I'm victim of this horrible ,hellbound ,unbearable and never ending nightmare called the severe fungal allergic sinusitis.Battling with it for the past 6 years.Not a life threatening disease but definitely which makes your life topsy-turvey.
This is a never ending nightmare because there is no cure for allergy ,you can just control it and make your life more tolerable.
No chilled and freezed food products,no outings in cold weather and definitely no A.C. Inspite of being extra cautious of what u eat,drink and where u go,a slightest trigger to provoke this allergy and boom u come face-to-face with ugly side of this horrific adventure.
My body system is allergic to the fungus by name Asperigillus Fumigatus,due to which overgrowths of the mucus called ployps start developing in the paranasal sinuses .If left untreated they spread throughout all the four pair of sinuses causing an obstruction and therby making breathing thru the nose very difficult.Headaches,runny nose,para-nasal drip symptoms are common.Sense of smell disappears.Imagine trying to smell the fragrance of rose and u just can't(the rose here is as good as an aritificial one)In the worst case scenario ,the polyps can protrude into the optic nerve which may lead to loss of vision,may also spread to the brain.
Early detection of these polyps is possible only if u r under continuous supervision of the ENT doctor who does an nasal endoscopy to assess the size and extent to which the polyps have started spreading to.If the polyps are in initial stage,docs prescribe nasal spray and suggest u to go for salt water irrigation to subside their growth.Even then u need to make frequent visits to the doctor to make sure they have indeed shrunk.
If they are very big u need to go for a surgical removal.Even if u get them surgically removed it is not done yet,there is 75% chance of recurrence :(
I was first diagnosed with polyposis in the year 2004.It was too late to be treated using medicines,so went under the knife.I had a deviated nasal septum and two nostrils full of polyps.So a FESS(Functional Endoscopic Sinusits Surgery)surgery along with septomoplasy to set right my nose and
clear the sinuses.The surgery was not a big deal but the post operative pain was unbearable.After the surgery my nose was packed with guaze cloth and sealed to stop bleeding forcing me to breathe thru the mouth.Top of the that i was given injections to my nerves(not muscle),and the pain was severe.
One part of the pack is removed on the next day post-surgery.This is the worst nightmare.The gauze cloth which sucks up the blood and gets stuck to the hair in the nostril is removed and when this is being pulled out,u ultimately witness not only the stars,i bet an entire galaxy.The other pack is removed on the third day and u r sent home on the same day if everything is okay.
Five to six followups to the doctor are compulsory,where cleaning of the sinus walls is done.The polyps start sprouting immediately,so they r cleared up and u r put on a hell lot of ani-fungals.I was not told about the recurrence part and so i was happy i got rid of the mess.Come 2007 i was again diagnosed with fungal polyps again.Honestly i was shocked and depressed..Again went for a FESS surgery.After the surgery i had fungal infections to my nose for every 2 months,prompting me to visit the doctor ,get the mess cleared and again a stong dose of anti-fungals were given.
I moved to Hyderabad and there was a costant fear in my mind about the recurrence of the polyps.So i consulted a ENT specialist ,who checked my nose and said evrything was fine.She put me on Septilin(a Himalaya product) to boost my immunity and therby prevent the infection and the lesions.
Don't know if the pills worked,i never got an infection and there was no visible difficulty in breathing and so gave the regular visit to the doc a single skip.
The following month i got pregnant and so went to the doc to make sure if everything was okay.She performed a nasal endoscopy and said the polyps are back and since i was in the early months of pregnancy nothing cud be done.She said i had to wait until the pregnancy progresses to the 20th week when a surgery cud be done to remove them.I consulted my gynaec who advised me not to go for surgery since it cud be risky if ur pregnant .She asked to consult a homeo doctor.I consulted a homeo doctor who said he would put me on medicines which would not only shrink the polyps but also prevent them from sprouting back.Using them since a year.One year down the lane now in 2010,i went for a CT scan because i was experiencing severe difficuly in breathing.And what the report says boom the polyps are back filling my entire left nostril and partially my right nostril.
So i think the time is ripe for me to say good bye to homeo medicine and back to the operation table.
