Question: I have had nasal discharge from my left nostril for about a month. I would like to know if you think that this could possibly be CSF leakage from my nose. I have collected some of the fluid(although maybe not enough), and my ENT is sending it to the lab for testing. He does not believe that this is Rhino CSF, and I have had a Sinus CT*(Stealth), along with several other MRIs and CT scans, and they have not showed any signs of fluid, or base/sinus skull fissures or breaks. The reason why I ask, is that I had a Lumbar Puncture about 8 weeks, and I am still suffering from post LP headaches. Is there any reason to believe that since I have a possible spinal leak, which is causing the headaches, that it could result in a CSF leakage through my nose-or is there no correlation. The fluid is not necessarily dripping out of my nose-it comes out more when I blow it out. But it feels like I am constantly blowing my nose, and I don't recall having to have been doing that before the LP. I will await your response

I will try the cotton handkerchief test, and let you know how it turns out.Do I just blow the fluid onto the cloth, and let it dry?. Please expound more upon what you meant by 8 week old CSF(LP 8 weeks ago) is an unlikely cause of the problem. Also, on a different note, I am on Protonix for an esophagitis problem from a year and 1/2 ago. I have been having an upper abdomen pain/discomfort, which has lasted for the last 3 days. My GI said that the Protonix should take care of this problem, but it is not going away so fast. Any thoughts.

Thanks,

rjb

I went to see my ENT to go over the sinus CT scan, and also to discuss my constant left nasal drainage. He said my sinuses look good-he believes that they are currently not the cause of my symptoms. As I have said, I had the LP 8 weeks ago, and it SEEMS like I have had the nasal drainage ever since then(which is why I thought my drainage was CSF). My ENT doctor then checked out my jaw and found that my jaw on my left side was very sore, and thus further diagnosed that I probably have TMJ. He said that my sinus symptoms are most likely coming from the TMJ-headache, ear soreness, facial pain, and post basal drip etc. I would like to hear your opinion on this. Do you believe that my symptoms, most importantly the constant drainage in my left nostril, are being caused by the TMJ. BTW, I went to my dentist, and got fitted for a TMJ night guard-I pick it up on Wednesday. Thanks, rjb