I’m literally leaking brains
My brains are leaking out of my nose. I’m sure that doesn’t come as a surprise to anybody. But now it’s been officially confirmed by a doctor. Ok, maybe I’m be a little over dramatic. [Me? A drama queen? NEVER!]
I feel like crap today. You know. Same shit, different day. If I felt like wasting an evening I’d link to every post where I bitch and moan about having a cold. I get them often. About every six weeks. It’s a lot of fun. [Damn, I hate it when sarcasm doesn't come through in the written word.]
Yesterday I got a headache. This is not an unusual occurrence for me. I get migraines. A lot. I went to a neurologist when I was in high school. He gave me a book to read. A book he wrote, because not only was he a doctor, but also a published writer and being a doctor gave him the most excellent opportunity to pimp his book. [Whew I need to take a breath after that run-on sentence.] He also took a nice little picture of my brain. And made me keep a food diary. And made me take some medicine that made me crazy [that explains a lot doesn't it ;)]. The medicine made my mouth feel like I had been eating cotton all day. It also made me forget things. For example, I would get in my car to go somewhere and as I getting ready to pull out of the driveway I’d forget if I was coming or going. Good times. Then he sent me to the university so they could do some shock therapy. [You're starting to understand my quirkiness a little more now aren't you?] Finally he settled on horse pills otherwise known as pain killers. Cause see back in the old days they didn’t have these drugs like Imitrex. Back then you just crawled in the bed, put a cold washcloth on your head and prayed for death, which, cruelly, never came.
This morning I woke up with the same headache and, just for fun, my body threw in a temperature. Yippee. Luckily I didn’t need to make a doctor’s appointment because I already had a regularly scheduled appointment with my Ear, Nose Throat doctor.
At my appointment I was telling Dr. C about the new problems I have with my nose. The pressure in my cheek and forehead and the fact that my right eye feels like it’s going to literally pop out of my head. He decided to take a little looksy up there. I don’t know if any of you have ever had your nose examined by an ENT, but it sure is a good time. He takes this little camera that is really a long piece of very thin rubber and jams it up my nose. All the way to my eyeball. And every time it makes my eyes water and I walk out of the office looking like I’ve just been told I was on my deathbed because my eyes are all red and puffy.
This time he asked me if I’ve ever been tested for allergies. I said yes, but they didn’t find anything. As he was squirming his rubber up my nose [ok, that didn't sound right] he goes, “oh, you have allergies. Your nose is all puffy and full of puss.” Yum! Aren’t you glad you’re reading today?
Then I told him about this really cool trick where when I bend over liquid pours out of my nose. Not like a runny nose, but more like a faucet. It’s way cool. I told Dr. C about the other day when when Lee and I were wrestling and my nose starting pouring liquid all over Lee. Dr. C said “did you win that match?” Lee was pretty grossed out so I consider that a win for me.
But apparently water shouldn’t be rushing out of a person’s nose like that. He tried to get me show him my faucet nose, but I couldn’t perform under pressure. So instead he asked me to try to “catch” some it next time it happens. His concern is that it might be brain fluid. He asked, “does it taste salty?” I said, “I don’t know. It comes out of my nose. I don’t drink it.”
Tomorrow I’m going to be tested for allergies again. My appointment is at 8:30 in the morning. I don’t even make it to work by 8:30 in the morning, but I’ll see what I can do. Then Dr. C and I are going to chat for a while and hopefully I’ll have caught some brain juice for him to analyze.
In the meantime I’m back on a very strong antibiotic for a month. I know. You’re jealous. You wish you could be as healthy as me.
UPDATE: I am not leaking brain fluid. I’ve had several CT scans and we’ve determined the sinus cavity in my forehead is very, very full of mucus and puss and ick. This is not only causing clear fluid to leak out of my nose, but I’m also getting headaches. So I will be having surgery so my ENT can go in there and clean out my sinus cavity.
