Nasal Lavage

Currently I am using Arm and Hammer Saline Nasal Mist and also using the Pari SinuStar with 7% saline. The SinuStar can be kept sterile plus you just breath it in and it never touches your nose. Hoping that combination will be enough to keep sinus area from developing Pseudo build up.

I do nasal Lavage almost everyday cuz my nose doesn't clear easily. I dont get sick when others do. Usually Lavage produces green mucus and my airway clearance is clear to light yellow. Can't believe I am talking about this stuff! Lol

For those of you with bronchiectasis and chronic sinus issues: do you actually produce thick/sticky sinus mucus or mucus similar to the sputum you cough from your lungs? And when you do a nasal rinse, does it just improve nasal breathing, or do you notice less chest mucus/wheezing afterward too?

@coachcal
Yes, to bronchiectasis, sinus issues due to allergies, and also asthma.

I take a daily Allegra (single tablet split into a.m. and p.m. doses). Once I started this regimen the chest phlegm decreased. I am also on Brinsupri, which has also decreased chest phlegm (but it's still there, most prominently in the morning).

Before starting Allegra I did not *think* I had allergy symptoms but once I started it was clear that I did indeed have symptoms. My nose was much clearer, eyes felt better. Any mucus I ever blew out of my nose was clear. Apparently when you have allergies or sinus issues a good bit of mucus drips down the throat during sleep. Nasal saline rinses were not enough in my case, which I had been doing 2x day.

My doctor and I choose Allegra because it is the least anticholinergic of the OTC allergy meds. Too much anticholinergic meds can interfere with productive airway clearance.

@scoop did Xyzal and Zyrtec not work for you before trying Allegra? What about azelastine? Interesting about Brinsupri too.

And interesting what you said about choosing Allegra because it’s the least anticholinergic. My situation may be a little different -- a lot of my thick sinus mucus (and apparently lung mucus too) seems to either be produced or mobilized after I eat, and I’m still trying to figure out which. I suspect there may be a cholinergic/gustatory component because anticholinergic inhalers have significantly reduced the amount of post-meal mucus/wheezing for me in my lungs.

Normally I have to use a Neti pot after almost every meal, and I’ll get a surprising amount of thin + very thick mucus out. If I don’t rinse, I can actually feel mucus accumulating in both my sinuses and lungs afterward. Do you ever notice your sinus/chest mucus changing specifically after meals?

@coachcal
Have you had ENT consult? Have they cultured what’s coming out of your nose?

Asteline I thought was when you have a lot of nasal congestion which I don’t have. Probably because the Allegra is working for me. We are all different it seems.

Sometimes I cough after eating especially if I talk. I believe it’s the talking that brings it on not the eating. At night before sleep, I take a teaspoon or two of an alginate product like reflux raft or reflux gourmet to help guard against any aspirations while I sleep.

@scoop Azelastine is sometimes used as a "primary" antihistamine - stopping the allergic reaction that often begins in the nasal receptors. It seems to have a variety of other protective effects - my pulmonologist says there are reports that it can protect against rhinovirus (common cold) and Covid as well.
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251006/Azelastine-nasal-spray-prevents-COVID-19-and-rhinovirus-infections.aspx
I have not had a cold for over 3 years in spite of repeated exposures from my grandkids and in my senior community - the only one I got was when I was stressed & overtired from travel. Last year my travelling companions, and my daughter and husband ( with whom I was sharing a bed) all got Covid, but I did not. My other daughter, a school nurse, used it through last winter, and never caught a cold from "her kids". Needless to say, I am a great proponent of Azelastine.

@scoop yep, I’ve had a pretty exhaustive workup through ENT, Immunology, Pulm, GI, etc. I’ve had some positive bacterial cultures at different points, but repeated sinus CTs haven’t shown significant chronic sinusitis or anything structural that would explain the amount of mucus I’m getting.

The main unusual findings have been short telomeres (with no known causative mutation found on WGS) and very mild/borderline bronchiectasis -- subtle enough that only one of three pulmonologists really felt it was present on the CT.

It sounds like your sinus symptoms may be somewhat different from mine since yours are mostly clear/allergy-related. I’ve also tried UK alginate/Gaviscon products as well as US Gaviscon Extra Strength.