Has anyone's Sinus been helped with antibiotics?

monarchangel

Did your doctor tell you you had a bacterial infection? I always thought that antibiotics treat bacterial infections only and most sinus infections are viral. You are better off taking a decongestant than antibiotics for that, in my opinion. I have chronic sinusitis and it is not good to take too many antibiotics. My doctor gave me antibiotics a lot for sinus infections, but I think that is because they don't know what else to give you. they never made me better, just sudafed. Also, drink A LOT of water because it allows your sinuses to drain more freely. How long have you had this and what are your other symptoms?

Machaon

I suffered with multiple sinus infections, year after year, for decades. Each time I would take antibiotics, and each time the antibiotic would take the infection away, only to have it come back again.

Out of desperation, I experimented with flooding my nasal passages with a mixture of diluted 3% hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and kosher salt. In order to flood my nasal passages and keep them flooded, I kept my forehead pointed downward. I kept my forehead down for quite a while, hoping that the anti-infective mixture would get to the infected area(s) within my sinuses and nasal passages.
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It worked and it still works! I have been sinus infection free for about 30 months. I think that I had chronic infection problems with my turbinates, so flooding my nasal passages with the anti-infective mixture worked very well, for me, since the infected areas were fairly easy to reach. If my infections were in the harder to reach sinus areas, such as the Maxillaries, I might not have experienced the same level of success.
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To find out more, select one of the following links:
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Here is the link to a discussion about the "Upside Down Sinus Flooding":
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http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=129210
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Here is the link to the detailed documentation of the "Upside Down Sinus Flooding" and also some discussion:
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http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=139765
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Best of luck with your sinus problem.

1potato

I think sinus infections require a lot longer duration than what is commonly prescribed. I was on Tequin for 7 weeks, and it only started to really work after about 5 weeks. One mainstream website (can't find it) said sinus infections need a minimum of 3-8 weeks. Minimum, so some people need even more.

Getting the antibiotics for some reason is like trying to get cocaine - like you have to keep begging for another week like an addict. Even though it is (or should be) common knowledge that sinus infections need long-term antibiotics, they still give 1 or 2 weeks which is useless. These infections are deep in there and slow to get out.

I think, however, that you need to stay on one for an extended period, and not keep switching. I could be wrong about that, but Augmentin and Levoquin are very different, from what I have read. Two different classes of antibiotics. Maybe you could stay on the Levaquin longer than 4 weeks.
Ask doc why he keeps switching you and will that not dilute the overall effect.

VMLeichliter

My family doctor put me on the augmenten in February for a really bad sinus infection. She sent me to an ent who recommended surgery and put me on zyrtec and a nasal spray (I don't remember which one.) My husband wanted a second opinion and so I went to his grandmother's ent who confirmed what the first doctor said and also recommended surgery. He told me there were no other options for me. He said there was no medication that would help me because my problem wasn't infection, it was drainage. I liked this doctor and I agree with what he said. However, my husband wants a doctor to treat me medically rather than surgically. Well, I see my 3rd ent who says that when my doctor prescribed the aumenten, she should have prescribed if for 4 weeks instead of 3 and that would have cured me. So that's why I'm on the levaquin and the nasonex. Maybe I just haven't been on it long enough (8 days today) but I'm swollen and as the day goes on, the throbbing returns. I'm really trying to stay away from the over counter decongestants. I hear they can make my sinuses worse with prolonged use. So I'm relying on my heating pad at night to ease the pain. I've been dealing with this for 6 years now. At first, the sinus infections would come 4 or 5 times a year. Now I'm just constantly swollen and in some sort of discomfort.

Vicky

1potato

Try to take the Levoquin as long as possible. A doctor told my girlfriend he was on penicillin for 10 years. I don't know what for, but 8 weeks or so is much compared to 10 years.

I take 2-3 sudafed (store brand) and 2 Mucinex tablets in the morning and at night, it helps. The Musinex is expensive, so bring your sack-o-money to Walgreens (about $16 for a bottle of 20). Mucinex thins the mucas so easier to expell?

Do you use a nasal irrigator? They are great, check into it.

Drink mucho water (warm is better for sinuses!)

Hope you feel better!