I have allergies as well, have been told my post nasal “drip” (actually thick yellow mucus) is from acid reflux, and am also post sinus surgery. I’ve been on antibiotics about 25 times since my sinus surgery 3 years ago. Each time all my symptoms (all are sinus related) go away for a period of time (including the thick mucus down the back of my throat and daily fevers). I’ll add that the past year I take antifungals with my antibiotics and have seen even more dramatic improvement when that happens.

And like you, PPIs do zero to help my sinus situation. I had an endoscopy this year to check for signs of reflux and have none.

During the past 3 years I worked with a diagnostician to try to figure out what’s going on, and though the problem still exists, yet luckily gets less intense each year, we found out I have cyst fibrosis. I was diagnosed with it last year, through genetic testing, at age 58. Do you have a history of bronchitis and or sinusitis? I’m asking because CF can cause thick sticky mucus. My CT scans at this point always show mucus and inflammation in my sinuses, and the radiologists always report pan-sinusitis, but ENTs always tell me it all looks great in there.

I have not found an ENT that wants to explore any issues except those for which they can do surgery. They don’t seem interested in finding the pathology for a sick nose if a CT scan doesn’t show a deformity/polyp/fungal ball — in other words, something they can do surgery on.

I recently went to a new dentist who found a small pocket of infection on an X-ray of my front tooth that had a root canal. I just got that fixed and am feeling prey good, but I’m also on day 12 of my current course of Augmentin and Itraconazole. Time will tell if that tooth issue was contributing to my issues.

I hope you find some answers.

marjoriem, God Bless You. You just wrote my story. I'm wondering if you have had COVID? I have long COVID and a lot of these symtpoms you mentioned worsened as I now have long COVID. 1) Have you tried irrigating your sinuses daily? It is not pleasant, but, it does help with the sinus drainage & thick mucous. I irrigate mine every day with NeilMed Sinus Rinse with the packets (AMAZON or WALMART) and then again at night before I go to bed if need be. I do not use but about 1/8 of a packet because it burns like the dickens if I use the whole packet. I also use distilled water. Blow your nose afterwards and it will clear out a lot of stuff for you. 2) Do not eat anything after 6:30 at night, lose weight if you need too (I'm working on this one myself!), elevate the foot of your bed and watch out for foods that irritate your reflux. I take a 20 mg Protonix in the morning (Prescription) and 1 Pepcid Acid Extra Strength at night to prevent back up reflux. This has helped tremendously. 3) I gargle with warm salt water daily to help with the thick mucous in the back of my throat. I also use Peroxdyl by Colgate per my dentist. DO NOT SWALLOW. I then scrape my tongue after using this. It helps dilute that thick mucous and then rinse my mouth. 4) Allergies & Drainage. I use Cromalyn spray (Over the Counter) as it works differently than Flonase (which can cause nose bleeds in some people) and also I use Astelin (Prescription) spray for sinus drainage. Please check with your doctor before trying any of these. I have horrible allergies and I run 2 hepa filters in my home and keep the filters changed regularly and also our heating/air system has allergy filters that we keep changed. Drinking lots of water also thins out mucous. I was using an over the counter (per my doctor) mucous thinner called Guafenesin twice a day (400 mg twice a day) that helped thin out mucous. I am praying for you as all of this stuff is so tiring. I am praying for you to get better. I understand and I care.