What is wrong with me?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, before any of you take this and run with it…:)! I am talking about a specific “what is wrong with me”. And as an introduction, I must also note that I am under the care of a doctor. Okay.

About ten days ago, I got very ill with a severe headache, terrible fatigue, “clicking” sounds in my ears, a fever, and a sore throat. I went to my physician; he said I had two ear infections and a sinus infection, put me on Zithromax (the course was over on Saturday) and said to rest a lot. I took two days off my (new!) job and laid in bed. By Saturday, I was feeling a lot better, so I did chores, went out, went hot tubbing, all kinds of stuff. On Monday I was even able to run the 5K course that I am used to running every other day (it had been a week since the last one!).

Then, Tuesday I started feeling shitty, skipped my weight lifting routine, and on Wednesday the same symptoms had returned with a vengeance. I think perhaps I was more tired than the first time, which astonished me. A fever woke me up in the middle of the night (Wednesday morning).

Second doctor’s appointment. Same diagnosis, was put on Biaxin (I’m allergic to penicillin and Keflex), and also a steroid nasal spray in case allergies were the culprit. That was Wednesday; today is Friday, and every night I go through chills, sweats, being awakened by a severe headache, and incredibly intense nightmares. Every day I am totally wiped out. No housework or even simple stuff gets done, let alone my normal workout and school schedule. I’ve skipped (with excuses) graduate classes for two weeks now. All I’ve done is gone to work and come home to collapse into bed, only getting up to pee and take medicine. I’m not any better. Today, I didn’t even go to work. My boss sent me home. Incidentally, my temperature at 4 am today was 101. I’m 36, for goodness sake, not 2!

I’m extremely frustrated. I’ve never been sick this long, and I alternately feel: 1) like I might die from this, since it seems like it will never end, and 2) really pissed and upset because I simply can’t doanything.

I’m not really looking for a medical diagnosis, obviously. But, has anybody heard of a sinus/ear infection lasting this long and being this debilitating in adults??? I’ve never experienced anything like this. Not from this kind of illness, at least. Oh, and my fever has “broken” at least 10 times. Usually when I’m sick and I start to sweat profusely, I breathe a sigh of relief because that *always * means the illness is on its way out. That is, every single time up until now. Not this illness, though: it seems to sweat me out just for entertainment, only to refuse to let go and then put me through those awful chills again.

Some background, in case it’s relevant: Just started a new job working with small kids (0-3). Some preschoolers I worked with during my first week were sick and basically wiped their noses on me. Also, I recently (August) broke up with a boyfriend and began dating another with whom I have been spending each weekend and staying up late. There’s a chance I may be pregnant (not sure if that’s relevant.)

So - any guesses? Any, um, anecdotes of evil sinus infections to reassure me that I will be okay? Advice? Any responses will be appreciated.

2

I once had a series of respiratory infections that lasted over a year. They kept moving up and down my respiratory tract, ears, nose, sinuses, tonsils, lungs and back again. I was on several antibiotics for months at a time. I was nowhere near as miserable as you symptomwise but this was in 1989, I had just become more than casually sexually active and I was convinced I had AIDS but was too scared to ask for an HIV test (AIDS being pretty much a death sentence in 1989).

I’m all better now.

3

You work with toddlers, an absolute breeding ground for infections. You took antibiotics; got better; went to work; got sick. Your immune system is compromised and it will take a while before you are back to 100%. Take it slow and stop pushing yourself so hard. You are really sick. I know we just want to take the medicine and get better but sometimes it takes a long time. Be careful with running too much. I have a friend that kept up his marathon training when he had bronchitis and eventually he was in the hospital with pneumonia. Exercise is good; just remember to not push yourself too hard for a while.

Also, hot tubbing and ear infections are not a good mix. <shudder> Warm wet bacteriological playground and you go and put your owie ears in.

4

I had the sinus infection from hell about 2 years ago. I literally missed 10 days of work because I just couldn’t get out of bed - as a point of reference, I missed less time than that when I had surgery 6 years ago, and haven’t taken another sick-day in my present job (going on 7 years).

You’re not doing yourself any favours by going to work. You’re not doing your co-workers any favours either, and you really need to lay off the exercise until you’re healed. This is not the time to be building muscle, this is the time to be getting better.

Now go and get yourself some lemon tea and develop an affection for day-time TV - yer gonna need to plop your ass on the sofa for at least a few days.

(Hey, you asked. :))

BTW - I hope you feel better.

5

Intense fatigue and flu-like symptoms was one of my earliest pregnancy symptoms.
I also had a never-ending respiratory infection last year that turned into pneumonia. You don’t mention a cough, though, which is what was really wearing me down.

