SO--Sinus problems explain all anxiety issues? WHAT??

[kiwi]

I am dealing with the after-effects of a combo flu/sinus infection for which I have taken antibiotics. I've had dizzy spells and wooziness and lightheaded feelings and sometimes vertigo for MONTHS. My docs really don't know anything about anxiety, so they keep saying it's allergies and sinus issues.

OK, so, I know that there is more to it. But stupidly, I become obsessed with "figuring it out", and all I can do is wonder what started the dizziness, anxiety or sinuses? And then I go in circles, terrified that I have some latent inner ear problem that the doc hasn't picked up on, and that there is no cure for it, and I will be doomed to a lifetime of dizziness, which makes me crazy, and I can't take it, and HELP ME!!!

So, I made the mistake of Googling "sinus and anxiety", where I found a whole spectrum of opinions: for some, anxiety is completely explained by sinus and ear inflammation and allergies. For others, it's a combination. For others, one problem has nothing to do with the other. So I feel like I've made no progress figuring out what to treat: the anxiety, or the sinus/allergy problems?

I am taking antibiotics, so any sinus infection should disappear. I take Nasonex every day, so that greatly reduces inflammation. I take Claritin as needed. There isn't too much left to do--so here is the problem:

1. Even though I am treating sinus and allergy symptoms, I STILL get dizzy and slightly off-balance. That makes me wonder if there is some occult disease that the docs have missed.

2. My dizziness, nausea and spaciness don't seem to follow a predictable pattern. Sometimes it just hits me, and I don't know why. The unpredictability of it is very disheartening.

3. What tortures me is trying to figure out WHY this is happening. I don't know how to treat my anxiety. I'm afraid to take medicines for it--I've had some bad experiences with meds.

CAN ANXIETY REALLY MAKE YOU DIZZY and nauseous and woozy? What will make it stop? Do I really have to take SSRIs again and go through the side-effect roller coaster? Is there any other way?

Thank you in advance for your advice, your help, your gentle reminders that this will, eventually, go away.

Kiwi   

[Prewilson15]

Hi Kiwi,

I'm brand new here.  In fact, what brought me to this forum is my own flare up of hypochondria over sinus issues.

The past 2 weeks I've had sinus issues.  Headaches, pressure, pain, ear pain, teeth sensitivity (I think one is even loose) and so forth.  I went to Urgent Care Sunday and he said sinusitis and put me on amoxicillin, 1000mg twice a day, plus Mucinex.  I honestly don't think it's helping, but who knows.  The pressure is better, but the ear pain, facial pain, and teeth issues are still there.

I'm 35 years old and rather than just getting through this, I'm worried about sinus cancer.

I've made an appointment with Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist for January.  Waiting that long will be torture.

What were your symptoms?  What type of antibiotics are you on?

Paula

[kiwi]

My sinus issues are more annoying than anything else--my real problem is anxiety. My symptoms range from ear-popping and pressure to face pain that radiates down my neck and back (which seems to signal, in my case, an infection that has to be treated ASAP) to sore throat from constant drainage to dizziness and feeling light-headed and off-balance--which, I must say, is probably more related to anxiety (more on that in a moment).

I can almost guarantee that you don't have sinus cancer. How did you even come up with that one?? Sinus problems can be chronic--they get better and worse, but never really go away (a lot like anxiety!). If you have allergies or chronic sinus congestion, consider Nasonex and occasional Claritin. Singulair is also supposed to help, but I haven't tried it yet. I am not a doctor, so the above are the recommendations of someone who is only basing this on her own experience. Talk to you doctor about Nasonex, Claritin and Singulair (I sound like a commercial)!

In my case, the sinus problem MIGHT have caused some dizziness or might still, but I think my real problem is that my anxiety has laser-focused on dizziness and wooziness as a way to express itself. Anxiety is so tricky and treachorous--if we define it as a mask for strong, perhaps unacceptable (to us, anyway) emotion that is not finding the proper outlet, then it makes sense that the anxiety will do ANYTHING to get us to pay attention. That includes finding the symptoms that scare us the most and mimicking them.

That's my John Sarno-based theory. We are being diverted by chasing vague, transitory symptoms from the real, powerful emotions that must be dealt with.

Anyway, don't worry about your sinuses being anything else but a pain in the butt that you have to deal with through medications and alternative treatments. Beyond that, figure out what is REALLY scaring you. It's not a disease--and only you can do the rest of the detective work.

Much affection,

Kiwi
 

[renaed]

Funny you posted this b/c I also have sinus issues so I googled sinus issue + anxiety and a LOT came up. I had NO IDEA there was a connection! And apparently there is a connection with mold......interesting.

I guess it's not sooo surprising but quite interesting.

I have always had issues. Its a family thing. It's so common so to me nothing to worry about.

[Kryztle21]

Wow so this can make complete sense for me. I was in the ER last night because I started getting a severe earache and jaw pain. I've been sick with some kind of respiratory thing for about 2 weeks now and it turned into a middle ear infection and boy has my anxiety been bad these last few days I've been on here and posting and reading non stop. And the fact they put me on an antibiotic today I'm freaking even more because I don't like ingesting foreign things as u know from my last post you commented on. Sinus problems run in my family and so does anxiety. I'm wondering if they could go hand in hand now. But IBS does also. If this is true I wouldn't be afraid because there are messures you can take to ease sinus and ear problems. I've watched my mother do it for years. Just sleeping with a humidifier all year round can help. But don't read into it to much because there obviously hasn't been enough research so it is just theory for now I guess and for all we know it could be that anxiety just knocks the immune system and make more vulnerable to these things. As for the dizziness though it is very very miserable to live through, I know I have my bad days too. I myself am still looking for ways to get threw that. But it could just be anxiety. I hope things get better for you soon!


Crystal

[pixipatrin]

I'd say a little bit of both might help you. Work on the sinuses by getting gentle exercises, eating well, even avoiding milk and processed foods for a while might help the sinus and possibly even the anxiety. Lay off items like diet soda and instant meals if you aren't already, the additives can be excitatory and make anxiety worse. Neti pot and breathing steam (water) or even vapors from apple cider vinegar may help the sinuses. Gentle exercises that move your neck gently will help whatever yuckies are in your head flow out better, and a lot of that icky stuff can contribute to anxiety if it's not draining away... but you're not beyond repair.

Work on the anxiety by distracting yourself from the sx (I think this site helps a lot of us because we get distracted from our own sx and also see that other people are having the same sx as us and are still kicking so its a bit of a comfort)

And if there is anything controllable in your environment that might be contributing to an allergy  (mold, pet, too much dust) then that might help too.

Good luck.