If you are having similar problems please call your doctor. Try to get an appointment with an ENT [ear, nose throat doctor]. I’m not a doctor and I can’t diagnose your problem. But if fluid is draining out of your nose and/or ears and you don’t have a cold or if your symptoms last for more than a few days seek medical help.
Have you tried Zicam swabs? I here the work awesome. Though, I have not tried them myself. But next time I get a cold I am going to to a real test.
Ummmmm, is this a disorder related to “mommy-brain” because if so I need to get tested. I can’t tell you how many times I have started to do something and instantly forgot what I was doing.
I hope the doctors can get to the problem and help you feel better. It is never good when mommy is sick or leaking brains.
OMG! He thinks you could be leaking brain fluid and he just sent you home?
Is this right?
Surely not!
I’m more than a little curious and slightly alarmed to see how this turns out.
ttyl,
pam
I am having the same problem with the watery liquid pouring out of my nose when I bend over. My “water” is a lil bit orange in colour. I thought today I had a sinus infection but I will be very interested to know what your ENT says. Let’s hope yer not literally losing yer mind. LOL Cause that would mean I am too!
Thanks for sharing.
Ummm, I was doing a search online today, trying to figure out what that bright yellow, clear liquid was coming out my nose!!! I stumbled upon this, and now I’m concerned. Please, please let us know what you find out from your Dr. I feel fine, just got over a cold and had a minor sinus infection. Now this weird liquid is coming out of my nose, and I’m worried!
Thank you for sharing this.
I also have this same problem and would love to know what your doctor endedup saying about this.
Hi I have the same problem and had it for a while, but ignored it in the hope that it would go away. I’m really worried as I have been thinking recently that it may be brain fluid as I’ve had headaches and a bit of dizziness. Please please let me know what your doctor diagnosed it as.
Thankyou!
Hi. I was at dance class tonight, without any cold symptoms. Suddenly liquid just started dripping from my nose. It was nasty. I ran out of class, initially thinking it was my sinuses clearing. But I blew my nose and nothing came out. I took a couple steps and out came pouring a bunch of liquid again. At this point I felt a little scared so I sat down. I sat with a box of tissues next to the garbage can….dripping a light orange fluid. It wouldn’t stop. When it did, all I had to do is move or bend over just a little and it the fluid would continue to drip. I treated it like a bloody nose until I thought it was finished. Throughout the night it didn’t leak uncontrollably, however it would occasionally and spontaneously drip on to the pages of a book I was reading or on to my chest. Could it just be allergies? Could it be a cerbral spinal fluid (csf) leak? It doesn’t feel like just sinuses. Let me know if you have any insight….shannongall@msn.com
Treat warily. In 2002 I was getting clear leak drops when i bent forward to access car-door locking (about 20 degrees) It took a long time (months) to catch some .. but it was CSF and that led to greater medical scrutiny .. then a full blowout leak through the nose(casualty). Then, an operation to seal the flaw in the skull behind my sphenoid sinus(ruptured meningocele/encephalocoele). Then, procedures to get the right ICH shunt inserted. Clear leaks have to be caught to be properly assessed. Have the right pathology script handy together with a specimen flask. Hope you are ok.
I had a nosebleed yesterday and got it to stop within 15 minutes.went to bed in the morning i woke up and everything was fine. if I bend forward a clear stringy liquid comes out of my left nostril, does anyone know if this is simply because of the nose bleed or could this be csf?
hello all i had this happen to me it all started may 8 1998 i was at a club got shot yep sot in the head i was dead on when i was pulled from ambulance rushed to operating room.my parents was told i woul be brain dead most likely! i was a quadrapaligic and on respapator for long time about month.so i get out of hospital and go to rhab hosp.ok im doing good in thearapy bent over doing hand and knee excercise nose running they call doc i i get checked and it is spinal fluid i get taken to operating room again!in one yr i had four operations full blown brain sergery. its ten yrs now had some spinal fluid come out again i think trying to catch it so i can get it fixed one more time all this time i done so well i walked wife down isle she is my rock we married i met her in rehab hosp. she was nurse who fed me i was told yrs ago not to bite hand that feeds you! well i got back to body building i where afo on feet and knee braces when i play or lift weights or walk but in house i use nothing im back to this scary problem. i will keep you all posted i want to write a book or do small life story movie i was very lucky i have alot of support and the hand and knee excercize payed off have two pretty litle girls lol. well thanks hope all is well.
