Sinus issues related to celiac?

[Mikeymike93]

Anybody else have sinus problems as a main symptom of celiac? I went off gluten for over a year due to a positive blood test. Prior to that I had a lot of unknown sinus inflammation (thought it was seasonal changing allergies etc). It has been under control but I went on a gluten containing diet for the last week to get another celiac test. I have felt ok which surprised me, but now I have noticed the sinus problems returning yesterday like I haven't felt in a long time. How common is sinus inflammation a main sympton of celiac? Or does it sound more like an intolerance? Problem is winter is hitting and I am not sure if that is causing it instead. 

[trents]

There could be a connection, at least indirectly through inflammatory processes being increased in general while back on gluten. And, as you say, you may also be allergic to wheat.

With something like that its hard to say what the trigger is given the fact that the cold and flu season is upon us and the heating season as well. 

Are you experiencing sinus inflammation apart from a sinus infection? Have you considered using one of those baking soda/saline sinus rinsing systems or a neti pot? 

[Mikeymike93]

Ya I definitely have all the remedies down pat including a prescription sinus spray. I guess I am so curious whether this is a celiac symptom alot of people get that is coming back. I guess I could always go off gluten and if it goes away, go back on it for a week and see if it comes back again. 

[trents]

I have suffered with chronic, low grade sinus infections/inflammation much of my life. I was dx with celiac disease in my early 50s, about 18 years ago. It has been much better in the last several years but that coincided with retirement and less exposure to UR infections that was previously the case. I have permanent damage now to my sinus cavity mucosa. Whenever I get a CT scan done it shows the mucosa lining the right maxillary sinus cavity is abnormally thick, even when I am asymptomatic. There has been erosion in that cavity in places such that the partitions have been eaten through and there are now holes where there shouldn't be. Having said all that, only in the last several years  years (since retirement) have I been able to be consistently avoid gluten and now my villi are healed. I am much healthier now in general as a result. I used to get about three upper respiratory infections a year, now almost never. Some of that probably is due to less exposure to infections.

[GFinDC]

Hi MM,

I have hayfever.  Before I went gluten-free I had much worse hayfever symptoms than I do now.  I was buying antihistamines every week basically.  My allergy symptoms backed way off after going gluten-free.  They aren't completely gone, but are much less of a problem and not a constant issue.   So I think there is definitely a link, at least in my case.

[DJFL77I]

I went to the ENT Dr like 3 weeks ago..   he said I have some inflammation up there in the nose when he looked.. causing some bleeding / nasal drip to the back of my throat..  he said allergies..   But I'm pretty sure it was caused by Celiac as I've never had this before until Celiac symptoms started...  I first noticed it about a week and a half after symptoms started...

I always thought it was coming from my stomach as reflux..  but since using a nasal spray I saw some blood being flushed out from the nose sometimes.. so it was definitely from the nose...

or he said might be a mild sinus infection.. have to do a X ray to check that though if after 3 weeks of nasal spray it isn't gone..

[Mikeymike93]

That sounds similar to my issues. I actually had sinus and lymph nodes issues for 2 yrs and saw all the docs I could and nobody could figure it out. It was until wyrs later I started having digestive issues which caused them to look for and find celiac. I have been better since so I am guessing they were all related. Idk. 

[Kate333]

I moved to California in 2014.  I haven't stopped sneezing, suffering burning eyelids, nasal congestion/post-nasal drip/dry and sore throat ever since.  I have those symptoms 24/7, no matter what kind or how many antihistamines I take.

I think the increasingly severe air pollution from fire smoke, constant road and housing construction (which churns dust/debris into the air) has a lot to do with my symptoms.  When I first moved here, it was rare to have fire smoke and "fire season"--UGH!!--lasted "only" a few days or a week.   Now, CA has devastatingly long-lasting fires/smoke (lasting almost half a year!! from early summer through October) where fire smoke/ash descends over every part of the state and covers my car like snow.  Honestly, the air is so filthy during fire season, it looks like Beijing in the summers pre-pandemic!🤮

My New Year's resolution is to get the hell out of here (and avoid the entire Western US, as other western states have sadly also turned into an inferno like CA) as soon as it's safe to travel again (post-pandemic).😉

[Kate333]

20 hours ago, trents said:

I have suffered with chronic, low grade sinus infections/inflammation much of my life. I was dx with celiac disease in my early 50s, about 18 years ago. It has been much better in the last several years but that coincided with retirement and less exposure to UR infections that was previously the case. I have permanent damage now to my sinus cavity mucosa. Whenever I get a CT scan done it shows the mucosa lining the right maxillary sinus cavity is abnormally thick, even when I am asymptomatic. There has been erosion in that cavity in places such that the partitions have been eaten through and there are now holes where there shouldn't be. Having said all that, only in the last several years  years (since retirement) have I been able to be consistently avoid gluten and now my villi are healed. I am much healthier now in general as a result. I used to get about three upper respiratory infections a year, now almost never. Some of that probably is due to less exposure to infections.

Hi trents.  Just curious, you said you were first diagnosed with celiac disease almost 20 years ago, long before retirement, so did you mean that you could not maintain a strict gluten-free diet while still working??   Were you eating out a lot back then?  And how long did it take you to heal your gut (and any other symtpoms) after you went on a STRICT gluten-free diet in retirement?

