# Relationship between sinusitis and IBS



## PreMedSax (Nov 27, 2001)

Has anyone noticed a relationship in the severity of IBS symptoms and the presence of a sinus infection? Not only do I have IBS, but I also have chornic sinusitis. Recently, I have observed that with the onset of an unusually severe sinus infection (has to happen at least once in a year) my IBS symptoms have become more frequent and more severe. Perhaps they aren't related, but if IBS wasn't enough, try have a bad flare-up during a rather bad sinus infection --- oy!


----------



## tylersmommi (Dec 3, 2001)

hi, i am currently being tested for ibs and colitis....but this all started out a couple months ago, and every time i went to a clinic (i have no insurance) they took tests at first for diabetes, but then they said i had a sinus infection. they gave me meds and i felt better but not totally better, even to this day, my sinuses get really bad. anyways i switched to a new doctor and i just went last week and now am being tested for ibs and colitis. so maybe there is a connection there. if you want to talk more e mail me at kimrock21###aol.com


----------



## tylersmommi (Dec 3, 2001)

hi, i am currently being tested for ibs and colitis....but this all started out a couple months ago, and every time i went to a clinic (i have no insurance) they took tests at first for diabetes, but then they said i had a sinus infection. they gave me meds and i felt better but not totally better, even to this day, my sinuses get really bad. anyways i switched to a new doctor and i just went last week and now am being tested for ibs and colitis. so maybe there is a connection there. if you want to talk more e mail me at kimrock21###aol.com


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

A fair number of people notice that when pretty much any disease they have flares up the IBS also flares up.One fairly simple answer is that illness is a physical stressor (we often think of stress only in the emotional aspect of it, but physical stress is also stress...being ill...recovering from an injury...over-exertion, etc) and stress of any kind tends to make IBS flare up.K.


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

A fair number of people notice that when pretty much any disease they have flares up the IBS also flares up.One fairly simple answer is that illness is a physical stressor (we often think of stress only in the emotional aspect of it, but physical stress is also stress...being ill...recovering from an injury...over-exertion, etc) and stress of any kind tends to make IBS flare up.K.


----------



## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Nope, no relationship between the two for me. Chronic sinusitis for 20 months now and the flare-ups don't come at the same time as IBS flare-ups. I guess I must just be lucky!


----------



## wanderingstar (Dec 1, 1999)

Nope, no relationship between the two for me. Chronic sinusitis for 20 months now and the flare-ups don't come at the same time as IBS flare-ups. I guess I must just be lucky!


----------



## JenS (Dec 18, 2000)

There is a relationshp between IBS & allergies.


----------



## JenS (Dec 18, 2000)

There is a relationshp between IBS & allergies.


----------



## gasbob (Dec 4, 2001)

There is a link between esophogeal reflux and the incidence of sinus infections.A guy that I know at work had chronic sinus infections, until they discovered that it was the horrible reflux he was having that was causing the sinus problems.He no longer felt the heartburn because of the scarring that had taken place.Bob


----------



## gasbob (Dec 4, 2001)

There is a link between esophogeal reflux and the incidence of sinus infections.A guy that I know at work had chronic sinus infections, until they discovered that it was the horrible reflux he was having that was causing the sinus problems.He no longer felt the heartburn because of the scarring that had taken place.Bob


----------



## Nat (Sep 29, 2001)

No connection for me. I used to get sinus infections pretty frequently but I haven't since I've had my latest flare-up. Nat


----------



## Nat (Sep 29, 2001)

No connection for me. I used to get sinus infections pretty frequently but I haven't since I've had my latest flare-up. Nat


----------



## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

Horrible sinuses for years here. The extra mucus that manages to drain into my stomach when it's really bad can make it worse, but other than that, didn't know of a correlation.I'm interested in hearing more about reflux and sinus infections though. And how many years does one have to have reflux before there is a concern that they don't notice it often because of scar tissue?


----------



## *Luna* (Nov 19, 2001)

Horrible sinuses for years here. The extra mucus that manages to drain into my stomach when it's really bad can make it worse, but other than that, didn't know of a correlation.I'm interested in hearing more about reflux and sinus infections though. And how many years does one have to have reflux before there is a concern that they don't notice it often because of scar tissue?


----------



## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

I find that is i have a cold or anything then my IBS isn't s bad! Maybe because i have something else to concentrate on, i duno. I don't tend to take meds for colds so its not the cold med. Hmmm...something to ponder over.


----------



## Nikki (Jul 11, 2000)

I find that is i have a cold or anything then my IBS isn't s bad! Maybe because i have something else to concentrate on, i duno. I don't tend to take meds for colds so its not the cold med. Hmmm...something to ponder over.


