u/One-Cardiologist6301

I’m sorry for begging. I just really want some advice. I’m lost.

I don’t want to make this long as I know nobody will read it then but I have to try and explain it.

No previous history of sinus issues or even headaches, I’m 30. I’m almost certain I have barosinusitis but nobody is listening to me. I feel like nobody is going to believe me.

I know true sinus headache are rare (barosinusitis even rarer) and most are migraines or whatever, I know about this statistic and I feel like this very statistic is what is preventing me from getting my life back.

I had a baby 20 months ago and I got postpartum thyroiditis after it (this is relevant because I now know that hypothyroidism is heavily linked to sinus issues by causing swelling and fluid build up)

At 6 months post partum (in May 2025) I tried to return to my hobby of bouldering and I noticed these bizarre localised headaches right in my left inner brow corner. Mild pain, pressure feeling. It would last around 7-10 days once triggered. This happens every single I went climbing, eventually I stopped going.

Then in November and January it triggered without climbing, at the time I had no idea what it was but now I’m aware it happened during two huge storms and the biggest barometric pressure drops in the last year in the UK.

Since that, unless I climb, it doesn’t happen. However, in January I got a bunch of viruses back to back and then got actual sinusitis for the first time in my life, after that my opposite right eyebrow starting hurting! This time it hurt to press too, like a bruise. And it followed a perfect timed cycle, like it would always hurt around 10am each day until 4pm and then totally go away until the next day. (I’ve since seen on medical journals this is a well documented ENT phenomenon called a frontal sinus office headache)

I’ve occasionally felt tapping and squelching in my inner brow corners too but unless I have an active sinus infection I never have any mucus.

No other symptoms at all except some ear fullness occasionally and sometimes jaw pressure. 0 typical migraine symptoms, no sensitivity, no throbbing, nausea, pain doesn’t really spread and isn’t severe.

I’m almost certain that my postpartum and thyroid shifts caused my frontal sinuses to swell or made the tissue somehow highly reactive and that my already narrow sinuses doors now swell shut under pressure/stress. The issue is that it’s highly dynamic and I can go months without any issue.

I saw an ENT a few days ago for the first time and told him this entire story , he did an endoscope said it was clear and then said he’d order a CT scan but it was unlikely to be sinus issues?!

I don’t understand what to do to get someone to listen to me. If my issue is dynamic and only occurs during these triggers will it even show on a scan?! Likely not right?! Then wtf do I do

I’m 30, female, 55kg, 5ft 7, no smoking or drinking. I have Hashimoto’s with a partial thyroidectomy. Take levothyroxine. 20 months ago had a baby. Before this, I had zero history of sinus issues or headaches.

I really just need to vent and see if anyone has experienced anything similar. The last year has been the absolute worst of my life, and I feel like I'm being gaslit by doctors and made to feel completely insane.

At 6 months postpartum, I tried to get back into bouldering. Immediately, I noticed a strange, localized headache right in my left inner brow corner. It wasn’t a sharp pain, and pretty mild but just a heavy, annoying pressure. Crucially, it never hit while climbing—it only started 30–60 minutes after I finished, and it would last for 7 to 10 days straight. It completely devastated me because I had to give up my favorite hobby. I tried other exercise like cardio and nothing happens so it must be something to do with the valsalver manoeuvre (straining and breath holding).

GPs in the UK were useless (saw them 8 times).

Over the winter, this exact left-side headache triggered twice without climbing—and I now realise it perfectly lined up with two massive winter storms (huge barometric pressure drops). If I don't climb and there are no winter storms, the left side stays quiet and nothing happens.

Then in January, I caught my first-ever bout of acute sinusitis. Since then, my right side has started acting up, but completely differently. It doesn't care about climbing, but it follows a strict, daily clock. I wake up totally fine, the pressure builds around 10:00 AM, peaks at noon, and then completely fades away around 4:00 PM without fail. Unlike the left, the right eyebrow is incredibly tender and hurts to physically press down on.

No other symptoms or sensitivities apart from some mild intermittent ear fullness and jaw/cheek pressure.

I've done a mountain of research (cos nobody else would help me) I know that a daily 10am–4pm frontal headache is a well-documented sinus drainage cycle (sometimes called an "office headache"). I also know hypothyroidism causes tissue swelling, which likely narrowed my already tight sinus passages postpartum.

I finally saw a private ENT today. He shoved an endoscope up my nose, said the nasal cavity looked "clear" of mucus, and ordered a CT scan, but told me it's "unlikely" to be sinus-related. It feels like because I don’t have green snot dripping out of my nose actively today, they assume it’s a not that even though everything seems to point to that. He completely ignored the thyroid connection too.

Has anyone else dealt with a "dry" sinus pressure issue or vacuum headaches that present like this? Is this just incredibly rare? I'm waiting on the CT scan, but I honestly feel like I’m losing my mind and I just want my life back