Please let me know what is going on. I have the same problem as you -bright yellow leaks from my nose - allmost for 2 years. The doctors asking me to do many kinds of test.I am so scared.I have 2 small kids and I am affraid to loose them. Please respond. Thank you
Wow I am printing this out and taking it with me when i go for a paps tomorrow… maybe i can get him to look at my other end too.. been doing the same thing all day today, will try and catch some to take to the doctor tomorrow. I am just getting over a cold or upper resp. infection and have been on zithromax for the past 5 days then this dark yellow stuff What the Heck….thanks much for the info…
I have been diagnosed and treated for a CSF leak where fluid ran out of my nose.
The fluid was clear (tinted does not mean CSF leak)… ran out constantly, not just when I bent over (though it was worse when I bent over).
If you have a CSF leak, you will know it because the symptoms cannot be mistaken - fevers, low body temp (like almost hypothermic) when not feverish, constant colds, infections, and delibitating headaches. While you don’t always have these symptoms, it’s very uncommon for you not to have at least a few at the same time.
If your fluid is not CLEAR, and If you don’t have these symptoms, you don’t have a leak.
Please feel free to contact me archadtz@gmail.com if you want to hear my story, my surgery story, and my success…
It’s been 2 years since my surgery, and still not leaking CSF…
Guys, nobody set what’s that yellow liquid yet! I just got it few minutes ago, it’s little scary. Yellow clear liquid without smell pouring out of my nose for few seconds after I bend over ( to change paper in the printer, nothing else
). I hope it’s just sinuses, nothing else.
same thing happen to me and freaked me out. but i think its just the pollen that has made my mucus dark.
I’ve had what sounds like the same thing occur three times in the past three/four months, either when I bent forward or blew my nose. A nostril would all of a sudden run like a tap of yellow watery liquid. No mucus, but just like urine - sorry - and very salty tasting. Freaked me out the first time it happened and it happened again today.
My ENT doctor told me that it is the beginning of mucus production and not to worry unless it gets excessive.
Over the past four years my main problem, which eventually took me to the doctor, was a post nasal drip that drove me crazy. Especially at night when I was laying down. I’ve had a couple of CAT Scans which determined all my sinuses were diseased, likely to be just polyps. Also had allergy tests, which confirmed I was allergic to dogs, cats and the usual weeds. Finally got the nerve to have the sinus surgery to clear my sinuses of the polyps. They did it by guided imagery (tube up nose with camera and cutting instrument, while they looked at screen and cleared the polyps out). No big deal - really.
Have had two incidences of the clear yellow mini explosions since the operation. It actually feels like somethings popped because I can always breath easier from that nostril after it occurs, but it could just be from either moving your head a certain way to allow it to drain or blowing a clear path, so to speak, for it to drain. It’s just your sinuses draining and I don’t believe it’s anything to be terribly concerned about. But I bet that those of you who are getting “colds” all the time are actually experiencing allergic reactions, which are frequently turning into infections. Go to a reputable ENT specialist and get tested for allergies. I’m on an allergy shot regime now, which can take a year before one gets relief. In the meantime, I feel pretty much the same, but at least the polyps are gone, which were really began to impede my breathing as they were growing out of my sinuses into my nasal passages. I still have the terrible post nasal drip, which my doctor said is my body making the mucus to wash away whatever allergins I’m breathing in.
