Extreme Rhinitis and skin allergies

I'm confused about the skin allergies but maybe you just didn't get to it in your post.

regarding the Rhinitis, that the GP hasn't been able to solve, maybe it is time they referred you to an ENT, eye nose throat specialist? the nasal allergy sprays when I had bad allergies to pollen and the like were a wonder drug when they were invented, they've now gone through several iterations and names but they all seem to work for me when I do have the occasional seasonal allergy now.

did you run through the routine of trying to determine if its something environmental that's provoking the rhinitis? new sheets, new bedding, new clothing etc?

A couple of options come to mind. There are various nasal sprays, but I finally had good luck with a nasal steroid called QNasl. I use it after a sinus rinse (essentially a convenient, don't-have-to-tilt-your-head version of a Neti pot. QNasl has made my nasal polyps disappear, so I'm a fan. Another option is to bite the bullet and have allergy testing and (perhaps) shots. These take a long time and a lot of shots to yield results, though.

Dewey's point about looking for possible environmental causes is important. Allergy testing can help point you in the right direction, so you're not having to worry about things that may not be a problem for you.

deweyj posted:

I'm confused about the skin allergies but maybe you just didn't get to it in your post.

regarding the Rhinitis, that the GP hasn't been able to solve, maybe it is time they referred you to an ENT, eye nose throat specialist? the nasal allergy sprays when I had bad allergies to pollen and the like were a wonder drug when they were invented, they've now gone through several iterations and names but they all seem to work for me when I do have the occasional seasonal allergy now.

did you run through the routine of trying to determine if its something environmental that's provoking the rhinitis? new sheets, new bedding, new clothing etc?

I get skin reactions the same time as the Rhinitis, its obviously part of the allergy but just a different symptom? 

I have tried all over the counter nasal sprays plus two prescribed by my GP, none worked. No antihistamines have worked either? I have tried to determine if it can be anything of the usual triggers such as dust, pollen, things that were different or new in my life when it first started but so far not come up with anything. Im a trained skin specialist too and although this symptom i find a lot easier to control and remedy im still at a loss as to the root causes. 

The one major thing that happened around the same time as these allergy symptoms started was that i detoxed from the medication i was prescribed to control the addiction problems i had, it was called Buprenorphine, a very very strong opiate, i was prescirbed such a lot of pain meds because of all the surgical complications i had so i went to a detox clinic and went through it with this Buprenorphine. The withdrawal was horrendous! Omg, extreme and almost undescribable, but shortly after i got the Rhinitis and skin allergies plus a few other symptoms. 

But a few people here are complaining of the same thing since they had the j pouch surgery, im taking Sulfasalazine so maybe its a sulphite allergy? Im at a loss and its getting me down. 

The idea of seeing an ENT specialist is maybe a good idea i think.

The rhinitis at least could be from the withdrawal, regardless of the method used, except I cannot imagine it persisting for a year!

I've been taking sulfasalazine for years. Then last summer I noted an increase in skin rashes. I thought maybe it was from the sulfa. So I stopped the sulfasalazine and the rashes improved. A month or so later, the rashes returned, so I guess I wasn't so smart after all. I now think I am seeing a correllation between my rashes and pouchitis symptoms. Hard to tell when there seems to always be something brewing. I do think there is probably some food sensitivities going on too, as I get more rashy (and nasal congestion too) when I eat more wheat based carbs than usual. 

So maybe taking a close look at your diet may help. Your withdrawal could have been a trigger for what is going on now. It could be something in your environment too, like your carpeting (if you have carpets).

Good luck! I know this sort of stuff can be maddening.

Jan

Thank you. It's great to get feedback from you, your experiences are certainly familiar to me. There does indeed seem to be always something brewing for sure! 100% with you on that. The longer i seem to have been living with the jpouch the more problems seem to arrise, its one thing after another. 

I certaintly get side effects from my medications, i take quite a lot of different meds. They are very much essential in managing the conditions i have but the side effects are very troublesome, skin problems seem to affect me quite a lot. Rashes, itching, inflammed 'reactive' skin. 'Sensitive' it's not, thats a different thing altogether but itvcan react to so many things so easily. Tough one sometimes. The more i read the advisory leaflets for medications the more i convince myself they are a problem in themselves. Where do we start? Being as young as i was having my Jpouch surgery it seems i got away with a lot of the negative effects for quite a long time, now im older it sure is one thing after another. 

Im sure i will get to the bottom of these allergic reactions soon, one way or another. Cant wait for that post! 

I just had my pouch scope today and it turns out I have rather severe cuffitis and pouchitis, despite taking all my IBD meds AND rotaing three different antibiotics for the past year. I am amazed my gut function is as good as it is. My GI is going to discuss my meds with my rheumatologist to see what we can change up to improve things.

He was saying it is almost universal that chronic pouchitis is cropping up in long term pouches. Mine was 20 years old last August.

Jan

aw bummer. sorry to hear that Jan.

that is an interesting observation that it is almost universal that chronic pouchitis is cropping up in long term pouches.

I started experiencing chronic pouchitis around 19 years, curiously I now find myself at almost 30 years and still kicking.

I will have to remember to ask my doc the same question. when I go for my scope in a few weeks.