shell.....

I had a ct scan done on my sinuses on friday. today while at work, the dr's office called my house to get my phone number for the pharmacy that I use.
Anyways, they gave me biaxin, which is in 500mg of pills, and gee are they huge! I have to take 2 of them every day.
Anways, I am hoping tomorrow they will call me back to tell me what they found, but I found out that biaxin is for bacterial infections, such as sinusitis. I guess if there are fluid levels present on the scan, it is sinusitis.
So, I hope this is what it is and these pills will cure it. It must be a very potent drug since it says it can cause damage to a fetus!
I will see how it goes for the 2 weeks, and hopefully, I wont have to see the allergist!

Make sure you eat with those horse pills! They will make you deathly ill if you don't! They are very very strong and one of the best ones on the market. Also, you'll notice that food will taste a bit metallic while you're taking those. Oh another thing, it's been known to cause some diahrrea too. If you do come down with the diahrrea, eat some yogurt. I will help stop that and will put the GOOD bactria back into your digestive track. Antibotics will kill ALL bactria, even the good.

Hope you get good news on the CT scan! At least if it is sinusitis, you can get rid of it with the antibotics. I'm surprised that the Dr's couldn't diagnosis this with out a CT scan...those are super pricey! I had a MRI done on my shoulder a couple of years ago and it cost almost $1200! Thank God for insurance!

Keep me posted on what you find out with the CT scan. Did they rule out allergies? How did the Zyrtec D work for you?

Wishing you the best!!!

Was that without insurance or what you had to pay for after insurance?

I dont know why they chose to do the scan. It was a physician's assistant, if that shows you anything? I did tell her that i was getting sick and tired of not being able to find out what it was, and that i was also going to see an allergist if she couldnt find the cause. I guess allergists do those, too?

That's the thing.... I havenot spoken to a doctor yet to find out what they found on the scan. I'll have to call tomorrow, I guess.
the allegra and zyrtec helped temporarily, or so i thought.

wow, Shell, excuse me for butting in, but Im so impressed with your knowledge!
What is it you do for a living? are you a Doctor?

I think Shell works for a pharmacy, but correct me if I'm wrong Shell!

thanks Daniela...

Now you can see what brought up the other thread!

Nunny and Daniela, that's right I do work for a Pharmacy and have for several years. I've learned so much it's scary! Thank you for the nice compliment!
Tigger,
The cost of MRI is without insurance. I believe I had to pay my $500 deductible and then I paid 80% of what was left. It still cost me a lot and it really didn't help me at all. But My Dr. didn't seem to care very much either...so now I just deal with the pain everyday since he claims that I've got tendonitis in my shoulder and there is nothing I can do for that.

The only reason I can think of them wanting a CT scan would be in case if you've got blocked sinuses. If you do have blocked sinuses, you will most likely need surgery. They end up scraping your sinuses out and openning them up a bit. Some people get chronic sinusitis since they may have very narrow sinuses. They should be able to explain WHY they chose to do such an expense treatment. You might be one of those "lucky" ones that are just prone to sinusitis.

When I got my results from my MRI, it took almost a week to get them. But on the other hand, they had to bring down the mobile MRI bus that day since we don't have one at our Hospital. I would bet that you'd get your results in a couple of days, but it wouldn't hurt to call to see if they've got them already. Sometimes they just put things on the backburner and call when THEY get time.

So, what do you do for the tendonitis in your shoulder?
The nurse ended up calling me AFTER i left work yesterday, so I called this mornng. She said I had fluid level on my right side & a bunch of other stuff, but they were medical terms that I didnt understand. they said I have sinusitis, which is similar to a sinus infection; she said it can take a while for it to clear up, and then its hard too. I asked why it took so long, and she said tthat sinusitis can come and go, and at the scan, the fluids were present.

They put me on some really potent meds for inflammation and they played havoc on my tummy. So, they told me to take ibuprofen everyday and do exercises. I haven't done the exercises in a long time, but I stretch my shoulder muscles several times a day and pop the ibuprofen when I need it. Some days are worse than others. They said that surgery would not help, so I don't have many options.

