infection in the sphenoid sinus
 

Hey there, along with my lower back pain I have had a sinus infection for months now. I am scheduled for surgery on the on the 17th of this month where they are planning on opening up my sinus (I think they have to drill into this area).

This situation turned serious when over Thanksgiving i was put in the hospital for two day. They though I had menengitus at first, but now they think it was this infection. If anyone knows about this issue please respond and give me your experience or knowledge. Oh, and I have been on strong antibiotics for months now and I'm dealing with headaches, vertigo, fatigue, ear throbbing and an overall bad attitude at this point.

ty, Mitch

Mitch, this has been a rough ride for your buddy...I can't imagine how awful you must be feeling. Sounds like there is an end to this trouble with your sinus...I will send you positive healing energy....Hang in there :hug:

I had an infection in my sphenoid sinus! Antibiotics do not work. I was on them forever. I got mine after pituitary surgery and the sinus closed up before everything had drained. It smelled awful. Hard to get away from a smell in your nose.

I hope a pituitary guy or someone with an endoscope is doing your surgery as they can see.

These were my instructions - yours may differ.

After the surgery, I had to keep the area cleaned out. It was er, not fun. I had to keep going back to the ENT for debridement. At home, I had to use a water pik with saline to shoot the saline up the nostril to get it way up there and clean things out. I did this by leaning over the tub as it was very mess and some giant things come out. They may fall out later (ugh) so carry around tissues. I was also using saline to keep my nose moist.

My husband says he has fond memories of the ENT taking a trip to the center of the earth so to speak... You may want someone to drive you to the ENT as the debridements can be painful - please consider taking pain pills beforehand. You should rest afterwards for at least a little bit. They reach in with long tools and pull out what they can. They do numb you as best they can but the tugging and all sometimes can give you a headache.

Thank you very much
 

I go in for surgery on next tuesday the 17th. I have been dealing with this since late october and I am ready to be done. My surgeon doesnt think my symptoms are due to this infecton, but it has to be, I never felt like this before this sinus infection.

What symptoms did you have prior to surgery, did you have any of the vertigo, ear throbbing and extreme fatgigue?

thanks,

mitch

Ah - they never think there are any symptoms!!! I had mostly smell (it is very rank), I was tired... my WBC never went up... I had only a low grade fever from time to time. My ears are wonky so cannot equate it to the infection (I have menieres).

How did you get an infection way up there?

Hey there,

This all started with a simple sinus infection back in october 08, that wasnt treated long enough with antibiotic and came back. I did have a really bad smell in my nose for weeks when this first started, but havent had this in months.

Like I said I am getting surgery to get what looks like infection out of my sphenoid sinus. My ENT doc dosnt think my syptoms are caused by this and menieres disease is one of the possible things thrown out there. As I read about this disease, I have just about all the symptoms of it. The only thing is I had a 103 fever for a couple of days with this when i had a really bad eppisode. I dont think menieres would do that.

Anyhow, just thought I would keep this thread going to get anymore info or insight. thanks again,.............Mitch

surgery is over!
 

Well, surgery is over and It caused minimal pain! Ever since I woke up from the surgery I have not had any vertigo or ear throbbing. I am so amazed.

I felt so good that I over did it and ran myself into the ground day two, but I think I have adjusted and realized I need to rest for a week or two here. I have really no soreness, but this surgery in the middle of my head thing is new to me, its all a different kind of pain. I found out the hard way that I get extreme migraines if I have to deal with loud noises. Well I now know that if my 2 year old is having a fit, I just have to close my ears and move back to a dark quiet room. Again I have a new found respect for those of you dealing with these head issues.

I am excited about the prospects of consentrating on my lower back pt and core strengthing. I will be taking it easy and slowly moving back into pool pt and getting on my treadmill. Thanks again for being so supportive.....Mitch

Great! Yes, sometimes without the obvious scar, one will forget they had surgery and overdo...
Take it easy!

sphenoid sinus infection /surgery
 

Hi Everyone, This is my first posting looks like a good site to get some info .
I like the information I am seeing on this sphenoid sinus. I have also been dealing with sinus infectios sine Oct. ,contantly sick, throbbing in head, ears, always exhausted not fun at all.Not also dealing with acid reflux . I have been going to a ENT for about 1 month. I was in a car accident and hit my head which cause me to get a cat scan.Otherwise I still might not have found out about this sphenoid sinus. I never even knew there was a sinus that close to the brain. Doctor put me on penicillin,nose sprays. I have to go back for a 3rd ct scan if sinus not better then he said I have to go to John Hopkins for surgery. Which I am scared to death. Doctor told me that this is at a very sensitive area at the brain. Anyone have any advise let me know.
Diana

Make sure that you also get hormone testing. After car accidents like that, often the pituitary gets mushed up a bit and growth hormone goes down. You may not feel like you are sleeping as well and not want to be around people, and may gain some weight.
GH is the most common hormone that goes - but others can go. So if you start to feel a bit off, see an endo.

