Allergies or Something More??

Updated on August 18, 2010
J.Q. asks from Tampa, FL
14 answers

I have 3 girls. My oldest is 12. Since she was born I have taken her to our family pediatrician. For as long as I can remember the poor girl has had a stuffy nose. Not runny, its plugged up with no sense of smell. All the Dr can tell me is its her allergies. So he gives me pills for her, nasal spray, everything he could think of. We tried it ALL. Nothing works! We have had the allergy test completed where they draw blood but not the needle prick test on the back.(Had that done to my now 9 year old) the blood test came back with your average allergies but really nothing more than just cats. Well obviously we don't have a cat but her nose is still plugged. I feel so bad like there has to be something more I can do. She is so used to it that it doesn't bother. I couldn't imagine being stuffed up ALL the time. I figured the Dr didn't know what he was talking about and have finally switched Pediatricians. But of course the new Dr can not see her for a few more weeks. I'm trying to see if anyone else has had this kind of problem. My Grandmother has had surgery for a deviated septum (forgive me if it is spelled wrong)she has no sense of smell either. Is that hereditary? The surgery helped her for 2 months then it went back to no sense of smell again. If anyone knows of anything I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all so much! I guess its just going to be a process of elimination! The Chiro one was pretty interesting. My husband goes to one so I will have him ask. Thank you for the links. I am in Tampa so its not far from where some people referred. I think I will start w the tea pot nose flush and go from there to the ENT. Even though I know she will not be to thrilled about having to do that. But hey if it works she might not care! Thanks again to everyone!

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J.S.

answers from Tampa on

You might want to try an ENT. My former pediatrician recommended it after similar symptoms when we lived up North with my son. Best of luck!

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L.M.

answers from Dover on

I have allergies too and when I first started having a problem I didn't want the shots. The turbinites inside my nose were swollen badly and I had surgery to cut them down. They found I had a deviated septum but it wasn't bad. Turbinites can and do return and reswell and mine do but not all the time. I do have allergies and they have been horrible this year.

Anyway, maybe your daughter is having a reaction to something she is exposed to (not really an allergy to but a result of chronic exposure). Alot of accidental poisoning happen through absorption and inhalation more often than ingestion. What type of chemicals are in your home? Before you answer that, remember that there are chemicals in personal care products, laundry products, toothpastes, and others...not just cleaning products.

We have gotten rid of all toxic chemicals...even thoughs you don't normally think of as toxic.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

have you taken her to an ENT? An ear, nose and throat specialist may be able to help her more.

I have a friend who's whole family has really small sinuses, and they've never had a great sense of smell. I know her aunt recently had a thing where they cleaned out her sinuses, which was painful but she can smell for the first time ever.

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R.L.

answers from Tampa on

I am not sure if this will help your situation but I do know that 90% percent of alergies, sickness and disease are caused by the chemicals we use in or home. I had a breathing problem which was caused by Sarcoidosis (they have no idea what the cause of this is) however I changed my house over to non caustic chemicals and starting taking vitamins that are 85% soluible (sorry spelling) because the regular 1 a day centrum etc are only 10% ingested and the rest turns into free radicals when it reaches your lower intestines....and I feel soo much better not to mention my husbands allergies are A Lot better unless we forget to change the air filter for the a/c...lol
At any rate if you would like any further information about these vitamins that they also have in childrens please feel free to contact me.
Good luck and God bless!

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S.S.

answers from Miami on

NAET treatment is the answer. Natural Allergy elimination. I am wondering if she has been stuffy all these years has it affected her academic ability?
NAET.com to find a practitioner near you!

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R.S.

answers from Tampa on

When my son was born, he had allergies as well leaning towards asthma. The doctors didn't do much, and I ended up at a chiropractor (it was free because of my husband working for him). Anyway, because of this chiropractor, he no longer has asthma or ANY symptoms that show it. This chiropractor was in Michigan but I have since moved to Florida and I know have a good one here. Kinisiology (I don't know if I spelled it right) is what my chiro does. I would be careful though, not all chiro's are good. If you are in the Largo area, I would recommend mine, just let me know if you are interested. But I would look for a referrel from a friend and seek out alternative medicine to help her. Good Luck.

