Mouth Breathing at Night Post Septoplasty & Turbinoplasty

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I was diagnosed with mild Deviated Nasal Septum and Inferior Turbinate Hypertrophy in May 2019. The main issue I have is disturbed sleep. I wake up in the night and realize that I have been mouth breathing.

I tried to manage with Avamys Nasal Spray (Fluticasone) but as the improvement was minimal, I finally decided to go ahead with the surgery in Nov 2019. The surgery performed was Septoplasty + Laser Assisted Turbinoplasty under General Anasthesia.

Post surgery, the ENT Surgeon says the Nasal Passages are good now and I should be able to breathe well. However despite a period of 5 months elapsing post surgery, I am still suffering from disturbed sleep where I wake up 2-3 times in the night and sense that I have been mouth breathing and Mouth would have dried up. I resumed Avamys Nasal Spray also and tried for few months but not much help.

I dont have any issues in breathing thru my nose during the day. The only other issue I face is that I feel dryness in my left nostril.

Apart from Avamys I am doing nasal wash 2 times a day using Physiomer Isotonic Spray. Post surgery I was using Hypertonic Spray and Doctor has asked me to use Isotonic Spray now. This has helped in overcoming the feeling of dryness.

Any suggestions advice would help.

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1 Reply

  • Posted

    Wow. My god. I dont know that I have any solutions. But I am here to empathise. I think we are nose twins. I have exactly the same issues as you, sans the surgery.

    I have enlarged turbinates. Not a deviated septum though. But sounds like your septum issue was minor and probably not the main cause. And rather its the turbinates.

    My turbinates problem is exactly the same as yours. During the day time its not really a problem. But its at night that I have real issues. My nose gets more blocked and that wakes me up regularly. I think from the discomfort but also from the dry sore mouth and throat and diminished breathing.

    I have tried almost everything under the sun. I have not had the surgery yet though so disappointed to hear yours hasnt worked.

    I have tried nasal rinses, changing diets, cleaning the heck out of the house and vacuuming with a high powered HEPA filter vacuum., anti histamines, steroid nasal sprays, doing zero alcohol for months, using an aromatherapy mister next to the top of my bed at night etc> Nothing works. I have even been doing allergy shots now. I have tested as allergic to dust mites and grasses. Dust mites is the significantly stronger allergy. But I have been doing allergy shots for 8 months now and still no results. Its very expensive and time consuming.

    This is all very frustrating as when I keep waking up I eventually cant get back to sleep so being awake from 5am is a regular occurrence, regardless of when I went to bed. It so bad for my health to have this sleep loss which is so out of my ability to control. I hate it.

    The only thing, other than surgery, that I havent tried yet is putting an air purifier in my bedroom. I might try that but my hopes are low. All this stuff costs so much money and its aggravating that it doesnt work.

    There is one thing thought that does work. Thats to use a decongestant nasal spray. It opens the nose right up. Its discouraged for use though as apparently long term use can cause rebound congestion. But I think WTF else am I going to do. I have tried everything else anyway and nothing works and I have congestion anyways. But I really limit this. I save this for that one night after I have had successive sleep loss and am desperate. But never two nights in a row. The other thing which works is sleeping pills. I figure that they sedate you sufficiently to push you through the discomfort. So I use one or the other after a sucessive number of nights of sleep loss when I am desperate. But these are not healthy or sustainable long term measures. I really want something that properly works.

    I feel your pain.

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