PanickedGirl
08-09-18, 20:54
It really didn't help that I read an article of a boy who died of a sinus infection that developed into a brain infection within a few days, cuz now I'm worried that I'll get it!
I had a sinus infection about 2 weeks ago, which seemed to go away on its own, minus a lingering, dry cough.
But on Monday, I woke up having a headache, feeling lightheaded, and fatigued. I thought it could have been a hangover from the one beer I had to try to help me to fall asleep. However, the headache and lightheadedness persisted the next day and the day after. I would wake up frequently at night to go to the bathroom and woke up from the veins in my neck pumping hard once. I went to see a doctor on Wednesday and he said that it could be muscle tension from the sinus infection I had. He advised that I avoid alcohol and caffeine to avoid agitating the inflammation.
The next day, I woke up feeling pretty alright! I didn't have a headache, but maybe some lightheadedness. That ended at night when I noticed some nasal congestion while laying down. I tried breathing through my nose until it cleared up, but that only gave me a headache. I took some ibuprofen and fell asleep. I woke up several times that night, going to the bathroom, having congestion, and finding that the veins in my throat were pumping hard. I also had a knitted headache on my forehead.
I got up after being woken several times and it was morning. The pumping veins didn't really settle down much and I continued to have that knitted headache. I took ibuprofen and the headache seemed to go away. I still went to see a doctor after being concerned how disrupted my sleep was that night.
After telling the doctor all my symptoms, he became concerned that I have a bacterial sinus infection and prescribed me with antibiotics. I felt nervous because I had a terrible experience with antibiotics the last time I was on them, but I didn't want to risk getting a brain infection. He did test me to make sure that my sinus infection didn't spread to a brain infection and reassured me that it didn't look like I had it and I shouldn't have any concerns about blood poisoning either. He gave me general guidelines, warning to look out for neck stiffness and fever.
I picked up the antibiotics, went home, and prepared a big meal so the pills wouldn't upset my stomach. I felt rather nervous about taking them and worried that the sinus infection would still spread.
I cuddled up to my fiance for reassurance and comfort. With the way I was laying, I started experiencing some discomfort on the right side of my neck and started feeling more uneasy. The stiffness soon turned to spinal pain as I felt burning down my neck to the my spine in my middle back. I started feeling really panicked.
My spine really burned and ached. I tried calming myself and reason with myself that I'm just over-reacting and the pain will go away if I just calm down. It didn't really go away after I calmed down somewhat and I got scared once more.
I felt uncomfortable laying down in bed, the warmth seemed to make the pain worse in my spine. When my fiance would put his arm under my neck to hold me, it seemed to also be uncomfortable. I got up and put an ice pack (actually a bag of frozen veggies, but close enough...) on my spine and it seemed to help. I took ibuprofen and waited for it to kick in while I laid back in bed. I burst out crying quite a bit that night until the pain went away from the pain killer.
I woke up today, feeling relieved that most of the pain seemed to have gone away, but I still had pain in the neck I had a bit of a headache develop from the pain, I think. I decided to go to urgent care, once more, while my fiance slept. He would have scolded me if I went while he was awake.
The doctor I talked to didn't really seem concerned about me having meningitis. He said that I could go to the ER to do a spinal tap since their clinic couldn't do something as advance as that. I didn't want to wait several more hours at the ER and get scolded by my fiance for over-reacting, so I declined. He said that we could wait a few days and be watchful of the spinal pain, which scared me a bit.
I felt the pain travel down my spine while visiting the doctor a third time. I didn't seem to get much comfort and getting the confirmation I wanted that it can't be meningitis. The doctor said that people with meningitis are usually unable to move their neck freely because of the pain, and I seemed to be very well alert from the tests he did and from seeing that I could communicate with him clearly.
I started crying as things wrapped up because I wanted to feel more reassured and I wanted this spinal pain to go away. The doctor tried reassuring me, again, that he doesn't see it as meningitis, but it didn't help with the seed of doubt that was already planted just from being told to "keep an eye on it". He suggested seeing a psychiatric clinic from seeing my distress, but I declined and said I'd just go home.
So now I'm home, still feeling a lot of spinal pain, and want to burst out crying over it.
