Seriously, this can't be normal... (a bit long)

sandtigress

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I am down with sinus infection number 2 - number 1 having been in December/January of this year.

I saw my allergist (or the PA in the allergist office, anyways) last Monday,and she gave me antibiotics for it - a two week course of clindamycin.

Previous to that visit, my symptoms were chills/maybe a low-grade fever, headaches, a day or two of tooth/upper jaw pain, being really tired, and the start of chest congestion/coughing.

I've been on the antibiotics three a day since that Monday, so six days now. As of today, the chest congestion has cleared up entirely, but I still have pressure/pain around my cheekbones, headaches, occasional pain in my jaw around the joint, and feeling warm and sweating though I know the house is fairly cool. But the biggest thing is the exhaustion, and that I get so tired that I can literally feel my legs trembling when I stand up, and in my arms now as I am typing this post.

I wouldn't necessarily call it "weakness" because I can sit up and what not just fine, mentally clear and all, but the second I stand up, I can tell how bad it is. I even skipped church today, and its Divine Mercy Sunday, which I love.

Is this normal at all for sinus infections? I'm seeing my hematologist tomorrow anyways - a friend of mine who is a fourth year med student says I might want to ask for a different antibiotic. But I have another friend who says I should see about having a specialist look at me. Is this something that should pass with another course of antibiotics, or should I look into getting an ENT to take a look?

My last (and first) sinus infection hit my ears - I was so dizzy I couldn't stand up for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, and missed a good deal of work for two weeks because I was stuck in bed. Now this one - I don't know if I'm going to make it through any of work tomorrow, though I've kept up okay the two weeks previous.

Most people don't get them this bad, right? Or am I just being a baby?


Argh, I hate this!!
 

mrblanche

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Sounds like something that can go with a sinus infection. However, a doctor I trust a lot told me a while back that few doctors treat a serious sinus infection anywhere near long enough. He said that if a sinus infection quickly recurs, the next step is a full 30 days of treatment with a different antibiotic.

We went through this when we both got sinus/lung infections in a dust storm in California. It took almost a year to lick it completely.
 

strange_wings

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I agree with the friend that suggested you have another specialist check this out. Not all infections are bacterial, there could possibly be something else going on or due to this being the second one in such a short period - maybe something that is making you much too susceptible to them (other than allergies).

Aside from that you do not want to be stuck on course after course of antibiotics waiting and hoping for one to work. You could end up seriously sick from this later on.

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

My last (and first) sinus infection hit my ears - I was so dizzy I couldn't stand up for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, and missed a good deal of work for two weeks because I was stuck in bed.
Imagine never being able to stand up, in place, for more than 15 minutes at a time.... Consider yourself lucky that you can treat this and it goes away.
 
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sandtigress

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Well, glad to know this isn't completely out of the ordinary. I'll talk to the doctor I'm seeing tomorrow, and see how I need to go about seeing an ENT with my insurance.

I just hope this is done and over soon - my health hasn't been great this year so far. It could be worse, I know, but I sure would like for it to be better.

Thanks guys!
 

crazyforinfo

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Originally Posted by Sandtigress

Previous to that visit, my symptoms were chills/maybe a low-grade fever, headaches, a day or two of tooth/upper jaw pain, being really tired, and the start of chest congestion/coughing.
I am sorry you feel so ill. By any chance have you consider going to a dentist?
I wonder if you have a tooth related issue along with the sinus infection. They can also see your sinus cavities if they take an X-ray.

I hope you feel better soon.
 

alleygirl

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My son used to have chronic recurring sinus infections. Basically, they never went away. When he was 10 he had is tonsils and adenoids out. He hasn't had one since. By chance, do you still have yours? You might look into that if you do. He saw doc after doc who just kept giving him antibiotics, etc. His first visit with the ENT and they scheduled the surgery. He is now almost 21 and hasn't had a sinus infection since.
 
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sandtigress

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Originally Posted by Crazyforinfo

I am sorry you feel so ill. By any chance have you consider going to a dentist?
I wonder if you have a tooth related issue along with the sinus infection. They can also see your sinus cavities if they take an X-ray.

