Extremely Dry Sinuses

marjoriam, I am so sorry. Some thoughts below.

I too have acid reflux & have dealt with sinus issues for years. Mine was different and I had a lot of sinus infections & I have a lot of allergies. I tried a lot of things. Sinus surgery helped, but, it wasn't a cure-all. I can breathe better & I have less sinus infections. I am still headache prone.

Do you think you are grinding your teeth in your sleep or have sleep apnea? They both can cause headaches. Have you ever been diagnosed with migraines? Neurologist?

I was prescribed Protonix 20 mg in the a.m. and 20 Mg of Pepcid AC at night for reflux. If my reflux ramps up, I use Protonix 40 mg and when it calms down, I go back down to 20 mg. It try not to eat anything after 6 p.m. except an apple or popcorn to avoid backup reflux. The head of my bed is elevated, I do not wear a tight belt around my waist and getting off any extra weight helps greatly with reflux. All of this worsens reflux.

Flonase itself is notorious for nosebleeds and a lot of folks that I know simply cannot use it.

Decongestants and antihistamines both can be drying to the sinus cavity.

Personally, I would get a 2nd opinion from another ENT doctor and get an mri done if possible. Did your ENT doctor swab your nose to send to a lab to see if any bacteria or mold was growing in your sinuses?

Praying for relief for you & Happy New Year.

Thank you for your feedback. Your sinus issues sound identical to mine. Years of allergies, allergy shots, and sinus surgery. I have been to 2 different ENT and I've had CT scans and Nasal Endoscopies and they offer nothing new from what I have tried and are already doing. I was told after sinus surgery not to use Antihistamines because it makes dry sinuses worse as well as Flonase and the other nasal sprays. I really wonder if this extreme dryness is a side effect of the sinus surgery. In addition to the sinus issues, I have GERD, silent acid reflux, hiatal hernia, and esophagus motility issues. I have tried various PPI's with no success and are in discussion with my Gastro doctor for surgery options. Thanks again and take care.

I have had a dry nose for years and it also bleeds sometimes. I use Mupirocin and it works great! You need a prescription to get it. Also if I run our of Mupirocin, I use Neosporin which is an over the counter ointment. It works pretty well but not as good as Mupirocin. I also put Mentholatum in my nose every night when I go to bed. It keeps my nose moist and helps me breathe.
I hope this helps.
PML

@marjoriem -

Dry sinus/increase in post nasal drip can definitely be caused by sinus surgery.

The ONLY reason one would ever benefit from a sinus surgery if there is a severe anatomical blockage. Very rarely do people need sinus surgery as it is elective and only so topical medications can get into the actual deeper tissue of the sinuses. However, when widening sinus openings, removing tissue/bone and altering the nasal cavity to be wider, this also causes dryness for a person and completely new physiology to the nose/sinus function. The tight junctures are now gone and air pressure is reduced.

Nasal rinses and sprays do not help because this is not due to anything but taking in more air onto tissues than is physically meant to. The saline dries the tissue more. And much of the mucous people often feel is also due to the fact that the “doors” have been taken off of the sinuses, altering the clearance, so mucous can just plop out into throat without warning.

These sinus surgeries are going to soon be proven one of the worst type of surgery aloud to be recommended to patients. They already changed drastically since the implementation of nasal/sinus surgery 20 years ago. They messed many people up then and since they have just been trying to do these with less damage.

Very wrong surgeries to perform as nasal/sinus issues are 95% of the time systemic issues and not anatomical.

There is a former Stanford trained ENT surgeon whom no longer practices because she witnessed first hand how wrong these are. You can look her up and read her story- Dr. Casey Means

I'd stop everything but the saline spray. I use saline spray every morning. As far as the acid reflux, I have had GREAT results with omeprazole 20mg capsule daily.

I had chronic sinus infections that anitbiotics wouldn't touch. The ENT surgeon said there was infection throughout my sinus. I was much better after the surgery and do not have the recurring sinus infections that I had before.

I will not take any PPI's anymore. I tried Omeprazole, Esomeprazole, and Protonix, and all of them caused extreme constipation.

My cousin's wife told me she uses Aquaphor in her nose every day. I had some on hand and wow, it has made a huge a difference!

That's great! I'm glad you found something that works! We are all different. What works for one doesn't necessarily always work for another.
PML

I have found something that improved my breathing and postnasal drip. I have felt congested for decades, with frequent sinus inflammation and infections. Turbinate reduction surgery helped lessen the congestion by about 30%. I have used daily sinus rinse, Nasacort, Prilosec, and Claritin for over a decade to handle acid reflux, allergies, and congestion. Nothing ever helped the constant postnasal drip.

More recently, I was having sleep apnea and went to a sleep clinic run by a dentist. They did 360 degree scans of my whole head and photos from every angle. It turns out that my narrow palate and overbite don't leave enough room in my mouth for my tongue (you could clearly see it partially blocking my airway on the scan), so it is pushed back into my throat. I am now using a Vivos device that gradually expands my palate and also pulls my lower jaw forward. I breathe much more freely when wearing it, and am also breathing much better both night and day now that I have expanded my upper jaw 1/4 inch and my lower jaw 1/8 inch. My overbite is much smaller as well. But the big surprise was that I hardly ever have postnasal drip anymore. It even seems to help some with the acid reflux, maybe because the acid doesn't get stuck in the back of my throat. And less mouth breathing seems to help (but not eliminate) the nasal dryness (it's probably from my antihistamines).

I have also learned a couple of things that help with my acid reflux. The first is that the PPIs work best if you take them first thing in the morning on an empty stomach well before eating. The second is that you might want to try the low FODMAP elimination diet. It is a lot of work, but the same things that cause my irritable bowel also seem to worsen my reflux.