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Breathing Solution At Last Perhaps

Old 02-04-20, 02:50 AM
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Breathing Solution At Last Perhaps

I've been struggling with breathing issues for a long time, as you can see in the following threads. We may have finally stumbled upon a solution. At long last I got in to see an ENT and within minutes she diagnosed me with a deviated septum and sent me for a CT scan. Monday I returned to chat about the scan.

I have a badly deviated septum complete with bone spur almost entirely blocking the right side of my nose ... and I've likely had it since birth or early childhood.

I've been referred and will likely be going for surgery soon. By late autumn, I might be able to breathe for the first time in my life!!

https://www.bikeforums.net/women-s-c...-yourself.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/training-...hma-hills.html

nkfrench
Carbonfiberboy
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Old 02-04-20, 05:01 AM
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Excellent. You are on the road to a positive outcome. About 6 yrs ago I crashed and broke my neck. Also did damage to my teeth and nose. When they fixed my nose it was the first time it was straight and I could breath properly since I broke it playing football in college. And, that was 1967. So much better. Good luck.
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Old 02-04-20, 08:52 AM
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Sounds great. A deviated septum is part of my chronic congestion too. Came from boxing. My nose was never broken -- I have a squishy Irish pug nose with almost no bones. But the cartilage is bent rightward pretty badly, although it doesn't show from the outside.

But, hey, you shoulda seen the other guy.
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Old 02-05-20, 11:24 AM
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I seldom breathe through my nose on the bike. Much too limiting and I have a big, relatively healthy nose. OTOH my parents had my adenoids and tonsils removed back in early childhood, quite popular back in the day though no longer, because I was such a mouth-breather. I'm more polite now, but I still open wide, drop my tongue, and straighten my neck when I'm sucking wind. I try to breathe like Sean. Unfortunately, I need to breathe like that at a ridiculously low FTP. I didn't win the lottery.

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Old 02-05-20, 06:18 PM
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I breathe through my mouth even with limited exertion ... a flight of stairs has me wheezing through my mouth. One of the problems with a deviated septum is that I have chronic sinus infections so I have to be careful breathing through my mouth because I frequently choke ... and drinking water has to be done in very quiet conditions, not, for example, on the way up a hill.

It will be interesting to see what the difference is!
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Old 02-05-20, 07:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
I breathe through my mouth even with limited exertion ... a flight of stairs has me wheezing through my mouth. One of the problems with a deviated septum is that I have chronic sinus infections so I have to be careful breathing through my mouth because I frequently choke ... and drinking water has to be done in very quiet conditions, not, for example, on the way up a hill.

It will be interesting to see what the difference is!
Yeah, I'm about the same. Do you use a neti pot? That's my savior. Your asthma must be pretty bad if you wheeze on a flight of stairs. Good on you for getting it fixed!
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Old 02-05-20, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Yeah, I'm about the same. Do you use a neti pot? That's my savior. Your asthma must be pretty bad if you wheeze on a flight of stairs. Good on you for getting it fixed!
The nose (I've recently learned) has these things called turbinates. Turbinates swell when they encounter asthma, allergens or chronic sinus infections, etc. and eventually just stay large which makes asthma, allergies and sinus infections worse ... it's a self perpetuating thing. I've not only got quite a deviation (more than the second photo, and with a bone spur) but my turbinates are permanently large now. So when there is any attempt at breathing in rapidly, there's all kinds of noise. Part of the wheezing I hear is likely air trying to force it's way in between bone and turbinates ... which sets off sinus drainage ... and it's just messy.



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Old 02-05-20, 09:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
The nose (I've recently learned) has these things called turbinates. Turbinates swell when they encounter asthma, allergens or chronic sinus infections, etc. and eventually just stay large which makes asthma, allergies and sinus infections worse ... it's a self perpetuating thing. I've not only got quite a deviation (more than the second photo, and with a bone spur) but my turbinates are permanently large now. So when there is any attempt at breathing in rapidly, there's all kinds of noise. Part of the wheezing I hear is likely air trying to force it's way in between bone and turbinates ... which sets off sinus drainage ... and it's just messy.



Looking at those photos makes my eyes water and nose swell. But opening the throat and mouth breathing should still work same as everyone's? We just do a lot more of that than most. I have to laugh when commenters say they limit their breathing on the bike to nasal and/or use a nose-opening gadget. Oh yeah. The trachea is pretty big. So I open my mouth wide, drop my tongue and lower jaw, straighten my neck, and don't breathe through my nose at all, mostly when climbing, but any going really hard. Every once in a while, I get an insect, but not often. I do nose-breathe when sleeping and most of my awake time.
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Old 02-05-20, 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Looking at those photos makes my eyes water and nose swell. But opening the throat and mouth breathing should still work same as everyone's?
Except for the fact that I've got a constant trickle down my throat from my sinuses. I choke on that when I accidentally inhale it. I choke more when I drink water ... I have to be sitting bolt upright when I drink water. I choke in the night when the trickle pools and trickles into a lung. And when I'm breathing hard, it seems like there's even more trickling down my throat for me to choke on. I choke about once a day on average.

Apparently that's not normal ... but it is quite common for someone with a deviated septum and enlarged turbinates.


But yes, I've been told many times to breathe through my nose when I cycle except maybe when I'm climbing a hill or going hard. I've never been able to breathe through my nose when exercising. I've often wonder how that's possible.

Even just sitting, I need to breathe heavily through my mouth every now and then to kind of catch up.

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Old 02-05-20, 11:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
Except for the fact that I've got a constant trickle down my throat from my sinuses. I choke on that when I accidentally inhale it. I choke more when I drink water ... I have to be sitting bolt upright when I drink water. I choke in the night when the trickle pools and trickles into a lung. And when I'm breathing hard, it seems like there's even more trickling down my throat for me to choke on. I choke about once a day on average.

