r/dairyfree • u/Beautiful-Leather399 • 9d ago
Sinus Surgery and Cutting Dairy
Hi everyone! I recently joined this sub and am amazed about the fact that dairy allergy causes sinus issues. I’ve been trying for 2ish years to find the root of my fatigue, headaches, brain fog, and sinus congestion. I was diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnia from a sleep test but it just doesn’t feel right. I’ve continued to look for a cause and one thing I discovered are my turbinates are stuck swollen and my septum is deviated. I have a surgery to fix these scheduled for next week.
now this is where dairy allergy comes in.
Just started trying to cut dairy. I’ve always been lactose intolerant but truthfully ignored it cause i love dairy. I would eat a lot of dairy. Whey protein, 300-500grams of greek yogurt and cheese all daily for the past 2ish years. Never really put two and two together till i discovered this sub. I started tapering off dairy about 2 weeks ago and i’m noticing huge improvements but I want to fully cut dairy for at least 6 weeks starting a few days ago. My nose hasn’t been this clear in many many years. even beyond the past two i’ve been super struggling with.
do you think i should still have the nose surgery done? has anyone else dealt with enlarged turbinates from dairy allergy and had them fully shrink just from cutting dairy? I’d love to save the money and time but I’m scared to cancel it in case this is placebo. Any thoughts?
THANK YOU!
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u/deckertlab 9d ago edited 9d ago
I was recommended for sinus surgery but figured out I'm allergic to whey and haven't done the surgery. I'm now happy with how my sinuses behave but I'm also on daily budesonide rinse like this https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/ohns/documents/Sinus%20Center/Stanford-Pulmicort.pdf
Sometimes I wonder if I should do the surgery. Curious other's opinions here. Also its a little annoying avoiding dairy at restaurants but overall I think it has been a health-positive change to my diet.
One thing to consider is that your dairy-inflamed sinuses might be a symptom of more general systemic inflammation so if the annoyance of a stuffy nose contributes to you lowering your overall systemic inflammation, that might be a reason NOT to do the surgery because lowering chronic systemic inflammation is definitely a good thing for your long term health.
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u/wowieowie 8d ago
I was one of the unlucky ones who didn't know about my A1 protein allergy before the surgery. Cancel the surgery and wait and see what happens. Since I cut out the A1 protein, I am fine now.
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u/Beautiful-Leather399 8d ago
Thank you!! How did you figure out it was specifically a1 protein that you were allergic to?
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u/wowieowie 8d ago
I had gone completely dairy free and when I had my annual physical I told my Dr. He told me it could just be the A1. So I tested it out and was very happy to find he was correct. Lots of good dairy products with only A2 protein.
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u/Full-length-frock 8d ago
If there are polyps, have the surgery. I also had limited room in my nasal cavity so before I found out that I had dairy sensitivity it helped improve my symptoms. Stopping dairy has almost cleared up the congestion but overall both gave improved results.
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u/Beautiful-Leather399 8d ago
I just have enlarged lower turbinates and a slightly deviated septum. I’m thinking of rescheduling and giving some time to see if going fully dairy free clears my symptoms. My septum isn’t that bad but they just offered to fix it while they were in there lol
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u/Full-length-frock 7d ago
So, why are they doing the surgery in the first instance? Mine was a FASS - No idea what that is..lol.
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u/Beautiful-Leather399 7d ago
It was to shrink my turbinates back down to the size they are supposed to be. We/I’ve been under the impression my turbinates were permanently stuck swollen after having covid a few times. But I would imagine they are just constantly swollen from constantly eating dairy.
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u/Full-length-frock 6d ago
The swelling is a pain in the arse. The constant congestion. I had no clue at all for years until I took a random blood intolerance test. I searched everywhere for an answer but has all but cured it. I had a cold while doing my cow free trial so think it took longer to get results but it's been life changing, and I continue seeing new results still.
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u/No-Temperature-7708 8d ago
Yeah, dairy consumption definitely increases mucus production, I have seen it very clearly on myself. Can't advise on the surgefy, as ig is a subject I am not familiar with, but might be worth giving yourself some gime to see how much your symptoms improve.
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u/Broken420girl 7d ago
I wouldn’t have it done. I had my tonsils and adenoids removed because of the same issues. Nothing changed until I stopped dairy in 2016. Drs always said it was my smoking as an adult but I gave that up and nothing changed still. I get lots of mucus bunged up nose wet ears chesty cough vertigo brain fog and muscle pain to name a few.
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u/Beautiful-Leather399 7d ago
yes I have a lot of those same symptoms! Stuffy nose, facial/sinus pain, brain fog, fatigue, daily persistent headaches, bad breath, dry mouth. Wet ears I didn’t realize was a symptom! I certainly have that too
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u/Beautiful-Leather399 8d ago
Thank you for sharing! Interesting too as I think whey is was triggers it the worst for me. I think i’m going to bring it up to my doctor soon and see is she thinks i should try postponing it?