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Lingering dry nasal passageways
Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 | Last Active: Oct 3 9:10am | Replies (61)Comment receiving replies
I see I am not alone. I got Covid in early Dec of 2023. Extremely healthy prior - not even a cold for about 15-20 years. I am 52 years old. Within 2 days of covid, right ear was 100% blocked. Turned into ear infection and I was put on 7 days of Amoxicillin which helped with the pressure but not the blocking. 2 wks later pain was back and I was put on 7 days of Cipro. Cipro really helped and it took some time (total of 2 months) but my ear cleared. I found that eustachian tube messages were very helpful. You can find these on Youtube - I found the lymph drainage with Heather to be the most beneficial. I hope this helps some of you dealing with a blocked ear - it's extremely unpleasant.
Unfortunately, while my ear was getting better, my nose became extremely dry and inflamed restricting my breathing. I saw an ENT who put me on Mupricin cream 2x/day. This does help a lot with the crusting and dry blood and some of the dryness feeling but I still have thick white rubbery mucus that I have to clean out with a Qtip daily. I have tried to reduce the frequency that I use the cream but every time I do it, I regret it because my original symptoms come back (*for about 4 weeks straight though when I first started the cream, I had no breathing issues). I am currently dealing with inflammation, congestion and dryness but the inflammation and congestion come and go during the day. Haven't figured out the trigger yet. I am seeing an allergist in a couple weeks. I do use a humidifier and try to get the Humidity to 45. I also do Neti Pots if my nose is extremely blocked. It gives me temporary relief.
The last symptom I have is with my mouth - extreme drymouth and my tongue is pretty white. Thought it was thrush but culture came back negative and I was put on 3 antifungals which really didn't help. I still feel that maybe COVID caused some type of fungus infection but doctors keep disregarding it.
My GP has tested my bloodwork including autoimmune testing. I thought maybe I had Sjogren's syndrome but all my blood levels look good.
If anyone has any success with their nose or dry mouth - please please post. Good luck to everyone.
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Blakelexy, your reference to Sjogrenś got my attention, because increasingly, I believe that my own very long history with ocular sicca syndrome (negative, also, for Sjogrenś antibodies) provides a clue as to why I may have been susceptible to long COVID manifesting as severe nasal dryness on the same side as that of my blocked nostril and associated obstructive airflow.
This week, I learned that patients with persistent nasal staph infections have been using Manuka honey ointment (spray or gel) to attack their nasal infections that have failed to respond to topical and systemic antibiotics, and some report real success, which has surprised them. Some have used mupricin before resorting to Manuka honey, and claimed that the honey resolved their infections after mupricin failed to do so (attesting to negative scraping test results post-honey use).
I am vegan, and it pains me to be advocating a product sourced in bee exploitation (however humanely this exploitation is claimed to be), but because I compromised my own values, a few years ago, to try ophthalmic Manuka honey for my disabling dry eye, and was impressed by the results, I want to share this info. with you, because your suffering is clearly immense, as is the suffering of so many of us struggling with very stubborn nasal symptoms post-COVID.
Interestingly, when Manuka is used in the eye, the objective is antimicrobial action only when a contributor to the dry eye is presumed to be low-grade staph infection in the eyelid glands, BUT many doctors who recommend ophthalmic Manuka for their refractory dry eye patients insist that this product often improves patients who do not necessarily have meibomian gland infections.
In any case, I now believe that itś very likely that our post-COVID nose symptoms tend to involve some phase of secondary bacterial or fungal (or non-COVID viral) infection, and thatś why I may soon try Manuka myself for my nose.
That said, after baffling multiple ENT doctors who clearly pegged me for a malingerer (ugh), and now viewing an upcoming allergy/immunology appt. with real trepidation, I am placing LOTS of stock in the thiamine replacement protocol (for my underlying dysautonomia) that I just started, which, if I am VERY lucky, may reach the root of why I got what is apparently long COVID in the first place.
I don´t know if you may fit the profile of a patient with an underlying dysautonomia (and, btw, dry eye is now readily understood to involve vagus nerve dysfunction -- to wit the newer nasal spray that delivers varenicline), but if thereś any chance that you do, how about trying some of the safe/harmless remedies/protocols out there for dysautonomia at the same time as you continue to seek infection control and symptom palliation for the nose, in particular?
Pls forgive if anything I´ve said here is presumptuous or otherwise misses the point. Godspeed, in any case, and keep up the important work of NOT giving up. And try, if possible, to be optimistic. That is VERY hard, but fortunately for very-anxious me, for example, if my thiamine supplement program works, it is going to reduce my anxiety and help me to keep going on this journey.