Well, it looks like you got fairly good news. At least you won't need surgery or anything, but you will most likey be prone to get sinus infections more now. Did they tell you to still take the Zyrtec or Allegra? IMO, I would still take them. They should help dry up the fluid in your sinuses, but definitely ask your Dr first.

Hope you start feeling better! At least you know what the problem is and you're on your way to getting healthy!

Hi All,

I just had to put a question in here for Shell: What types of exercises do you do for your tendinitis? I have tendinitis in both my shoulders (specifically supra spinatus tendinitis, if that helps any), and at first the dr thought I had an extra bone in my shoulder , and sent me for x-rays and stuff, and when they all came back as normal, he diagnosed me with tendinitis . I have had it about 1 1/2 yrs now. I take advil on a regular basis (although I don't take it near as much, b/c of what it can do to your stomach/insides) and do stretches, but it doesn't seem to help a whole lot. I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder, and it didn't help a darn bit. In fact, it hurts worse than my left one, and I use my left shoulder more than my right one (at least consciously), and some days I can hardly move it. It's worse at nite time. I lay down in bed, and then to move is just awful ! It's almost like I have to roll out of bed to do anything. I have tried heating pad (on low...burnt myself too many times on even medium w/ a blanket/towel over it) ice, anything and everything. I do my exercises/stretches constantly, and they really don't help a whole lot anymore. I was wondering if massage therapy would help....I would try it even if I had to pay for it, but I don't know. Anyone know anything about this, or how to deal with it? Thanks

Everytime I use biaxin, I get a stinking yeast infection. but who knows everyone is different.

I hope everyone feels better!!!!

I use the exercises that my physical therapist gave me. Most of them were to be done with this long elastic band type thing. I tie the end into a knot, then place it at the top of the door frame, shut the door, then do circular motions (with my bad arm) with my arm to my side. Do both front and back motions. Then do a cross over motion with the elastic band (it is still attached to the door frame): arm straight up in the air, then cross your arm in front of you until it reaches your hip and do this 20 times. These are supposed to strenghten the muscles and help ease the tendonitis. I honestly do not do these very often, but I know that I should. They really helped after a few sessions. At first it hurt like hell, probably because I worked muscles that I haven't in a long time.

Hope this helps you! You might be able to do a search on the web for exercises...maybe you can better explainations than I gave you!

Thanks Shell
I will try to do another search...I have been doing searches for this a lot, but never seem to be able to find anything on it, besides a whole bunch of medical terminology that doesn't help me at all! I will have to try those exercises!

didnt you say that biaxin will wipe out both the good & bad bacteria? The only reason I ask that is because ever since I've been taking this stuff, I've had a scratchy throat and have been coughing ... I thought at first it could be a cold or allergies, but after what you said, Im beginning to wonder if it wiped out my immune system. Hubby is thinking also that maybe the bacteria is out of my sinuses and is floating around me, and now Im trying to fight it off ???

Hmmm...I really don't know if the bacteria would be floating around in your body. I would assume that the antibotics would just kill them all together (at least the bad bacteria). It doesn't kill all the good bacteria, so I doubt that it wiped out your immune system. It would have to be mega antibotics to do that! You just might be coming down with a cold or an infection. If you happen to get a URI, the biaxin would help. But, if you have some viral no antibotics will help that. It just has to run it's course. Biaxin has been known to take a few days to really going into effect, so I'd say if you don't feel better after 5 to 7 days, call the Dr/PA and see if they could switch you to something different.

I would suggest drinking and eating more Vitamin C enriched foods since they boost your immune system. If you don't like oranges, strawberries and etc, you could take the pills. The come in chewables or just pills. The recommended dosage is usually 1000mg per day. If you take more, it will just be excreted from your body. People that are prone to colds and etc, take Vit. C every day to fight off any infections or colds.