6

Thanks you guys! :slight_smile:

I rested all day today and I’ve enjoyed about three hours of feeling “okay”! But, I haven’t tried to do anything. Dishes, laundry, etc. be damned! I want to get better!!

:frowning:

7

If you are experiencing pain in your ears I highly recommend getting some “a/b otic” drops. I think I got the name right, they are drops that I believe contain antibiotic and also contain a slight anaesthetic. It helped me tremendously. (Last year I had an ear infection so bad that I had to drive myself to the emergency room at 1 AM, this is how I got them. I’m pretty sure you’d need a prescription.)

8

You wanted ‘evil’ anecdotes… you got one. :slight_smile:

I’ve had the same low to mid grade sinus infection for going on seven years. It boils down to part allergies, part chronic strep infections, part stress and part thyroid deficiency.

It’s low most of the time, but when I get sick (no matter what) it comes back. The worst part was the horrible halitosis I got in year three. I’ve had mild to moderate post nasal drip since I was an infant, causing a huge number of sore throats. I’ve finally formed protective armor on my throat so the irritation isn’t constant and I don’t wake up with a sore throat every morning.

Cat scans and x-rays of my sinuses reveal lots of scarring but no “cause”.

Take it easy, drink lots of salty broth (mmm, salty) and plenty of fluids.

9

I Am Not A Doctor, but I did volunteer (as an adult) on a maternity ward for nearly a year and I know this much: if you’re taking any kind of medication and you might be pregnant, you should tell your doctor right away so that you can find out for sure (it may determine your course of treatment).

I hope you feel better – permanently – soon! :slight_smile:

10

Been there and done that!
I have had a recurring sinus infection for over sixty years and still on the go. While there’s life there’e hope.
Left middle turbinate removed. No help.
At work I’d pop health dept. Coricidin like jelly beans to survive till noon when pressue and drainage relieved and made it through the day.
Had a horrible blockage, again in left sinus so bad my eyeball felt like it was about to pop out of it’s socket. Dr. punctured the sinus, pumped in saline and finally flushed out the mess of gunk. Pumped in anti-biotic and all was well for about a week when we repeated the proceedure, and again another week later.
More recently I was on a 6 month regimen of strong anti-biotics for another problem. This apparently had a beneficial side effect of (almost) eliminating the residual sinus bugs for about 3 1/2 years. Come Godlen Rod season and an allergic reaction and the sinus blocked up within a few days. Took 2 $5 tablets a day for 10 day to clear it up.
Words to live by: Cheer up. Things could be worse. So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse!

11

I’ll tell you this much - I don’t think I’m ever going to complain again. I’m prone to respiratory illnesses, getting bronchitis twice a year and at least one cold per season, with the occasional sinus infection every year or so. Right now I have a cold and I just got over bronchitis a month ago. But really, I can not imagine the insanity you have all gone through with your sinuses and what-not. My heart goes out to you!

12

You’re right, things could be worse. In May the bridge of my Dad’s nose swelled up for no apparent reason and he got a headache. Less than 24 hours later his entire forhead was so swollen and his eyes so slitted, he looked like he should be on Buffy or Star Trek; he thought he looked like Worf, but I think he looked more like Angel with his vamp face. Apparently this hurt** a lot**.

His doctor’s appointment for it lasted all of ten minutes before his doctor sent him to the hospital. The first cat-scan he had showed a massive sinus infection and a bone infection (cellulitis, originally caused by a bug bite on his forehead, they think) that was eating a hole in his skull. They did immediate surgery to clear out all the tissue in his sinuses, remove the infected bone, and put in a picc line - the thought of which horrifies me since they thread it nearly to your heart, then just pull it out when it’s not needed- so they could have him on IV 24 hours a day via a little machine in a bag that administered antibiotics, and once a day he was on another IV too, this one on a stand, for an hour and a half a day. For eight weeks.

Then they did more cat-scans and decided that another sugery was necessary, this time they put some sort of rubber shunt up in his sinuses that’ll be removed in late January or early February. Because of where they went in it upset the tissue around his eye, and that got swollen nearly shut and hurt for a week or so, but fortunately it wasn’t because of any other sort of infection. (unlike the bad ear infection he got while on two types of IV antibotics. Guess neither was broad-spectrum!) He’s not supposed blow his nose for several more months while the shunt is in there, but other than that he seems to be doing better. Finally.

The sinus infection is what caused the swelling and most of the pain, but his doctor said if he hadn’t had it they wouldn’t have found the other infection, and the cellulitis could have gotten worse and caused damage to his brain. Yikes!

There, don’t you and ggurl feel glad that it’s not you? :smiley: