Dealing with allergies after surgery..

I am 5 days post-op RNY been home 3. I have severe allergies and post nasal drip. I also am a mouth breather when I sleep which causes major dryness. Due to this I sometimes wake up with stuff dried out in my throat that I need to clear out. When I clear it out it usually involves major throat clearing or in very severe cases having to use my finger to pull the stuff out. Unfortunatly doing either of those strains my stomach the further one being the worse as it triggers my gag reflex. In some rare cases usually if I get sick the stuff in my throat will trigger my gag reflex itself resulting in me throwing up. I need a solution to prevent the dry out. Usually it's drink lots of water and sip fluids over the night as needed to avoid it happening. However with me being post-op I am not able to drink nearly as much as I use to and am struggling to get the 64oz in a day as I am only getting about 48oz as of yesterday. My fluid intake is steadily increasing though. Any recomendations in how to deal with this issue?

Congratulations on your surgery. I'm sorry to hear you have discomfort from allergies and sinus dryness. My ENT believes I will have some relief of my chronic sinusitis and post nasal drip after surgery and some weight loss. I hope so!

One thing that's been recommended for me to relieve the nasal dryness is using a non-medicated saline nasal spray before bed. Maybe ask your doctor if that's a good option for you?

Wishing you good health.

Thank you I am so happy to have had my Surgery I just keep thinking how much better things will get for me and It makes me happy to know I made this choice. I like the saline idea I forgot how beneficial it is as I haven't used it in a long time because I have been well managed with proper hydration and my medications. Back to basics it's is I guess.

On a side note did your Dr tell you why he thought the surgery might improve sinus problems?

Back to basics is sometimes the best!

I have asthma, allergies and chronic sinusitis. There's no talk of my allergies improving, but my asthma is expected to improve substantially from relief of pressure around my lungs (if I remember what my doc said accurately). Sinuses, my ENT didn't specifically say: I took it to have more to do with the "trifecta" they always talk about between my allergies, asthma and sinuses. It may also be a pressure issue. We agreed to hold off and re-evaluate post surgery and weight loss to see if surgery on my sinuses would still be indicated.

Check with your allergist/ENT for solutions. I agree with the saline spray in the nose before bed - doing that during the day a few times or using a neti pot may help as well to get the gunk cleared before bedtime.

From a practical standpoint, try elevating your head at night when sleeping - an extra pillow or a couple of bricks under the head end of the bed - which will help gravity assist the drip in the meantime.

Best of luck.

I have an adjustable bed so I am already sleeping elevate at night. Unfortunatly it only helps so much. Thank for the suggestion though.

Ugh! I totally get you! And to make matters worse, they give you big time billy badass antihistamines with your anesthesia and sometimes slap a scopolamine patch on you. All of those things make the dry, sticky, hangy-downy stuff worse! I agree about calling your ENT. Neti pots, while wonderful about the first 24 hours for me, then make my sinuses swell shut and become infected. :( I do gargle with warm sal****er, the warmest I can stand that feels comforting and not irritating. I do about 1/2 tsp of salt to 8-12 ounces...cuz I'm going for "gentle."

Hope you can find some relief!

Gargling Is a good idea too. Thank you.

I recommend calling your surgeon to ask but here's my recommendation:

Sudafed for the drip
Allegra/Zyrtec/Whatever for the allergies

Consult with an allergist for allergy shots.

PPI because this sort of thing can be caused/exacerbated by acid.

Cough drops to suck on overnight.

Chloraseptic for the throat.

You can definitely still sip overnight - and drink during the day. Have you experimented with different liquids and different temperatures? Some people find hot tea is better, some like cold water, some are good with luke warm crystal light.. experiment :)

I still sip on water at night just not nearly as frequently because my pain meds knock me out cold and what little drinking I do is limited to just sipping. My fluid intake as a whole has drastically decreased since surgery. Prior to surgery I would easily go through a gallon of water a day. Now a week post-op I am struggling to get the 64oz that I am supposed to. However it's a drastic decrease in my fluid intake. The moment I woke up from surgery I was asking for water and they said not till my surgeon clears me the next day. I insisted to at least be allowed to swish and gargle some cold water till then. They allowed it but only with them watching at first. Eventually the gave me a giant cup if it because I was asking so frequently. More than any food I enjoy a nice crisp glass of water. Before surgery I could easily drink 3 16.9fl oz bottles a night. Now I am lucky if I manage 8oz.