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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

I've messed up my nose through sniffing chems, doctor says it looks fine

I

IsoH

Greenlighter
Joined
Sep 4, 2012
Messages
5
Hi Bluelight

Context: I sniffed a lot of mephedrone a couple years ago, and I mean, A LOT. Foolish amounts. This is all my own fault.


Now my problem is that one nostril stays blocked for most of the day and my other nostril feels far too sensitive pretty much all day. I also have to hold my nose to 'unblock' my ear on the sensitive nostril side and I spend about 30% of every day distracted by this. Even my eye and surrounding area seems to be affected when it's at its worst.

Before going to the doctor, I tried 'Sterimar' blocked nose spray. Didn't help. I went to the doctor about this months ago, she gave me a nose spray, didn't work, then another, didn't work. She then gave me some cream to apply, the sensitive side was less sensitive for a while but since I finished that it's returned back to the same.

I went back yesterday and she looked up my nostrils again, stated she can't see anything wrong again and that she's not going to send me to an ear/nose clinic yet because she can't see anything wrong (and due to her giving me anti-d's for an unrelated matter, she thinks this will help me feel better about my nose.. lol).

What I believe has happened here is I've made one nostril wider than it should be (main sniffing nostril), which in turn may be causing the other one to be blocked. There's no way I can live like this for the rest of my life. Even if I could find a way to unblock the nostril all the time the sensitivity in the other one would be a lot easier to deal with.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any suggestions? I haven't sniffed anything in roughly 18 months so I don't believe it's going to go away by itself.

(for the record, I used to have an account here with a few hundred posts so I know BL's the place to ask! I ditched it for safety reasons)
 
If you feel that the doctor was incorrect the you are entitled to a second opinion. While GPs are generally good with nose stuff, if they haven't ever done an ENT job then they may fail to spot anything abnormal.

It may be, however, that there isn't anything structurally wrong, but that one nostril has chronic inflammation which makes it feel blocked. As that side is blocked, airflow through the other side is increased, which may be causing the sensitivity, or the mucosa may have become dry and cracked. If this is the case then a steroid spray should help the inflammation - but they can take 3-6 months to take effect. Do you know if your doctor tried you on a steroid spray of any sort, and how long did you try it for?

If the mucosa has become dry and sore then something like Naseptin can help - it's actually an antibiotic cream but it's also used for patients with nosebleeds, as this is often caused by a dry, cracked or fraglie mucosa and the cream is very moisturising. An ENT specialist would be the best person to advise you on this, but a pharmacist may know of other moisturising treatments if your GP isn't sure..

Another possibility is a long-standing sinus infection causing inflammation and blockage of one nostril. If you had this however you would expect to get a greenish discharge and facial pain.

A final possibility is erosion of the septum on one side, or even perforation, but I would expect a doctor to be able to spot this even if they have no specific ENT training.. some people naturally have a deviated septum, which could exacerbate any nasal symptoms.

I know this is no longer relevant to you, but for others, if you snort a little water or saline (or use a douche) in between lines it can prevent irritation and caking of powder inside the nose and is generally a good habit to get into :)

(I need to just state that we are not a medical forum, and internet advice is no substitute for being seen face to face - these are just a couple of suggestions to put to your doctor or pharmacist! Bottom line is if you are struggling to breathe out of one nostril and have been for a long time, I don't think an ENT referral is an outrageous idea..)

Good luck! :)
 
Could be scar tissue affecting your air flow, possibly? The doctor ought to have commented if this has anything to do with it though.
 
Wow, thank you very much for that response effie (and yes, kids, snorting water helps massively - I find it especially a good thing to do before sleep, shame I started doing this too late). I understand this isn't a medical problem but I'm just running out of options and know theres many knowledgeable people on this board (and probably people who have had the same issue)

Yes I was prescribed one small bottle of steroid nose spray (I think this was Nasonex), I honestly can't remember how long I was on this for - less than 3 months though. When I went back and said it wasn't helping she moved me on to the cream (Naseptin Nasal Cream). I'm not sure I was using this correctly though as I was applying it with an earbud and wasn't sure how far up to push it/the amount to use.

