 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / November 2006sinus infection won't go away
I have had a sinus infeciton for about a month and a half. I've had two sinus infections previously in my life, but none as bad as this. Initially, the doctor prescribed one week-long course of antibiotics (Z-pak). My condition improved somewhat while I was taking the antibiotic, but it obviously wasn't a long enough treatment because my symptoms came back and got worse. My doctor put me on a month-long course of amoxicillin/clavulanate. My symptoms started to improve within a few days and after about a week, I was almost completely better. Also during this time, I have been irrigating my nasal passages. I've been taking the antibiotic for about 10 days, but over the last day and a half my condition has deteriorated. Tomorrow I will go back to the doctor, when I'm certain he will have me undergo a CT scan (during my last visit he said that if my condition did not improve, this would be the next step.) My symptoms seem unusual for a sinus infection because when I feel the worst, most of the nasal discharge is clear or white. When I was improving, I was actually seeing a lot more yellow discharge. Now that I'm all blocked up again, it's back to clear/white. I also have a bad productive cough. I am just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or has any advice. I've been having very similar problems. I would suggest you look for my posts here (look for MZB). (You might have to access this group via Google) My problems started 9/1. No breathing problems, but symptoms are inflamed feeling in sinuses, bad sore throat, and very lousy sick feeling (energy also way down). Doc put me on amoxicillan for 10 days. Like you, I had improvement, almost 100% better. But then it slowly got worse starting on about day 6 or 7. Doc later put me on 21-day course of Biaxin-XL. That appears to be working. 21 days are done on Sunday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't come back. If it does, I suspect CT Scan will be next. Mel >I have had a sinus infeciton for about a month and a half. I've had two > sinus infections previously in my life, but none as bad as this. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > I am just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or has > any advice. > I have had a sinus infeciton for about a month and a half. I've had two > sinus infections previously in my life, but none as bad as this. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > I am just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or has > any advice. Yep. Many of us start out with a few sinus infections, each treated successfully with antibiotics, and then eventually get a sinus infection that just won't go away and we end up with chronic sinusitis. In my case, it was my 4th or 5th infection, as I recall. The pattern you're describing--an infection that seems to get better on antibiotics but relapses right in the middle of the course of antibiotics--could be caused by an anatomically blocked sinus that must be drained. And that requires an ENT (ear-nose-throat specialist) to deal with. What may be happening is that the sinus infections had some underlying cause that was never treated (allergy, air pollution, deviated septum, etc.), and eventually that just got to the point that it can't be ignored anymore. You need to see an ENT (ear-nose-throat specialist) who can interpret the CT scan for himself and figure out what is going on inside your sinuses. There's no point in treating sinus infections with antibiotics alone. It's just postponing the inevitable day of reckoning. Which you may have reached.  SignatureSteven D. Litvintchouk Email: sdlitvin@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me. Did your dr. take a culture? I've had that white discharge also, and I was told it was fungal - but who knows - everytime they decide to culture me I've been on antibiotics, prednisone or antifungals and they say the culture won't show anything. I've found that many dr.s don't know HOW to take a proper culture - they simply take it from the nose and don't get deep enough. > I have had a sinus infeciton for about a month and a half. I've had two > sinus infections previously in my life, but none as bad as this. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > I am just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or has > any advice. sinuses do not have a great vascular system and often the antibiotic just doesn't get to where it should in enough quantity and for enough time to totally eliminate the infection then if there are underlying other problems the infection quickly returns. The CT will show SOME of the things that may be physically wrong but not tissue reactions from allergies etc. these need separate tests. It sounds like your drainage is excessive and giving you hell, these things are all interconnected. Thanks for all your advice. I had the CT scan on Friday and got the results Monday. Doctor says it showed signs of sinus disease and he has referred me to an ENT. Until I see the ENT, I'm continuing on the augmentin. I'm not in as much pain or having as much discharge as I was last week, but I'm still blocked up, particularly on the left side, and my doctor said the CT scan reflected this. > Thanks for all your advice. > I had the CT scan on Friday and got the results Monday. Doctor says it [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > up, particularly on the left side, and my doctor said the CT scan > reflected this. Did the ENT do cultures? The white mucus could still be fungal, and if so, the augmentin will not help it. Most of my mucus has been white or brown and is mainly fungal superinfected with bacteria. There are some bacteria, I think, that can cause the mucus to be white. Also, inflammation, itself can make the mucus white from WBCs. Kathyw
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.