Unfortunately, I think it’s my little dog that I may be allergic to, so I guess I’m just going to have to deal with the problem as I’m not getting rid of her…although I guess she shouldn’t sleep in bed with us, but we don’t want to hurt her feelings and banish her to the floor or her own bed. Ah, what we do for love!
my daughter who is 51 taking lot of medication for mental illness she has a constant dripping nose but what is unusual is the fact that she cant feel her nose dripping would appreciate some feed back
I found this same article after the same thing just happened to me. My face had been sore all day, from swollen sinuses, I guess. Then *POW*, the dam broke and all this yellow fluid flows out one nostril. It has left an awful taste in my mouth for hours now. Salty? maybe. Gross? Definately.
brandon has hadthe same problem for 7years took him to many ent’s they want to make him a pill popper and a psychotic saying there is nothing wrong with him. yet here are many people with the same problem. the ent’s say his sinuses are clear but he is really stressing out with this I have come to my whits end he has had only one job for two months in seven years. It has turned into a problem that he has become an obsessive compulsive behind it and the ent’s are not helping the situation we have been to three they act as though they can’t or won’t help him. any help out there?
I just bend over to pick up some paper from the floor and then theres this light yellowish liquid dripping from nose. When i hold up my head it stopped then i feel dizzy……….can any one tell what it was that i xperience. Its been going for the past two weeks, I just gotover the flu<<,
I have the same thing. Freaky. Yellow salty fluid leaking from my nose when I would bend over. It’s stopped happening but was REALLY bad for a while. Seemed worse when I was stressed out in a crappy job. However despite it not happening for a long time I’ve now developed some pretty cool dizzy spells which must be related somehow. I got checked out by an ENT and had a cat scan and showed some weirdo stuff from a broken nose years ago but nothing too nasty. The didn’t image my noggin though. Wish they did though… stuff like that makes the hypocondriac(sp?) in me come out. Good times! Thanks for writing about this it’s comforting to know you’re not the only one.
I’m releaved to read so many people having this same occurrence. I’m just getting rid of a sinus infection that was producing very thick, green mucus (I know - yum!). I took a Z-Pack, and have been on Musinex-D.
When I bend over, totally unexpectedly, my nose will start dripping this yellow liquid. I was just laying in bed asleep and awoke to the same thing dripping out of my nose! I’m a little freaked, I worry about it being some type of fungus and I’ll end up having to have half of my face removed like that one guy that was all over the news a few years ago with the “prosthetic face”. I’ll call the doctor if It’s still happening in 2 days.
Same thing is happening to me when l get out of bed this orange yellow clear fuild pours out of my nose l know its some sort of sinus infection.l’ve been on antibiotics for months now and it keeps coming back.one of my friends said he had the same thing after a year of blocked sinus, had a wisdom tooth remove which was giving him trouble. problem fixed the wisdom tooth roots grew into his sinuses causing infection after infection so l’m off to the dentist today l hope he finds something chow
I posted on July 23rd. Good news. Within 2 days the mysterious yellow fluid stopped dripping and I haven’t seen it back since. I’m assuming it had to be something with the sinus infection and Z-Pack. Just wanted to update!
Hi,
I had surgery a year ago. Five disc laminectomy and fusion in my neck. Sometimes when I roll over in bed a clear white fluid comes out of one nostril. Yesterday I was out in the yard bent over pulling weeds. Last night when I went to bed when I rolled over and clear white liquid poured out of my nose. When I got up this I had a horrible headache, especially right on both sides of my nose and behind my eyes. I have been in bed all day taking pain medication. Now my neck is really starting to hurt. Anyone else have these symptoms?
Terri
Not sure if you’ll see this but go to the hospital right away! Sounds like you have the symptoms of meningitis; it might be nothing but not worth risking.
I have the same weird orangey/yellow drip as a lot of people here, after having had sinus surgery earlier in the year. The doctors are currently testing the fluid to see what it is. In the meantime, they said if I had a stiff neck, sensitivity to bright lights and a splitting headache after a nose leak then to go to the hospital immediately.
