My Mom has suffered from Vasomotor Rhinitis for over 16 years. I will cover her experiences with this diagnosis. I believe this may be helpful to others. If you have experienced anything that was helpful to you, please let me know.
She saw over dozen doctors and specialists. After twelve years of treatment, AlleRX dose pack and Drihist SR (main ingredient Methscopolamine nitrate an anticholinic drug) were the only medicines that helped. Below is a list of medications that my Mom tried and did not reduce her symptoms.
Medications Tried
1. Nasal Sprays: Flonase, Nasonex, Astelin, Rhinocort, Beconise, Aristocort, Atrovent, Nasalcrom.
2. Antihistamines: Clarinex, Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Sudafed , Singulair, Zyrtek Claritin and Claritin D, Allegra and Allegra D, Benadryl, Palgic, Xyzal, AlleRX, Drihist SR.
3. Antibiotics: Amoxicillin, Bactrim, Biaxin, Ceclor, Erythromycin, Tetracycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline, Keflex, Cipro, Difulcan, Penicillin VK, Avelox, and Levaquin, Cephalexin.
4. Stomach: Protonix, Prevacid, Prilosec, Ranitidine, Gaviscon, Zelnorm, Reglan
5. Other: Triamicnolone injection, Cortisone injection in nose
Please note that this is just a single observation and everyone will have different responses to different medications.
What is Vasomotor Rhinitis?
My Mom was unable to sleep at night due to choking from her sinus leakage. She would spit out up to 8 ounces of clear liquid from her sinus each night. She had leakage both day and night and it was year round. The leakage started slowly in the early 1990’s and seemed to get worse over the years.
From my observation, Vasomotor Rhinitis is an exclusion diagnosis. The doctor is basically saying, we tested you for everything, it came back negative, we really do not know what is causing this problem, so we give it a name.
Since Vasomotor Rhinitis is an exclusion diagnosis, her medical doctors excluded possible root causes that can be tested, treated, or cured. In my Mom’s case the medical doctors tried the following treatments and tests to remedy the problem:
1. Antibiotic: multiple courses of different antibiotics (no cultures taken or confirmed). Did not help.
2. Anti-fungal: multiple courses of different anti-fungal (no cultures taken or confirmed). Did not help.
3. Corticosteroid nasal sprays, injections in nose, and body. Did not help.
4. Anti-cholinergic nasal spray: This seem promising for reducing reactions and drying the nose; however, for some reason it did not work well and it caused bad nose sores.
5. GERD or gastro reflux into the sinus: Prolong treatment was given with multiple proton pump inhibitors, gastro inhibitors, and even OTC antacids medication. Did not help.
6. Multiple CT Scans: yielded no significant anomalies, just mild enlarged middle turbinates. Sinus operation was considered and never done because the ENT doctors did not give a good chance of success with no identifiable anomalies present.
7. MRI Scan: to indentify cerebral leakage into the sinus. None detected
8. Allergy tests: skin test done. No specific allergies detected
What worked
As mentioned above AlleRX dose pack or Drihist SR (main ingredient is Methscopolamine nitrate an anticholinic drug) worked for my Mom. This medication provided the fast, immediate, continued relief from symptoms for over five years.
As with all medication, there were some negative reactions. In my Mom’s case, the main ingredient Methscopolamine which is responsible for drying out the sinus also affects the gastro-intestinal process. It slowed the digestive process and caused chronic constipation. My Mom was given Zelnorm (initially for irritable bowel syndrome IBS) and it offset the negative reaction. For over five years these two medications helped control her Vasomotor Rhinitis and negative reaction.
Unfortunately, Zelnorm was removed from the market last year which in her case made her withdraw from using the above medications due to the adverse reaction.
Questions
From my observations, I believe it is very important to get a good primary care and allergy doctor that is knowledgeable and familiar with Vasomotor Rhinitis. You need to go through a battery of tests and treatments to exclude any possible identifiable diseases. This can be a frustrating process, but I do not believe there is a definitive test in determining Vasomotor Rhinitis. Best case, the doctors will find something that is causing your symptoms and cure it. Worst case, you are stuck taking medications to suppress the symptoms.
1. Has anyone been successfully treated for Vasomotor Rhinitis (constantly running nose) with any medications?
2. Has anyone had their symptoms alleviated by a sinus operations?
3. I know there is a new nasal spray being tested for Vasomotor Rhinitis. Is this medicine near the end of its trial? Are they any new medications being used for Vasomotor Rhinitis?
4. Has anyone successfully used nasal irrigation to treat Vasomotor Rhinitis? If so, what ingredients were used?
5. Has anyone received any medication that reduces the gastro effects of AlleRX or Drihist?
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