Nasal Polyps and Vasomotor Rhinitis

In the winter of either 2001 or 2002, I started to become aware that I had what seemed like a permanent cold. My nose would become stuffed and start to run with thick, green mucus for 6-8 hours after any alcohol. I remember being in the pub and thinking, “this is ridiculous, I’ve had this thing for months”, and doing the usual manly thing and ignoring it. As the summer came, the perma-cold receded and my nose was fine. The next year however, it returned with avengance. Eventually I figured that something was definitely not right and so I made an appointment with my unsympathetic doctor. A quick look and he knew that I had nasal polyps.

The standard prescription is a dose of nasal steroids, which take 6-8 weeks to have any effect. So I started the course and the problems were reduced. Excellent news, but this coincided with the coming of summer, so the problems subsided again.

I was starting to get used to the seasonal swing of symptoms and figured it was all down to climate, so when I made plans to go to New Zealand in February 2004, I fully expected the situation within my nostrils to calm down, but instead, the Southern Hemisphere summer made it worse. I was drinking most days and figured out that if I drank two nights in a row, it wasn’t so bad. However, the combination of alcohol, polyps and shared dorms in hostels led to some complaints of an unwakeable, snoring Ross. Cue embarrassment.

Once I came home, I managed to get an appointment with the doctor again and eventually got a referral to the ENT clinic at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow. I was asked to come in for an operation to have my polyps removed. “Hurrah!” I thought. So in August 2005, I was prepped by the anaesthetist and the conversation went a little like this:

Ross: “Is this the theatre?”

syringe of bloody marvellous pethadine is skooshed into me

Anaesthetist: “Yes, and you’re the star of the show……”

Ross laughs uncontrollably before conking out completely….

I awoke to nurse shaking me and my chin and chest covered in blood. Apparently I had removed the packing from my nose as I was starting to come round. I had to stay the night but left the next day much to my relief. Being in a hospital bed is very boring indeed.

After a couple of weeks I was feeling strong again and managed to run the Glasgow Half Marathon – not bad going.

That evening I went to the Drum and Monkey, a favourite watering hole to celebrate our success in getting round the course. I was keen to try out my new hooter with some booze, but you can imagine my disappointment when the same thing happened, albeit to a lesser degree.

I should point out here that the problems don’t just appear when alcohol is around. Often my nose would be stuffed and breathing through it at all could be a problem. Drink only made it more runny. My sense of smell is also almost completely gone.

So, after a few weeks I was called back to my GP to have a look. The report said that they couldn’t get all the polyps out because I had a deviated septum. This meant that my nose was too twisted to get to the ones on the left side. The next step was an operation in 2006 to straighten out my nose and get to the polyps on both sides.

I packed my overnight bag and headed out to the hospital again, hoping that this time I might get my dream of being able to enjoy a beer again.

It looked good initially. The septoplasty had been a success and they had removed some more polyps from the right nostril. Once more I hoped and after a few weeks of getting some interesting post-operative “debris” from my nostrils including blood, snotters and stitches, I felt I could breathe more easily, but there was still a reaction from alcohol – and it was just as bad as before.

Since then I’ve tried a number of nasal sprays, antihistamines and rinses. I must admit, the steroid sprays work for me, but it’s not an allergic thing and the nasal wash never really made much difference.

As of October 2009, things have started getting worse again. Snoring has returned and my left nostril remains almost permanently blocked. I went to the doctors and she can’t see any polyps but reckon I have a condition known as vasomotor rhinitis. I now have a letter from the ENT clinic telling me I’ll wait 12 weeks for an appointment with them which will involve a visual scan and nothing else no doubt. I know the NHS are stretched but I really would love a proper MRI scan.

There is a ray of hope. I have private medical insurance through work so I am considering going to BUPA to see if I can get a scan and find out once and for all if there is anything I can do about this irritating and sometimes embarrassing affliction.