Medical Questions » Nose and Sinuses Questions » Question No. 739
| Question: | Every morning I vomit because of all the mucus that has been running down my throat from the back of my nose during the night. This is only an irritation in summer, but in winter it can become a problem because I get sinusitis. |
| Answer: | Prevention is possible in this situation, but a permanent cure is unlikely, although you may find that moving to another city or suburb may change the situation.
I suspect that you are producing the excess mucus throughout much of the day, but because it is swallowed during the night while you are asleep, it irritates the stomach, and causes you to vomit on waking. The mucus may be caused by an allergy reacrion, reaction to temperature change, emotional change, change in position, a viral infection or any one of a dozen other reasons.
Taking a simple antihistamine in the evening may be all that is necessary. These can be purchased wirhout a prescription from a chemist. There are many different brands, but a long-acting one like Zyrtec is the one I usually recommend.
If this measure is ineffective, using a steroid-based nasal spray once or twice a day may reduce the sensitivity of the nose and sinuses so that they do not react as readily to irritants. These are only available on prescription from your general practitioner.
As a last resort, ear, nose and throat surgeons can perform an operation to reduce the amount of tissue in your nose and sinuses that is available to produce mucus.
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