I hope you feel better soon.
I probably no need to go see a dentist, its been a little while.
But the jaw pain isn't unusual for sinus infections, so I'm not too terribly concerned about it being tooth related just yet. All my med school friend could tell me was that they usually give antibiotics to a person who has tooth/jaw pain with a sinus infection - which I'm already on.


Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

My son used to have chronic recurring sinus infections. Basically, they never went away. When he was 10 he had is tonsils and adenoids out. He hasn't had one since. By chance, do you still have yours? You might look into that if you do. He saw doc after doc who just kept giving him antibiotics, etc. His first visit with the ENT and they scheduled the surgery. He is now almost 21 and hasn't had a sinus infection since.
I do still have mine. I used to get sore throats often as a kid, but never anything more serious like strep, so they left them in. Now that I'm older, even sore throats are pretty rare.

Another reason to schedule a visit with an ENT, I guess, if those are a possible problem. I think I'm going to have to call up our campus clinic today, and see what it would take to get a referral to an ENT, or if I even need one with my school insurance.


Thanks for the advice and vibes, guys! I'm getting blood drawn for my hematologist in the morning, so hopefully that outing is long enough for me to see whether I should even bother going in to work today, if my legs are going to be trembling on me all day.
 

carolpetunia

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I want to second the motion about seeing a dentist -- I've read that very often, when people have recurring ENT problems (and even some other kinds of trouble), it turns out to be something dental behind it all. It might be that it's not your sinuses causing mouth pain, but something in your mouth causing the sinus infections.

Whatever it is, you've got to get to the bottom of it... you're too young to be so sick for so long! And as someone else said, antibiotics may not be the answer. Take care, sweetie.

(By the way... after many washings, that pretty little blanket you made finally came untied the other day, and being lazy, I just gave both parts to the kitties... and the next thing I knew, they'd dragged one over top of the other, arranging it like it was supposed to be! I took the hint and tied it back up properly for them.
)
 

arlyn

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Have they tested to see if you have or carry the Epstein-Barr virus?
Seriously, those are the very same symptoms I had when I had mono.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Arlyn

Have they tested to see if you have or carry the Epstein-Barr virus?
Seriously, those are the very same symptoms I had when I had mono.
Most people do, however. Being a type of herpes - it stays with you. It can reactivate later on, and the test to look for that isn't all that common.
 

catsallover

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I have had problems with chronic sinus infections in the past (I have a genetic disease that makes me prone to them) and the biggest thing that helps me keep them away/get over them quicker -and, btw, this works for colds and allergies too!- is sinus rinses. They look terrible, (I'll add a youtube vid, lol) but, boy, do they work to help things get cleared up and get better
. I use a neti pot, because it is more gentle than the squeeze bottle rinse, but that just depends on which you prefer. I got a free squeeze bottle kit from my ENT.

I would second the ENT visit- most of the ones I know can do a catscan right in their office, and this will give you the best picture of what is going on in your head :p .

I hope you feel better soon, and please feel free to pm me any questions- I'll do my best to help. Sinus infections exhaust me too, and turn my brain to mush- blah. I have discovered recently that there is a whole myriad of things that can be done for sinus issues, that I had no idea existed until the last few years
. Good luck!

Okay, couldn't find the Youtube vid I was looking for, but here's a vid from the neti pot site that I use-just remember to keep your mouth open and breathe through it if you decide to try it
.

http://www.sinucleanse.com/netivideo.htm?link_id=1

and here'a a link to the other kinds of nasal rinsing (same site):

http://www.sinucleanse.com/video.htm
 

forensic

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The cheekbone/teeth pain sounds exactly like what my sinus issues always feel like... achy pain in my teeth, my jaw, my cheeks, and all about the eyes.

I never take anything for them... they go away. I'm just predisposed to them...

The weakness/shivering in your arms and legs... I only get that with the flu, though.
 
