Nope,you are not whining; I just feel really bad for you. Do you recall that i'd said I had a similar problem for 3 yrs! I had everything...allergy tests, sinus surgury, a couple scopes.

No pneumonia in my case (they can tell with an x-ray).

To be honest I do not know what caused my problems. I also had a horrid cough....I think I even broke a rib coughing not to mention what the coughing fits did to my bladder!

I would cough so hard I'd lose my breath.

Anyway, I am on a regimen of Advair, Astelin, Singular. I just hate taking all that, but it seems to keep me healthy.

Before you do anything else try to get your family doc to take an x-ray. It's simple and usually will give you an answer as to whether you have pneumonia.

Good Luck and keep us in the know as to how you are doing.

Tootsie

Wow FG. I do hope you are feeling better. I too have terrible sinus troubles. Although I don't have a deviated septum as you do, I do have a cyst in my sinuses. They cause blockage and then I get infections.

Surgery??? No way. Not going to happen unless the cyst get really bad.

The cyst shows up on all my MRI's and CT scans.

As for pneumonia - I went through a period of about 2 years where I had pneumonia on and off. I even ended up with pluerisy. OUCH! Most the time I didn't know I had it. The pneumonia always coincided with a sinus infection. Ultimately, I went to an allergist who not only diagnosed the allergies but ran a tither and found that I don't have the antibodies to fight 4 of the most common pneumonias. So, I got the pneumonia shot, take my allergy medicine, Flonase, and daily nasal lavages (saline rinses - not the neti pot). For the most part I do well with this regime.

I wish you the best and am sorry you are feeling so poorly.

hi cheryl,

sorry i'm so late finding out about your sinuses.
i wish i had some advice. the only thing i can think of is that because the infection isn't clearing up it's why you start to get better and then sick again.

make sure too that if you're using humidifiers that you clean them meticulously. the water in humidifiers is kind of pulverized and makes the molecules easier to be sniffed and inhaled. so if there's bacteria in the water...guess what.

sure hope they can finally deal with this and you will be better.

Hi Judy

I use a vick's steam inhaler and I do clean it very good inbetween uses.

I am also on nasonex, singular, mucinex, and a saline flush. DAILY.

I also had a chest x-ray that was clear so I don't have pneumonia! That was done last week.

My CT scan shows the sinus disease!

I just got a call this morning and the ENT referral has been approved! Yeah!!! I called the ENT specialist that I want to see (I am loving TriCare so far!), and his nurse is supposed to call me to set up an appt. I can't wait to find out what's going on...and what the next step is to get this sinus crapola under control.

I am tired of being sick. It is wreaking havoc on my MS...and I cannot deal with this much longer. My next Tovaxin appt is in 2 weeks and I need to be well enough to pass the neuro stuff so my EDSS doesn't decline...again...can't do steroids.

Glad you got an appointment Cheryl! I love Tricare too. I've never ever had any problems seeing who I want to see.

There are several ENT docs already in the provider network here. This guy that I want to see is not in the network and he belongs to the biggest ENT practice here in Boise. He is also a friend. He is who I want to see and my PCP asked for a referral approval.

I am still getting used to TriCare/TriWest. So far, so good. The pharmacy coverage is wonderful!

Amen to that! Jim goes to the VA for his care and meds but Tricare allows his VA doctor to prescribe civilian style fully covered if needed. Love that!