IndyDenise
 

Dear Mitch, I also had those symptoms a few years ago and I was terrified when they told me that there was an infection in my sphenois sinus that would require surgery. I had terrible migraine headaches, fatigue, ear throbbing and was on very strong medications to prevent menengitus. The surgeries went fine. I had one surgery on the left side, felt fantastic, then the headaches once again appeared within 6 weeks, only to find out that I had another sinus spot on the right side, about the size of an olive and once again had the surgery. Headaches are gone. Please have this taken care of, life is too short not to have it done. I had mine done down in Nashville, Tenn. at Vanderbilt where I lived at the time. Hope this helps!

thank you
 

Its so crazy, my ENT doc and surgeon acted as if they had never heard of this causing ear throbbing. For the most part I am all better, I still get all of the symptoms, but now very manageable. I had very bad headaches that started a week or two after surgery. These headaches were only treatable with migraine meds, but after a couple of weeks of this they have gone away for the most part.

From now on I will treat sinus congestion as a serious matter and treat with sinus rinse every time I get this. Thanks for all the posts on this subject and for the lady who recently got the sinus surgery, how are you doing now? (sorry, I forgot your name and I dont know how to go to your post without deleting this).

hi diana i just had sphenoid surgery only 11 days it wasent a bad surgery i had seen 6 ents before i felt comfortable with a dr...i.ve been suffering for 5 yrs with this and when i found out where it was ..i was petrified..but i had no quality of life..i was sick all the time..3 weeks out of the month..it was terrible to have to live like this..so i had it done..so far like i said it has been 11 days and guess what i have another sinus infection..but my dr says it isnt uncommon,and the antibotics will work better now since everything is open..my advice for you to find a dr you r comfortable with and go for it..they are so experience these days,they know what there doing..also the 6 ents i seen i ask all of them the same question? 'has anyone ever died from this surgery',and all of them told me no...and my dr never packed my nose which was great..i wish you luck and i will keep you in prayers at night...julia

please be aware that not all sinus infections are bacterial, some appear to be fungal, which would require different meds.

I also have sphenoid sinus infection
 

Hello, I have the same symptoms you did. This is very depressing and scary to deal with! Tried augmentin for 10 days then had a flare of symptoms. Currently on cipro now, halfway through my 20 day dosing. My ct only showed a tiny amount of fluid in my rt sphenoid, but I have the same symptoms as people with a completely blocked sphenoid sinus. It started 5 weeks ago with dizziness and headache. I can almost feel that sinus being closed and pressurized behind my rt eye and pain and pressure in rt ear and rt side of head. What did your ct show? Did you have a lot if fluid that prompted your ENT to do surgery? Mine does not think i look like a candidate because of the small amount of fluid. I know it's been years ago for you to deal with this, and I hope you healed well and are happy and healthy now! Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you,
Kendra

Sphenoid sinus issues
 

Hello, I have the same symptoms you did. This is very depressing and scary to deal with! Tried augmentin for 10 days then had a flare of symptoms. Currently on cipro now, halfway through my 20 day dosing. My ct only showed a tiny amount of fluid in my rt sphenoid, but I have the same symptoms as people with a completely blocked sphenoid sinus. It started 5 weeks ago with dizziness and headache. I can almost feel that sinus being closed and pressurized behind my rt eye and pain and pressure in rt ear and rt side of head. What did your ct show? Did you have a lot if fluid that prompted your ENT to do surgery? Mine does not think i look like a candidate because of the small amount of fluid. I know it's been years ago for you to deal with this, and I hope you healed well and are happy and healthy now! Any advice would be appreciated!

Diana

This guy/girl wrote an excellent page telling how to take care of a Spenoid Sinus Infection using Flonase and the Mygind Position. I did it and it really brought me a lot of relief. I am also doing as others had suggested and taking Musenex. The Flonase relieves most of the pain and discomfort and the musinex will hopefully clear my head out. Doing both might speed up you healing time. Check out this page. It's really good about clearing up the confusion that people have in the beginning.
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Welcome SphenoidSufferer. :Tip-Hat: