Desperately need help
Hi everyone. I’ve been dealing with this for almost 2 years now and I honestly feel completely lost about what to do next. I don’t know how much longer I can deal with it physically and mentally.
My symptoms are:
- 24/7 post-nasal drip
- bad breath
- white tongue
- constant fatigue
- really bad brain fog
Over the past few years, I’ve seen 3 different ENTs. The first two recommended FESS surgery, but I never went through with it. I’ve also done:
- 21 days of doxycycline
- saline rinses
- steroid rinses/sprays to calm inflammation
As a last resort, I recently saw a new ENT and got a CT scan done. The CT showed my sinuses are clear and that there’s nothing blocked. So now I’m confused — if my sinuses are “fine,” why do I still have nonstop post-nasal drip?
Another weird symptom is that when I do saline rinses or use nasal spray, I sometimes smell a fishy odor deep in my nose. I also feel pressure mostly on the left side of my face, where I happen to have a dental implant. I saw my oral surgeon and they said the implant looks completely fine.
What’s also frustrating is that the ENT who ordered the CT scan didn’t even look inside my nose with a scope. But the previous ENTs who did look inside my nose were the ones recommending surgery without ever doing a CT scan first. So now I feel like I’m getting conflicting opinions from everyone.
At this point, I don’t know what this even is anymore:
- Silent reflux/LPR?
- A sinus issue that somehow isn’t showing on CT?
- Something dental-related
- Chronic infection?
- Gut-related?
For reference, I’m in the U.S., and navigating healthcare here has honestly been exhausting.
Has anyone experienced something similar — especially the post-nasal drip + bad breath + white tongue + brain fog combination? Did you ever figure out the root cause? And if so, what actually helped?
I’m exhausted and just looking for answers at this point.