Medical question: Do I need a naturopath?

In My Humble Opinion
1

TLDR: I am really stopped up, went to an MD, got drugs, they don’t work.

Some time less than 30 and more than 20 years ago I got a cold, which resulted in a really bad sinus infection, with left me with a head like a block of wood. Stuffy nose, stopped up ears, it was awful. The doctor I went to at the time was an actual doctor but kind of a holistic one. He was the one who recommended local honey for my allergies, which actually does seem to help. But he was also the one who said ear candles might help my issues with clogging up after going to the mountains. (They didn’t.) Anyway, so I went to him with this awful sinus infection, and in my memory he said he was going to give me some kind of vitamin shot–I think vitamin B-something–I could be wrong about this because I was goofy and unstable with the ear thing. He said it might make me flush. He laid me down in the table with my head lower than the hips, gave it to me in the hip, whatever it was, and… it worked instantly. My ears popped and my head cleared up before he even finished injecting it.

So, now I have another similar infection, and I want this again. This guy has unfortunately died. (Well, first he retired.) I went to my PCP, got antibiotics, got very expensive ear drops. It’s been five days and not only am I no better, I’m worse. I did tell the provider (actually a PA) about this previous experience, and of course she had no idea what this wonder drug could have been. She said maybe it was cortisone? Well, my recollection is, as I said, some kind of vitamin. But whatever.

The thing is, I have to do something. So let’s say this was some kind of alternative medicine, which it may well have been. Who do I see, and what do I ask for? Is it possible this is some decongestant he gave me that’s now illegal?

I did call the doctor and said it wasn’t working, and the PA (or some nurse) said, “Well, be patient, these things don’t work instantly.” But there is something that works instantly, and I want it.

2

Since the “works instantly” experience you described was 20+ years ago and you say you were “goofy” at the time, I think you need to consider the possibility that you’re not remembering this correctly and that the injection wasn’t really an instant cure. I’m not a doctor or anything, but it doesn’t sound plausible to me that an injection could have totally cleared things up before the doctor had even finished administering it.

3

Well of course memory can always be unreliable. However, I came home raving about my instant cure. My husband remembers this too. So it’s not just me. I was definitely fine whenI got home, it was not a long drive, so that’s close enough to instant for me even if I’m not remembering it absolutely correctly. Which that part, I’m pretty sure I am.

I may be fuzzy about what it was. As I said, I THINK I remember him saying it was a B vitamin shot. But I am absolutely sure of my head clearing up instantly.

And the best they can do now, 20 years later, is five days?

4

Sounds much more likely it was the position he laid you in, to administer the shot, than the shot itself.

A ‘B something’ shot in the hip, to instantly clear a sinus infection? As someone who has suffered numerous sinus infections and had sinus surgery, colour me highly sceptical !

Wishing you good luck regardless.

5

Niacin (B3) makes many people flush after taking it.

6

I sympathize with your desire to clear your stuffiness - there is nothing worse than being completely blocked up.

However, use your head (heh). If there were an inexpensive, safe substance available that instantly cured congestion 20 years ago, don’t you think it would be well known and in constant use today?

More likely your body was ready to “de-stuff” anyway at the time you got the shot, and it just so happened that the clearing coincided with its administration.

I hope you feel better soon, one way or another.

7

Yes, but I take it and it does nothing for a cold or sinus infection, let alone instantly.

8

Maybe the positional change had something to do with the decongestion? It wasn’t any vitamin effect.

If you have extra cash burning a hole in your pocket and you want to get rid of it, a naturopath will work. They might have a homeopathic solution for you.

Or you could stick with the evidence-based medical treatment you were given, supplementing with the neti pot thing.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-11/neti-pots

9

Doctors with a medical degree (MD) typically WILL NOT tell anyone about anything which is not a prescription drug (which costs a fortune). Perhaps because they all get kickbacks or own stock in the pharmaceutical companies?

Anyway, with that said, I would advise you to go to regular doctors (MD’s), naturopaths, Chinese herbalists, whoever. And read everything you can on the internet.

Then stick with the person or advice which works the best.

Note people with allergies get relief when using a HEPA air cleaner in their bedroom / living room. Might try that too. These are sold at Walmart and look like this…
Robot or human?

10

(Bolding mine)

Well, if you’re going to suggest those, you might as well add chiropractors, Reiki practitioners, New Age crystal experts, magnetic bracelet salesmen, and the like to your list.

11

Have you tried everything in the drug store from the cold-flu aisle?

12

True story: I once held so much pharma stock in my investment portfolio, they sent me an honorary medical degree.

13

Your wallet is enlarged, which is putting pressure on your spine, which blocks the flow of energy thru your ninth meridian. The pressure has to be relieved. A naturopath can certainly help with that.

Regards,
Shodan

14

I can attune him over the phone once i have verified his visa limit.

15

They actually gave you antibiotics for simple congestion? I guess they haven’t read any of the recent clinical practice guidelines. Well, since you are 5 days in I’m guessing you’ll be better in a week or 7 days, whichever comes first.

16

Here I’ll save you a trip to the naturopath.
Call and find out what his charge is for an office visit
Get that amount of money in crisp new bills.
Light a beeswax candle and use that to burn your dollar bills
Inhale the fumes.
All better!

17

The simplest solution I’ve found for a cold is chicken soup (it doesn’t necessarily cure it, but it is soothing) and lots of hot tea. (A hot toddy before bed is nice, but not necessary).

18

Cecil on ear candling.

You do not need a naturopath. Most people who call themselves that are not any kind of doctor. Naturopaths, and holistic doctors are different things, although they both are degrees of woo, as far as I’m concerned.

What you need is an ENT, and ear-nose-throat specialist. Lots of people do experience so ear stoppage with sinus infections or colds, but can usually clear it. When they stay stopped up for a day or several days, that is a real problem.

I had this, and it was because my adenoids were so enlarged, hey would block my Eustachian tubes. Sometimes they randomly stopped up even when I wasn’t sick. I was in danger of rupturing an ear drum. I needed to have them removed.

My tonsils were doing me no good at the time. One was atrophied, and the other was enlarged, producing fluid prodigiously (but with no provocation), and collecting lots of tonsil stones. So they came out too.

Since then, I get maybe one cold a year, instead of three, and they last 4 or five days instead of 8 or 9, and are not as severe, and best of all, my ears don’t stop up, not ever.

Recovery was a bitch, but I would go through it again in a heartbeat. Totally excellent decision to have all the crap out. No sore throats with colds, either.

19

Flonase was revelation and is now OTC. It works very well for me and I have chronic sinus issues. Much better than any of the old school decongestants.

http://nasacort.com/taking-prescription-allergy-spray.aspx?gclid=COeus5j53cwCFcYfhgod3tMFAg

20

Lying down with your head lower than your hips could have made your ears pop. A B-12 shot could make you feel so good that combined with a little relief of pressure in your head you felt like your congestion was entirely gone.