To everyone else who has the leak– the doctor said the chances are that it’s not CSF fluid (brain fluid) but sinuses draining, but they need to be sure.
Dear Bean,
First of all, your ENT should be spraying a numbing agent into your sinuses before sticking anything up there! My ENT numbs and then sprays AFRIN up there before inserting his nifty little camera rod.
Two months ago, I had surgery to correct a deviated septum and to open a sinus cavity that had zero drainage. I had been having chronic sinus infections and that “faucet” nose for at least three years. I’ve learned that this type of surgery is only about 10% successful as a cure (but does alleviate some of the problems, just not all of them) and that the “faucet” nose we all suffer from is pretty common. Most ENTs are familiar with it but it seems a lot of GPs aren’t. My ENT seemed very nonchalant about it and said to bend over after I’ve taken a shower because that’s when a lot of water can collect. He said it’s the sinuses under our eyes that collects the water and bending over is much the same as tipping a bowl of water until it runs over the side. Of course, if there’s fever, pain and greenish mucus, it’s time to see the doctor for a sinus infection. I’m on day 9 of a 14 day dose of antibiotics and I dripped while in Target yesterday. How disgusting!!! So much for that $12,000 surgery.
So its just like everyone sais. I got this orange thin liquid coming out of my nose when I’m really stressed or look down. Like most of you, I just got over a cold but have no history of surgeries, allergies or damage what so ever. My sense of smell has been annoyingly heightened and the liquid only seems to flow at work. someone has to know what this is!
I am having this yellow fluid coming out of my nose for the past 2 weeks. I am thinking it is polen kinda alergy. I had it once in San Antoni,TX. now i am in India, i play Tennis every morning. i rarely see a doctor. It has been nearly 2 years since i even took a pill.
I thought i can control this orange fluid by pranayama. But it has no effect. If i am in AC, my condition is really bad. right nose, right eye, teeth pain near the right cheek are paining. My brain is also responding a bit slow.
After reading related stuff on net i decided to see a doctor tomorrow. I may have to swallow antibiotics which i really really hate
I am back without the yellow/ green fluid. I called an ENT speciailist on 29th Sep and he recommneded Augmentin 375mg for every 8 hours for 5 days. I took it for these 3 days and i a out of the trouble. But i am feeling the side effects like weakness due to loose stools. But it is managable. I have to see what happens once i stop the medicine. But so far .. i am happy about not leaking that yellow fluid..
Hi everyone!
liquid has been coming out of my nose for 4 months now. I went to see
ENT specialist. he told as for last week did not come anything he will not do any more test, just to wait he will see me again next month and meanwhile to try to catch some liquid. So I have to wait until something comes again. The only thing I have done it to stop sneezing so aggressively, and it seems this has stooped the liquid coming out of my nose.
Reply to the Mom,
Thanks, that helped. I have been on a 10 antibiotic for a bad cold chest infection. After about 5 days I started to notice my one nostril will run when I bend over to get something out of the car. Clear and watery. When I’m upright, no problem.
When I read your reply, I connected since my eyes have felt quite puffy lately. Maybe seasonal allergies, or asthma who knows, but that could be where the drainage comes from.
Thanks.
For the past year i have had little episodes of clear water fluid leaking from my nose. One thing that worried me is sometimes it wakes me up in the middle of the night because i feel my nose is bleeding and really it is just clear watery fluid. This does not happen often but i would really like to know what it is. I do have allergies and take reactin before i head outside to do yard work but my nose is constantly running watery stuff. There is no color though. The ent also said there is nothing wrong. I am going for more test. I know something is not right. I also get really bad headach. Some of the headach scare me because i never got headachs before. This all started when i hit 29 and discovered i had panic disorder. And believe me this runny nose and headachs freak me out ever worse. Please let me know what this can be.