Or some other genetic condition that isn't "full blown"?
Please hear out my description. Any input from you will be much valued.
I'm 30, and for as long as I can remember I've had chronic sinus issues and excess sputum production--I cannot go half an hour of socialising or talking without having to spit out phlegm. It's a disaster socially and professionally. I've ruled out food and other allergies, and I don't have a deviated septum, so it must be a genetic predisposition?
Apparently there is mounting evidence that people who carry *one* allele/gene for CF can be plagued with sinus and mucus problems that fall short of CF but can still be debilitating.
Most doctors, I've heard, tend to be dismissive of this, but based on my exploration of this topic it seems plausible that being a CF carrier can predispose you to sputum and cough issues. I want to know if I am a carrier for CF, and whether this may be plaguing me with congestion and post-nasal drip all my life.
The only other idea that comes to mind is that I have an adenoid issue. From the web: "Adenoid infection may cause symptoms such as excessive*mucus*production, which can be treated by its removal."
I briefly saw an ENT before, but it was a short visit and he was, although polite, rather dismissive; he did not know the extent of the problem.
Best,
S.
Hi S, welcome here
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. We can mostly put 2 and 2 together and make 5.
We do research on internet and come to know of bits and bobs, know too many things and that can unsettle us. An indepth medical examination is required to root out any real cause of worry.
but first, Can I ask you this-
Does anyone in your family had cystic fibrosis?
I say this because I used to have had lots of cattarrh and sinus problems in early years. constant headaches. Post nasal drip used to develop into chesty coughs. I have seen many many people suffer in similar fashion. According to Ayurveda It is some slight imbalance of doshas( similar to miazms in homeopathy).
Shankh mudra helped me a lot with sinus and throat infections., Linga mudra is another one to clear excessive mucous generation by the body.
Kapal Bhati is a pranayam, that helps generate body heat which puts an end to sinus and mucous.
Adding seasme seed, ginger, garlic, turmeric in diet is beneficial for excessive mucous
Please don't ponder over all these big and formidable conditions. Sometimes a small tweak in life -style with diet and exercise is all it takes to eradicate long standing problems.
Hope it helps
I cannot say whether your post nasal drip is anything to do with a specific gene - only a specialist could offer an answer on that.
A possibility is intolerance to milk and milk products. An intolerance is rather like an allergy, but different. You can test it easily by avoiding consuming anything with milk in it - read labels, it includes cheese, yoghurt, butter, casein, lactose, whey and whey products - and see if it stops after a few days without them. If it does stop then you have the answer!
Many adults do not cope well with milk. There are many substitutes available now so it s relatively easy to build a diet around avoiding it.
Hi S, welcome here
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. We can mostly put 2 and 2 together and make 5.
We do research on internet and come to know of bits and bobs, know too many things and that can unsettle us. An indepth medical examination is required to root out any real cause of worry.
but first, Can I ask you this-
Does anyone in your family had cystic fibrosis?I say this because I used to have had lots of cattarrh and sinus problems in early years. constant headaches. Post nasal drip used to develop into chesty coughs. I have seen many many people suffer in similar fashion. According to Ayurveda It is some slight imbalance of doshas( similar to miazms in homeopathy).
Shankh mudra helped me a lot with sinus and throat infections., Linga mudra is another one to clear excessive mucous generation by the body.
Kapal Bhati is a pranayam, that helps generate body heat which puts an end to sinus and mucous.
Adding seasme seed, ginger, garlic, turmeric in diet is beneficial for excessive mucous
Please don't ponder over all these big and formidable conditions. Sometimes a small tweak in life -style with diet and exercise is all it takes to eradicate long standing problems.
Hope it helps
Thanks for the reply. I don't think anyone in the family has it, but I'm not very close to a large amount of them and I don't want to go prying into family history with questions like this.
Thank you for the supplement advice, I think turmeric in particular is very good. I'll look into those other techniques you mentioned, but I must confess I am skeptical of them and don't think they're what I'm looking for in this case. But I'm sure they're good for calming and mind.
