758 Sinusitis

Name and supplier of the inexpensive item to use as a spritzer and where to get it please?

thank you for your program this morning. very timely and as usual, helpful! i have chronic sinus problems. just recently, i have been suffering with sinusitis and severe headache pain s/p a head cold. i listened with interest to your panel. i am flying next week and have suffered dramatically while descending. my physician also recommended - 1) sudafed 2) afrin, but i will add the "popping" of my ears as well.

I didn't catch exactly what product Dr. Gerbe was talking about 30 minutes into today's program. It was before the neti pot discussion. Apparently there is some product from Thailand that people can use 1x/day in their noses (for moisturizing??)????

Also, I was preliminarily diagnosed with fungal sinusitis so am having surgery next month to remove and culture it. Apparently I must be immunocompromised to get this. I do not have diabetes, but my allergy doc thinks I have systemic mastocytosis. Any comments about this?

Do sinus problems and dry eye syndrome have a relationship?

I thought your program today was very helpful. Good information for all who heard it. Especially the throat clearing symptom, I DO THAT! Not bad but it is annoying! My mother did too, and my son, and he has digestive problems.

My English wife had very large polyps removed about 30 years ago by an exceptional teaching surgeon. She has not had any infections since and it used to happen 2-6 times per year with antibiotics being administered. She had suffered with this problem since she was young... but no more.

I use the Neilmed bottle (walgreens) with the walgreens generic powdered solution in individual pack every morning. Takes about 3 minutes. When I notice symptoms of sinus infection( yellow/green discharge from nose, post nasal drip) I add 10 drops of betadine (povidone iodine is the generic) to the mix and do it twice a day. That takes care of it. It's taken me 30 years to find this regime but it has worked the past 3 years. No sinus infections. don't let the sinus irrigation freak you out! it's not that bad-certainly better than the infection. I find the Neilmed bottle works better that the neti pot.

I had severe sinus problems all my life, especially during the winter months. They would start in November and last until march/April. I usually ended up at the doctor which resulted in a RX of antibiotics. That was until I found out about Alkalol http://www.alkalolcompany.com/ nasal rinse. I have used this product since 2007 and have not been to the doctor for sinus problems since. I rinse once per day using a Neti Pot with a mixture of 1 part Alkalol to 2 parts warm water. When I feel excessive sinus dryness I'll do it twice per day. Before bedtime and in the morning when I wake up.

Thanks for the show on sinusitis. I thought the guests were very informative. One comment about their responses about the neti pots. I appreciate the enthusiasm for their use as I know people who have benefited from them. But, I am a pharmacist and recently came across this information about how to care for the neti pots that I think should have been addressed during the show. This information is from the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database:

• Nasal Irrigation using "neti pots" or rinse bottles are often used to clear the sinuses, soothe cold and allergy symptoms, and decrease sinus infections. ... some experts think that contaminated neti pots and rinse bottles might also contribute to increasing infections. Recommend that patients use boiled, bottled, or distilled water in the neti pot for irrigating. Counsel patients to wash neti pots with hot soapy water after every use and never to share them with other people. Patients using rinse bottles should switch to a new bottle monthly.

Very helpful show! What was the name of the creme you add to the saline mixture? Something like Acroban, but my pharmacist wasn't familiar with that name. I must have it wrong.

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: DR. PILLSBURY REFERRED TO AMPHOTERICIN. IT IS A PRESCRIPTION ANTIFUNGAL DRUG.

There was a comment about itching ears and a product named Dermatoc on the show. I went to the pharmacy and could not find it. The pharmacist did not know what it was. Am I spelling it right and is it a cream or salve? I've had itchy, scaly skin at the entrance of my ears for about 40 years. Regular cleaning decreases the problem, but I can't get the scaling to go away. I'm not that interested in an anti-biotic, also mentioned as treatment.

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THE PRODUCT IS DermOtic AND IT IS AVAILABLE BY PRESCRIPTION. IT COMES IN A TUBE.

So, Upper Respiratory Infection is NOT affected by vitamin D levels?!

How come the question was never asked?

For those who wish to know more about vitamin D here is the best source of info I have found in one place: on Youtube, "search" for: "UCSD vitamin D" to get the Vitamin D Symposium.

Sincerely,

Russ

I suffered from chronic sinus problems for many years. In 1993, I went to the doctor over 50 times with sinus infections and just couldn't get any relief. My doctor said that my next step was to be admitted to the hospital for IV dispensed antibiotics and although he had hoped to avoid that,there was nothing else left to try.

A repair man who was working at my home overheard my phone conversation and told me his experiences and how he had licked the problem. He had done extensive research on the subject and learned that Pantothenic Acid (vitamin B-5) was what people used prior to the days of antibiotics. Infections start because the mucus membranes swell and trap bacteria. B-5 liquefies the mucus and causes it to drain freely (sometimes it just pours out - all that green and yellow yucky stuff!) I followed his advice: take 500 mg. of B-5 at the first sign of a sinus problem for about 2 days.

Taper off to 400 mg.; then 300 mg. etc., down to 100 mg. That's it. The sinuses drain, the pressure of headaches or ear aches disappears. It is a water soluble vitamin and if your body doesn't need it, it will dispel it. It is not stored. I checked with my ENT, who agreed with all of the above. When I questioned why he didn't treat me with it, he said he was a physician and this was a vitamin. He could not prescribe a vitamin on the chance that it would work. (Go figure).

He did say that if it worked, it was a wonderful, but it only seemed to work for 50% of the population. Luckily, I was in that category. Today, my whole family reaches for B-5 at the first sign of any upper respiratory problem. I am happy to say that since 1993, I have been to the doctor twice for a sinus problem that I couldn't clear up on my own. You can only purchase Pantothenic Acid (the name by which it is sold) at a health food store. I buy the 100 mg. capsules or tablets so I can control the amount I take, but it also comes in 250 mg. and 500 mg.

It seems to me that rc was asking about the tube of the topical antibacterial medication mentioned by Dr Pillsbury called Bactroban, I had to play that part of the program over twice to get it. He said that a tube of it could be added to one quart of your homemade saline solution in the case of a suspected sinus infection. I looked Bactroban up online - the generic name is Mupirocin and the site I saw said not to use it in the nose! So my question is: did indeed the doctor say Bactroban and did he say to use the whole tube?? That's quite a lot. Thank you!