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Chronic Sinus Headaches
About 10 years ago, I began getting sinus headaches. It was during an intense passage of life, and I was not managing stress very well. I noticed that the flare-ups would follow almost immediately on the heels of being stressed out. I also noticed that sugar and alcohol were triggers for the inflammation. I went and got a CT scan, which showed now physical problems or blockages. A PA diagnosed it as Vasomotor Rhinitis and told me to stay away from my triggers (listed below). I have avoided triggers, but I'm still having multiple days a week where the headaches bring on general nausea and make it very difficult to work and go about interacting with others. I'm hoping that I might find someone on here who has had similar symptoms and found some solutions.
What concerns me most right now is that I'm waking up in pain most mornings, even when avoiding almost all my triggers. And it seems to have become more sensitive.
Here's my overview:
Symptoms: Dull headache in the sinus area, behind eyes, and often mainly on one side/sinus. Nausea is usually mild but makes my thinking blurry. If I have had a bunch of sugar or say a high-sugar alcoholic drink (margarita-just one), then nausea and headache are debilitating and can cause me to vomit. I avoid triggers, so that doesn't happen often.
The strangest symptom, and perhaps a key to figuring this out is that when I have a high level of nausea, I begin burping these deep from my stomach burps. Basically, the worse it gets, or more trigger foods I've had, the more frequent the burping.
Triggers/Causes:
-Stress: It used to be that when I got anxious I could literally feel the swelling happen over the course of about 15-30 minutes. This is now rarely an issue because I've found good ways to handle stress.
- Alcohol - red wine and sugary stuff is the worst
- Sugar: high-glycemic stuff like pineapple is as bad as a candy bar. If were to eat a snickers bar, I'd have the headache in a few hours
- Spicy Foods and red meat
- Sleep: I wake now mildly congested. After a hot shower and blowing my nose (clear mucus), the headache I have goes from nausea producing to manageable.
- Too much caffeine: I can have 2 cups a day but more than that will cause headaches
What has not helped:
- Saline rinses are awesome when I'm truly sick, but they do nothing to help with this. They would help by flushing the wake-up mucus, but I use a hot shower for helping with that.
- Flonase/Fluconase has no impact at all
What has helped:
-Pseudoephedrine has helped a bit, but seems to be helping less
-Good sleep, staying hydrated. Dehydration makes me more sensitive to my triggers.
-Reduced sugar diet, gluen-free diet, avoiding triggers
I'd appreciate any of your thoughts. I'm part of a health system that shall go unnamed, and they have a propensity to pass people around from doctor to doctor within their network whenever they find that someone has something strange like this.
Thanks,
Aaron
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Thanks, everyone. This is all very helpful. My hope is that others searching the community forums will find this and it will help them too.
This is an old post but thanks for the info! My gut dysbiosis has slowly improved thanks to my naturopath and ozone therapy. My remaining symptoms: sinus congestion often with headache and fatigue.
I recently moved and my ND doesn’t take patients in my state (CA). I’m waiting to see a new ND/MD but the wait is quite long. In the interim - given your knowledge on the subject - do you have any suggestions on a few key things that may help the sinus headaches and congestion? It occurs several times a week and is very random: A food today can be a trigger but days later I have zero reaction.
Many thanks, DJ
I’ve had gut dysbiosis for 5 years and it’s slowly improved but far from 100%. My remaining symptom: sinus congestion often with a headache approx 2x/week. When it occurs it’s usually 15-30 min after meals. My diet is clean and I’ve eliminated known triggers; yoga 3x week, light cardio, and a low stress lifestyle (retired).
I recently moved and my MD/ND doesn’t take patients in my state (CA). I’m waiting to see a new practioner but the wait is quite long. In the interim, does anyone have any suggestions on what may help the sinus headaches and congestion? They’re very random: a food or bev that’s a trigger one day causes zero reaction the next. I’ve seen ENTs, and neurologists but standard meds have not really helped. Ozone therapy, diet changes, low stress and cromolyn sodium all help but not enough.
Many thanks, DJ
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1 Reaction@dj10
You could have ongoing sinusitis of some type.
Non-allergic rhinitis/allergic rhinitis.
Migraine type induced congestion.
Many people diagnose themselves with “sinus headache”
It might not even be a sinus headache but a transient reaction to blood pressure changes etc…
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1 ReactionHave you considered a TMJ Disorder to account for what you consider to be migraines or sinus headaches? If you have a stressful life, you may be unknowingly grinding your teeth during sleep or during the day. I speak from experience. This situation can be resolved. See your dentist.
Good luck!
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1 ReactionI have a low stress life except for this health issue so TMJ could be a possibility. I’m seeing a new dentist and new ENT soon. Thanks!
My previous ENT diagnosed the sinus headache but standard treatments haven’t worked. I’m changing ENTs, seeing a new neurologist since migraines may be the/an issue… and a new dentist to look at the possibility of TMJ - which I hadn’t considered until I got these responses. Appreciate it!