I'm not sure if this helps narrow it down, but it does sometimes become semi-unblocked (if I hold the 'widened' nostril closed it still doesn't feel right), it's at these times I find it much easier to deal with. However, it is still unbalanced. Also, every so often I get a little bit of blood coming out when I blow my nose (nothing excessive though, and no nose bleeds).

I'm actually moving away from the area this week so next time I will be with a different doctor anyway. Plus, every time I go there it never seems to be fully blocked at that moment which is absolute sods law. If they also state they can see nothing wrong am I within my right to 'demand' a referral to an ENT clinic? (UK btw)
 
Well, did you tell your doctor that you used to snort massive quantities of a dangerous research chemical?
She needs to be informed to do her job properly, if you're concealing information you can't expect her to fix you.
Doctor-patient privilege prevents her from telling anything you told her about your drug use.
 
Yes of course. I didn't want to but when I realized this problem wasn't going away by itself I informed her. The first time I told her about it she hadn't even heard of it!

I was so damn foolish, meph was great but we took the piss with it because it was so cheap. I now refuse to snort anything at all (which sucks when you see other people doing it and also when they're trying to coerce you into it 'go on... one line won't make it any worse'). I'm actually very careful about my drug use these days. The only chem I really bother with now is MDMA and even that is every few months now. My memory is also COMPLETELY fucked. I think this was a combination of daily weed smoking for years and then heavy heavy mephedrone seshes. What a fucking fool I was and I'm reminded of it (and frustrated with it) every day. Moderation is key.
 
IsoH, it might be worth giving a steroid spray a longer trial, but I appreciate it is frustrating waiting that long! It's a shame you've tried Naseptin without success, I would have hoped it would help the over-sensitivity a lot..

I live in the UK too - unfortunately we can't demand to be seen by specialists here, GPs are "gatekeepers" and referrals are at their discretion - but if you explain to your new GP that you've tried a couple of courses of treatment but to no avail, and you would really like to see a specialist now, hopefully they will refer you on. It's always good to know that a second doctor has looked at your nose too - if they also find no abnormalities then it's more likely that there isn't anything structurally wrong. Not that it helps matters really, but good to know I guess!

One thing I would say is stay away from nasal unblockers/decongestants containing things like pseudoephedrine - they might give you some short term relief as they cause vasoconstriction, reducing nasal congestion, but the effects are only short term and you tend to get a rebound congestion that is even worse than your initial symptoms. They can be quite irritating too and in the long term can even lead to damage to your nose from restricting the blood supply over a lengthy period of time - best for short term sporadic use only.

Good luck, I hope your next doctor is able to help you..
 
OP, if that's the case then I think you should get it looked at by another doctor that has more experience.
Celebrities and regular people alike fuck about their noses by snorting drugs on a daily basis, it's nothing new.
For celebrities, it's the perfect excuse to get a nose job.

Insist on a referral to a specialist, preferably an otorhinolaryngologist. Which I believe is an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor. \
You may need surgery though to really correct it. But if it's really that uncomfortable for you it'll be worth it.

I used to be into snorting when I was younger but honestly, it's just a really bad way to do drugs. Wreaks havoc on your nose and a lot of drugs are poorly absorbed that way anyway. My friends just all thought it made them really fucking cool. And now they've got really fucking cool deviated septums :)
 
For a long time I had one nostril blocked nearly constantly due to allergies as well as sniffing pills. Although its a lot better, but this past week I had another sinus infection (I get chronic sinus infections) and its been clogged up again.

As someone else said it may be inflamed. Take some advil or aleve and see if it helps.

The fact that you "Cant live like that" is crazy to me. You'll get used to it or find a doctor that can help you. But its really not the end of the world....
 
I relate to the rage inducing frustration of nose issues, this would have me going made with frustration, impossible to ignore, obsessive.
Anyways Otrivin worked really well, to well, now im so used to a perfect nasal environment even the smallest blockage needs dosing, one of my more useful addictions though.
 
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