Sinus update--may be allergies?!?

[PattiL]

Chrissy and I just returned back from the ENT Dr. and he doesn't think there's any need to remove the 'larger than life' polyp that Chrissy has. Finally some good news! In fact, he doesn't think she's been having sinus infections at all. He believes that most of her problems stem from allergies. (nausea, burning and pressure in her eyes, weakness, fatigue). Of course, some of these symptoms are also from POTS, but maybe some of it can be brought on by allergies. She has had a blood test for allergies before, but Monday they are going to do a skin test, which he says is much more sensitive. I'm hoping that once all the antibiotics get out of her system her nausea will go away. Are allergies common for POTS sufferers, or is this just an 'extra'?

Thanks, Patti

[Merrill]

I think it's an extra ... free with something we hardly ordered and didn't want.

Good news from the doc ... keep us posted on how the allergy tests work out. Antibiotics make tons of people nauseated ... hopefully that's the deal for your daughter as well, and she'll start to feel better with more appropriate treatments.

best,

m

[geneva]

So glad to hear that your daughter won't have to have surgery. I do find that I have more allergies since becoming ill with POTS.

[DancingLight]

oh, i do have an answer to one of your posts! he-he.

okay, merrill...i am laughing out loud! that was so funny.

patti...i have had horrible, horrible allerigies. the long and the short of it is that in 9th grade, long before POTS, i missed a ton of school and was very very sick with nausea, weakness, fatigue, etc....the doctors kept saying that i just didn't want to go to school...but we found out fnally that it was ALLERGIES! i was severely allergic to ragweed and it was making me so sick, but in a less 'traditional' way than allergies typically do.

the allergies make all of my pots symptoms worse now and it is pretty hard to separte the two, like you said.

anyway, luckily there are some good allergy meds...they aren't a cure all for me, but it does make a difference. the skin tests are okay i guess, but i don't think they show everything you know??? they can only test so many things!

also, i am sensitive to things like pressure and temp. changes and tehse can mimic allergies as well...

okay, i would write more, but i am about to fall over...sorry...

emily

[steph37822]

oops

[Merrill]

I take claritin for my allergies with no icky side effects. Do NOT take claritin-d (with decongestant); that often triggers symptoms for people. Regular claritin is OK. Actually, I get the prescription kind, clarinex, which is partly covered by insurance. Copay is cheaper than a month's supply of the OTC claritin.

[PattiL]

Thanks for the advice on the Claritin. I have to look thru Chrissy's records to see if she was ever on it and then ask her Dr. about it on Mon. I'll let you know how the testing goes when we get back.

Patti

[laila]

My daughter and I took Claritin once last week and both had bad reactions. I had horrible nightmares and felt extra shaky and weird the whole next day. She who is 14 woke up and both her legs were stiff and she could barely walk!! I grabbed the pill book and it did say it could cause muscle cramps., as well as other symptoms such as nervousness, etc. It was freaky! I gave her tylenol and made her go to school with instructions to call me if things didn't get better. She said she felt as if in a fog till 2nd period. Her high school has 4 period days. And in P. e. they ran the mile and then she felt better. I will certainly never take it again. I do have good results with Zyrtec. For some reason my pcp gave me a script for the Clarinex I don't know why. I am terribly sensative to medicines but I have never seen my daughter have such a reaction. And it's a once a day pill so I had to wait for 24 hours to feel better.

Good luck, though, everyone is different.

[laila]

My daughter and I both tried Claritin last week and both had bad reactions. I have always been ultra sensative to meds and do well with Zyrtec, a prescription allergy medicine. Anyway I had horrible nightmares and woke up in a horrible panic state and then my daughter said her legs were so stiff she could barely walk. I grabbed the pill book and it did have pain in legs, muscle pain, as well as other icky side effects. I gave her tylenol and sent her to school as she has missed so much already this year, with instructions to call me, if not better. Well she did get better by 2nd period, though she said she felt like her vision was blurry and was sleepy till then. I of course felt horrible all day with nervousness it is a 24 hour pill. We will never take it again!! I have never seen her have any kind of reaction to a pill such as that.

Whoops! Somehow my first post disapeared and then reapeared after i rewrote it. Sorry about this I can't get it off.

[Miriam Poorman-Knox]

I had a rash that looked ugly. I had it biopsied. The results were that I have Mast Cell involvement. What that means is that mast cells have something to do with allergic reactions/rashes. My derm gave me Allegra. It did help and now he is trying to wean me off every otherday. But with the weather and allergins I need more. This is Pots.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess thats the good news and the bad news.

At least we know that this is part of the process. Miriam