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Sleep problem due to difficult breathing persists after turbinectomy


Posted by Pete C. on February02, 2000 at 22:56:06:

I've been having breathing problems caused by rhinitus for almost five years. The symptoms were first nasal congestion and runny nose but soon developed into constant nasal blockage and dryness, which made it extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible for me to fall asleep. I have used various kinds of steroids nasal sprays, as prescribed by my family doctors and several ENT doctors whom I'd seen, but these sprays became less and less effective over the years and eventually had no noticeable effect on relieving my symptoms. Under the advice from my doctors, I also developed a habit of using salt-solution to irrigate my nasal cavity. During that time, all I could do was to take oral decongestants and to irrigate frequently in order to help my breathing.
Not much longer, it came to the point where the problem was so severe that I was sleep-deprived every day. Therefore I underwent a cauterization procedure as advised by an ENT doctor. The procedure was not especially helpful and about half a year after that I went through a more drastic operation, turbinectomy, in the hope that it would cure my problem.
It's now been nine months since I had this surgery. Now there's definitely more space in my nasal cavity as I could feel. The frustrating thing is that I still cannot breath as a normal person can. I still have to irrigate my nose every night before I go to bed and in the middle of the night, I always wake up once or twice as my nose has become blocked during the course of my sleep. I have to get up and irrigate again before being able to fall asleep. Very often I still do not get enough sleep because of this disrupted sleep pattern. The strange thing is there is not much to rinse out from my nasal cavity. Apparently the feeling of "blockage" is not due to actual physical blockage by mucus but to extreme dryness inside the nasal cavity. I have explained this problem to several doctors I've seen and some of them prescribed me with a lubricating ointment for intranasal usage; however, using it could only increase the feeling of blockage for me.
I really want to get rid of my habit of irrigation as it feels unpleasant and sometimes painful to do so, especially during the middle of the night. I have tried sleeping with my mouth open but was unable to do so. Also my problem does not seem to be a case of sleep apnea as examined by my ENT doctors.
I would be grateful if you could give me some advice regarding the problem.

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