Chronic Sinus Issues

J.,
I am gonna have to go with everyone else on this one. It is crazy that your dr. keeps prescribing different antibiotics. It is obviously NOT a bacterial infection and that is why the meds are not working for your son! Definitely get him on a probiotic immediately to counter act the antibiotics! The best way to describe it to kids is.... you have good soldiers and bad soldiers in your body. When you take antibiotics, ALL the soldiers die. Sometimes this can compromise the immune system and make things worse. When you take probiotics you are replenishing the Good soldiers and giving your body a better chance at fighting off the Bad soldiers. (My children LOVE to tell this story to others!!)

You may want to look into things he is eating to make his mucus so thick! If you can.. choose Certified Organic for his fruits and veggies and Milk. Make sure to stay away from processed food and food with preservatives and food coloring. Believe it or not..these could be a contributing factor to his medical concerns.

Definitely DEMAND a referral to your ENT and do not allow it to go any further. You have the right to demand he be seen by another specialist and if your doctor will not do that for you... then he should NOT be your doctor!!!!

My middle son had sinus problems... After 4 visits to my doctor with in a 2 month span time...she decided to refer us to a ENT to "check things out and just make sure." Because he had NO allergies after testing and still just seemed to have nose and phlegm issues. After 1 visit to the ENT and x-rays, they found his adnoids were 7X the size they should be and were blocking his airways. By the time we caught it... he was already experiencing speech problems and hearing issues. So.... get it checked out sooner rather than later! He was 3 when he had surgery to remove the adenoids and insert temp tubes.

I have also made some big changes in the home to help him and the rest of us who all suffer from sinus issues. We now use Mostly Organic products. We NO LONGER use any cleaning, laundry or body care product unless it is natural or Organic. You would be surprised what your everyday cleaners chemical ingredients can do to your body!!!

Look into some Essential Oils for his room at night. You can take a hankie.... Take Eucalyptus oil and put a few drops on the hankie... tie it in a knot and put it by your sons head while sleeping. I also use a humidifier (on bad days) and put 2 drops of the oil in it and let it run all day long in his room. Also... I spray a few drops of a Spray oil in the rooms he is in morning and night. It really seems to help "open the nasal passages."

Let me know if I can help you any further. Please feel free to email me with any questions/concerns you have!

Good Luck... Hope it all works out... PLEASE get a new Doctor!!!
Jenn
Mama to Bryce~9, Austin~6 Taylor~14 mnths
Step Mama to Nich~15 Christian~14

J.,

I could not believe when I read about your son. That is EXACTLY what happened with my son but he had just turned 3. He was MISERABLE all last spring and summer and I KILLED myself changing his clothes if he went outside (thinking it was pollen) spent big money on a new vacuum and vaccuumed the entire house every day, changed his bedding every 2 days, etc. FINALLY we were referred to an allergist. Well, they put him on singulair and he had a really bad reaction, he literally did not sleep and ran in circles for 3 days. Scared the daylights out of me. They finally tested him and said he is only allergic to dogs. WHAT?? We don't have a dog. No one we know has a dog. So why is he so sick? Every cold, would go right to his chest and we'd need a nebulizer. One time even that did not help and he needed antiinflammatory injections.

Finally we put him on Zyrtec, which our insurance does not cover and it seemed to help some. But who wants their child on drugs 2x per day?

Let me ask, did you have a difficult or long delivery? Was your child a c-section or vacuum or forceps?

Believe it or not, my son is FINE now, and not on ANY meds and the solution was so simple and I can't believe the difference.
His allergist is totally amazed.

First I started my son on a childrens daily probiotic supplement to counteract the antibiotics effects of killing off ALL bacteria in the body, even the good bacteria that proctect you from recurrent infections. My husband had recurrent sinus infections for 20 years UNTIL he started on probiotics. he hasn't had one in over a year.

Then the allergist sent my son for xrays of his adnoids and tonsils (which were fine). I'm taking an anatomy class right now and my son sees me study bones and wanted to see his 'bone pictures' so when we saw them, I noticed that his neck area did not have much curve in it, like it should - it was really straight. So I took my son and his xrays to my chiropractor and she did a thing where she lined him up and showed how 'crooked' his spine is. I was in labor with him for 48 hours and he was stuck, had his shoulders dislocated to get him out and still they used a vacuum. NO KIDDING he's out of whack! I work in the alternative health field and never even thought about it!

So he started to get weekly adjustments for about 6 weeks and I did reflexology (which I have been trained in) on him to 'rebalance' his system and took him to a craniosacral therapist to help his central nervous system rebalance itself and within 2 weeks he was perfectly fine. He hasn't taken allergy meds in months. Except if we go to a home with a dog, we give him a dose before we go and when we get home.

