Lingering dry nasal passageways

Ok so almost a year has passed since I posted here. Over 2 years since Covid and subsequently long COVID. Nasal dryness, gooey, sticky phlegm in throat, coughing, justness, nausea, onset of upper respiratory and head/ sinus inflammation and excessive mucus production after eating. Cardiology, Pulmonary, ENT, GI specialists all using standard front line treatments. In May, 2024 I finally started getting some relief after seeing Allergy/Immunology. Some allergies, most of which were real minor with the exception of soy which I now avoid. But the real benefit came with CROMOLYN SODIUM oral solution. It’s mixed in water and drank 4x /day, before meals and at bedtime. Most importantly it needs to be taken on an empty stomach. What it does is stabilize mast cells. Mast cells are part of our immune system and they release substances like histamine, cytokine and leukotrine (sp?). They fight irritants and potential allergens or foreign matter. Histamine in the stomach then causes acid release, in the head mucous. Cytokines release mucous in the upper respiratory tract and leukatrines are released in the lungs. They’re all mucous and sticky phlegm. Covid seems to put those mast cells into overdrive.Stomach reacts by producing excessive acid that shoots up and upper respiratory produces excessive leukatrines. What a mess! In my experience it didn’t take long, like a few days to feel moisture back in my nasal passages, sinuses and throat. Hallelujah! My reflux is silent do I didn’t know since I had no heartburn. It started with phlegm production, head/throat dryness, then chest pain and serious upper respiratory inflammation. All the while ENT and Pulmonary have no real findings. It took a barium swallow test to show the reflux (up to the carina) in December 2023. PPIs have been ineffective between then and May, 2024, in fact I do believe they cause an allergic reaction. It was that month once I started Cromolyn Sodium combined with H2 blockers that I experienced relief for the first time since September, 2022. I’m still using it but I’m at least more hopeful then before. An EGD in July did show a dozen stomach ulcers and one in my esophagus right around that carina level (where trachea splits to each lung) but I’m sure they would have been much worse if they’d seen them some months earlier before the Cromolyn treatment. Anyway, sorry for the long post but there just ain’t no way to keep it short!

I have the same Problems. Did you recover?
Thanks

Did it improve?

I’ve also had and still have nasal dryness since covid in 2022, I also have several other lingering symptoms that come and go, the worst is rapid heart beats, this one is very scary because it’s your heart. I treat nasal dryness with saline nasal spray and it’s quite helpful, once I had a nasal infection for no reason but I bought an otc nasal spray for such things and it helped me. I find that sometimes new symptoms can come along and then hopefully they go away.

I have had severe allergies and nasal dryness and inflammation since having Covid in 2019. I’ve been to 3 ENTs, 2 allergists and one rheumatologist and was pretty much fired from all of them. They just don’t know what to do for me. And you’re all right, the ENT just wanted to do surgery.

As an actor, I feel really insecure about the nasal swelling and dryness because I sound super nasally when I talk! I can no longer sing. Does anyone else also sound like that?

I find that nasal rinses make it worse. I run a humidifier and air purifier in my room at night. I’ve tried reiki, acupuncture, hypnosis, you name it.

Also worth noting…my symptoms have gone away twice during these four years. Once for five months. And once for three months. No change in food or environment or stress level. Such a mystery.

I’m right now on an anti inflammatory diet. Day 55. I’ve cut out caffeine, dairy, nuts, legumes, seeds/seed oils, night shades, grains and sugar. So far it has had no impact on my sinus condition.

I’m miserable and am desperate to figure this out. If I don’t take allergy meds daily, I’ll blow and sneeze for hours.

@mjay3251
Same here. Saline sprays are just a tease and actually probably make the dryness worse.

@lauralej , I forgot to mention that I bought an otc product called Secoris, it comes in a tube and you put it directly in your nose, it’s also very helpful for dry nasal cavity.🦷

@mimioto
How long did it take for the cromolyn to help? My doctor has agreed to let me try it for mast cell problems.

@bmekdec, it helped me almost right away. I was suffering pretty bad with chest pain, asthma—like and sinus inflammation, never heartburn, and I felt relief within days. I combined it with H2 blockers since PPIs made everything worse. Good luck! It was hard to get at first, especially in the quantity I needed for long-term. I stayed on it for about 6-7 months full-time then on/off for another few months. I have a half case in the closet that still unexpired I wish I could give it to you!

@bmekdeci I might add that new bloodwork just a month or so ago was leaning toward an autoimmune disorder…again! And it happened to appear during a visit to ENT so they ordered a lip biopsy (Sjogrens) that I had just yesterday and my primary set me up with Rheumatology in a couple weeks. I picked the brain of the doc that did the biopsy yesterday and based on my bloodwork it’s kind of a toss up between Lupus and Sjogren’s but could very well be another dead end.