----------



## gasbob (Dec 4, 2001)

Luna,I don't know about the number of years, I am sure it is an individual thing. This guy went to several doctors berfore they figured things out. In his case, he had infections for maybe 15-20 years or so.Bob


----------



## gasbob (Dec 4, 2001)

Luna,I don't know about the number of years, I am sure it is an individual thing. This guy went to several doctors berfore they figured things out. In his case, he had infections for maybe 15-20 years or so.Bob


----------



## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

There are forms of food intolerance or allergy that cause both digestive and other types of allergic symptoms. They don't show up on standard allergy tests.I highly recommend the book "Food Allergies and Food Intolerance" by Dr. Jonathan Brostoff, which explains all the technical details and includes instructions for an elimination diet to find the culprits.In the case of the people here who mentioned having chronic sinus problems, it sounds like a chronic allergy, to food or something else. My sinuses were like that before I figured out by myself I'm allergic to soy. I also have fructose and dairy intolerance. I'm going to post info here from one of the people researching this, Mike NoLomotil. Do a search for his posts, he gives all the technical details.--------------------------------------------------Hi Julia So very sorry to see you suffering from environmental and food allergies along with your IBS. Is that the simplest answer you ever heard? Basically in response to: "Mike is this pain caused by my allergy? Are my soy allergy and IBS more closely related than I realized? I think I saw something in your posts about mast cells being released in the digestion, and that's an allergic reaction, right? If my soy allergy and IBS are related, could my seasonal allergies also cause my IBS? I'll monitor my IBS over the next year to see if it changes with the seasons. What do you think?" ...all your questions please insert YES wherever a YES or NO response would be appropriate. The only exception is "seasonal allergies cause my IBS". The inhalant alergies can aggravate your IBS symptoms....and the food allergy and the IBS are comorbid but "crossover" mechanisms that are similar. The answer there would be that the food allergies, mediated by specific IgE to certain foods AND that there are cross-reactions to specific foods linked to specific environemntal allergens, cause symptoms that can be mistaken for the symptoms of IBS and they are comorbid (coexisting) way more often than people have been led to beleive by a medical establishment that never actually looked at the frequency of comorbidity of food allergy in IBS patients and quantified it. They simply spout-off freqeuncy of incidense figures which apply to the general population (2% to 5% depending whose data are analyzed). BNut in that population are IBS patients whose incidence of fooda alergy comorbidity is higher than the mixed population. So the nonsense you hear abput food allergy being rare and so it has nothing to do with IBS is bad assumption. Immunologists and others who have mad a long-time practice of approaching symptoms sets from the immunologic/allergic perspective as opposed to symptomologic pigeon holing have long known that there are many patients who exhibvit symptoms of IBS who have comorbid alergy of all types up to and including asthma symptoms. Many in vitro assessments combined with oral challenge have provided confirmatory markers of same, and finally recent in vivo studies of the small bowel show that the mechanisms of food reactivity in IBS d and cyclic symptom sets are very closely related to the same abnormal immne mechanisms seen in environmental and food allergies....except that if you remove the patients who have IBS symptoms from true fod ALLERGY from the subject groups, you can still provoke their symptoms with specific foodsa or additives. AND the surprising part is when you look at the small bowel there is both an apparent mast cell and general immunocyte reaction (including the lymphocytes and other immune cells which work in conjucntion with the other bowel structures and flora as part of the bowels immunoprotective functions)even though you cannot detect the provoking foods with standard IgE assay nor even the wildly-optimistic skin prick testing. So WHAT is happening can be observed and quantified, but WHY the immune system is misbehaving remains unknown. There are several plausible theories and my take is that it is a different etiology or combination in different patients which will be linkable to the precurosr events eventually. So when your inhalant allergies are bad, there are a multitiude of mechanisms which can make your IBS symptoms worse...including cross-reactivity, lowered degranulation threshold of immunocytes due to active arming by IgE and in some cases inflammaoprovocative mediators being released by mast cells which will provoke other sells to respond (PAF is a real probnlem as platelets are loaded with serotonin...its not just the obvious histamine from gut mast cells acting like mast cells in the repsiratory tract) making them unstable. Get professor Brostoffs book, as you will not only come to understand the answers to your questions better, thus what your body is doing, but you will also have reference material galore for such things as which foods cross react with which types of inhalant allergens etc. "FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENT", Professor Jonathan Brostoff (M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kings' College, London) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 The upside of your misery as that a symptom set ike yours is highly manageble with dietary and envioronmental prophylaxis, as we have reliable in vitro tests for both allergies and non-allergenic sensitivty reactions which will allow isolation of most if not all of the provoking substances and then a lifestyle plan can be constructed to lead to effective prophylaxis. You are indeed applying logic which is confirmable with quantitative means. I just donot think you want to go to Swedent o get a catheter shived into your small bowel to isolate the non-allergic offending foods...there are other easier ways to do that clinically Eat well, Think well, Be wellMNL__________________