Also I had some sinus issues that were getting worse and I got allergy tested and turned out the ONLY thing I was allergic to was a mold. It is a black mold and not always visible. It is abundant in leaf piles and outdoors but can be inside. Our house is really old and there were some rooms with old wallpaper still on the walls and older carpet. Well, we got rid of the wallpaper and carpet, treated the walls and floors (per allergist recommendations) and sealed and painted the walls and put down laminate instead of carpet. And now we ALL breathe much better.

I hope something out of this very long response will be helpful in your situation.

I know your frustration and desperation. Hang in there!

J.,

This is SO not normal. It sounds like classic allergies. And testing will in all too many cases not reveal the culprits.

However I couldn't say it any better than Lisa S. did in her post. She is right on the money!! An awesome probiotic and some chiropractic care will help to keep the sinus' draining the way they should and replenish the lost beneficial bacterial so essential to good health.

Get him off the antibiotics right now, and make an appointment with the Chiropractor.

Best of luck!!

Blessings,

Rolinda
Wife, Mother, Friend

Based on your update:

Infection is what causes the over enlarging of the adenoids in children, and even in adults. The adenoids are part of the lymphatic system in the body and in children are the first line of defense against infection and disease. It would be prudent to determine the cause of the underlying infections (and we've already determined they are not bacterial by the lack of response to Antibiotics) that are causing your son's problem. I still strongly urge you to consider chiropractic care to help stimulate the drainage of the sinus' which are part of the problem. Next, I suggest you consider some allergy testing, particularly NAET <http://www.naet.com/index.html&gt; or the combination of several tests. Beginning with an elimination diet would be a great start, beginning with pasteurized dairy products, and possibly wheat. Try seeking out the help of a specialist in pediatric infection and allergy.

Best of luck! This can't be an easy decision for you to make. My girlfriend's son has his adenoids removed at a very young age. I only wish she had discovered the underlying cause of the infections first.

Blessings,
Rolinda
Wife, Mother, Friend

Aside from being a mother, I'm also a nurse. Pediatrics is not my specialty, but I can tell you that the symptoms you have described and the response/treatment from your pediatrician is not normal. My experience with pediatricians has been just the opposite. They are usually very reluctant to prescribe antibiotics because most infections that children acquire are viral, and antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections. Prescribing antibiotics too often or unnecessarily can lead to antbiotic resistance, meaning that they will eventually stop being effective against killing the bacteria. I would suggest that you ask for a referral for an ENT ASAP;you need someone who specializes in this area. If your son's pediatrician isn't helpful, find a different one who is! I wish you the best of luck!!

Hi J.,

This story about the sinus infections sounds so much like my son it's scary!!! My son turned 3 December, I swear he was always sick! It was always congestion that made him sound stuffy all the time, and caused it to drain into his chest. My old pediatrician told me he was just prone to colds because he was a preemie. Then I got tired of the wrong answer and switched doctors. Now his doctor said his nasal passages were so constricted, no wonder he couldn't breath. They decided it might very well be allergy (to anything) related so rather than put him thru stressful and painful allergy testing they gave him a trial run on loratadine (generic liquid children's claritin) and it is working like a charm believe it or not. He gets a tsp every day late afternoon and his congestion and breathing has cleared up so much it's amazing. Talk to your dr. about an over-the-counter allergy med like claritin to open him up a little, or Singulair comes in a tasty chewable tablet and it is used for nasal allergies and symptoms of asthma to make breathing easier.

Good Luck
(sorry so long winded)
-K.

Check out the "Neti Pot", for sinuses. where I live it is sold at Good Earth Market.
B.

My son is having the same problem. At 10 months old he had tubes put in due to recurrent ear infections. Now at the age of 4 he has not had any ear infections but has had recurrent sinus infections. He is always congested and snores like a grown man. Even when he is awake it sounds like he is sleeping because he snores. I have switched his pediatrician because the first doctor he went too was to relaxed about the issue and kept telling me to give him dimetapp because kids his age did not get sinus infections. Now his new doctor has him on flonase and zyrtec but after hearing your story I am definitely going to talk to him about his adenoids. Even with the medication that he is on he is still congested and snores like crazy which causes him to wake up in the middle of the night. Maybe this is my answer. I feel like he has not been able to breathe normal since about 5 months of age!

not to scare you but this does not sound normal to me. i would have him checked by an ear/nose/throat specialist. maybe he has adnoid or tonsil problems as this can cause major blockage in the nose. maybe something else is going on but i would be concerned also. if this is all normal, maybe he has severe allergie(s) which is congesting him and you may need to see an allergy specialist. it is NOT safe to continue constantly using antibiotics as your body builds up immunity to them. i would DEFINATELY get a second opinion from either another doctor or a specialist but i would want a reason for this as this from my knowledge is not normal. good luck and hope this advice helps.