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sandtigress

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Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

(By the way... after many washings, that pretty little blanket you made finally came untied the other day, and being lazy, I just gave both parts to the kitties... and the next thing I knew, they'd dragged one over top of the other, arranging it like it was supposed to be! I took the hint and tied it back up properly for them.
)
Haha, clever kitties!

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Have they tested to see if you have or carry the Epstein-Barr virus?
Seriously, those are the very same symptoms I had when I had mono.
I'm pretty sure I don't have mono - I haven't been running much of a fever, if one at all, and my glands aren't swollen in the least. The PA checked for that.

Originally Posted by catsallover

I have had problems with chronic sinus infections in the past (I have a genetic disease that makes me prone to them) and the biggest thing that helps me keep them away/get over them quicker -and, btw, this works for colds and allergies too!- is sinus rinses. They look terrible, (I'll add a youtube vid, lol) but, boy, do they work to help things get cleared up and get better
. I use a neti pot, because it is more gentle than the squeeze bottle rinse, but that just depends on which you prefer. I got a free squeeze bottle kit from my ENT.
I have been using one - I have the squeeze bottle type - since I got my first sinus infection back in December/January. I have to admit - I hate those things! But, I would much rather do that then put up with these sinus infections any longer.



Thanks guys, for the advice and the vibes! I appreciate it!

I just called up student health services, and I don't need to go through them to get referred out. So now I just need to find an ENT that my insurance will accept. Except in the pull-down menu, there's no option for an ENT....would they go by another name that's just not coming to me?


ETA: Never mind, got it. Its "otolaryngology". Guess my anatomy classes are coming in handy for once.
 
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sandtigress

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Okay, I was able to get in with the ENT this morning. I explained what had been going on the past few months, and to my gratification, the nurse said that it was a good thing I had gone in, because that wasn't very typical.

The doctor came in and took a look and decided I should go ahead and get a CT scan done. Thankfully, my insurance did pretty well on that, only cost me about 60 bucks out of pocket. On a fun note, they gave me the numbers on how much my insurance had already spent on me this year - boy, did they lose out big time when they insured me!


The CT came out clear - which surprised the doctor. He said he had expected to see some gunk in my sinuses at least with all my symptoms.

I think the ruling right now is that my allergies are leading to my sinus infections somehow, maybe by swelling things shut and making nice conditions for infections to start. They want me to finish the course of antibiotics I'm on already, and then, if I get another infection, to come in so they can try and culture something to see if there's something specific that I'm getting infections from.

Still tired and getting headaches and what not, but I guess this is just the residual from being sick for a few weeks.

Thanks for all the input guys - the recommendation for the ENT was a good one, I think, even though everything came up clear. At least now I have extra incentive to be very strict about my allergy medications - maybe I can keep this from happening again. Certainly hope so!
 
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sandtigress

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

You had a respiratory illness? I would ask to be evaluated for Guillain-Barre syndrome. It's likely that you don't have it, but it's something that many doctors over look.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gui...ndrome/DS00413
Hmm...I'll have to keep that in mind. My hands are still trembling a little under the microscope today - its fine enough that I really only see it because I'm looking under a high magnification. Hopefully its just from being ill, but if any of those other symptoms even look like they're starting to show up, I will definitely get it looked at.

I'm not really getting tingling or weakness so much as more muscle trembling, the kind you would expect maybe from not eating, or being really tired. I will certainly pay attention though, to make sure that it is nothing more serious.

Thanks for the heads up!
 

catsallover

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I'm glad you got in and got some help quickly
. If you hate the squeeze bottle (I do too), try a neti pot. I really don't mind it at all. I hope you are feeling better soon
.
 

swampwitch

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Originally Posted by catsallover

I'm glad you got in and got some help quickly
. If you hate the squeeze bottle (I do too), try a neti pot. I really don't mind it at all. I hope you are feeling better soon
.
I use one of those bulb syringes that you can get in drugstores, the sinus rinses are a must for me when I get sinus infections. I do it once or twice a day, and can breathe for a while again. But the best part is the bacteria doesn't migrate into my ears and/or lungs which was a problem in the past (I'd get temporary hearing loss, ear infections, and pneumonia.)

Hope you are feeling better and better.
 
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