It seems as though one side of my nose is always stuffy. Is this a sign of allergies? I usually get bad allergies in the spring and my doctor gave me Allegra. I had to stop taking it because it gave me bad anxiety.

The only thing that seems to help is laying down on my side, with the side of my clear nostril down and the stuffy side up. But that just makes it drain to the other side. Is there anything I can do to "un-stuff" a side of my nose?

Man, do I ever feel you on this one.

One side of my nose s ALWAYS stuffed up. When the one side clears up, the other one gets stuffed up. I started taking some anitboitics last week cause my snot was dark green, the green stuff is almost gone. Now though, I feel like my nose feels worse, more post nasal drip, more stuffiness...I'm guessing it's getting bettercause the green stuff is gone, but man, it sucks!!!

[This message has been edited by sugit00 (edited 10-24-2003).]

[This message has been edited by sugit00 (edited 10-24-2003).]

Try nasal irrigating, it will change your life.

I have this problem, my ENT said it was a deviated septum. This is very common, the bone and/or cartilage in the nose is crooked and can block your nasal passage. The ENT said most who have the surgery to correct it are completely happy with it.

I had the surgery to correct it, and now it's a little better, but still not very good. I got tested for allergies and found I had no true allergies, but vasomotor rhinitis, which is where things in the environment can irritate your nose, causing it to swell and get stuffy.

So my point is possibly it could be a deviated septum, but that may not be all of the problem. Godd luck!

MrsLee,
I'm glad surgery improved your situation. But I wouldn't be too quick to jump into surgery before trying other possible solutions first.

The nasal irrigation could possibly help. I'm sure there's some level of inflammation and swelling in there too. So,maybe the nasal steroid spray might help. See what your ENT says about it. Have you tried the antihistimine and decongestants like Claritin or Allegra ?

Thanks for all the responses.

What is nasal irrigating?

I have anxiety and Allegra D made my anxiety so much worse, so I stopped taking it. I felt so jittery on it. I have heard that it’s the decongestants that can cause people to have anxiety.

My nose isn't too bad during the fall or winter, but spring and summer is when it annoys me. Like right now my right side is a little bit stuffy, but not too bad.

Yes I would definetly recommend looking into other options before the surgery. My ENT made it sound like it would cure all my sypmtoms, and stupid me, I didn't do much research beforehand. I'm not that happy with it and disappointed in myself for doing it.

Allegra D makes me go crazy and gives me insomnia. I think it is the pseudoephedrine in the decongestant. I now take a regular prescription decongestant (panmist) instead iof allergy meds, since I don;t have allergies. The panmist has the pseudoephedrine too, but it's a smaller dose, and I can;t take it at night. I know that's not very helpful though....
I am working up the nerve to try nasal irrigation.