Hi J.,
As a Mom who had a son with sleep apnea that was cured not by surgery (recommended by the ENT and pediatrician) by by the chiropractor in 2 weeks, I would suggest you seek out other kinds of care that include a holistic approach. A good chiropractor is a start, but also a homeopath or a naturopath. Traditional medicine is not always the right path especially if you are not getting better. I don't know where you live to give you a recommendation, but the internet is full of holistic moms who can point you in a good direction. My FSA even covers my homeopath and chiropractor, so don't think you that this is going to cost a ton of money out of pocket. Good luck with your child.
P.S. I was a child who had her tonsils, adnoise (sp?)and tubes in my ears, I now have a hearing loss because of scarring in my ears from the tubes and because I do not have a first line of defense for infection ( tonsils are an important part of the immune system) infection now goes straight to my lungs.
BLessing to you,
L. S, Ap Midwife, natural childbirth educator and mom of 3 holistic children

I am with everyone else on this as well. I certainly give my Nebulizer a workout on my 8 month old and 3 year old. Fortunately that seems to work quite with them, so I never had to go the ENT route. But I am a big believer in the Chiro! There is a great one in Dickson City, Dr. Klein. He sees patients in his Christian bookstore (Gifts From Above). He is very gentle and intelligent. Good luck.

Hey J., My daughter has tubes in her ears. She's had them about a year now. She, however had almost constant ear infections. After her 9th in one year, which is supposedly the medical cutoff for ENT intervention, our Ped sent us immediately to the specialist. She is of the opinion Boogies of any color, or severity are not normal. My daughter does have year round allergies, which complicated the problem, but since her tubes have been in she has had only 2 upper respiratory infections, which came from her 5 year old brother and school. As far as I remember, though, her ENT checked her ads when her ears were checked, becuase of the severity of her infections, and he said it wouldn't be out of the question to maybe look into removing them as well. Fortunately for us though, just the tubes worked wonders. You CAN get a second pediatric opinion, check how with your insurance company, about the ears, but I tell you, once the ENT gets to do his/her job, the difference will be amazing! Hang in there, and Good Luck!!

My son is going to be 2 in May and he's already had tubes in his ears for the last year and his adenoids removed by his ENT due to chronic sinusitis. He had a green nose all of the time and we've been on 5 different types of antibiotics as well as Zyrtec twice a day for almost a year and a half now. The tubes were not a big deal at all, it takes longer for them to fall asleep and wake up than the actual surgery itself. The adenoids were a little bit bigger deal but mostly because he was so young and cried a lot when he woke up which they really didn't want him to do. I love the ENT we see, she also sees my daughter who is 5 and has had both her adnoids and her tonsils removed due to sinus issues.

My pediatrician will try all in her power before resulting in seeing the ENT because at least at that point my ENT knows that she has tried everything and that sending us there is the last resort. Which is good because then we haven't had to go through more antibiotics and other things to get him "fixed". My pediatrician also doesn't just prescribe antibiotics just to get us on our way. She only does it when there are several factors involved and by now she knows my son so well she knows what we are dealing with.

Oh and just in case you are wondering, not one sinus infection since the adenoids were removed!!! Yay!!

Have you tried getting a new tooth brush or boiling the old one? My professor in nursing school always said they could cause recurrent bacterial ear infections because the bacteria on the brush is never killed but it goes right back into their mouth regardless of medication. The toothbrush swap should be done 1/2 way through the antibiotics, when his body is cleaning out. Of course boiling is free and could be done just because. Good luck.

J.,
When son #2 was 18months old, he began antibiotics for an ear infection. He had sleep apnea, although his ped at the time, said snoring (gasping for breath) was normal. My son went through several rounds of antibiotics (eventually he would be prescribed rocephin) and still had ear infections. At 33 months, we moved and his new ped saw the problem for what is was. My son needed tubes and his adnoids removed. But more importantly, from 18 months to 33 months, he did not develop speech and language. He would eventually learn to speak after the surgery. He has a slight hearing loss in one ear. He is 9 yrs old now, and has an IEP. He is behind his peers in reading, writing, basic comprehesion.

Get the tubes and remove the adnoids. I wish I had been wiser with son #2. With son #3, I was. He has no hearing loss and developmentally on track.

Good luck.