Okay. I think this is odd. Before October of last year, in my 25 years on this earth, I had NEVER had a sinus infection (or an ear infection, for that matter).
In October, I got an ear infection. Then a sinus infection. My first ones ever.
I just got back from the doc. I now have my second sinus infection.
What gives? What causes them to suddenly start up?
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
It's Nate - he's making you sick!
They're not very fun thought. I can sympathize - I've had problems with chronic sinus infections for the last 10 years or so. Both my doctor and I ignore them.
[ March 23, 2005, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Allergies, perhaps. Flush those nasal passages, Mack. Snort warm salt water.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, any heel pain with them?(just checking a theory)
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I get those a lot. Both ear and sinus. I have funny-shaped sinuses, get them from my dad.
Use nasal saline spray every time you start to get a cold. Spray it in the air and sniff it, two or four times in each nostril, every 15 to 30 minutes. And sleep with a humidifier when you have a cold, too. It helps keep the infections away.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
[intrigued]Elizabeth, what's your theory?[/intrigued]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
No heel pain. I also went for a ten year stretch of not having a single cold. o_O
I just wonder how I could go that many years, never have a sinus infection, and now I seem to get them readily.
Lusti, HOW do you ignore a sinus infection? When my doc tapped the sinuses next to my cheek, I had to restrain myself from instictively hitting him. He saw me twitch and immediately pronounced I had a sinus infection.
I don't even think I'll fence tonight, because any blows to my mask will put pressure on my sinuses. o_O
I hate missing fencing. Posted by Lady Jane (Member # 7249) on :
A voodoo doll she's trying out.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Mid-20s are prime allergy-developing time. Allergies can lead to a better environment for sinus infections.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Noemon, when I had severe sinusitis a few years ago, I also had plantar fascitis(sp). My doctor said, hmm, he had another patient who had both things at the same time. So I just wondered if there was some weird chi-ish connection.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Mack, you have strange reactions to medication, don't you? My over-the-counter drug of choice is Sudafed Nondrying Sinus. Never, ever take anything with an antihistamine in it!
If you can take it, try Claritin-D for a few days and see if it helps. It has a decongestant, and gets the allergies, and is not drying. Claritin, I find, is.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Claritin D has an antihistimine, though. Does the pseudofed counteract the problems?
I'm pretty much permanently on Claritin-D.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I'm currently on Allegra for allergies already.
I can't take Sudafed because it makes me have panic attacks. (It's crazy)
So, I'm at a loss as to why exactly I keep getting the dang infections.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Oh, so a pressure point being triggered by the wart's pressing on it? Interesting. Makes sense.
Posted by Jay (Member # 5786) on :
You're all grown up now!
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I would guess that the original infection did not die all the way out, but went into a dormant like phase, barely hanging in there. A sudden change in environment or nutrition, and it regains its upper hand on your immune system and flares up.
On another hand, I had routine severe sinus headaches for years. Since I quit my one job, they have dropped off to one a month, and that not too severe.
A friend moved into my old office and has been ill since. Seem she found an old sewer pipe under my old floor.
Posted by Sharpie (Member # 482) on :
Sudafed makes me have very bad panic attacks. I thought it was just me!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"Claritin D has an antihistimine, though."
Dag, I thought it was something other than an antihistamine. I thought it was its own thing.
Mack, I have also heard that sinus infections are causd by mold. There is a whole theory about it. Or is it fungus? One of those things.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Nope - it has a regular does of claritin plus a 24-hour does of pseudoephedrin.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Psuedophedrine is not an antihistamine, though.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
"regular dose of Claritin plus..."
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
OK, I did not know that Claritin was an antihistamine. (just read about it)I thought it was a newer drug that acted as an antihistamine, without drowsiness or driness. The decongestant(pseudofed) makes it a little moister. The reason I like Sudafed nondrying sinus is because it also has an expectoran, which makes everything runny and wett, and therefore not painful.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Oh, sorry. It's an antihistimine. I think the big difference it and Allegra (and maybe some of the other crop that came out in the 90s) is that they don't cross the blood-brain barrier like Benedryl does. So you don't get drowsy, but you do get the other effects of an antihistimine.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
That makse sense. When I had my worst bout, the regula doctor put me on Flonase and Claritin. the Flonase gave me terrible nosebleeds. I saw a nose doctor, and he shook his head, saying he was trying to tell docs not to predcribe Flonase. So, he put me on a gentler one. Beconase or some darn thing.
So, Mack, it might be nose spray time, but make sure they do not give you Flonase. (from my experience, some people are fine with it, I guess)
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
*sigh*
I'm also on Nasonex (another nasal spray).
I can't take advil, and the doc gave me Mobic instead (prescription NSAID). It sucks, because it did nothing. I have a searing headache right now, almost as bad as the one I had in Utah in January.
I'm trying to figure out what the hell to do to make the headache stop right now. Doc started me on a z-pack, so I took the first dose a little while ago.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Have you had an MRI, Mack? Have you been seeing a nose doc, or just your physician? I would push for a referral if not.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Why would I have an MRI?
I've just been seeing my doc. This is only a second sinus infection in five months, but my first two ever.
Head. Ow. Is this type of headache normal?
Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
It's a bit soon for referral. The test of choice might be a sinus CT, but only if problems continue. Two acute sinusitises aren't really that concerning. I keep telling her to get a neti pot, but for some reason she doesn't want to try it.
You DO get bad headaches after traveling and lack of sleep. That combined with sinusitis, maybe.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The neti pot realy well help mack. But yeah, in answer to your question, sinus headaches can be excruciating. First time I had one didn't know what it was, and just waited for it to go away. Not a good strategy. The pain kind of arced around into one of my teeth. It was acually a denntist who diagnosed me with a really horrible sinus infection. The pain was bad enough that it altered my perception of time.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I had a brain MRI that also uncovered a sinus cyst. It's exactly in the position where I feel all my sinus infections start - it was weird seeing it exactly in that position.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
The neti pot looks awfully gross.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Mack, brushing your teeth is gross, if you think about it. The Indian yogis flush their sinuses every day as part of their hygiene. It feels so incredibly good, that after a while you forget that your snorting water. Really.
(I just use the saline spray sideways and snort it in, or I put salt water ina shot glass, and pour-snort. It ain't pretty, but it sure is worth it.)
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Doesn't having one sinus infection make it easier to get another? Since the sinuses (IIRC) often stay mildly irritated and inflamed -- at least, mine do. I tend to get sinusitis at least a couple times a year. Usually not bad enough to see a doctor about it, although occasionally it's bad enough to need antibiotics.
Saline sprays help a LOT. Sudafed when the pressure is really bad; then antihistamines a few days later when the junk starts to clear and becomes post-nasal drip. (ick!) Hot showers and hot washcloths help me too, although they didn't seem to do much for you in Utah, mack.
*sympathetic hugs*
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
IT WON'T DIE!
So, I was better for about a week. Felt really good, back to myself. Yesterday I felt off. Today I feel like I've been smacked around. Still blowing crud out of my nose, get a blistering headache if I don't take mucinex and vioxx. But today the head hurts through all that, like vise grip hurts. My stamina is gone. Normally I'm still up and fencing after the kids have collapsed but today I could barely hold on. Once I was walking to the car, I thought my brain was trying to escape through my skull.
I'm guessing I'm going to have to call the doctor AGAIN.
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