I cannot say whether your post nasal drip is anything to do with a specific gene - only a specialist could offer an answer on that.
A possibility is intolerance to milk and milk products. An intolerance is rather like an allergy, but different. You can test it easily by avoiding consuming anything with milk in it - read labels, it includes cheese, yoghurt, butter, casein, lactose, whey and whey products - and see if it stops after a few days without them. If it does stop then you have the answer!
Many adults do not cope well with milk. There are many substitutes available now so it s relatively easy to build a diet around avoiding it.
Hi Caroline, yeah that's absolutely true. Milk is problematic for a lot of people. Unfortunately in my case removing it doesn't seem to help--well, it does help a bit but the problem is still there. I went over a year without milk, wheat, yeast, sugar, etc, and I could never fully resolve the problem.
Or some other genetic condition that isn't "full blown"?
Please hear out my description. Any input from you will be much valued.
I'm 30, and for as long as I can remember I've had chronic sinus issues and excess sputum production--I cannot go half an hour of socialising or talking without having to spit out phlegm. It's a disaster socially and professionally. I've ruled out food and other allergies, and I don't have a deviated septum, so it must be a genetic predisposition?
Apparently there is mounting evidence that people who carry *one* allele/gene for CF can be plagued with sinus and mucus problems that fall short of CF but can still be debilitating.
Most doctors, I've heard, tend to be dismissive of this, but based on my exploration of this topic it seems plausible that being a CF carrier can predispose you to sputum and cough issues. I want to know if I am a carrier for CF, and whether this may be plaguing me with congestion and post-nasal drip all my life.
The only other idea that comes to mind is that I have an adenoid issue. From the web: "Adenoid infection may cause symptoms such as excessive*mucus*production, which can be treated by its removal."
I briefly saw an ENT before, but it was a short visit and he was, although polite, rather dismissive; he did not know the extent of the problem.
Best,
S.
You can put two and two together and come up with four!
My mother spent a lifetime with terrible postnasal drip, sinus infections, etc. She also had IBS.
My sister has had a nighttime cough for most of her life. Then along came a grandchild, and by this time CF testing was done for newborns. The test indicated a problem, and baby had the sweat test as soon as he was old enough. Now we now: baby is a CF carrier, with a sweat test that was above normal, but not borderline. Baby's sweat test score is exactly the same as my son's. He was born before the newborn CF tests were offered, but had some issues indicating a problem. So now he has postnasal drip like his grandma. (He had enlarged adenoids and tonsils at one point, and , environmental allergies}.
Doctors don't seem to believe that carriers can have symptoms, but I think they should look at clinical evidence. No CF gene testing was offered to my son, nor would the doctor do this test.
Carriers can have problems with any part of the body that has mucous, IMO. So take it for what you will. There's a lot of mucous in the body.
BTW, my mother and sister both avoid milk, but I think it's possible they are both CF carriers. The milk is not causing the mucous issues -- it's the other way around. The mucous problem causes the issues with milk. The CF carrier status had to come from somewhere up the line.
There isn't a lot of open-mindedness nowadays in medicine. There also isn't a lot of humility. Have you ever met a doctor who will say, "I don't know," or "we don't have all the answers yet"?
Frustrating it is!
Does it really matter? If you are a carrier of the CF gene, that doesn't change the symptoms and doesn't suddenly give you a solution that was not available before. It may matter for any children you may have but only if you have children with someone else who is a symptom free carrier.
And actually yes doctors often do say they don;t know.. Anyone with conventional medical background knows how much we don;t know. . I hear many many patients complaining about doctors who cannot give them a diagnosis and say they don't know what is causing the symptoms. ,They can then get frustrated when finally they get a diagnosis and it doesn't bring a magical solution. Having a diagnosis or definite cause for a problem can be helpful....but not always.
So while the original question is interesting, it strikes me as a bit academic.