----------



## Julia37 (May 9, 2001)

There are forms of food intolerance or allergy that cause both digestive and other types of allergic symptoms. They don't show up on standard allergy tests.I highly recommend the book "Food Allergies and Food Intolerance" by Dr. Jonathan Brostoff, which explains all the technical details and includes instructions for an elimination diet to find the culprits.In the case of the people here who mentioned having chronic sinus problems, it sounds like a chronic allergy, to food or something else. My sinuses were like that before I figured out by myself I'm allergic to soy. I also have fructose and dairy intolerance. I'm going to post info here from one of the people researching this, Mike NoLomotil. Do a search for his posts, he gives all the technical details.--------------------------------------------------Hi Julia So very sorry to see you suffering from environmental and food allergies along with your IBS. Is that the simplest answer you ever heard? Basically in response to: "Mike is this pain caused by my allergy? Are my soy allergy and IBS more closely related than I realized? I think I saw something in your posts about mast cells being released in the digestion, and that's an allergic reaction, right? If my soy allergy and IBS are related, could my seasonal allergies also cause my IBS? I'll monitor my IBS over the next year to see if it changes with the seasons. What do you think?" ...all your questions please insert YES wherever a YES or NO response would be appropriate. The only exception is "seasonal allergies cause my IBS". The inhalant alergies can aggravate your IBS symptoms....and the food allergy and the IBS are comorbid but "crossover" mechanisms that are similar. The answer there would be that the food allergies, mediated by specific IgE to certain foods AND that there are cross-reactions to specific foods linked to specific environemntal allergens, cause symptoms that can be mistaken for the symptoms of IBS and they are comorbid (coexisting) way more often than people have been led to beleive by a medical establishment that never actually looked at the frequency of comorbidity of food allergy in IBS patients and quantified it. They simply spout-off freqeuncy of incidense figures which apply to the general population (2% to 5% depending whose data are analyzed). BNut in that population are IBS patients whose incidence of fooda alergy comorbidity is higher than the mixed population. So the nonsense you hear abput food allergy being rare and so it has nothing to do with IBS is bad assumption. Immunologists and others who have mad a long-time practice of approaching symptoms sets from the immunologic/allergic perspective as opposed to symptomologic pigeon holing have long known that there are many patients who exhibvit symptoms of IBS who have comorbid alergy of all types up to and including asthma symptoms. Many in vitro assessments combined with oral challenge have provided confirmatory markers of same, and finally recent in vivo studies of the small bowel show that the mechanisms of food reactivity in IBS d and cyclic symptom sets are very closely related to the same abnormal immne mechanisms seen in environmental and food allergies....except that if you remove the patients who have IBS symptoms from true fod ALLERGY from the subject groups, you can still provoke their symptoms with specific foodsa or additives. AND the surprising part is when you look at the small bowel there is both an apparent mast cell and general immunocyte reaction (including the lymphocytes and other immune cells which work in conjucntion with the other bowel structures and flora as part of the bowels immunoprotective functions)even though you cannot detect the provoking foods with standard IgE assay nor even the wildly-optimistic skin prick testing. So WHAT is happening can be observed and quantified, but WHY the immune system is misbehaving remains unknown. There are several plausible theories and my take is that it is a different etiology or combination in different patients which will be linkable to the precurosr events eventually. So when your inhalant allergies are bad, there are a multitiude of mechanisms which can make your IBS symptoms worse...including cross-reactivity, lowered degranulation threshold of immunocytes due to active arming by IgE and in some cases inflammaoprovocative mediators being released by mast cells which will provoke other sells to respond (PAF is a real probnlem as platelets are loaded with serotonin...its not just the obvious histamine from gut mast cells acting like mast cells in the repsiratory tract) making them unstable. Get professor Brostoffs book, as you will not only come to understand the answers to your questions better, thus what your body is doing, but you will also have reference material galore for such things as which foods cross react with which types of inhalant allergens etc. "FOOD ALLERGIES AND FOOD INTOLERANCE: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THEIR IDENTIFICTION AND TREATMENT", Professor Jonathan Brostoff (M.D.. Allergy, Immunology and Environmental Medicine, Kings' College, London) http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/089...6487508-3420903 The upside of your misery as that a symptom set ike yours is highly manageble with dietary and envioronmental prophylaxis, as we have reliable in vitro tests for both allergies and non-allergenic sensitivty reactions which will allow isolation of most if not all of the provoking substances and then a lifestyle plan can be constructed to lead to effective prophylaxis. You are indeed applying logic which is confirmable with quantitative means. I just donot think you want to go to Swedent o get a catheter shived into your small bowel to isolate the non-allergic offending foods...there are other easier ways to do that clinically Eat well, Think well, Be wellMNL__________________


----------



## wjm5678 (Apr 2, 2012)

PreMedSax said:


> Has anyone noticed a relationship in the severity of IBS symptoms and the presence of a sinus infection? Not only do I have IBS, but I also have chornic sinusitis. Recently, I have observed that with the onset of an unusually severe sinus infection (has to happen at least once in a year) my IBS symptoms have become more frequent and more severe. Perhaps they aren't related, but if IBS wasn't enough, try have a bad flare-up during a rather bad sinus infection --- oy!


I'm just making the connection now... I asked my GI doctor if there was a known correlation and he is unaware of one, but they definitely seem to be connected! NOT FUN!!!!!


----------