Apparently that's not normal ... but it is quite common for someone with a deviated septum and enlarged turbinates.


But yes, I've been told many times to breathe through my nose when I cycle except maybe when I'm climbing a hill or going hard. I've never been able to breathe through my nose when exercising. I've often wonder how that's possible.

Even just sitting, I need to breathe heavily through my mouth every now and then to kind of catch up.
The trickle thing sounds really bad. I have a little of that, especially at night. Have you tried a neti pot? I don't put any chemicals up my nose if I can help it. They seem to do the opposite of helping. But salt water is nice.
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Old 02-06-20, 12:15 AM
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Isn't it a treat to see someone who nails it? Very, very different issue, but I have had allergy/toxic reactions to many common solvents since I worked with fiberglass 4 years ago. It was common knowledge then among us grunts that the acetone we washed the fiberglass resin off our skins with carried those bad chemicals through our skin and they ended up in our livers. We all knew ex-workers with unusual and often life-altering conditions and accepted (or refuse to look at) that we would be there eventually. I had sinuses that were in such poor shape that I got infections after routine colds that required anti-biotics about every 18 months. Finally a doctor sent me to an allergy specialist. No I had no terrible allergies, but the specialist did prescibe me with a cotristeroid inhalent. Much better. Then my GP added a powerful antihistamine. LIfe was liveable, at $300 every 100 days when insurance didn't cover it. Years later, still on those meds, I started seeing a nurse with a long string of letters after her name. At the close of my first physical, see mentioned I had lafked of chemicals in my liver. Asked me if I wanted to try a natropathic liver cleanser. I said yes. She prescribed me two bottles of large capsules, 90 in each, to be taken one of each a day for the 90 days. $25 each. It would be a mini chemo and might not be a lot of fun.

Life changing. I have sinuses that are close to normal. Very few incidents with solvents. (I used to be so sensitive to acetone that I could feel my body react before I could smell it. When I worked in a shipyard (that built steel ships, very little solvents) there were times when I could feel the changes happening. Now, I could not work when that happened. So I would search out the source. It was that or go home. And I would always find it. I started getting called the canary because, like the canary in the coal mine, my body knew.

I still take those expensve medicines. But instead of a squirt of two per day in each nostril of each medicine, it now a 1/4 squirt as needed, usually every 4th or 5th days. Bottles last me a long time.

The right diagnosis - yeah!

Ben!
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Old 07-21-20, 06:06 AM
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I've had my surgery! That's a bit of an experience, I have to say!!

It's 11 days post-surgery and I've had my packing out (on the next day) and my splints out (yesterday) and I am breathing through great wind tunnels now!!

I'm not to do much for a while yet, but it will be interesting to see how this affects my cycling!
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Old 07-21-20, 05:24 PM
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Congrats on getting the surgery done! In 2006 I had a severely deviated septum repaired and turbinate reduction as I was breathing out of a half a nostril on a good day, major mouth breathing. Still mouth breathing when exercising, but hopefully that has been taken care of as 4 weeks ago my stomach was removed from my chest cavity and put back in my abdominal cavity where it belongs (hiatal hernia surgery). One thing that was happening was my breathing was impaired by my stomach pushing into my lungs. Breathing much better and tomorrow hopefully I find out when I can get back on the bike. Hopefully breathing will be normal then......
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Old 07-21-20, 07:58 PM
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Heal up fast!
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Old 07-21-20, 10:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Machka
The nose (I've recently learned) has these things called turbinates. Turbinates swell when they encounter asthma, allergens or chronic sinus infections, etc. and eventually just stay large which makes asthma, allergies and sinus infections worse ... it's a self perpetuating thing. I've not only got quite a deviation (more than the second photo, and with a bone spur) but my turbinates are permanently large now. So when there is any attempt at breathing in rapidly, there's all kinds of noise. Part of the wheezing I hear is likely air trying to force it's way in between bone and turbinates ... which sets off sinus drainage ... and it's just messy.



I use Breathe Right and similar adhesive strips over the bridge of the nose to relieve those symptoms. I've also tried the Rhinomed Turbine insert, which works pretty well, although it tended to rub my deviated septum a bit.

I just had an ENT phone consult a few days ago -- they're postponing all non-urgent care in person visits due to the pandemic. ENT doc said my sinuses are clear, according to the CT scan I had earlier this year. VA did full body scans, since I had multiple injuries and issues, so they got it all over with in one session rather than waiting for each specialist to order a CT scan. I really appreciated that.

A couple of different inhalers have helped a bit, so the doc suggested continuing with those for now. One is ipratropium bromide, not a steroid like my old Flonase inhaler, but an anticholinergic and selective beta2-adrenergic dilator. I'd already been taking, as needed, a beta blocker like metoprolol for severe headache, so I suppose it's all related somehow.

I still get the occasionally horrific headache that feels like a sinus headache, but the ENT doc said there's no connection that they can find. So back to the neurologist whenever the pandemic precautions allow it. I've seen several neuro docs for years and their theories ranged from migraine to cluster headache to trigeminal neuralgia.
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Old 07-30-20, 05:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Machka
I've had my surgery! That's a bit of an experience, I have to say!!

It's 11 days post-surgery and I've had my packing out (on the next day) and my splints out (yesterday) and I am breathing through great wind tunnels now!!

I'm not to do much for a while yet, but it will be interesting to see how this affects my cycling!
20 days post-surgery. Still some post-surgery pain.

But I can breathe through my right nostril amazingly well! We're talking about trying a short bicycle ride on the weekend.
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Old 07-30-20, 07:51 AM
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Nice! Hope the ride goes as you expect it to!
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