Or some other genetic condition that isn't "full blown"?
Please hear out my description. Any input from you will be much valued.
I'm 30, and for as long as I can remember I've had chronic sinus issues and excess sputum production--I cannot go half an hour of socialising or talking without having to spit out phlegm. It's a disaster socially and professionally. I've ruled out food and other allergies, and I don't have a deviated septum, so it must be a genetic predisposition?
Apparently there is mounting evidence that people who carry *one* allele/gene for CF can be plagued with sinus and mucus problems that fall short of CF but can still be debilitating.
Most doctors, I've heard, tend to be dismissive of this, but based on my exploration of this topic it seems plausible that being a CF carrier can predispose you to sputum and cough issues. I want to know if I am a carrier for CF, and whether this may be plaguing me with congestion and post-nasal drip all my life.
The only other idea that comes to mind is that I have an adenoid issue. From the web: "Adenoid infection may cause symptoms such as excessive*mucus*production, which can be treated by its removal."
I briefly saw an ENT before, but it was a short visit and he was, although polite, rather dismissive; he did not know the extent of the problem.
Best,
S.
Does it really matter? If you are a carrier of the CF gene, that doesn't change the symptoms and doesn't suddenly give you a solution that was not available before. It may matter for any children you may have but only if you have children with someone else who is a symptom free carrier.
And actually yes doctors often do say they don;t know.. Anyone with conventional medical background knows how much we don;t know. . I hear many many patients complaining about doctors who cannot give them a diagnosis and say they don't know what is causing the symptoms. ,They can then get frustrated when finally they get a diagnosis and it doesn't bring a magical solution. Having a diagnosis or definite cause for a problem can be helpful....but not always.
So while the original question is interesting, it strikes me as a bit academic.
Does it really matter? If you are a carrier of the CF gene, that doesn't change the symptoms and doesn't suddenly give you a solution that was not available before. It may matter for any children you may have but only if you have children with someone else who is a symptom free carrier.
And actually yes doctors often do say they don;t know.. Anyone with conventional medical background knows how much we don;t know. . I hear many many patients complaining about doctors who cannot give them a diagnosis and say they don't know what is causing the symptoms. ,They can then get frustrated when finally they get a diagnosis and it doesn't bring a magical solution. Having a diagnosis or definite cause for a problem can be helpful....but not always.
So while the original question is interesting, it strikes me as a bit academic.
I think it does matter, yes, to the individual having these problems. These issues are very disruptive to health and quality of life. There is medical research now pointing to a connection between sinus disease in CF carriers. Some of those "symptomatic carriers" may actually have two copies of the CF gene, one being a more rare, milder gene not on the common test. So "atypical CF" may be the case, rather than "symptomatic carrier".
At 30 years of age, knowledge of carrier status may help in family planning. But there is another issue. If someone is a symptomatic carrier of one gene (and possibly an unknown second), medical treatment appropriate to these specific circumstances may greatly improve their quality of life, and reduce the need for doctor visits and emergency room trips. This also means less cost to the medical system. I presume this is why newborn CF testing is now in place in many jurisdictions: cost.
I would say to this poster that some doctors have become more enlightened recently, and are aware of current research. And I would say it is perhaps wise to seek a referral for the opinion of a different ENT specialist. Go on a patient review website and find the ENT who is most highly sought-after in your area. Do not accept substitutes. Be prepared for a lengthy waiting list. If you get answers, it will be worth it.
I am hoping you, OP, will continue to seek and find answers. This is not a frivolous issue.
I am the former Gigi. I wanted to let you know that my son has a new doctor who is listening. This is good, because he has more symptoms. He is finally going to have that CF blood test, which was recommended by his cousin's CF specialist. Many other relatives have shared their own health struggles, similar to my son's, since learning of his cousin's carrier status.
One more thing, if you have Irish ancestry (we do, on both sides), did you know Ireland had the highest rate of CF in the world?