challenge test which all proved negative. I have had a bronchoscopy taken which showed nothing, but also had a nasal endoscopy resulting in decision to perform septoplasty. This relieved the stuffy noses I was having, but drainage and cough have worsened. (NOTE: I question whether this is a cause of my increased coughing problems.) Other tests taken have been upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy (negative), thyroid function tests (showed normal), nasal endoscopy (showed no changes since septoplasty), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (showed normal), and laryngoscopy of vocal cords (showed normal; however it found thickened and boggy nasal turbinates), blood gas test (showed normal). Have found LARGE doses of prednisone help greatly (methylprednisolone, less so), but also cause side effects. Am currently taking Astelin and Rynatan as a steady regimen and Flonase semi-regularly. I am at my wit's end....any other ideas?

[star_light294]

HI
my problem started in 1998 when i had epsteinn barr virus , over the years my throat kept filling up with phlem and sometimes i would have problems swallowing as the years went by i started to get some bizzar symptoms like all of a sudden one day  i opened my mouth to breath out air as i felt i was smothering all of a sudden my ear popped and a squelching sound of air ran down my neck or through some tube, now this started happening on a regular basis i could pop my ears the normal way by holding my nose but i still felt strange until i opened my mouth pushed out air and that squelchy noise would relieve pressure
i find this so hard to  explain
ENT said it was caused by my jaw, now along with that uncomfortable feeling came other weird symptoms like a spikey feeling in back of the throat near tonsils, pulled tight throat that felt like a razor blade was cutting into it  it hurt so bad and tonsils that got white balls inside of them
my ears rang buzzed and made me feel so dizzy and sick and they caused me to have panic attackes and sometimes i could not even feel my body,, i dont know whats causing this but i do know it scares the hell out of me
of course i keep thinking of all the yuk things it could be and that scares me more
hugs star

[jimdc58]

I can't say I would proceed with the septoplasty without AT LEAST discussing this possibility with your ENT. I have long regretted having this surgery, because it took me from being constantly stuffed up with SOME drainage, to having everything drain into my throat.

[jimdc58]

I don't know for sure if the swelling is due to the drainage or not....or if it is some sort of reduced reaction anaphylaxis. Do you suffer from the same thing? What solutions have you tried?

[star_light294]

I SO RELATE TO YOUR PROBLEM
could you tell me more about the back of your tongue and throat swelling
hugs star

[imbabsj]

I also can relate to your problem my story is some different but outcome the saME. fOR ME IT STARTED WITH A SINUS INFECTION STARTED 2YR AGO NEVER HAD MUCH OF A SINUS PROBLEM TO SPEAK OF TILL THEN.  
HAVE HAD CONSTANT EXCESSIVE MUCUS IN MY THROAT NOTHING COMES OUT MY NOSE ANY LONGER WHATS UP WITH THAT I WONDER. ENTS HAVENT HELPED WITH NORMAL PROTOCAL SO I'M HAVING SEPTOPLASTY AND ETHMOIDECTOMY SOON.  AFTER READING YOUR POST THAT SCARES ME THAT YOU HAVE MORE DRAINAGE AND COUGHING AFTER YOUR SURGERY.  DO YOU GET TONS OF MUCUS IN YOUR THROAT AND COUGH ON IT ?  I ALSO COUGH UP OUT OF MY CHEST REAMS OF STCKY MUCUS IT'S AWFULL.  I HAVE LUPUS ALSO SO THIS HAS REALLY BEEN A CHALLENGE. I SPEND MORE TIME OVER THE SINK THEN ANYWHERE ELSE. IM BASICALLY HOMEBOUND THATS WHY IHAVE TO TRY THE SURGERY TO SEE IF IT WILL HELP.  ANY SUGGESTIONS OR WORDS OF WARNING OR ENCOURAGEMENT  ... ANYONE.