ENT or Allergist?

[Guest guest]

I'm embarrassed to say that I have an allergist, an ENT, a

pulmonologist, a GP, and a dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon

(to take care of one of the fun side effects of the prednisone that

I take for the Samters).

Personally, I haven't had any luck finding a coordination-of-care

person. I'd say my main contact is the ENT, who doles out the

Prednisone and Singulair and nose sprays. Then, the pulmonologist

does the Advair and Proventil. I gave up on the allergist, because

I couldn't find anything I could take to treat the allergies and my

allergy spectrum is too broad for shots (they don't even know what

to test, so I'd probably still react right and left).

I'd say the best thing to do is determine which is worse for you:

asthma or polyps, and then go to a pulmonologist or ENT,

respectively. For me, it was definitely the polyps, so the ENT has

been my main thing. I think they're more likely to understand that

component of the Samters AND things like asthma than pulmonologists,

who seem to deal with a much larger group of concerns within their

own subspecialty. That's just personal experience.

[Guest guest]

What side effects?

From: jessafeiler3 [mailto:jessafeiler@...] Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 12:00 PMsamters Subject: Re: ENT or Allergist?

I'm embarrassed to say that I have an allergist, an ENT, a pulmonologist, a GP, and a dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon (to take care of one of the fun side effects of the prednisone that I take for the Samters).Personally, I haven't had any luck finding a coordination-of-care person. I'd say my main contact is the ENT, who doles out the Prednisone and Singulair and nose sprays. Then, the pulmonologist does the Advair and Proventil. I gave up on the allergist, because I couldn't find anything I could take to treat the allergies and my allergy spectrum is too broad for shots (they don't even know what to test, so I'd probably still react right and left).I'd say the best thing to do is determine which is worse for you: asthma or polyps, and then go to a pulmonologist or ENT, respectively. For me, it was definitely the polyps, so the ENT has been my main thing. I think they're more likely to understand that component of the Samters AND things like asthma than pulmonologists, who seem to deal with a much larger group of concerns within their own subspecialty. That's just personal experience.--- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus Scanner]

[Guest guest]

I also see an ENT. My asthma is only a problem when my sinuses are bad- infected, full of polyps, ...or if I have a reaction to something mysterious! The allergist was not familiar with Samter's and therefore treated it as a standard asthma problem with tons of unnecessary medication. My allergy/ Asthma symptoms are not standard in fact none of the doctors that I have seen have found anything that I am allergic to. The NET I see now is much better than the first one I was seeing. He is proactive and we work hard together to keep things under control. He listens to what I say and does not treat me like I am stupid or crazy when I tell him what is going on. He always does sinus cultures before prescribing antibiotics so we use the best one. Having a good doctor makes a big difference.

Re: ENT or Allergist?

I'm embarrassed to say that I have an allergist, an ENT, a pulmonologist, a GP, and a dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon (to take care of one of the fun side effects of the prednisone that I take for the Samters).Personally, I haven't had any luck finding a coordination-of-care person. I'd say my main contact is the ENT, who doles out the Prednisone and Singulair and nose sprays. Then, the pulmonologist does the Advair and Proventil. I gave up on the allergist, because I couldn't find anything I could take to treat the allergies and my allergy spectrum is too broad for shots (they don't even know what to test, so I'd probably still react right and left).I'd say the best thing to do is determine which is worse for you: asthma or polyps, and then go to a pulmonologist or ENT, respectively. For me, it was definitely the polyps, so the ENT has been my main thing. I think they're more likely to understand that component of the Samters AND things like asthma than pulmonologists, who seem to deal with a much larger group of concerns within their own subspecialty. That's just personal experience.

[Guest guest]

Rex - Due to the interesting lack of immune system which the

prednisone has caused for me, I developed an infection on the bottom

of my left foot. Which wouldn't heal and got worse. So, now I get

laser surgery every two weeks. Which is about as fun as it sounds.

I think I want to trade my body in for a newer model.

[Guest guest]

Tami,

I think you need both the allergist and ENT. It was my allergist who

diagnosed my Samter's and who told me about aspirin desens. It has

been my ENT who has done the more mechanical things like remove

polyps and keep track of the state of my sinuses.

The way I look at it, the allergist tries to treat the stuff that

makes polyps grow and the ENT takes care of them when they show up. I

know that is simplistic but that is my experience.

Fortunately, my allergist and ENT work well together and refer

patients back and forth.

-