[notme]

you can develop allergies as you age.  my husband never had hayfever/sinus allergies until he hit 55.  then he walked around sniffling and wondering if he was coming down with a cold until i made him try claratin 1x/day.  now he takes one per day and he's fine.  one of our friends developed allergies at about the same age - the difference was he didn't treat it immediately (he had no idea) and he ended up in the emergency room because the allergies had compounded into a severe sinus infection that needed to be drained immediately and if i recall, he stayed in the hospital while they made sure the antibiotics were working.  like, it was too close to his brain.  now, he takes his zyrtek religiously.  

if i get glutened, one of my symptoms is a runny nose.  i also have allergies that are under control, normally, unless i get glutened then they ramp up.  i am also on flonase and nasalcrom.  

[DJFL77I]

you can't get into the brain from the nose

[trents]

33 minutes ago, DJFL77I said:

you can't get into the brain from the nose

It's not common but it can happen: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/sinus-infections-that-dont-quit-when-you-should-worry/#:~:text=Also in rare cases%2C sinus,from sinusitis%2C” he says.

[docaz]

9 hours ago, DJFL77I said:

you can't get into the brain from the nose

I wonder what makes you think that. Here is a cross-section view that shows the proximity of the nasal cavity to the brain https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/is-the-human-olfactory-bulb-necessary.

The cranial nerve that is responsible for smelling (olfactory bulb) is actually a direct extension of the brain and is separated from the upper nasal cavity by a very thin layer of bone that is perforated and called cribriform plate through which the smell nerve endings protrude. In fact, certain brain tumors are accessed through the nose such as tumors of the pituitary gland. That said, I only disagree with the above statement but I certainly do not want to cause anybody to panic because it is extremely rare for an infection to spread to the brain from the nose and I do not think that people with celiac disease are more prone to such infections to spread to the brain. 

[DJFL77I]

can allergies make you dizzy

[Pat Jackson]

I used to think it was normal to get 2-3 sinus infections a year, until I finally saw an allergist when I was in my 30's.  She got me taking antihistamine daily, and had me use a nasal rinse regularly.  Since then, the infections have been once a year in the fall when we close up the house, and my asthma is much better, but it took constant work on my part to avoid allergens and rinse my sinuses after being outside in the summer.  Now, 30 years later, I discovered about 9 months ago that I have celiac and probably have had it for many years.  This fall is the first year that I didn't get a sinus infection that usually turns into bronchitis.  Coincidence?  I don't know.  But I've been struggling for a few weeks now, thinking I'm getting gluten somehow, and the sinus problem is back. 

One gluten incident was traced to a new brand of vitamin that I foolishly didn't research first.  I won't make that mistake again.  Another occurred after using the family toaster for some gluten free toast.  I was surprised both times that such a small exposure could cause such a major reaction.  That was 2 weeks ago, and I'm still not back to normal, whatever that is.

[docaz]

3 hours ago, DJFL77I said:

can allergies make you dizzy

Nasal allergies can absolutely make you dizzy. The organ that controls balance is inside the inner ear which is right next to the middle ear. There is a tube that goes from pharynx to the middle ear that equalizes the pressure between the middle ear and the pharynx. When you are on a plane and are landing after flying at high altitude you feel that pressure equilibration. If the tube is blocked because the tissue is inflamed and swollen, then the pressure can not equilibrate and that can cause headaches and indirectly affect the vestibular organ and cause dizziness. This is all independent of celiac disease. I have not seen studies showing an increased incidence of sinus allergies associated with celiac disease but that does not mean that it does not exist. In general, celiac disease is a very different autoimmune reaction than celiac disease and the big question is if when they come together it is a coincidence or if they are related. I do not think that we have the answer at this time. 

[CattyJay]

Well i have chronic sinusitis, for many many years now. Celiac disease was only diagnosed a few weeks ago, so it wil lbe interesting to see if the chronic sinusitis eases, as i heal. We do live in the South African bush, so there is pollen and other allergens. But an interesting point, and something i will keep an eye on.

[Scott Adams]

For most of my youth I had chronically clogged sinuses, the issue seemed to be magnified when I slept, and for years I was taking both pollen and food allergy shots to help deal with it. However, it wasn't until I was diagnosed with celiac disease in my mid-twenties and went gluten-free that my sinus issues began to improve. I suspect that my immune system was just overwhelmed at the time, and overreacting to everything.

[trents]

This is pretty much my experience, Scott, except the celiac disease dx came much later in life.

[DJFL77I]

7 hours ago, CattyJay said:

We do live in the South African bush, 

they got internet there?

[Scott Adams]

It's probably safe to say "yes!" to that, since they posted here. 😉

[N line]

I am curious if anyone is having similar symptoms as me, I had a staph infection and got treated at ER drained, antibiotics… etc 

next day I come home take a shower and faint…weird… never fainted before, went to ER again everything checked out, about 4 weeks go by and I feel terrible brain fog, feeling drunk almost, not very coordinated, sinus headaches usually at night time right in between my eyebrows, and of course GI symptoms as well so during that 4 week period I was in and out of doc office doing several test and found out I had c diff and celiac disease, I got treated for c diff and began a strict gluten free diet and all was well after that for about 9 months… I am now having similar symptoms brain fog, uncoordinated, dizzy when standing too long, sinus pressure, and excessive thirst!!!

i did not consume gluten (that I know of)

I was just curious if this has happened to anyone else doctors don’t seem to know what’s going on and are testing me for a whole bunch of stuff but to no avail. 
please let me know if you’ve had something similar and what fixed it/made it better!

thanks all!!!

[trents]

Sounds like you got glutened from some unknown source. Have you been eating out? Have you checked pills and supplements for gluten? Are you kissing someone who is not gluten-free?