Edit: I really wanna go to the ER for the spinal tap...
I had a sinus infection about 2 weeks ago, which seemed to go away on its own, minus a lingering, dry cough.
But on Monday, I woke up having a headache, feeling lightheaded, and fatigued. I thought it could have been a hangover from the one beer I had to try to help me to fall asleep. However, the headache and lightheadedness persisted the next day and the day after. I would wake up frequently at night to go to the bathroom and woke up from the veins in my neck pumping hard once. I went to see a doctor on Wednesday and he said that it could be muscle tension from the sinus infection I had. He advised that I avoid alcohol and caffeine to avoid agitating the inflammation.
The next day, I woke up feeling pretty alright! I didn't have a headache, but maybe some lightheadedness. That ended at night when I noticed some nasal congestion while laying down. I tried breathing through my nose until it cleared up, but that only gave me a headache. I took some ibuprofen and fell asleep. I woke up several times that night, going to the bathroom, having congestion, and finding that the veins in my throat were pumping hard. I also had a knitted headache on my forehead.
I got up after being woken several times and it was morning. The pumping veins didn't really settle down much and I continued to have that knitted headache. I took ibuprofen and the headache seemed to go away. I still went to see a doctor after being concerned how disrupted my sleep was that night.
After telling the doctor all my symptoms, he became concerned that I have a bacterial sinus infection and prescribed me with antibiotics. I felt nervous because I had a terrible experience with antibiotics the last time I was on them, but I didn't want to risk getting a brain infection. He did test me to make sure that my sinus infection didn't spread to a brain infection and reassured me that it didn't look like I had it and I shouldn't have any concerns about blood poisoning either. He gave me general guidelines, warning to look out for neck stiffness and fever.
I picked up the antibiotics, went home, and prepared a big meal so the pills wouldn't upset my stomach. I felt rather nervous about taking them and worried that the sinus infection would still spread.
I cuddled up to my fiance for reassurance and comfort. With the way I was laying, I started experiencing some discomfort on the right side of my neck and started feeling more uneasy. The stiffness soon turned to spinal pain as I felt burning down my neck to the my spine in my middle back. I started feeling really panicked.
My spine really burned and ached. I tried calming myself and reason with myself that I'm just over-reacting and the pain will go away if I just calm down. It didn't really go away after I calmed down somewhat and I got scared once more.
I felt uncomfortable laying down in bed, the warmth seemed to make the pain worse in my spine. When my fiance would put his arm under my neck to hold me, it seemed to also be uncomfortable. I got up and put an ice pack (actually a bag of frozen veggies, but close enough...) on my spine and it seemed to help. I took ibuprofen and waited for it to kick in while I laid back in bed. I burst out crying quite a bit that night until the pain went away from the pain killer.
I woke up today, feeling relieved that most of the pain seemed to have gone away, but I still had pain in the neck I had a bit of a headache develop from the pain, I think. I decided to go to urgent care, once more, while my fiance slept. He would have scolded me if I went while he was awake.
The doctor I talked to didn't really seem concerned about me having meningitis. He said that I could go to the ER to do a spinal tap since their clinic couldn't do something as advance as that. I didn't want to wait several more hours at the ER and get scolded by my fiance for over-reacting, so I declined. He said that we could wait a few days and be watchful of the spinal pain, which scared me a bit.
I felt the pain travel down my spine while visiting the doctor a third time. I didn't seem to get much comfort and getting the confirmation I wanted that it can't be meningitis. The doctor said that people with meningitis are usually unable to move their neck freely because of the pain, and I seemed to be very well alert from the tests he did and from seeing that I could communicate with him clearly.
I started crying as things wrapped up because I wanted to feel more reassured and I wanted this spinal pain to go away. The doctor tried reassuring me, again, that he doesn't see it as meningitis, but it didn't help with the seed of doubt that was already planted just from being told to "keep an eye on it". He suggested seeing a psychiatric clinic from seeing my distress, but I declined and said I'd just go home.
So now I'm home, still feeling a lot of spinal pain, and want to burst out crying over it.
Edit: I really wanna go to the ER for the spinal tap...