(disclaimer) I have 4 more doses of an antibiotic (which, amazingly, hasn’t made me sick) and I’m supposed to go back to see my doctor after the weekend for a TB test so I’m definitely not trying to avoid the doctor.
I had a cold for a week. Then I had a sinus infection. I started my antibiotic last Thursday.
For the last 3 days my sinuses have not hurt at all. My nose has been running like mad though (mostly clear but occasionally yellow).
TMI
Today, in the course of about 1 minute, I filled (yes, literally) 11 tissues with opaque yellow mucus - all from just my right nostril. It didn’t even take much in the way of nose blowing; just light pressure and it came exploding out, filled a tissue, stopped, another light blow, mucus exploding out, filled a tissue - freakin 11 times in a row! It was amazing.
I assumed this was my sinuses actually giving up the infection once and for all.
Less than half an hour later though, my sinus pain came back loud and clear. It has been 8 hours with no relief. My nose is lightly running again and it’s all clear again, no yellow.
To add to the fun, my ears have gone from being blocked to being blocked and hurting (not ear infection kind of hurting, just pressure hurting). I am pretty well informed on how tightly interwoven all the parts of the head are so the ear pain isn’t surprising to me. But, the recurrence of the sinus pain is definitely a new one for me. This is my third sinus infection and the pain has never come back before.
Do you have allergies? Most everyone I know with hayfever type allergies is currently complaining about sinus pressure and pain and has been for 2-3 weeks already. And my ears have been ringing twice as loudly as usual for a week: BP’s lower than usual if anything (was 110/73 last checked Tues, usually 121/68), so probably also due to allergies.
I’ve never had allergies to anything but penicillin (with sensitivities to many other antibiotics).
Right after I hit submit, it started pouring outside for the first time in quite a while. I’m now wondering if my sinuses have decided to play barometer along with my knee and elbow.
My sinus is very sensitive to certain specific storm systems. Bad weather fronts, I can feel the approach in my head. A system moving slowly and hanging back, sets my sinus a throbbing.
My Dr suggested an antihistamine (no decongestant! Just antihistamine, over the counter, generic.), and I find it really helps at such times.
People find different times affect them, for me it’s onset of spring or fall. I usually get a headache that lasts a few days. But the antihistamine has really made a difference in that. It’s the shift of seasons, where one day it’s spring, next back to winter, that really slays me. Once we’re into full on spring, no more problems. I won’t need to take them again, very likely until the fall arrives!
I know lots of people with similar sensitivities, though different climatic triggers. Sometimes I think people who say they can tell it’s going to rain/storm, because they can smell it or feel it in the air, are really feeling it in their head too?
elbows I can smell snow and rain but I usually only feel it in my joints, not my head. I’ll try an antihistamine and see if that helps. Thanks! Samantha I think my ears are finally straightening themselves out. I hope yours do too!
My sinuses are just getting calmed down a little. It’s not always a sinus infection causing pain, sinusitis, which is simple irritation is bad enough, and sometimes doctors don’t do a lot of checking before prescribing anti-biotics. I’m expecting a terrible allergy season coming, so I may just kill myself soon, the pain of sinus headaches can be horrific.
The agony of near constant headache from sinus sent me to a couple of Dr’s and eventually surgery. And oh what a relief it is. So life altering as to be difficult to put into works.
The surgeon turned me on to two things that got me completely off expensive OTC’s. If I knew these two things earlier I’d have saved a small fortune.
One was aerial saline, available at every pharmacy. I first used it recovering from surgery. It’s brilliant, not terribly expensive, you can use it every 30 mins as needed. Keeps everything well lubricated as to drain better, thins the gunk, so it drains better, and fights infection. Because it’s aerosol and not a stream thing, it is much more effective for misshaped sinus! Brilliant. (Always sterilize the nozzle, every use, to avoid reinfection.)
The second thing was apple cider vinegar, shoot it back 1/2 ounce at a time a couple of times a day. Try not on an empty stomach. It will clear your sinus in a couple of minutes, but much more importantly, it thins mucus, (something in the apple skins, which is concentrated because they are fermented with the skins on to make such vinegar.) It will drain while you sleep if you take it before bed especially. He stressed the best thing was your system actually fights the bug, you’re just improving it’s effectiveness. Much better than using pharmaceuticals, in the long term, for people prone to sinus problems.
elbows My fiance is going to probably be seeing a specialist soon. He has had ongoing sinus infections and non-infection pain and inflammation for about 2 years now. I feel bad complaining in front of him when I’ve only been in pain for 2 weeks. But, I’m such a sinus wuss.
And as many of us here would recommend - neti pot [or the funky squeeze bottle, which I have never tried] I got my PCP to prescribe isotonic saline [comes in 1 litre bottles] to use in my neti pot instead of the little packets you mix up yourself.
Heck, I will flush my sinuses 3 or 4 times a day in the heaviest part of the pollen season. My forsythia is already blooming. I hate nasal rape
