Kenalog help??
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hello,
I really need some advice as I am freaking out.
I have been dealing with sinus pain for around 2 years now. It's grim, I can feel the pressure, the pain and weird vision problems daily. Nothing relieves it. I have basically flu like symptoms daily and convinced I have an infection somewhere as all the signs are there, even down to the rash on my cheeks.
After multiple trips to the ENT, he has said nothing is wrong (last visit he was actually annoyed I was there, despite clearly being in a lot of pain and a swollen mess). It's just allergic rhinitis and my sinuses are inflamed hence the pain and constant irritation.
He has referred me to a neurologist to explain the head pain as he doesn't think it's related.
Meantime over time I have developed an anxiety disorder and mild depression due to feeling rubbish daily. I am not taking antidepressants for it.
My doctor has given me a 40mg injection of kenalog which is a steroid to take away the inflammation for a few months tosee if my body heals. Sounds good in theory, so I get the injection.
5 days later after the injection, I am ridiculously tired, my sinus pain is 10 fold worse, my eyes hurt and head is on fire. I have balance issues and vertigo symptoms constantly. I have had to have two days unpaid off work it's gotten so bad.
Now I 100% can't tell if the steroid dose has just magnified my anxiety and panic or if the injection has made my problem worse. My biggest fear is that if it is an infection, I have basically just suppressed my immune system with this steroid jab.
Not sure what to do, wait it out or go the walk in and get checked over? I just know this face pain is 100% not normal even by my standards!
Has anyone had Kenalog for sinusitis before?
I am not googling Kenalog because I have already read a horror story which has sent my anxiety further overboard
Thank you
0 likes, 3 replies
tyler2016 thomas96833
Posted
Hi Thomas,
I'm so sorry to hear you are still struggling. I'm right there with you. The last month or so has been especially miserable for me with fall allergies in overdrive. My head is constantly full, bouts of vertigo, headaches and very little equilibrium. Haven't been out with friends and family in ages. It makes me especially sad with the holiday season quickly approaching.
The anxiety and depression that spurs from all of this are so debilitating. I had a similar experience a couple months ago using methylprednisolone to reduce inflammation. My ENT told me that most allergic rhinitis is caused by fungal infections. As you've said, this means that theoretically, the corticosteroid can actually make things worse by suppressing the immune system and adding fuel to the fire. Also for me, corticosteroids send my anxiety through the roof, which as we know doesn't help matters at all.
I would certainly talk to your doctor about this theory and see if you can discontinue the injections. Sure the injections could end up helping a bit with inflammation, but without treating the underlying infection it probably won't do much in the long run except leaving you feeling worse.
I hope things go well with the neurologist. I know that can cause quite a bit of anxiety. The talks with my doctor and others have reassured me that all of these strange symptoms certainly can be caused by sinusitis, even when you feel like you're losing your mind.
I'm currently trying to boost my immune system and kick this infection naturally. I've started a regimen of probiotics and coconut oil. Today I'm starting to use oregano capsules. I've been taking Mucinex-D to help bring down some of the pressure and hoping these natural remedies can aid in knocking out the infection. I've also been using Flonase for allergies. I'll let you know how things work for me. I recently saw someone else post in the forums about oregano capsules healing them after 3 years or chronic sinusitis. In the past, I would add a bit of oregano oil diluted in my netipot and saw some improvement, but it is very strong and I was worried about it burning my nasal passages. This capsules should help get it in my system with concerns of burning. Oregano oil is a potent natural antibiotic and antifungal. It also has inflammatory properties. Certainly beats being pumped with drugs that have nasty side effects.
I've also begun looking into food sensitivity testing. I've read that many have gotten relief by finding foods they have a delayed reaction too. The naturopath doctor I spoke with for a consultation says that this can send your body into a tailspin when it's overloaded with allergens. It's nearly impossible to avoid the airborne allergens, but we can control what we ingest. This made sense to me. She'd said that often patients find relief by adjusting their diet and over time it helps your body desensitize to those other allergens. The testing, diet planning, and follow-up appointments are rather expensive, but I am looking into doing it soon. I like the idea of it because it's safer than allergy injection treatments and I feel like there's nothing to lose. If my body is having a delayed reaction to something I'm eating, I might as well cut it out. I'm still just a bit skeptical though that it will reverse this sinusitis...
November is coming up on 3 years of this for me and I've had so many "specialist" essentially tell me they can't figure out what's wrong. It's all so depressing. My quality of life is absolutely shot.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on. I hope that insight can assist you. You've made the right call not to google side effects. I've made that mistake far too many times.
I hope you can get some relief soon!
thomas96833 tyler2016
Posted
Thank you for the detailed reply. I can completely relate to a lot of what you have written down. People don't realize the knock on effect this has on your quality of life. It is absolutely exhausting.
I think it's the steriods driving my anxiety overboard, had a Propranolol and a camomile tea and calmed down a lot.
I am in the same boat though. Specialists basically do not know what is wrong. I am starting university too this week which is adding to the anxiety as I am dreading being able to cope mentally with the course. It's hard to concentrate as it is which all this constant pressure.
I had a little relief from Turmeric capsules. They helped for a month or two but I think my body got use to them pretty quickly. I will definitely look into oregano capsules. It sounds promising and I completely agree that natural is better than some of the medicinal treatments out there.
I had a spray called Dysmista which worked amazingly well, but a few days later I got seriously depressed. I couldn't work out how when surely feeling better would improve my mood to no ends. Once I stopped the nasal spray, I slowly perked up again but the sinus problem came flooding back with vengeance. No winning at all.
Have you had a CT scan done?
One shown that I have a cyst in my sinus and the ENT is basically refusing to believe it could be causing this pressure and irritation. Starting to think I should get a second opinion on it.
tyler2016 thomas96833
Posted
I've experienced that too! Find something that works and it ends up making other symptoms worst. Ugh!
I've had two different CT scans. The first I had in the summer of 2015. My ENT said things looked good structurally, but the passages were very narrow and inflamed. They did a balloon sinuplasty for that. I felt much better for a couple of months and then symptoms came roaring back worse than before. I had a second one with another ENT early last year. He told me I had a slightly deviated septum and wanted to do surgery on it. I went back to my primary ENT and he was skeptical that my septum would be causing these issues, especially because it's normal for everyone's septum to be slightly off and he said that when he'd done the balloon sinuplasty it looked fine to him.
This is the worst part of allergy season for me. Once winter hits I tend to feel much better. Go figure!
In total, I've seen three different ENTs and they've all told me different things.
Day one of the oregano oil. I took one 50mg capsule at breakfast, lunch, and then one before bed...it seems like the one before bed might have been a bit much. Had horrible acid reflux throughout the night. I know oregano oil is rather potent. lol most sites I've found recommended a dose of 100-150mg. I only took one capsule today and will do that for a few days and then hopefully work my way up. We'll see if has any effect!