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G.B.

answers from Tulsa on

You need to go to a doctor for noses and sinus'. Family doc's and pediatricians are for general stuff and have little training in specialist areas. Find a O. R. L., used to be called Eye, Ears, Nose, and Throat. They are the ones that treat sinus' and stuff that you are describing.

I googled O R L doctors in Tampa Florida and then clicked on similar on the first one and here is a list of some in your area.
O=oral, Oro
R=Rhino, nose
L=linguistics, throat

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=related:www.omni...

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W.C.

answers from Miami on

I would think it's possibly dust and or dairy. If she has alot of things in her room try emptying it out some. Wash or put stuffed animals in the dryer to get dustmites off. Ensure that her most common areas are dust free. Also limit her dairy intake or eliminate it all together to see if any of it makes a difference. These are things that helped w/ my dd. Good luck!

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S.C.

answers from Tampa on

Have you seen and ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) specialist? Could it be oversized adenoids? I had very large adenoids and tonsils as a child which cause me to not be able to breath or smell well. I had them removed at about 11 and my whole world changed! I could breath, smell & sleep! You might look into an ENT. Not sure where you are located, but Dr. Wade Cressman is an amazing Dr and has locations in a few places (St. Pete, Odessa/Trinity area, Brandon, and one in the middle somewhere - maybe Carollwood?).

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K.A.

answers from Little Rock on

I too have allergies and my nose is stuffed and painful a lot of times. I take Sudafed PE every 4 hours when it is the worst. I believe she can start taking it at 12 years old. I really wish I could help. My allergy doctor test first for the most common allergies and then may test for specific allergies that I tell her I have had a problem with. She may need to go and have a more in-debt allergy test for the less common allergies. I do have a friend whose daughter swells up out of proportion and breaks out in whelps from head to toe every spring and winds in ER and they still don't know what she is allergic too. I hope you have better luck and I'm glad it is not that serious although very annoying.

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P.M.

answers from Portland on

I have had life-long allergies and was stuffy, runny, and limited in what smells could get through for most of my life. In the past few years I have been using a neti pot and salt water to rinse my nose several times a week, and my problems are reduced dramatically.

An acquaintance who suffered for years with sinusitis also had a miracle healing when he used a neti pot.

I'd use it every day, but I am doing so much better, I don't always think of it. It's wonderful for dealing with head colds, too.

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A.P.

answers from Boston on

I'd have to say that my nose is stuffed almost all the time, even when I don't feel like my allergies are acting up and I can't smell a darn thing unless its a really strong odor. I feel like it comes in handy when changing dirty diapers all day. I had the prick test and I am allergic to pollen, dust, and cats (and I have a cat) which explains my constant allergy problems since indoor or out I'm going to run into dust or pollen (or cats). I thought the blood test was supposed to be even more accurate though, so if that only shows an allergy to cats and you don't have one, then I would look into a specialist that could look further into the problem. Like you said it doesn't bother your daughter and lack of smell isn't the worst medical issue so it may be tough for a pediatrician to look too much into it.

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K.M.

answers from Tampa on

I always have people start with enough water- body weight in pounds,divide in half- that number in ounces- that is the minimum daily- that will sometimes clear things up because that is the amount water a body needs to stay cleaned out.
Next is Eat Right 4 your Blood Type- well documented book- if you eat the foods that have Lectins that bother your body you will clog up.
If you do both of those and it is not completely resolved pls send me a message.
I couldn't agree with you more- how awful it must be.
best, k

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K.L.

answers from Naples on

Did you know that excessive cleanliness can boost allergies? I never knew that! When my son was found to have allergies, I started paying a lot more attention to the behaviors we had around the house. How often his sheets were washed, how often we dusted, etc. But I just recently read this article my pediatrician posted: http://www.thornburgpediatrics.com/articles/excessive_cle.... It's something to think about!

Good luck and I hope you can figure out what's wrong soon

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